Our Approach

Curriculum for Wales organises learning around six areas of learning and experience. Each of the areas of learning and experience has been designed to support learners to realise the four purposes of the curriculum. They are intended to promote collaboration and cross-disciplinary school-level curriculum development and design. All teachers plan for the cross-curricular responsibilities of literacy, numeracy and digital competence to support almost all learning. These are essential for learners to be able to participate successfully and confidently in the modern world.

 

What does our curriculum look like at Abbey?

Rich Tasks

Here at Abbey, our curriculum is delivered through a concept-based approach, incorporating Rich Tasks: a project or problem that allows the children to use the skills they have been taught previously in exciting, real-life contexts. Across the duration of each academic year, teaching staff develop a broad range of rich tasks that provide a wealth of challenges and experiences, all designed to provoke a deeper level of understanding and create authentic contexts in which our children can apply, explore and manipulate the skills they have acquired. As well as being designed to encompass the vision of our four purposes, our rich tasks are:

  • authentic: rooted in Welsh values and culture and aligned with an agreed set of stated purposes;

  • evidence-based: drawing on the best of existing practice within Wales and from elsewhere, and on sound research;

  • responsive: relevant to the needs of today (individual, local and national) but also equipping all young people with the knowledge, skills and dispositions for future challenges as lifelong learners;

  • inclusive: easily understood by all, encompassing an entitlement to high-quality education for every child and young person and taking account of their views in the context of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and those of parents, carers and wider society;

  • ambitious: embodying high expectations and setting no artificial limits on achievement and challenge for each individual child and young person;

  • empowering: developing competencies which will allow young people to engage confidently with the challenges of their future lives;

  • unified: enabling continuity and flow with components which combine and build progressively;

  • engaging: encouraging enjoyment from learning and satisfaction in mastering challenging subject matter based on subsidiarity: commanding the confidence of all, while encouraging appropriate ownership and decision-making by those closest to the teaching and learning process;

  • manageable: recognising the implications for and supported by appropriate assessment and accountability arrangements;

  • rights-based: underpinned by the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.