Curriculum Enrichment & Cultural Capital

As a family of schools, we strive to ensure that our children are provided with the highest quality curriculum and enrichment opportunities possible. We fully recognise the importance and value of experiences both inside and out of the classroom so that our children are nurtured to help them realise their potential and shape a positive future for themselves and others.

In support of our vivid vision and aims, we constantly strive to enhance and improve not only our curriculum but our enrichment experiences and opportunities. Indeed, we believe strongly that education is much more than just a set of results. It includes children’s intellectual growth, social and emotional development, citizenship and responsibility, happiness and success. We strive for our vision to be lived in the way teachers develop the curriculum, including enrichment, in order to help raise aspirations, engender a sense of personal pride in achievement in order to… Plant Dreams, Nurture Hearts and Grow Minds.

In addition to our exciting and stimulating curriculum, we also provide further opportunities to enhance children’s learning wherever possible. These include but are not limited to:

Whole School Theme Days/Weeks

Throughout the year, themed days/weeks are woven into the curriculum to extend the breadth and balance of opportunities we offer our children. These include, Nurturing Hearts Week (Anti-bullying), Internet Safety Days (in addition to our online safety curriculum), World Book Day, Black History Month, Science Week, Sports Week, British Values Week, Mental Health Week, World Earth Day, French Day, curriculum theme days, WOWSA days and more!

House Captains, School Council, Eco Council & Play Leaders

As a family of schools, we seek to actively promote children’s leadership opportunities and pupil voice. There are a wide variety of leadership roles in school that enable our children to develop valuable communication, co-operation, organisational and debating skills, as well as developing a sense of community and responsibility and deepening their understanding of democracy.

We believe that it is vital for our children to have a voice and be involved in key matters relating to their school. Through their involvement and engagement in the running and decision making processes of school, we seek to ensure that all children have the opportunity to make a greater contribution and enjoy making their voices heard. We also have also developed a strong focus on our core values and the environment in order to promote respect for themselves, others, the community and the planet.

To read our School Council blog, please click on the link here.

Educational Visits and Residentials

School trips and visits are an integral part of the education of children at The Whiteoak Academies.  We value the opportunities such visits offer our pupils and the commitment of staff and adults undertaking them. Trips such as class visits to the Roman Baths, Bristol Zoo and SS Great Britain and are aimed at bringing learning alive and providing first-hand experience which helps to deepen and broaden our children’s knowledge and understanding.

Children in Year 6 also take part in a residential visit. This visit is planned to provide new and exciting experiences, such as: visits to the beach, climbing, abseiling, archery, surfing and lots more.

Visitors 

Visitors have a valuable role to play and contribute to many aspects of the life and work of the school.  They deliver talks, workshops and full day activities across a wide range of subjects, giving pupils access to outside experiences and expertise. Visitors provide a link with the wider community where children have the opportunity to work alongside artists, musicians, poets, scientists and others.

Forest School & Outdoor Learning

As a family of schools, we are very fortunate to have our own Forest School area and a fully qualified teacher trained to deliver the Forest Schools programme. Across the Whiteoak Academies, Forest School is seen as a vital part of every child’s education and we strongly believe every child should have access to learn in the outdoor environment and receive the benefits and experience the natural world has to offer.

Forest School at the Whiteoak Academies explores the outdoors and the natural environment with practical, useful activities all year round. It develops peer learning with the adults providing support and enabling activities to take place. The children’s interests are at the heart of any activity. 

We use the seasons and the Wheel of the Year, an annual cycle of seasonal festivals, made up of the year's main solar events (solstices and equinoxes) and the midpoints between them to plan our Forest School activities. 

For more details on our Forest School curriculum, please click on the link below.

Our Forest School Curriculum page.

 

PE & Sport

We encourage a wide range of sporting skills and experiences both within and beyond the school day.  As a school, we have some wonderful facilities and grounds and seek to provide opportunities for children of all abilities to take part and compete both within PE sessions and through inter and intra-school sports competitions.

We have also utilised our PE and Sport Premium provision to provide specialist coaching in gymnastics and lead inter-school sports competitions in non-traditional sports such as Kurling and Cup Stacking! Furthermore, Premier Sports, our wraparound care provider, also deliver lunchtime and after school clubs such as gymnastics, football, dodgeball and athletics.

For more information on Premier Sports, please clink on the link below.

Start Active and Play Active.

Music, Drama & Public Speaking

At the Whiteoak Academies, we provide opportunities for children to take part in a wide range of musical activities and performances where they are encouraged to sing, compose and work creatively with sound. A range of opportunities are provided within and beyond the curriculum for children to showcase their musical skills and talents. Opportunities to perform to large audiences include, Candlelit Carols, Carols at Clifton Cathedral, Raise the Roof and the Year 2 North Somerset Music Festival. We also work with North Somerset Music to provide children with whole school tuition and opportunities to learn from singing to violin and keyboard and drums!

As a school we appreciate and understand the importance of drama within our curriculum. Research reveals that drama had a positive impact on children’s physical, emotional, social and cognitive development. Drama is developed across the whole school in a variety of ways including story-telling, House Poetry and productions. We believe that is it very important for all children to be given the opportunity to find their voice and have their chance to shine. We have at least two large productions every year, including the Reception and Year 1 Nativity and a Year 6 Summer Production. We also have plans to develop our own Whiteoak’s Got Talent!

Assemblies

Assemblies help to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  A variety of assemblies are held throughout the week including: values based assemblies, singing assemblies, celebration assemblies and those led by children. We also have guest speakers and regular visits from the local church.

Making a Difference

We have a caring and generous heart and our children and school family want to make a difference to the world in which they live. Across our family of schools, we have raised money for a number of different charities including: Children in Need, Comic Relief, Save the Children, The Poppy Appeal, NSPCC and more.

A Wealth of opportunities and experiences…

We are firmly committed to developing a truly broad and balanced curriculum that extends beyond the classroom. We tailor and adapt our curriculum to meet the needs of our children, and in doing so strive to provide a wealth of experiences throughout their time at school.

As a family of schools, we are committed to ensuring that across their primary education all of our children have the opportunity to…

• Visit different places of worship
• Experience a residential
• Learn a musical instrument and experience live music
• Experience dance
• Go to the theatre
• Visit museums and galleries
• Swim at least 25 metres
• Perform an act of community service
• Explore their local environment
• Take part in a sports competition
• Experience democracy by casting a vote
• Learn first aid
• Engage in intergenerational experiences
• Learn how to ride a bike
• Plant, grow and then use what they have grown
• Enjoy the great outdoors
• Be involved in charitable work.