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Curriculum
How do we achieve great personal and academic excellence?
Knowledge
Does it help us develop knowledge and foster academic success?
Does it help us develop knowledge and foster academic success?
Does it help us develop knowledge and foster academic success?
One Degree Academy offers a rigorous academic curriculum that promotes the learning of powerful knowledge and character attributes. We believe all young people can attain a place at university or become successfully employed in a career with prospects and see all aspects of a child’s development as crucial to achieving this.
Core Knowledge
Learning is defined as an alteration to long-term memory
(Kirschner, Sweller and Clark, 2006)
The One Degree Academy curriculum is tied to our vision of a life of choice and opportunity. We believe all our students are entitled to an ambitious curriculum of powerful knowledge. Our curriculum enables students to achieve great outcomes and be successful at the next stage in education and beyond.
At ODA, our curriculum is underpinned by a belief that knowledge precedes skill. We believe that you cannot think about a topic properly without sufficient knowledge of it, and our whole school approach to curriculum design reflects this.
Key learning that has informed our thinking on the whole curriculum is the work by Willingham and Rosenshine.
Willingham uses a ‘simple model of the mind’ to explain how working memory and long-term memory interact with the environment. We use this model to teach staff about the science of learning and how best to make knowledge stick.
Like Willingham, we also believe that memory is the residue of thought. At ODA, we ensure our lessons are focused on the knowledge that we want the students to retain.
We reduce the cognitive load for students (and adults) by having a consistent language and ensuring a high level of consistency in routines and systems from Nursery through to Year 6.
Rosenshine’s Principal of Instruction
We use Rosenshine’s Principal of Instruction to develop our planning and our teaching of the curriculum.
- Begin a lesson with a short review of previous learning
- Present new material in small steps with student practice after each step
- Ask a large number of questions and check the responses of all students
- Provide models
- Guide student practice
- Check for student understanding
- Obtain a high success rate
- Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks
- Require and monitor independent practice
- Engage students in weekly and monthly review
We group these principles into a REMP structure, which is evident in all lessons at ODA.
R: Review
E: Explanation
M: Modeling
P: Practice
Click on the below links to access the curriculum in:
EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage - Nursery and Reception)
Information on the Nursery is outlined here.
In Reception, we aim to build on children’s previous experiences to ensure that as they enter One Degree Academy, they are happy, fulfilled and ready for key stage 1 and beyond. In line with the Early Years Foundation Framework (EYFS), we aim to ignite children’s curiosity and capacity to learn. We focus in particular on the areas of learning identified in the National Curriculum:
- communication and language
- personal, social and emotional development
- physical development
- literacy
- mathematics
- understanding the world
- expressive arts and design
These areas are important foundations for child development and crucial for later success. We develop these areas through both directive teaching and play.
At One Degree, our curriculum is carefully tailored to adhere to the EYFS statutory framework. Our Mathematics Mastery programme draws on the latest best practise from Singapore, while our Phonics programme, Read Write Inc, means children get off to a flying start in both English and Maths.
As with all year groups at One Degree Academy, we devote extra time to reading and expose children to a range of texts to foster a love and enjoyment of stories and reading. This approach is complemented by learning outside the classroom and during ‘activity time,’ when children are encouraged to engage in a wide range of activities both independently and with adults providing guidance through support and challenge.
KS1 (Key Stage 1 - Years 1 and 2)
Students in KS1 continue to develop their reading through the Read Write Inc. phonics programme, with students gradually moving across to the ODA Reading curriculum. We believe that students gain a greater comprehension (understanding) of what they are reading through reading and discussing full texts. We have resourced, planned, developed and continue to tweak our ODA reading curriculum from Year 1 all the way to Year 6 so that students are exposed to a wide range of diverse stories from many different global cultures. The emphasis in these lessons is reading together - with every student having their own text - with a focus on discussing themes and character choices throughout. This helps develop a love for reading whilst maintaining a focus on comprehension skills as detailed in the National Curriculum.
We continue using the Mathematics Mastery programme and introduce the Write Stuff in English to support writing.
We also commence foundation subjects - curriculum maps can be found here.
KS2 (Key Stage 2 - Years 3, 4, 5 and 6)
In KS2, some students participate in ‘Fresh Start’—an intervention targeted towards older students who still require support in decoding words (phonics) and a high level of support in comprehension of a text (understanding). Students are assessed every half-term and commence the ODA reading programme when they have completed it.
We continue using the Mathematics Mastery programme and Write Stuff in English to support writing. Our curriculum, including all of its finer details, can be found here.
Character
We believe that knowledge without character is pointless. Integrity at ODA means that we believe in the whole child and their cultural, social, emotional, physical and spiritual development. This is achieved through our unique STRIVE character curriculum alongside our enrichment curriculum.
At One Degree Academy we believe that character strengths, skills and mindsets are not fixed. We believe these vital character skills such as resilience, optimism and self-control can be taught and developed. This approach runs through everything we do.
We teach students how to ‘check-in’ with how they are feeling; whether this be on our Warmth Walk at the start of the day to our daily independent journaling sessions (from Year 2 onwards) and teach approaches to character development that enable children to learn and flourish. We use mood meters and ‘meta-moments’ to help structure students checking in with their emotions and develop a toolkit of strategies that they can use at ODA and beyond through our extensive journaling offer.
Capital & Aspirations
At One Degree Academy, we believe that every child deserves the tools, experiences, and confidence to lead a great life. Our Cultural Capital Curriculum is designed to make that a reality, not by chance, but by design. We carefully craft opportunities that enrich learning, expand horizons, and nurture aspirations. Our Curriculum Maps outline some of these opportunities, including an exciting range of trips that connect directly to our Core Knowledge Curriculum. But we know that raising aspirations is about more than just trips. That’s why we offer:
- A residential programme that grows with our students—from a Year 2 movie night to a Year 6 PGL adventure.
- The chance for every child to learn to play musical instruments during the school day.
- School sports teams that practice during lunchtime, and break times filled with opportunities to develop skills in sports like touch rugby and tennis—ensuring that every child can take part.
- A strong focus on public speaking, helping students build confidence by presenting in assemblies, leading shout-outs at family dining, and welcoming our many VIP visitors.
Every child arrives at One Degree with their own unique experiences, family traditions, and cultural identity. We actively celebrate this by working closely with parents to understand which calendar events matter most to them. This collaboration comes to life in many ways, from special assemblies and lunches to our annual STRIVE Fest, where students showcase their talents and families share their favourite dishes with the school community.
Raising aspirations is a team effort between students, families, and the school. Our goal is to help every child see a future filled with possibilities. Beyond the classroom, we also offer a wide range of extra-curricular activities, ensuring that every student has the chance to discover new passions and develop skills that will stay with them and help them to live a great life.