Curriculum

Curriculum Policy

Introduction

The curriculum at IGS: Durham comprises all the planned activities which we organise in order to promote excellent learning and personal growth and development within our children. Our curriculum seeks to ensure that we as a school develop independence and responsibility in all of our pupils. We ensure that all children have a broad, balanced and relevant education which provides continuity and progression and takes individual differences into account. We aim to teach our pupils how to grow into positive, responsible people, who can work and co-operate with others while developing the knowledge and skills which will enable them to achieve their full potential.

The words we use to describe our curriculum are “stretch, enjoyment and academic rigour”.  We seek to provide children with a rich knowledge of the best of what has been written, thought and said.

As an independent school, we are not required to follow the National Curriculum. We recognise, however, the excellence of the National Curriculum in many areas, and we will use appropriate resources when we believe them to be in line with our curriculum aims.

This written policy is supported by year-group and subject plans and schemes of work. Together they show how pupils of compulsory school age receive full-time supervised education across linguistic, mathematical, scientific, technological, human and social, physical, and aesthetic and creative areas, and how they develop speaking, listening, literacy and numeracy. The plans take account of pupils’ ages, aptitudes and needs, including special educational needs, disabilities and education, health and care plans, and provide opportunities for every pupil to learn and make progress.

Values

Our curriculum is the means by which we achieve our objectives of educating children in the knowledge, skills and understanding that they need in order to lead fulfilling and useful lives. Our school curriculum is underpinned by our school values – Courage, Respect, Excellence, Achievement, Transparency and Respect.  This means that we will expect the best of every child, will encourage them to be curious and inquisitive and will provide a learning environment in which they will be able to develop to the absolute summit of their potential.

It also means that we will respond warmly and constructively to less able children and to those with special educational needs.  We believe that such children contribute immeasurably to the life of a school and we will nurture them to the best of our ability.  In every aspect of the curriculum we will promote the value of equality.

Our PSHE teaching reflects the school’s ethos and encourages respect for others, with particular regard to the protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010. These are addressed in an age-appropriate way in the PSHE plans and across school life. We also teach and promote democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs, as described in our British Values Policy. Our curriculum, plans and teaching will not undermine these values.

Aims

The aims of our school curriculum are:

• To enable all children to learn and develop their academic ability so that they achieve their potential at each stage of school life and are well-prepared for the next stage

• To enable children to develop intellectually, emotionally, socially, physically, morally and aesthetically, so that they become independent thinkers and responsible, useful, confident and considerate members of the community.

• To promote a positive attitude towards learning, so that children enjoy coming to school and develop a love of learning.

• To create, maintain an exciting and stimulating learning environment where all pupils are encouraged to push themselves and take on challenges.

• To provide all children with a safe learning environment.

• To ensure that each child’s education demonstrates continuity and progression.

• To enable children to contribute positively within a culturally diverse society.

• To enable all children to have respect for themselves and others and work cooperatively with others.

• To recognise the crucial role which parents play in their child’s education and make every effort to encourage parental involvement in their educational process

• To help children develop respect for authority, for others, especially those who are different from themselves, and for the world around them.

The Curriculum: Early Years 

In the Early Years (i.e. Reception class) we will follow the Early Years Foundation Stage and provide teaching and assessment in line with its requirements.  This is set out in the EYFS Curriculum Plan and Scheme of Work.

In the EYFS, children will be taught the seven statutory areas: the Prime areas of Communication & Language, Physical Development and Personal, Social & Emotional Development; and the Specific Areas of Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design.

The Curriculum: Primary Years

The basis of our curriculum in the primary years will be the Core Knowledge Series of text books produced by Civitas and inspired by the work of E D Hirsch. This series is based on the National Curriculum although the depth with which it treats some topics is often greater and its emphases are at times different. It focuses especially, for example, on knowledge – a focus with which we fully concur.

A typical school day at IGS: Durham (from Year 1 to 6) will involve Maths and English in the morning and then a more flexible afternoon which will be designed by the class teacher, and agreed with senior staff, and will often involve, among other things, topic work designed to deliver the curriculum in a way that excites and energises children and enables them to learn deeply and respond creatively to what they have learned. All subjects within the curriculum will be covered appropriately.

In Years 1 to 6 children will be taught in subjects, but allowing flexibility for teachers to teach through topic and project work.  The subjects within the curriculum will be:

• English (we will sometimes refer to it as Language and Literature)

• Mathematics

• Nature Study (Science)

• History

• Geography

• Religious Education

• Visual Arts

• Music

• Physical Education

• Information Technology

In addition we will teach one PSHE lesson per week, and in the Trinity (summer) term of Year One, French is introduced.  French becomes a full subject from Year Two onwards.

The Curriculum: Upper and Middle Years

These are taught by subject specialists and be taught in line with the National Curriculum.  In Years 7 and 8, this may be more flexible, and the detailed curriculum is shown on the school website.  Classics, for example, is will be taught to these years, although it is not at the moment, for us, a GCSE subject.

From Year 7, pupils follow the "English Baccalaureate" subjects. These are taught by subject specialists and are taught in line with the National Curriculum. The pupils are got ready for GCSEs in Year 11, in 9 subjects: English Language, English Literature, Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (Sciences), History, Geography and a language (in our case, French).

In Years 7 and 8 there is more flexibility; the detailed curriculum is shown on the school website. Classics, for example, is taught to these years, although it is not at the moment, for us, a GCSE subject.

RSE 

Relationships education is provided in the primary years and relationships and sex education in the secondary years. In planning and teaching these subjects, we have regard to the statutory guidance in force from September 2026. The separate Relationships and Sex Education Policy sets out the content, parental consultation and applicable withdrawal arrangements; our PSHE provision also covers health education. Teaching includes age-appropriate attention to relationships, personal safety, online safety, misinformation and disinformation.

Safeguarding 

In line with Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026, safeguarding and online safety are taught through planned, age-appropriate lessons and reinforced across the curriculum. This includes healthy and respectful relationships, boundaries, consent, prejudice and discrimination, and recognising and reporting harm. Online safety covers harmful content, contact, conduct and commercial risks, including AI-generated material and misleading information. Teaching is adapted to pupils’ development and vulnerabilities, including SEND, and linked to our Safeguarding and Online Safety policies.

Careers Education 

For pupils receiving secondary education, we provide access to accurate, up-to-date and impartial careers guidance. It helps pupils consider a broad range of careers and further education options, make informed choices and fulfil their potential without limiting their ambitions by stereotype. The provision is set out in our careers plans.

Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes

Through the curriculum, we aim to equip children with the knowledge, skills and attitudes which will enable them to:

• Be creative, imaginative thinkers

• Be problem solvers

• Be unafraid of making mistakes

• Challenge themselves to do even better

• Be enquiring and able to ask good questions

• Understand their own and others’ emotions and feelings

• Form their own views and be able to articulate them

• Be wholly respectful towards others who are different and/or have different views

• Possess a wide and deep knowledge of the “grammar” of the subjects they study

• Become avid readers

• Have a sound knowledge of what it means to be British and the diverse nature of modern Britain; this is encouraged through the teaching of FBVs

• Avoid being taken in by spurious arguments

• Be able to act appropriately in a range of “risky” situations

• Develop confidence

• Develop a good sense of humour and a sense of perspective

• Work as part of a team where necessary

• Be aware of how to live a healthy lifestyle

• Enjoy positive relationships with others

• Know the difference between right and wrong

• Know how to care for the environment

The above is not an exhaustive check-list but sets out our priorities for our children’s academic, personal and social development.

Organisation and Planning

We will take great care to plan our curriculum carefully, so that there is coherence and progression at every stage. We agree plans and schemes of work for each year group and subject. These indicate what is taught each term, how the required curriculum areas are covered, and how learning is adapted for pupils with different needs. We will review our long-term plans on an annual basis. The planned curriculum is also delivered through assemblies, visits, PSHE and other activities where appropriate; the plans identify the relevant learning.

Assessment

At IGS: Durham we believe that accurate assessment is the basis of high quality teaching, as it allows learning to be planned and taught appropriately to meet the needs of children so that all are helped, stretched and nurtured in the most effective way.

EYFS profiles, produced in line with statutory requirements, provide a basis upon which Year One teachers can build.  We will develop those profiles in accordance with the guidance we have included in our EYFS Curriculum Plan.

From Year One onwards, assessment is carried out in line with our Assessment Policy.  Progress in key subjects is assessed every term and more formally at the end of each school year.  Our approach is dealt with in more detail in our Assessment policy.

Curriculum Monitoring and Review

Evaluation is essential for the planning and development of the curriculum. The Principal is responsible for the overall school curriculum. He, along with senior staff where appropriate, monitors lesson plans, pupils’ work and outcomes, and supports teachers as they deliver their plans and develop their knowledge and expertise. The Board reviews the curriculum, its delivery and its effectiveness at least annually, including its accessibility, PSHE and British Values provision. 

Independent Grammar School: Durham, May, 2026 

Reviewed September 2026

Next review September 2027