Life

Our Life Curriculum equips pupils with the knowledge, understanding and personal qualities they need to thrive in school and beyond. It nurtures children’s ability to think independently, make informed decisions and develop the confidence, resilience and emotional literacy needed to lead healthy, safe and fulfilling lives.

Learning is thoughtfully designed to provide pupils with both windows into the experiences of others and opportunities to reflect on their own lives. By exploring a diverse range of beliefs, cultures, relationships and experiences, children develop empathy, compassion and a strong sense of fairness. This enables us to challenge misconceptions and stereotypes from an early age while raising aspirations and promoting inclusion.

Ultimately, our Life Curriculum broadens pupils’ understanding of the world, strengthens their moral awareness and prepares them to become respectful, responsible and aspirational members of society.

Through our Life Curriculum, pupils become increasingly well prepared for life in modern Britain. They develop the confidence to express their ideas thoughtfully, listen respectfully to different viewpoints and make positive choices about their own wellbeing and relationships.

As pupils progress, they become enthusiastic learners with a strong sense of identity, empathy and social responsibility. They demonstrate resilience, respect and kindness, enabling them to contribute positively to their school community and the wider world.

Our Life Curriculum is organised around four complementary strands, each designed to develop pupils as balanced, confident and well-rounded citizens who are equipped with the knowledge, skills and values needed to flourish in modern Britain.

Strand 1: Culture

Strand 2: Character

Strand 3: Global citizenships

Strand 4: Wellbeing

We recognise that some concepts within our Life Curriculum, particularly within relationships, sex and health education (RSHE), can be more challenging for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to understand. To ensure that all pupils can access and engage with the curriculum, every lesson includes an adapted activity specifically designed to support pupils with additional learning needs.

Whilst these adaptations enable many pupils to access the intended learning, we recognise that some concepts may remain beyond the developmental understanding of individual pupils, even with additional support. In these cases, our Inclusion Base Team exercises professional judgement to ensure that the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum is delivered in a way that is both meaningful and appropriate for each pupil.

Across our Inclusion Bases, the curriculum places greater emphasis on the knowledge, understanding and personal skills that are most relevant to pupils’ age, stage of development and individual needs. Decisions about curriculum content are made carefully, taking full account of safeguarding considerations, including pupils’ experiences and circumstances beyond school. This ensures that pupils receive teaching which promotes their safety, wellbeing, independence and ability to navigate the world with increasing confidence.

We recognise that children in our two-year-old provision are at the earliest stages of their personal, social and emotional development. Whilst they are not yet able to access discrete Life Curriculum lessons, the foundations of the curriculum are established through high-quality interactions, purposeful play and carefully chosen stories.

Throughout the academic year, children are introduced to key themes from our Life Curriculum through a range of carefully selected, age-appropriate picture books. These stories provide meaningful opportunities to explore concepts such as kindness, friendships, feelings, belonging, diversity and healthy relationships in a way that is accessible and engaging for our youngest learners.

Practitioners use these shared reading experiences to encourage conversation, develop language and model positive behaviours, helping children to make sense of the world around them. This early exposure lays the foundations for future learning, ensuring that children begin to develop the knowledge, understanding and values that will be built upon as they progress through the Life Curriculum.

Our Life Curriculum is enhanced through a carefully planned programme of enrichment opportunities that bring learning to life and provide meaningful real-world experiences. These opportunities are carefully mapped across the academic year to complement direct teaching, ensuring that pupils revisit and apply their learning in a range of engaging contexts.

Enrichment includes educational visits, visitors from the local community, workshops, assemblies, whole-school projects, Lyfta experiences and high-quality texts. Together, these experiences broaden pupils’ understanding of the world, deepen their learning and strengthen the knowledge, skills and values developed through the Life Curriculum. By providing authentic opportunities to encounter different people, places, beliefs and perspectives, enrichment helps pupils make meaningful connections between classroom learning and the wider world, preparing them to become confident, respectful and responsible members of society.