Curriculum Values and Aims:
‘Living, Laughing and Learning Together’
At William Penn, we believe that every member of the school community is a ‘teacher’ and a ‘learner’. We are a school with a Quaker foundation, characterised by a caring ethos which places importance on our values of integrity, reflection, equality, peace, friendship and simplicity. We strive for high standards and challenge ourselves to further our own learning and understanding throughout.
We recognise that each child’s journey will have a different starting point and that they will not necessarily progress at the same rate as this is dependent on a wide range of contributing factors. However, our ambition to achieve our aims is the same for every child and our curriculum is carefully designed to facilitate this.
As well as encouraging high expectations for their own personal development, we nurture our pupils’ appreciation of difference and diversity, encouraging them to demonstrate empathy and inclusion for all. We promote the moral, cultural, spiritual, mental and physical qualities of all pupils.
At William Penn, we recognise that our pupils are all part of a global community and, as such, help the children to gain a sense of place and understanding, so that they can play a part in its future. We place learning in global contexts wherever possible in order to celebrate diversity and emphasise unity.
We recognise that children cannot aspire to things that they have never encountered, so we work to broaden our children’s horizons, extending their knowledge of the world by nurturing their interests as well and encouraging them to try things that are new or unknown, thorough first-hand experiences.
Through our curriculum, the children learn knowledge and skills which together, and over time, build and deepen understanding across a wide range of subjects. We strive for children to learn skills alongside knowledge, ensuring that both are developed explicitly as the two are intertwined. We make the curriculum relevant and meaningful to pupils by putting knowledge into context. Alongside developing their knowledge, skills and understanding, we equally value increasing their enjoyment, enthusiasm and motivation towards learning.
If parents want further information about the William Penn curriculum, they can contact the school and/or their class teacher.