Curriculum Context 
At Djanogly Strelley Academy, our curriculum is thoughtfully designed to reflect the complex and diverse needs of our pupils and the wider community we serve. We are a larger-than-average primary school with approximately 400 children on roll, from Nursery to Year 6, including 16 pupils in our Acorns specialist provision for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). 
Our intake reflects a richly diverse and significantly disadvantaged community. 64% of pupils are eligible for Free School Meals, well above the national average, and 28% speak English as an Additional Language, representing 35 languages, 22 nationalities, and 19 ethnicities. This diversity is a strength that informs our inclusive and culturally responsive curriculum. 
Rooted in our school vision—“Be the best you can be”—our curriculum is ambitious, inclusive, and carefully sequenced to ensure that all pupils, regardless of starting point, can access learning and achieve success. Many children join us well below age-related expectations, particularly in communication and language. As such, early language development and vocabulary acquisition are central to our curriculum design. In response to this need, we are expanding our Early Years offer with the opening of a new two-year-old provision in 2025. 
We have a high proportion of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (17% on the SEND register, including 3.3% with EHCPs). Our curriculum is adapted to meet a wide range of needs, with a strong emphasis on speech and language, social communication, and emotional regulation. Specialist strategies and targeted interventions are embedded across the curriculum to ensure accessibility, equity, and high expectations for all. 
Given the socio-economic challenges of our community—including a medium crime rate and high levels of deprivation—our curriculum also prioritises personal development, resilience, and social-emotional learning. We provide a broad range of enrichment opportunities and a values-led approach that promotes aspiration, respect, and self-belief. 
Our Published Admission Number (PAN) is 60, but a temporary reduction in Key Stage 1 to 45 has led to mixed-age Year 1/2 classes for the past three years. From September 2025, we will also introduce mixed Year 3/4 classes. These follow a carefully structured bi-annual rolling programme to ensure full curriculum coverage and progression. 
Our curriculum is dynamic and continually reviewed to reflect pupils’ lived experiences, address contextual safeguarding risks, and prepare children for life beyond primary school. It is supported by high-quality professional development, strong subject leadership, and a shared commitment to equity, excellence, and opportunity for every child.  
 

Contextual Design Principles

➔ Aspirational We aim to fully embrace the breadth and depth of the national curriculum so that every pupil—regardless of their starting point—knows more and remembers more. We enrich this learning journey by broadening perspectives, deepening understanding, fostering connections, and expanding beyond core curriculum content. By cultivating cultural capital and encouraging creative learning behaviours, we empower pupils to meet future challenges with confidence and unlock opportunities for social mobility.

➔ Meaningful to our community & context Our curriculum promotes Spiritual, Moral, Social, and Cultural education, integrating British Values and the Protected Characteristics. It is inclusive and reflective of all pupils, incorporating local history and key community figures to build pride and identity. At the same time, it offers a window to the wider world. We equip pupils to navigate global issues such as mutual respect, sustainability, and social change. Safeguarding is interwoven throughout, and we adapt teaching in response to current events, local matters, and incidental learning—continually shaping our curriculum to address a changing world.
Knowledge is delivered both discretely and with deliberate connections, using clearly mapped progression documents. Each stage builds on prior learning, supporting pupils to form mental frameworks (schemas) and secure knowledge in their long-term memory.

➔ Vocabulary rich Pupils acquire tiered and subject-specific vocabulary through high-quality teaching resources and a tailored reading strategy. Reading is central across the curriculum, enabling pupils to ‘read to learn’. This prepares them for deeper study across disciplines and the next stages of education. We nurture strong oracy skills so that children can express themselves with clarity and confidence. Visual tools such as Widget, alongside Makaton, support accessibility for all learners through the power of dual-coding.

➔ Experiential We ensure all pupils engage with and retain knowledge through hands-on experiences, collaboration, and moments of awe—both within and beyond the classroom. Every child has opportunities to visit new places and meet new people, regardless of their socio-economic background. We believe that opening doors to these real-world experiences supports engagement and contributes positively to attendance and achievement.

Phonics

At Djanogly Strelley Academy, we aim to nurture and create a love of books and reading in all of our children. We recognise the importance of reading and believe that all children can become fluent, confident and independent readers with an excellent understanding of what they read. Reading is a key skill that ‘opens the door’ to all areas of the wider curriculum. To begin this journey successfully phonics must be taught through a systematic and structured phonics programme.

We use Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised to plan and provide daily phonics lessons. Our teaching starts in Nursery and continues through to Reception and Year 1 and 2*. Our children are taught to master phonics strategies so they are able to tackle unfamiliar words that they come across in wider reading. Our application of phonics in reading is taught through both the phonics sessions and in shared reading and strategies are referred to across the curriculum.

*As a response to learning loss due to covid lockdowns phonics teaching is currently extended into KS2 for children who need it.