Curriculum Aims

Curriculum Aims

At Sikh Heritage Girls School, our curriculum is purposefully designed to reflect our values as a Sikh faith school and to provide a rich, inclusive education that meets the academic, spiritual, and developmental needs of every child. We combine high expectations with deep compassion, encouraging each pupil to flourish from her unique starting point.

Structure (Academic Year 2024–2025)

For the 2024–2025 academic year, we are structured as a mixed-age primary setting, with pupils in Years 1, 2, and 3 learning within a nurturing and well-differentiated environment. Subjects are taught as follows:

  • Mathematics is taught in separate year groups, ensuring age-appropriate progression and curriculum coverage.

  • English, Spanish, and Punjabi are taught to Year 1 and Year 2 as a combined group, with Year 3 taught separately to allow for greater depth and challenge.

  • All other subjects (e.g., Science, History, Geography, RE, Art, Music, PE, PSHE) are taught as a whole-class, with deliberate differentiation and support to ensure every child is appropriately challenged and supported.

 

Our Curriculum Aims

Evidence-Informed Teaching

  • Our teaching style is grounded in current research on cognitive science, including working memory, attention, and long-term learning.

  • We avoid overloading pupils’ cognitive capacity by introducing new content gradually, giving time to revisit and secure key knowledge.

  • Teachers use carefully structured scaffolding—including sentence stems, visual aids, model texts, and structured routines—to ensure that all pupils can access and succeed in their learning.

Adaptive and Inclusive Pedagogy

  • We employ a whole-class teaching approach that is adaptive and inclusive. Teachers use formative assessment in every lesson to identify misconceptions, adapt tasks, and provide immediate support.

  • Challenge and support are both embedded in every task, ensuring that pupils of all attainment levels are stretched appropriately.

Spiritual and Character Growth

  • Our curriculum is rooted in Sikh values, encouraging children to reflect on their faith and use it as a springboard for self-development.

  • We nurture pupils’ spiritual and moral development through stories, reflective dialogue, and exposure to diverse worldviews in a safe and respectful setting.

  • We weave qualities such as celebration, liberty, rights and responsibility throughout every school day – qualities that are synonymous with Modern British Values.

Equity and Enquiry

  • Teaching is enquiry-led, developing pupils’ critical thinking and sense of curiosity about the world.

  • We are committed to equity of access for all pupils, including those with additional learning needs and those learning English as an additional language.

  • Lessons often use paired and group talk to develop oracy and collaborative learning, ensuring a language-rich environment.

Depth Over Speed

  • We prioritise depth of understanding rather than rushing through content. This includes spiralling key concepts and building strong foundations in reading, number, and vocabulary.

  • We believe that progress is not linear. Teachers are encouraged to respond flexibly to pupil needs, reteach where necessary, and celebrate small steps forward.

Bilingualism and Identity

  • Pupils are encouraged to use Punjabi and English confidently across the curriculum, exploring connections between the languages and building pride in their heritage.

  • Oral storytelling, traditional Sikh narratives, and scriptural study are integrated into teaching, supporting both literacy and identity formation. We are proud of our girls growing up to be British Sikhs who are leaders in their fields.

Broad and Balanced

  • Our curriculum is broad and balanced, offering rich experiences in the arts, sciences, and humanities.

  • Wherever possible, learning is connected through interdisciplinary topics, assemblies, celebrations, and whole-school projects.