Curriculum

As a Dixons academy, our curriculum is aligned to a common set of Trust-wide principles which are underpinned by our mission to challenge educational and social disadvantage in the North. We believe all students are entitled to an ambitious, knowledge-rich curriculum which will open doors and maximise life chances.

At Dixons Music Primary, we challenge social inequality by instilling shared powerful knowledge through an academic curriculum which is broad and balanced. Subject overviews specify, in detail, the knowledge (both declarative and procedural) students will remember, underpinned by the National Curriculum and wider subject domains. As such, in each discipline, students are prepared for national assessments, and importantly, acquire knowledge that builds wider cultural capital.

Being co-located with our sister academy, Dixons Trinity, has allowed us to consider the knowledge and skills we want our students to have mastered in each academic field so that they achieve our aspirational mission of ‘succeeding at university, or a real alternative, thriving in a top job and having a great life.’ High-quality schemes are planned backwards from this end point to intelligently sequence the curriculum so that each phase builds on what has come before and prepares for what comes after. It is this careful and meticulous consideration of what students learn and in what order which provides the richest narrative possible for our students.

Our curriculum is informed by the latest evidential research from cognitive science about memory, forgetting and practice in order to help students remember, and apply, the best of what has been thought and said. We make knowledge stick so that it can be flexibly applied in a variety of different contexts and situations. Our sequential knowledge curriculum begins in EYFS so that students can successfully access a broad and balanced curriculum throughout their all-through education. This is underpinned by structured phonics, writing and mathematics lessons in EYFS to ensure core procedural knowledge is secured and that transition into KS1 is successful.

During KS1, focus is placed on reading, writing and mathematics. We ensure all students are reading by the age of six so that they can successfully access a broad and balanced curriculum. Through the Mathematics Mastery programme, we ensure core mathematical knowledge is mastered and practised. Music and PE are taught by subject specialists, whilst humanities and science are carefully planned with specialist support to ensure students are making links across and throughout the curriculum.

Throughout KS2, we seek to carefully develop subject knowledge and build schemas in our students’ minds, allowing them to begin to think more coherently, critically and creatively. Secondary Heads of Department have worked with leaders on curriculum content decisions to ensure lessons are planned sequentially and that key knowledge enters long-term memory.

Our curriculum principles are available to read in full in the 'Why Dixons? section of the Dixons Academies Trust website.

Subject overviews and principles can be found below.

Reading plays a vital part in the curriculum. We use Read Write Inc. as our synthetic phonics programme and all EYFS and KS1 students have discreet phonics lessons every day:

https://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/programmes/phonics/

https://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/

We use the White Rose Maths programme to ensure deep understanding of key mathematical concepts:

https://whiteroseeducation.com...