Our Curriculum
Intent
At Ashton Gate, we believe every child should enjoy learning, achieve success, and grow as an individual. Our curriculum is designed to inspire curiosity, creativity and confidence, helping pupils develop both academically and personally.
We provide a broad, balanced and ambitious curriculum that values every subject in the National Curriculum — from core learning to the arts, sport, and wellbeing. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are woven throughout school life and our behaviour curriculum is explicitly taught alongside our Ashton Gater characteristics.
We have a commitment to our School Drivers: Independence, Growth Mindset, Equity and Cultural Diversity. Our curriculum and personal development opportunities are carefully designed to ensure representation and diversity, particularly through the books we choose, the experiences we provide, and the voices we amplify. Our curriculum reflects the diversity of Bristol and offers rich, localised learning experiences that prepare children for whichever path they take next.
Implementation
Our passionate teachers deliver engaging, knowledge-rich lessons that build understanding step by step. We teach through an evidence-informed spiral curriculum, where concepts are revisited and extended over time, allowing pupils to regularly consolidate their learning and ensuring that no child falls behind. Lessons are carefully chunked and sequenced, providing a strong foundation from EYFS. Lessons are designed with the school drivers in mind and cover a wide range of topics, influential people and key concepts that help pupils understand the world, preparing them for their next stage of learning.
Children are given regular opportunities to think deeply, build knowledge and skills, and experience success. Teaching is designed to challenge all learners, while ensuring appropriate support and adaptations are in place so that pupils with SEND can access the curriculum and thrive alongside their peers. Regular checks for understanding ensure that pupils are making progress, and thoughtfully planned gaps between topics allow time for forgetting, helping learning to move into long-term memory. Key vocabulary is explicitly taught in each lesson and knowledge organisers are used to support key learning.
Teaching follows the CEEAAC model, enabling pupils to learn in purposeful learning loops where key concepts are clearly explained and modelled. Through carefully planned activities, every child is encouraged to apply their learning, develop independence, and reflect on feedback, helping them grow in confidence and achieve their best. Teachers carefully target support and questioning aiming to remove any barriers to learning and maximise progress.
We value the importance of strong foundations in learning. Reading underpins success across the curriculum and we aim to build fluent readers, with a lifelong love of books, supporting pupils to access knowledge and ideas across all subjects.
Impact
Our pupils become knowledgeable, skilled, and confident learners with strong, fluent foundations in key knowledge and skills. Through carefully sequenced learning and opportunities to revisit and consolidate concepts, pupils store their learning in long-term memory and develop the confidence to apply it across subjects.
They grow into enthusiastic, curious learners and fluent readers, capable of producing high-quality work and reflecting on their achievements. All children are supported to thrive, developing resilience, independence, and respect, and becoming thoughtful citizens ready for the next stage of their education — and beyond.
For more information about each curriculum subject, please refer to the documents on the relevant subject pages. To see what each year group learns, visit the Year Pages in the Children section of our website.