Balmedie School

Curriculum

Curriculum for Excellence aims to achieve a transformation in education in Scotland by providing a coherent, more flexible and enriched curriculum from 3 to 18, firmly focused on the needs of the child and young person and designed to enable them to develop the four capacities. The changes brought about by Curriculum for Excellence should lead to improved quality of learning and teaching and increased attainment and achievement for all children and young people in Scotland, including those who need additional support in their learning.
Building the Curriculum 3

The 3-18 Curriculum for Excellence aims to ensure that all children and young people in Scotland develop the attributes, knowledge and skills they will need to flourish in life, learning and work. The knowledge, skills and attributes learners will develop will allow them to demonstrate four key capacities.

• Successful Learners,
• Confident Individuals,
• Responsible Citizens and
• Effective Contributors.

These lie at the heart of Balmedie School’s Learning and Teaching Policy.

Building the Curriculum 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 form the rationale of our learning and teaching practises. Aberdeenshire Council’s a Curriculum Framework 3 to 18 Entitlements describes the range of experiences our young pupils have at Balmedie School.

• a coherent 3 – 18 progression curriculum particularly at points of transition from nursery to P1 and P7 to S1.
• Cultural experiences
• Environmental experiences
• Health and well being experiences
• Creative and enterprising experiences and
• Vocational experiences.

Curricular Areas:
• Literacy
• Numeracy
• Health & Well being
• Social Studies
• Sciences
• Technologies
• Expressive arts
• Religious and moral education.

Curriculum Design
Our curriculum is designed on the basis of the following 7 principles:

 Challenge and enjoyment
 Breadth
 Progression
 Depth
 Personalisation and choice
 Coherence
 Relevance

Curricular Levels Curriculum for Excellence defines five levels of learning.