Knotty Ash Primary School

[EduCativ]

Welcome to Knotty Ash Primary School. We are a busy, friendly school with lots going on. As a one-form entry school, we are small enough to be a family. Everyone at Knotty Ash is very proud of the school's ethos, which values respect and fun, relationships between staff and pupils are mutually supportive.

At the heart of everything we do is a belief in our duty to develop the whole child. Our academic expectations are high and we strive to support each child to achieve their full academic potential. We also offer a broad curriculum that values investigation, curiosity, and creativity. Also, there are a lot of opportunities for children to grow as responsible and valuable citizens - as they get older, they have opportunities to be play leaders and reading buddies for our younger pupils, as well as taking active roles in the life of the school e.g. School council, eCadets, librarians. We hold Arts Weeks, Health and Sports Weeks, and themed days to empower children, no matter what their talent or interest. We also have links within the local community (with St John's Church, Alder Hey Hospital, Hope University, and Bright Park) which further enrich opportunities for our children. We aim to help develop well-rounded, confident, and resilient young people so we also offer Massage and relaxation, Guitar (y4-6), and Spanish as part of the curriculum.

A very important part of Knotty Ash Primary is our Deaf Resource Base provision. We accommodate 14 profoundly deaf children within the school. While each is an integral member of their mainstream class, we also have the expertise and facilities to cater to their individual learning needs in specially-adapted classrooms. Every child in school, from Nursery upwards, learns to communicate in British Sign Language - a wonderful life skill. We have a school signing choir and are also affiliated with the Liverpool Signing Choir.

At Knotty Ash Primary School, we have developed our personalized curriculum, designed to respond to the unique nature of our school. The Inclusive Curriculum is designed to maximize the potential for collaboration:

• Between children in undertaking collaborative experiential learning, investigations, research, and discovery
• Between staff in collaborative planning and delivery of subjects through stimulating and meaningful activities

English and Maths continue to be taught through discrete lessons, although cross-curricular links are integral to the Inclusive Curriculum. The skills of Reading are taught through texts relating to the Inclusive Curriculum. The skills of writing are applied in Inclusive Curriculum writing tasks. These opportunities are specifically planned for in long-term curriculum maps. Links with Maths, where relevant are made explicitly to highlight practical and real-life applications of the subject.

Classes work together in Key Stage Teams to jointly follow the Inclusive Curriculum in paired year-groups. Hence, Year 5 and 6, for instance, explore the same Inclusive Curriculum topics on a two-year alternating basis. This enables class collaboration while also ensuring thorough coverage of the National Curriculum across the school. Across year-groups and within each class, teachers differentiate input and expectation to adequately challenge every child to reach their full potential while providing support to those who need it.

View full school