1. Aims & Statement of Intent
“Play with them for the first seven years (of their life); then teach them for the next seven years; then advise them for the next seven years and after that."
Ali ibn Abi Taalib
At Miftah An-Nur, the aim of our curriculum is to educate young hearts as well as young minds. Our curriculum is built up of layers: Big Ideas, Themes and Subjects. These layers provide our pupils with the skills, knowledge and understanding they need to achieve academic excellence and become thriving global citizens. The students have the opportunity to develop a deep connection to the world around them and find their place within it. Ultimately, we hope to ignite a love of learning all pupils and nurture a growth mindset; building learning communities to develop a shared understanding of our values, ideals and religious identity.
Early Years
In Early Years, we follow UK’s Early Years Foundation Stage(EYFS 2021) curriculum. Learning in Early Years is about ‘how’ children learn, not ‘what’ they leIt takes into account the four principles:
- A Unique Child
- Positive Relationships
- Enabling Environments
- Learning and Development
Primary & Secondary
In Keys Stages 1-4, we aim to deliver the programmes of study as set out in the National Curriculum in England. Wherever appropriate the curriculum is adapted to reflect our Bruneian context as well as exposure to unfamiliar cultures. We also establish key principals in Islam through our big ideas, creating meaningful connections interwoven in children’s day to day lives through established rituals.
In addition, we aim to provide opportunities for the children to develop their love for Allah and His Messenger, in line with Islamic teachings such as morning remembrance (dhikr) and learning age appropriate prayers (duas) creating a strong sense of identity.
4. Processes and Practices
4.1 Big Ideas
Our curriculum always comes back to the teachings of the Quran and sunnah(teachings of Prophet Muhammad (saw)) for the children to reflect upon. Our big ideas are concepts that we want to embed in children through meaningful connections such as change, diversity and wonder. These promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our pupils. These big ideas are reflect upon and adapted annually.
4.2 High Quality Texts
Our high quality children’s texts are a vehicle through which learning takes place and so our key reading spine in English has been curated to take into account books that will not only fit our themes and big ideas but to also support pupils developing the rich language, cultural capital and comprehension skills they need to access the curriculum. We are committed to ensuring that whenever possible, books are chosen which reflect the cultural and religious identity of our children, as well the guidance of texts set out in the English programmes of study.
4.3 Global Citizenship
Global citizenship is taught through an integrated approach of carefully chosen themes that affirm and challenge our children’s understanding of the world including the learning of other cultures and eras. We teach topics in Science and Geography on sustainability and the collective responsibility we all share in protecting our planet. Finally, we use assemblies and community events to exercise our global responsibility particularly expressed through our value of service; to God, to each other and to all who cross our path.
4.4 Early Years
Early Years (EY) staff follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS2021). We also refer to the Development Matters and Birth to 5 Matters documents to guide our understanding of child development.
With the emphasis on ‘how’ children learn rather than ‘what’ they learn, Characteristics of Effective Learners can be encapsulate
- Playing, exploring and engagement - ‘Finding out and exploring, playing with what they know and being willing to have a go.’ This is about the thrill of learning.
- Active Learning, motivation - ‘Being involved and concentrating, keep trying enjoying achieving what they set out to do’. This is about the will of learning
- Creativity and Thinking Critically - ‘Having their own ideas, making links, choosing ways to do things’. This is about the skill of learning
The curriculum is made up of 7 areas of learning including three prime areas:
- Communication and language;
- Physical development;
- Personal, social and emotional development.
There are also four specific areas (through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied):
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the world
- Expressive arts and design
We have long and medium term plans in EY that broadly map the skills expected in each phase of development. However, this is not designed to form judgements on children as we know that rates of developments in children at this age vary.
4.5 Primary & Secondary
The primary and secondary curriculum are thematic, allowing pupils to explore themes through different subject lenses, making connections between the learning and enabling all pupils to find a way to thrive within the theme. Each year group has its own themes linked to our big idea; combining skills and knowledge from a variety of topics including English, Science, Geography, History, Art and Design & Technology. Other subjects such as Maths, PE and Computing link where possible but are mostly taught discreetly.
In order to ensure that progression and balance is maintained, the programmes of study are developed into long and medium term plans which clearly highlight the vertical and horizontal articulation of the curriculum. Weekly planning is then differentiated to the needs of each class; linking to prior learning and include activities to promote challenge as well as to scaffold. Teachers plan and tailor units of work and lessons to address the specific individual needs of pupils so that all pupils are able to achieve regardless of their starting point.
Staff are encouraged to plan collaboratively including meetings with SLT or Subject Leaders to build understanding of the curriculum and ensure that it is suitably adapted for our cohort and context.
