CUSP is a central curriculum strategy that outlines core content in a spaced and interleaved sequence for History, Geography, Science and Art. This is made up of a long term sequence that is supported by evidence-led learning modules and high-quality teaching resources that clearly outline what pupils should know, be able to do and remember at key points in their Primary education.
All CUSP subjects have been built around evidence-led practice. This document summarises and directs the principles and practice that leads to excellence in the classroom.
Guiding research and evidence
- Sweller’s cognitive load theory
- Rosenshine’s principles of instruction guided by Cain and Oakhill’s vocabulary instruction
- Fiorella and Mayer’s generative learning practice
Curriculum principles
- Our ambition is to erode deficits in cultural capital.
- Our priority is to improve teaching through evidence-led structure and practice, so that all children get amazing teaching.
- Our end goal is for all children to succeed, regardless of their starting points. CUSP is deliberately designed to give our children the tools and provision to know more, do more and learn more.
CUSP subjects have been built around a clearly defined set of curriculum drivers that infuse all subjects. Schools will evolve these to ensure that the provision is successful in addressing needs within their own context and cohorts. For example, knowledge of the world may be a chosen as a driver because pupils have limited experiences beyond their estate or city.
Within CUSP, we have defined the content that pupils will learn, subject by subject. These are the headlines for the sequence. We have designed a cumulative curriculum structure, ensuring prior knowledge is always a pre-cursor to a study. Teachers can then make skilful connections to prior knowledge as they are aware of the previous studies, over time, and they make the most of the Big ideas maps that we use to navigate the sequence of the study.
Curriculum structure of CUSP
The way we have decided to map and sequence curriculum connections
Prior learning is mapped into every CUSP learning module to show and remind teachers of the previous provision pupils may have encountered. This enables teachers to orchestrate meaningful retrieval and connect past learning. This has an added benefit of giving new learning an organised place to be stored in the memory, and therefore retrieved.
In the long-term sequence, we have deliberately planned relevant inter-subject connections that complement each other. For example, Rocks before Stone Age in Y3.
Spaced retrieval practice has been incorporated to ensure areas of study are revisited, deepened and sophisticated. Some areas of the NC Science are very content heavy. These need revisiting for clarification and sophistication. An example of this can be seen in Year 1 through the revisiting of Animals, including humans to secure and deepen the foundational knowledge.
- Core knowledge is defined and articulated across subjects through a focused teaching sequence that is coherent, interleaved and built around spaced retrieval practice. The BIG ideas maps help teachers and pupils see the complete learning sequence. These are also useful for parents to support home learning and engage with meaningful questions.
- Knowledge organisers convey the essential knowledge in one place to reduce the split-attention effect. Tier 3 vocabulary and word generation are developed within the core concepts that the knowledge organiser projects. Knowledge notes support each lesson, conveying concepts and vocabulary. They are used to elaborate on the core concepts and content. Knowledge notes redefine the purpose of pupil books. Children use their books to retrieve and reuse prior knowledge. Knowledge notes also scaffold and support the selection, organisation and integration of new understanding. These strategies strengthen cognitive connections, deepen learning and increase procedural and conceptual fluency.
- Resources are dual coded and designed to support easy retrieval. The use of contrasting black, simple icons is deliberate. Words and icons are designed to support decoding, use, connection and analysis of core vocabulary and concepts.
- Vocabulary is mapped across Y1 – Y6 for Science, geography and history. It includes Tier 2 and Tier 3 words as well as etymology, morphology, colloquialism and idioms for each learning module.
- Each study sequence is planned lesson by lesson using a question to focus the learning. Foundational knowledge is identified as an essential component within the sequence of learning.
- We use cumulative questions. These are designed to test the understanding of the taught content, lesson by lesson. They are repeatable and reusable. They also are used to ease the forgetting curve and enable quick retrieval after dialogue and conversation that prime the memory. Lesson by lesson questions enable teachers to know where strengths and misconceptions appear before the end of the study. At the end of a study, pupils will respond and answer the full quiz to show what they know. This final quiz represents all the questions encountered and summarises learning for individuals and the class, then shared with subject leaders.
