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Our Enquiry Approach

‘Curriculum should help children make deeper and fuller understanding of their own experience.’ Lilian Katz
At St John's Church of England Academy, we are passionate about enquiry-led learning and have been developing an enquiry-led curriculum with an emphasis on the specific knowledge and skills needed to meet the demands of the National Curriculum.
Through the delivery of our curriculum, we aspire for the children to be
articulate, aspirational, curious and appreciative.
Throughout their time at St John’s Church of England Academy, the children follow multiple lines-of-enquiry in order to answer specific questions. Our enquiry questions are challenging and by focusing their learning around a question, it allows the children to speak fluently and coherently about a given subject.
Enquiries have a specific subject focus, such as science or history, but provide rich cross-curricular opportunities within them. 

Here are some examples of our current enquiry questions:

Geography History Art and Design Design & Technology Science
The Wye and The Severn:
Are they English or Welsh rivers?
(Year 5)
 
Are all countries in Europe the same?
(Year 4/5)
Who is Richard Daniels and
why is he important?
(Year 1 / 2)
 
Did the Great War and
World War Two impact
the Forest of Dean in the same way?
(Year 6)
Is digital art real art?
(Year 3)
 
'Have nothing in your
house that you do not
know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.'
Do you agree?
(Year 5)
How could miners transport
their coal? 
(Year 3)
 
What is the best material to use
for a bird box?
(Year 5)
Why don't all the planets float away?
(Year 4 / 5)
 
Is one part of the circulatory system more important than another?
(Year 6)
All enquiries start with a discussion of the new question, giving children the opportunity to link prior or related learning as well as giving them the opportunity to start asking questions related to their new learning. Each enquiry finishes with a challenge that allows the children to showcase their learning.
We want to give the children at St John’s Church of England Academy the opportunity to think about their own identity and how it may be shaped by their locality. Where possible, we formulate enquiry questions that are related to their locality and thus it allows us to make their learning relevant, purposeful and specifically linked to them. This is further enhanced through our link to the Foresters’ Forest Projects.
Foresters' Forest
          Belonging          Perseverance          Respect          Forgiveness          Truth          Aspiration