Our Cambridge Connected Curriculum & Digital Badges - Intent, Implementation, Impact

Our Curriculum Intention 

"We want our children to be happy and healthy today, fulfilled in the future and able to make their world an even better place." 

Curriculum Implementation

At Milton Road Primary School, we offer all pupils a rich, broad and balanced curriculum that not only meets the requirements of the National Curriculum and Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum, as well as the Cambridgeshire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education, but which also engages and enthuses all our learners through an irrisistable Learning Adventure. 

Our Cambridge Connected Curriculum uses our local area, our city and our world as starting points for the learning adventure. The themes for each term are mapped out to connect with the stories, people, places and trailblazers in the present and in the past as ways to help our young people to navigate the future.

Samuel Johnson said, “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.” We feel this is a good way to think about Cambridge and Greater Cambridge. There is so much on our doorstep, in the urban and rural landscape, which can be optimised to build knowledge, develop character and open windows into the rest of the world and future possibilities. We say, "If teachers give children the keys to the City they will never be tired of learning!"

Set around the four compass points our unique Cambridge Connected Curriculum offers a rounded, whole education that balances personal development (identity/south) creativity and communication (connection/east), academic rigour and cultural capital (adventure/west) with the voice, choice and agency of the child to be a positive changemaker. (citizenship/planet/north). The compass points also align with our four core values that make up the Mnemonic CREW - Courage, Responsibility, Excellence and Wisdom. We have recently also incorporated Michael Fullan's 6 Cs of Deep Learning - Character, Creativity, Collaboration, Citizenship, Communication, Critical Thinking, and we have added two more essential global skills of Compassion and Competence to complete all the points of the compass.

In addtion ours is a curriculum designed around the heart, hand, head and hope of human existence and incorporates 100 experiences in reference to Malaguzzi' 100 Languages of Childhood. From May 2025 all children in the school will be given a tangible map in thier own map case on a lanyard, so that they can tick off and recall the experiences they have enjoyed and the learning destinations they have visited.  These maps will not only serve as a beautiful souvenir for the children, but will also serve as an aide memoir to develop long term memory, to make neural connections and strenghen understanding.

Physical Maps for the Children to Hold, Explore and Treasure!

We were thrilled to be able to work with local Artist, Illustrator and Editor Emma Bennett to produce tangible maps that each child will receive at the start of each academic year. This will help them to map and memorise the amazing things they have experienced and will rexpereinces as part of their Learning Adventure. You can find out more about Emma Bennett HERE

Wehope that by having a physical map to hold onto year on year, the children will be able to build an acumulative mental map of their knowledge and a schema of understanding. This project took a number of years to complete and was launched on 23rd April 2025. 

Emma Bennett is the creator of The Cambridge Art Book, a fabulous collection of contemporary image from over 50 talented artists working in a mix of media. She is also the Editor for this series of Art Books.

Digital Badges For our Cambridge Connected Curriculum with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Region of Learning

We have been working with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Region of Learning and Navigatr to codify each learning experience to create digital badges as a portfolio that children will add to as they progress through the school on their learning adventure. To ensure that this is compliant and safe, the digital portfolio will be retained by the child's parents. Once children have completed an activity that is on the map, parents will be sent an email so that a digital badge can be claimed for their child.

As Milton Road is a Learning Community, digital badges are not only available for children but are also avaialble for adult learners. You can see the wide range of badges that are available for everyone in our school community by visiting our page on the Navigator website: Milton Road Primary - Digital Badges  

Aims, Ambition and Amplification of The Cambridge Connected Curriculum

Whilst our Cambridge Connected Curriculum has been designed primarily for the children, colleagues and community here at Milton Road Primary School, our ambition is for the ideas and principles to be amplified and shared more widely to benefit all children living in the Cambridge and Greater Cambridge area. Cambridge is often described as the "most unequal city in the country" and there is a significant divide in the life expectancy for residents dependent on where they live. Through the Cambridge Connected Curriculum, we want all our future citizens who currently attend our schools to feel that Cambridge belongs to them, that they have a strong feeing of connection to the City and urban landscape and that they can contribute positively to the City's future prosperity and well-being. If you feel you can help us to amplify and realise ths ambition, we would love to hear from you. Please email office@miltonroad.cambs.sch.uk 

Regional Aims of The Cambridge Connected Curriculum for Children and Young People

1. Mapping skills, knowledge and opportunites

2. Integrating new educational taxonomy and technology for learning

3. Bridging the education/employment gap

4. Strengthening connection and belonging, reducing inequality

Interactive websites that support our Cambridge Connected Curriculum

Capturing Cambridge https://capturingcambridge.org/

Museum of Cambridge https://www.museumofcambridge.org.uk/resources/schools/

History Works http://historyworks.tv/projects/2021/02/11/creating-my-cambridge/

Kettle's Yard https://www.kettlesyard.cam.ac.uk/

The Fitzwilliam Museum https://schools.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/modules/?mkeyword=&content-type=&subject=&age=primary

Curriculum Impact

Thanks to high quality teaching and an effective curriculum, our pupils make good academic progress in Reading, Writing and Maths throughout their time in our school, and score highly in the Statutory National Attainment Tests, (SATS) at the end of Year 6.

However, we know that this is only part of the story. In addition to achieving well academically our pupils also perform well in the Arts, Sports and Sciences including in Music, Design Technology, Drama, and Physical Education such as Dancing, Football, Netball and Gymnastics. From feedback from partner secondary schools and from parents we are told that our curriculum creates "all rounders" who not only perform well in exams but are confident, creative, innovative, articulate, kind, sociable and have excellent communication skills. 

Our Pedagogic Principles

Our pedagogy is our collective belief and understanding about what works best for children and what helps them to learn. We are a research informed school and a community of practice. Through dialogue and enquiry we problem solve, share and discuss the culture, conditions, environments, activities and approaches which are most effective in ensuring every child succeeds.

Our pedagogy is inspired by a great  deal or research and thinking, (which can be seen by clicking on the Colleague Pedagogic Principles Tab), including on the principles in the Early Years Framework: Unique Child, Positive Relationships, Enabling Environments. 

The compass design for our Cambridge Connected Curriculum captures these four ideas and our intended outcomes for our pupils:

South - Courageous Individual (Unique Child EYFS)

East - Excellent Friend (Positive Relationships EYFS)

West - Wise Learner (Learning & Development EYFS)

North - Responsible Citizen (Enabling Environments EYFS)

Personal Development

As mentioned above, our holistic curriculum is designed to educate the whole child. Personal Development is key to this. Through the planned, hidden and extra curriculum, children are learning about the world around them, how to behave, how to develop good social, moral, cultural and spiritual understanding, and how to be a good Citizen, ready to participate in life in Modern Britain. 

Schools have a statutory duty to prepare learners for life in modern Britain by: equipping them to be responsible, respectful, active citizens who contribute positively to society; developing their understanding of fundamental British values; developing their understanding and appreciation of diversity; celebrating what we have in common and promoting respect for the different protected characteristics as defined in law. To do this we use a range of resources including BBC Bite Size, Picture News and the No Outsiders Programme. 

In addition to the resources listed above Personal Development opportunities are woven into the fabric of our curriculum, culture, ethos and ways of working. In the document below we have started to collate examples of the learning opportunities and activities that contribute to our personal development curriculum. We have listed our offer under eleven categories. Please scroll the bar from left to right to see all eleven areas. 

Skills Builder - Essential Skills

As per our Curriculum Design, we want our provision to be holistic, so that children acquire both knowledge and skills. We know that essential skills are vital to ensure that our children have all the confidence, resilience, creativity and strength of character to be happy and healthy today and fulfilled in the future including in their educational next steps and future careers. 

Milton Road is proud to be a Skills Builder School and we align our four values of Courage, Responsibility, Excellence and Wisdom with the eight essential skills areas of the Skills Builder Universal Framework.These are Listening and Speaking, Problem Solving and Creativity, Staying Positive and Aiming High, Leadership and Teamwork. 

Indoor and Outdoor Environments

"Have nothing in your classroom, you don't know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." with thanks to William Morris

Milton Road Primary School is an attractive building set in beautiful grounds. With a large field, orchards, playgrounds, a kitchen garden, a Library opened by Michael Rosen and an attractive central courtyard there are many lovely spaces for children to work, rest, learn and play. 

Taking Kettle's Yard as our inspiration, the indoor environments are calm, clutter free and purposefully oriented to maximise the positive experience for the children and successful outcomes for their learning. 

The National Curriculum, Programmes of Study and Currciulum Implimetation 

The school ensures it meet the statutary requirements of the National Curriculum which sets out the skills, knowledge, understanding and expected levels of achievement to be acquired in each subject at Key Stage 1 (Years 1–2) and Key Stage 2 (Years 3–6). The core subjects are: English (reading and writing), Maths, and Science.

You can find out more about how our school implements our curriculum intention by visiting our Subject Leadership Programmes of Study page.