Designing a primary knowledge-rich curriculum: Where we’ve been, where we are, where we are going

Original Research

Written by: Dannielle V Dennis and James Kilsby

Published on: September 12, 2018

6 min read

Cottenham Primary School’s (CPS) 2015 Ofsted inspection resulted in a ‘requires improvement’ rating, necessarily leading towards a refocused vision for the school. In 2016, James was invited to a series of meetings that encouraged his focus on the school’s curriculum, specifically on building a knowledge-rich curriculum. With much of the conversation around knowledge-rich curricula largely centred on secondary schools, we made the decision to study the content and pedagogical knowledge that primary teachers needed in order to successfully implement a knowledge-rich curriculum at Cottenham Primary School. The school earned a ‘good’ rating in 2017, and we began this study shortly thereafter. Knowledge-rich curricula are based on the belief that ‘... some knowledge is more powerful than others, that this is knowledge which should be in the curriculum and that all pupils have an entitlement to it’ (Moore, 2013). This entitlement places subject knowledge at the forefront

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This article was published in September 2018 and reflects the terminology and understanding of research and evidence in use at the time. Some terms and conclusions may no longer align with current standards. We encourage readers to approach the content with an understanding of this context.