Primary Curriculum and Creative Learning By Dimensions

Thursday, Feb 23rd

Last update03:18:23 PM GMT

The Dimensions Skills Ladder is an essential part of the Dimensions Creative Curriculum Toolkit.

It can also be used as a stand-alone resource, assisting with curriculum design to ensure focus on permanent, transferable skills. The focus of teaching and learning is then directed towards processes as well as outcomes.

The Dimensions Skills Ladder provides comprehensive coverage of all skills by Curriculum Area (with subjects grouped) and by Year Group, covering Nursery to Year 6.
The skills from the Skills Ladder are mapped in with the curriculum themes used in the Dimensions Model, making it easy to chart progression and continuity across each phase and within each theme.
A set of Cross-Curricular Skills are provided to help equip pupils with the tools for effective, generic learning. These skills also come in the form of ‘I can’ statements. As there is a main focus on developing creativity within Dimensions,
we have also included a skills set which is not subject-bound and, when applied across the curriculum, will help to nurture the overall creativity of pupils. These skills are grouped under headings commonly recognised as key creative elements:

Imagination with purpose

Originality

Value

The Skills Ladder pack comes in download format containing the following:- Curriculum Areas, Year groups, Creativity and Lifelong Learning skills. The files in each section contain all the Skills Ladder content in Microsoft Word format for ease of use, allowing you to copy and adapt for planning purposes. You can also purchase, as extra resources, a hard copy of the contents on CD-ROM and a spiral bound Skills Ladder book. For prices see below.

The Dimensions Skills Ladder Tracking and Assessment System has been designed in direct response to requests from schools. It can be purchased in addition to the Dimensions Toolkit or in conjunction with the Skills Ladder. It is not available as a stand-alone resource.

It serves two main purposes:-

To track coverage - it provides teachers with a clear view of skills taught over the course of the year
To assess individual (or group) pupil progress - all curriculum areas are covered, making target-setting much easier

Organised into year groups to match directly with the Dimensions Skills Ladder, the pre-populated tracking sheets enable teachers to use our simple colour-coding system to monitor both coverage and achievement. The system is both meaningful and manageable and provides a practical way to apply Assessment for Learning across the curriculum.

The Skills Ladder Assessment and Tracking System comes in download format. You can also purchase a hard copy CD-ROM for an extra £7.95*. The files in each section contain all content in Microsoft Excel format for ease of use.

For prices see below.

Curriculum Area Skills

The Subject Skills included under the Curriculum Areas are particularly helpful for curriculum subject leaders who are looking to monitor progression and continuity across phases and year groups. They are a useful tool for assessing progress within their subject or Curriculum Area.

Subjects included under the Curriculum Areas are:-

Expressive Arts - Art, Dance, Drama, Music
Science and Technology - Design Technology and Science
Place and Time - Geography, History
Faith and Community - R.E., Citizenship
Mathematics - Maths
Communication - English, MFL, ICT
Health and Wellbeing - Physical Education, Personal Wellbeing

The Curriculum Areas each have an overarching skills set which is not subject specific but actually connects the subjects within the Curriculum Area.

We have devised a simple way of organising skills using these headings, as appropriate to each Curriculum Area:-

Investigation
Observation
Application

Recognise
Reflect
Respond

Year Group Skills

The Year Group Skills Ladder is organised into two parts:-

The Early Years Foundation Stage section covers Nursery and Reception skills, using the EYFS headings within the six Areas of Learning which are:-

Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)
Communication, Language and Literacy (CLL)
Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy (PSRN)
Knowledge and Understanding of the World (KUW)
Physical Development (PD)
Creative Development (CD)

The skills are number coded using an abbreviated prefix eg. KUW24 and clearly highlighted Early Learning Goals are included within the Reception year group ladder, as well as Foundation Stage Profile reference numbers.

The Primary National Curriculum Section covers Year 1 to Year 6.

It assists teachers with differ entiation and target-setting for individual pupils. For example, if a Year 4 child was particularly gifted in science then it would be appropriate to look at the Year 5 science Skills Ladder to help extend and develop their abilities.
Each skill is number coded eg. Da3 (Dance 3) to make it easier to track pupils across each year group.

Creativity Skills Ladder

As there is a focus on creativity within Dimensions itself, we have included a skills set for these commonly recognised elements of creativity:-

Imagination with purpose
Originality
Value

These are not subject bound, are arranged within year groups and, when applied across the curriculum, will help to nurture the overall creativity of pupils.

Skills for Learning

A concise set of Lifelong Learning Skills are provided to help equip pupils with the tools for effective, generic learning. These skills also come in the form of ‘I can’ statements.