Curriculum Aims
“Pupils have very positive attitudes towards learning”
Ofsted 2012
Our most important aim is to help EACH CHILD to develop his/her potential to the full in a caring environment which always promotes excellence of performance.
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In our school we will aim to provide a curriculum which will cover the National Curriculum as appropriate, and be as broad and stimulating as the accommodation and resources allow. All children have the right of access to different areas of knowledge and skills so the school curriculum will cover a full range of meaningful learning experiences, which the children will meet both formally and informally during their time in the school.
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They will experience our school as a caring and supportive environment, where there is equal opportunity regardless of sex, race, culture or any form of disability. As all children are individuals the teaching needs to be organised to match their age, aptitude, ability and learning style.
Our curriculum will help children:-
- to acquire knowledge and skills relevant to adult life so that they can play a useful part in their community;
- to develop lively enquiring minds, capable of independent thought;
- to develop the ability to question and argue rationally and apply themselves to tasks;
- to experience a sense of achievement through the study and application of language, literature, mathematics, science, technology, geography, history, art, music and physical pursuits;
- to have a respect for other people and an understanding of their religions and beliefs;
- to experience responsibility appropriate to their age and maturity and have opportunities to exercise judgement;
- to be happy in body, mind and soul;
- to love lifelong learning.
In drawing up the School’s policy statements and schemes of work, teachers conform to the National Curriculum and are advised by Local Authority Inspectors and advisory teachers.
Formal National Curriculum subjects are as follows:
Core Subjects:
English, Mathematics, Science, ICT
Foundation Subjects:
Geography, History, Design Technology, Information Technology, Relationship and Sex Education Music, Art, Physical Education, Outdoor Education, Religious Education, Personal Health and Social Education and Spanish.
We believe that children should receive a broad and balanced curriculum, with great emphasis placed on the teachings of Maths and English. We use the National Primary Frameworks, adapting them to the needs and interests of the children. We use day
to day teacher observations and quality marking techniques to assess pupil progress, tempering these with in timetests. These assessments are used to plan specific work for the child and set relevant half termly targets, which are shared with children and parents.
We are currently developing a thematic curriculum overview that takes account of skills, knowledge and learning styles including visual, auditory, kinaesthetic learning, material intelligence and the building learning power philosophy.
The curriculum is planned as a whole school policy with full staff participation followed by further detailed planning by the teachers within each year group.
The majority of the curriculum is delivered by the class teacher in mixed ability classes. However, some children who have language, reading difficulties or other challenges may receive additional help from support assistants in small groups for a portion of the week.
At all times the teacher will match the work to the ability of the children in their class using a variety of teaching methods. At times the children will be taught as a class, in groups or individually. Every child receives a personal termly target for reading, writing and maths.
The whole school meets for collective worship either as a whole school or in year groups. This sees the study of religion as enriching, providing insights into cultures found both in Britain and in the wider world. We recognise this diversity in our own children too but we abide by the 1993 Education Act which specifies Christianity is studied in the greatest detail. Any parent wishing to withdraw a child from collective worship or religious education has the right to do so. All classes will lead one performance each year which parents are invited to watch. We believe learning to be best when it has a practical, purposeful and meaningful outcome.
Indoor physical education is provided in our sports hall; team games and athletics on our playing fields; participation in inter-school sport is also encouraged. For one term of the year the children in Year 3 have the use of swimming facilities at a local school and are transported by coach in normal curriculum time.
The school puts emphasis on learning by first hand experience so the children are offered a wide range of educational visits and residential experiences including outward bound type activities. We have developed the outdoor classroom utilising our fabulous outdoor learning space. Outdoor Learning lessons see our curriculum taken outside (whatever the weather!) enabling the children to experience and interact with the environment and wildlife around them. Through creative lessons the children are able to let their imagination flourish whether it is creating a tree character, having calculated the age of the tree, imagining they are foraging for World War II bomber planes or using natural resources to solve mathematical problems.
As part of the children’s exploring time, they are encouraged to (wearing the appropriate clothing) wade through mud, climb trees, build dens, scavenge the woodland and generally interact with their environment. Through their outdoor learning experience, the children gain the ability to make their own considered choices and look after themselves and each other. This contributes to developing their increased self esteem and enables them to be thoughtful team players as well as rounded individuals. Our drama studio offers children the opportunity to explore a variety of times and places through drama. These are always closely related to the National Curriculum and the programmes of study which the children are following in their classroom activities.
We find that residential trips provide valuable experience for the children socially as well as linking usefully to their curriculum. For a number of years Year 5 children have had the chance of a stay in York and Year 6 the opportunity of staying at an Outdoor Activity Centre near Welshpool. We are also able to offer Year 4 a camping experience at Blackwell Court, with Year 3 having a ‘camp out’ on the school field.
There are a variety of extra-curriculum activities available to the children during lunchtime or after school. The list is subject to variation according to the time and
skills available by both parents and teaching staff. Most frequent are:
Choir, Cookery Club (Year 3 only), Chess Club, Sculpture Club, Photography Club, Athletics, Hand Chimes, Football, Netball, Tennis, Squash and Judo.
