Curriculum Policy

Introduction

We are committed to developing all aspects of pupils’ lives. Our school curriculum encapsulates our commitment to this statement,

“Striving Together for a Brighter Tomorrow”

“Nothing is as vast as our children’s potential”

The curriculum is planned activities that are organised in such a way as to promote learning and personal growth and development. It includes, not only the formal requirements of the national curriculum, but also a range of extra-curricular activities that the school organises in order to enrich the experiences of the children. It also includes the ‘hidden curriculum’ or what the children learn from the way they are treated and are expected to behave. We aim to teach children how to grow into positive, responsible people, who can work and co-operate with others while developing knowledge and skills, so that they can achieve their true potential.

Values

Our school curriculum is underpinned by the values of our school. The curriculum is the means by which the school achieves its objective of educating children in the knowledge and skills needed to achieve their true potential.

Our school is in full agreement with values statement included in the introduction to the National Curriculum handbook for Primary Teachers in England. The following are the main values of our school on which we have based our curriculum.

• We value the way in which all children are unique and our curriculum promotes respect for the views of each individual child as well as for people of all cultures.

• We value the spiritual and moral development of each person as well as their full potential and physical growth.

• We value the importance of each person in our community and so we organise our curriculum so that it promotes co-operation and understanding between all members of our community.

• We value the rights enjoyed by each person in our society.

• We respect each child in our school for who they are and we treat them with fairness and honesty.

• We aim to enable each person to be successful and provide equal opportunities for all the children in our school.

• We value our environment and we aim, through our curriculum, to teach for our world and how we should care for it - for the future generation as well as own.

Aims and Objectives

The aims of our school are:

• To enable all children to learn and develop skills to their best ability.

• To promote a positive attitude towards learning, so that children enjoy coming to school and acquire a solid basis for lifelong learning.

• To teach children the basic skills of Literacy, Numeracy and Information Technology.
• To enable children to be creative and to develop their own thinking.

• To teach children about the developing world, including how their own environment and society has changed over time.

• To help children understand Britain’s cultural heritage.
• To enable children to be positive citizens in society.

• To fulfil all the requirements of the National Curriculum and the locally agree syllabus for Religious Education.

• To teach children to have an awareness of their spiritual development and to understand right from wrong.

• To help understand the importance of truth and fairness.

• To enable children to have respect for themselves and others; to have high self-esteem; and to be able to live and work co-operatively so they grow up committed to equal opportunity for all.

Organisation and Planning

We plan our curriculum in three phases.

First is the Long Term Plan which is agreed for each Key Stage. This plan indicates what topic is to be taught in each term. We review our long term plan on an annual basis.

Next our Medium Term Plans break down each term into weekly overviews for all subjects. The school follows the National Curriculum in Mathematics and English and uses schemes to ensure total coverage (Busy Ants Maths Scheme, Oxford Reading Tree Handwriting and Spelling, T4W and Quality Text reading lessons). The school also uses the National Curriculum to plan the foundation subjects adapting them as needed to suit the needs of our children.

Our Short Term Plans are those that our teachers write on a weekly basis. We use these to set our learning objectives for each session and to identify the resources and activities we going to use in the lesson. We are beginning to make clear links with ICT in lessons to support and enhance the work in class. The short term plans are effective working documents. Teachers amend the plans in light of the work completed that day and make relevant notes to inform future planning at the bottom of the page in English and Mathematics.

In the Foundation Stage we adapt an inter-disciplinary topic approach to curriculum planning. We plan the curriculum carefully, so that there is coherence and full coverage of all aspects of the National Curriculum and Early Learning Goals and there is planned progression in all curriculum areas.

At Key Stage 1 and 2 the curriculum at our school places a greater emphasis on the core and foundation subjects separately.

Over three terms of the academic year, each child will have the opportunity to experience the full range of National Curriculum subjects.

Inclusion

The curriculum in our school is designed to provide access and opportunity for all children who attend the school. If we think it necessary to adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of individual children, then we do so only after the parents of the child have been consulted.

If a child has a special need, our school does all it can to meet those individual needs. We take

into consideration the requirements set out in the SEN Code of Practice in providing for children

with special needs. If a child displays sighs of having additional needs the teacher informs the

SENCO at a weekly meeting. The teacher begins to differentiate the work, informs the parent

and completes a record of concern. In most instances the teacher is able to provide resources

and educational opportunities which meet the child’s needs within the normal class organisation.

If the child’s needs require greater provision, we consider the next stage of support “School

Action” and then “School Action Plus” moving towards an Education Healthcare Plan (EHCP).

We involve the appropriate external agencies when making this assessment. We provide

additional resources and support for children with special needs.

Staff work with the SENCO to write an EHCP or provision map for each of the children who are put on the special needs register. These set out the nature of the special need, and outlines how the school will aim to address the need. It also sets out targets for improvement so that we can review and monitor the progress of each child at regular intervals.

Inclusion

We aim to be an effective school in which all pupils, whatever their educational needs or personal circumstances, experience a curriculum that is fully inclusive. We offer a curriculum that is broad, balanced and that provides effective opportunities for all children to learn and achieve their true potential.

We use key principles that relate to how teachers plan and teach the curriculum through:

• Setting suitable learning challenges
• Responding to pupils diverse learning needs

• Overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individual and groups of pupils.

We have high expectations of all our children in an educational, social and behavioural capacity.

We aim to provide positive role models.

The Foundation Stage

The curriculum that we teach in the Reception and Nursery classes meet the requirements set out in the revised National Curriculum at the Foundation stage. Our curriculum planning focuses on the Early Learning Goals and on developing children’s skills and the experiences of the children in their pre-school learning.

Continuous assessment is carried out through profiles from Nursery.

We know that children need support of parents and teachers to make good progress in school. We strive to build positive links with the parents of each child by keeping them informed about the way in which the children are being taught and how well their child is progressing. Annual meetings are held for prospective Reception parents in the summer term. There are three formal opportunities to meet with parents during the course of the year to discuss pupil progress.

PHSE and Citizenship

PHSE plays a valuable and essential part in the development of the whole child. PHSE provides opportunities for pupils to explore personal issues and to confront sensitive issues such as