Statutory Requirements
A new National Curriculum for Primary Schools came into law from September 2014. You can find the full document here -
Children in Reception follow the requirements of the 'Early Years Foundation Stage Framework'. You can find the full document here -
From September 2020, it is also now statutory for primary schools to provide Relationships and Health Education. This requirement can be found here -
At Blofield we promote British Values of tolerance, understanding of different faiths, democracy and the rule of law through our curriculum, assemblies and school ethos. This requirement can be found here -
All aspects of our curriculum are accessible to all children, irrespective of their ethnic background, gender, disability, religious or linguistic background. We strive hard to meet the needs of those pupils with special educational needs, those with disabilities, those who are more able, those with special gifts and talents and the children who are learning English as an additional language. We provide a rich, challenging curriculum, which stretches all of our children. Staff are aware of children who have exceptional talents and gifts and monitor or track their progress carefully to ensure their academic potential or talent is continually developed. For further details see separate policies: Inclusion, More Able, Gifted and Talented.
Intent
At Blofield Primary we treat each child as a unique individual and support them to develop a love of learning through a rich, ambitious and broad curriculum which encourages them to ask questions and embrace challenge. Our curriculum is inclusive for all learners and is carefully planned and sequenced to build on prior learning and progress towards clear learning goals.
Underpinning our curriculum are our Blofield values - Fairness, Respect, Challenge, Perseverance and Thoughtfulness. With these in mind, we aim to provide children with the skills, knowledge and cultural capital to succeed into the next step in their education and for their futures. When they leave our school, our children know their place in the community and as a citizen of GB, able to forge and sustain positive relationships with their peers and adults. All children throughout their time with us experience visits from authors, musicians and artists and well planned local visits plus a wide variety of clubs and enrichment during the school day and afterwards.
Our learning environments develop creative and independent learners who are motivated, resilient and engaged. Our school is a learning community, in which all children and adults are continuously engaged in developing and extending their own learning. This highly inclusive curriculum enables pupils to flourish in a happy, fun and safe environment.
Design
We have just changed from a two year rolling curriculum to a one year curriculum. Our new curriculum has been carefully designed and sequenced for clear progression in learning, with lesson planning itself based on our whole school progression documents for each subject.
The curriculum has been designed in order to ensure subject progression of knowledge (concepts) and skills across all areas of the curriculum; with all learning underpinned by strong subject knowledge to ensure teaching is developmental and builds on the prior learning of pupils.
Science, history and geography are now organised around key enquiry questions in order to promote curiosity, independence, self-confidence and ownership over the learning journey. As part of this, our children will be entitled to a variety of experiences to ensure that the learning connects to purpose, context and real-life application. Our children are encouraged to make links across subjects in order to broaden their general knowledge and understanding of the world around them.
Vocabulary development plays an important part in our curriculum structure. We want our children to understand language and specific terminology in context and be able to communicate in a range of settings and situations. Vocabulary is taught progressively and specifically across subjects and year groups.
Implementation
National Curriculum subjects are taught to the children through school wide cross-curricular topics (see below) broken down into half-termly blocks. The overview of these is shared with parents through our Topic Webs, supported by Knowledge Organisers, which are posted on the Class Pages.
We use a mix of teaching techniques including whole class teaching, child-centred learning, and individual and group work. This mixed, flexible approach can be adapted according to the needs of our children. Our teachers have a good knowledge of the subjects they teach and attend regular training, sharing good practice with the rest of the staff.
We present subject matter clearly and in sequence, check prior learning as a starting point and enable learners to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts. Teachers check understanding systematically throughout lessons, identify misconceptions accurately and provide clear feedback.
Teachers use regular informal assessments, such as double page spreads and quizzes to inform teaching and to gauge when children are ready to move on. Teachers also use our foundation subject assessments, and more standardised assessments such as Star Reader, PIRA (Progress in Reading) and White Rose Maths to support the PITA (point in time) assessments made on Pupil Asset (tracking system).
Teachers create an environment that allows our children to focus on learning. Resources and materials reflect ambitious intentions for study and support the delivery of a coherently planned curriculum, sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge and skills for future learning.
We have a rigorous approach to teaching of reading as we realise the importance of reading fluency to access the curriculum fully.
Enquiry questions are devised for each topic and children are encouraged to ask further questions to support the direction of their learning journey.
Impact
We use regular and robust triangulated monitoring to evaluate the impact of our curriculum design. Subject leaders undertake book looks, talk with our children and provide feedback to move practice forward. We ensure that our children's attainment and progress are in line with or exceeding their potential. We measure this using national data (where appropriate), Pupil Asset data and monitoring evidence. Our curriculum ensures that we develop well-rounded citizens with a clear understanding of our Blofield values. Our new curriculum addresses wider imbalances of gender equality, ethnic diversity and negative stereotyping. Through careful planning and use of resources, eg book choices, we promote acceptance, diversity, citizenship, British Values and human rights. Our curriculum enables our children to demonstrate resilience and motivation, and a growth mindset when faced with different types of challenge. They develop attitudes and dispositions to make a positive contribution to the world.
Key Stage 1 & 2 Topics Headings.
Once Upon a Time
Let There Be Light
Around the World
Mission .........
Change the World
There and Back Again
For more information about what your child is learning please see the class pages for half termly planning or ask your child's class teacher.
In Reception the children follow a curriculum which emphasises active learning through play and exploration. We recognise the importance of creativity and critical thinking in helping children to make sense of their environment and discover new and better ways of doing things. The children lead their own learning through child initiated play, using the resources provided. During this time the practitioners use their expertise to develop children’s ideas and encourage them to work together. Observations are made during this time to plan for the children’s next steps for learning. There is also time allocated each day for adult led learning tasks. This includes both whole class and small group activities. The teaching staff set up and lead activities designed to fulfil planned learning objectives and develop particular skills. Our outside learning environment allows for the flow of learning all year round.
At Blofield Primary School, we believe in developing a reading culture throughout the school. The school library hosts a variety of books and we raise the profile of reading through a print rich environment, attractive book displays and promoting the written word at all times.
In Foundation Stage and Key Stage One the children are taught to read using the “Letters and Sounds” programme, supported by Jolly Phonics. This programme teaches children to decode text phonetically by introducing them to different phonemes (sounds) step by step.
“Letters and Sounds” takes children through six Phases, with children typically moving through Phases 1-4 during Reception, and then onto Phase 5 and 6 throughout Year 1 and 2. Phase 1 prepares children for hearing the sounds by practising their listening skills. Phase 2 introduces the initial sounds and double consonants. Children also begin to segment sounds and blend them together to read words. Phase 3 introduces sounds made up of two letters e.g. “oo”. Phase 4 consolidates these sounds and the children practise segmenting and blending longer words. Phase 5 introduces alternative ways to spell different sounds e.g. “ay” in “day” and “ai” in “rain”. Phase 6 introduces various spelling patterns which help children to spell more accurately using their phonic knowledge. Throughout these phases children are introduced to certain “tricky” words that cannot be sounded out. These are also called “High-Frequency Words” which the children will come into contact with regularly in their reading.
The children are taught in whole-class teaching sessions, and each session goes through a Revisit – Teach – Practise – Apply format so the children are able to consolidate their learning in a pacey, engaging style. Children are closely monitored to assess their learning and they are also assessed termly to check their progress, with teaching adjusted accordingly.
We also have a large selection of ‘book banded’ texts available in our Key Stage 1 area. Children are matched to a colour band in accordance with their reading ability and are free to select a two books at a time to take home on a daily basis. This is assessed regularly to ensure children are reading within the correct colour band.
In Key Stage 2, children use Accelerated Reader to monitor their reading progress and to support them in selecting books that are the right level of challenge for them. After reading a book, children take a short online quiz to measure how much of the book they have understood. Accelerated Reader gives both children and teachers feedback based on the quiz results, which teachers then use to set targets and direct ongoing reading practice to help children.
Children begin their Accelerated Reader journey by completing a Star Reading test which provides a range of information about a child’s reading ability. This information is then used to provide children with a book level range to choose from which corresponds with the fiction and nonfiction books we have in our school library. Children choose their own books to read, rather than having one assigned to them which makes reading a much more enjoyable experience as they can choose books that they are interested in.
We regularly update our library to provide a vast range of fiction and nonfiction that is on Accelerated Reader; however, if parents would like to check books outside of school and see if they are on Accelerated Reader, they can visit https://www.arbookfind.co.uk/.
Parents are an integral part in the children’s ‘reading journey’. We encourage children to read at home on a daily basis and communication between school and home is recorded in a ‘Reading Record’. To promote reading at home, we have a raffle every Friday where if children have read every day during the week, their name is entered into the raffle. A separate ticket is drawn for Reception/Key Stage 1 and another for Key Stage 2 and the winners select a book each as a prize. We provide a range of valuable opportunities during the school day for children to practise reading, whether this is independently or with an adult. We are very lucky to have some brilliant volunteers in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 who provide support with 1:1 reading.
To find out more follow:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letters-and-sounds
http://jollylearning.co.uk/overview-about-jolly-phonics/