At Blofield Primary School we teach a broad and balanced curriculum that is exciting, fun and imaginative. Walk through any of our classrooms and you can expect to find children engaged in thinking, questioning and learning.
We follow the requirements of the 2014 National Curriculum (you can find the full document at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum) and Norfolk Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education through our Blofield Curriculum.
We make meaningful links for the children between subjects and reinforce key literacy and maths skills across the curriculum. This includes extended writing opportunities and planned opportunities for Maths experiences, to supplement the daily discrete Maths lessons. Children experience high quality specialist teaching in Music, PE and Modern Foreign languages to enhance and broaden their learning. We seek to promote British Values of tolerance, understanding of different faiths, democracy and the rule of law through our taught curriculum and promotion of the Blofield Values of Fairness, Respect, Perseverance, Challenge and Thoughtfulness.
The Blofield Curriculum is organised around 6 overarching topics per year which Key Stage 1 & 2 follow.
For 2020/21 these are:
There and Back Again
Let There Be Light
Eureka!
Grand Designs
Change the World
The Great Outdoors
(See class pages for Medium Term Plans)
Children in the Early Years (Reception) follow the requirements of ‘Early Years Foundation Stage Framework’. You can find the full document at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework–2
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/