Curriculum Information

'Working and Growing Together'

Curriculum Policy

Introduction

Our school's curriculum is all the planned activities that we organise in order to promote learning, and personal growth and development. It includes not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum, but also the various extended-curricular activities that the school organises in order to enrich each child's experience. It also includes the 'hidden curriculum' – what the children learn from the way they are treated and expected to behave. We want children to grow into positive, responsible people, who can work and cooperate with others while at the same time developing their knowledge and skills, in order to achieve their true potential.

 We endorse the aspirations concerning the curriculum that are set out in the DCSF document Excellence and Enjoyment 2003, and we seek the highest standards of attainment for all our children. We also value the breadth of the curriculum that we provide. We aim to foster creativity in our children, and to help them become independent learners. Above all, we believe in making learning fun.

Values

Our school curriculum is underpinned by the values that we hold dear at our school. The curriculum is the means by which the school achieves its objective of educating children in the knowledge, skills and understanding that they need in order to lead fulfilling lives.

• We value children's uniqueness, we listen to the views of individual children, and we promote respect for diverse cultures.
• We value the spiritual and moral development of each person, as well as their intellectual and physical growth.
• We value the importance of each person in our community, and we organise our curriculum to promote inclusion, cooperation and understanding among 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 want to enable each person to be successful, and we provide equal opportunities for all our pupils.
• We will strive to meet the needs of all our children, and to ensure that we meet all statutory requirements regarding inclusion.
• We value our environment, and we want to teach our pupils, through our curriculum, how we should take care of the world, not only for ourselves, but also for future generations.

Curriculum Intent Statement

The intent of our school curriculum is to design a curriculum which is accessible to all and that will maximise the development of every child’s ability and academic achievement. The aims of our curriculum are:

• To enable all children to learn, and develop their skills, to the best of their 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, mathematics and computing;
• To provide planned opportunities for children to apply the basic skills across the curriculum;
• To enable children to be creative and to develop their own thinking;
• To teach children about the developing world, including how their environment and society have changed over time;
• To help children understand Britain's cultural heritage;
• To appreciate and value the contribution made by all ethnic groups in our multi-cultural society;
• To enable children to be positive citizens;
• To fulfil all the requirements of the National Curriculum and the Locally Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education;
• To teach children to have an awareness of their own spiritual development, and to distinguish right from wrong;
• To help children understand the importance of truth and fairness, so that they grow up committed to equal opportunities for all;
• To enable children to have respect for themselves and high self-esteem, and to live and work cooperatively with others.

Key Skills

As well as ensuring that our pupils develop the skills and knowledge set out within the National Curriculum and fulfil their academic potential school also strives to develop 6 key skills which we feel are relevant to the pupils at Fitzwilliam Primary School. These Key skills are

• Collaboration
• Independence
• Resilience
• Communication
• Leadership
• Enthusiasm

School endeavours to develop these skills alongside the formal curriculum through providing challenging learning which enables children to take risks to deepen their understanding and build their skills as learners.

Organisation and planning

We plan our curriculum in three phases. We agree a long-term plan for year group. This indicates what themes are to be taught in each term, and to which groups of children. We review this long-term plan on an annual basis.

Through our medium-term plans, we give clear guidance on the objectives and teaching strategies for each topic. We take our medium-term planning directly from the Programmes of Study in the National Curriculum.

Our short-term plans are those that our teachers write on a weekly or daily basis. We use these to set out the learning objectives for each session, and to identify what resources and activities we are going to use in the lesson.

In the Foundation Stage, we adopt an inter-disciplinary topic approach to curriculum planning. We plan the curriculum carefully, so that there is coherent and full coverage of all aspects of the EYFS, and there is planned progression in all curriculum areas.

In Key Stage 1 and 2, we teach the core subjects of Literacy, Mathematics both in isolation but also create opportunities to apply throughout other subjects. The remaining subjects are taught through termly Themes which have a strong skills based approach to the learning. Each theme may have a subject bias for example, a theme in one term may have a bias towards history topic but still incorporate aspects of other subjects, then switch to a greater emphasis on geography in the next theme the following term. Thus, in due course, each child has the opportunity to experience the full range of National Curriculum subjects.

Whilst we recognise that children learn at different rates school ensures that quality first teaching of age related expectations at each key stage of learning give children the best possible change to success and reach their full potential.

The Enhanced Curriculum

School has developed an ‘Enhanced Curriculum’ (Appendix 1) which aims to enhance the planned curriculum, brining it life for the children. Schools enhanced curriculum is incorporated into the planned statutory curriculum and involves whole school and individual class enhancements. Please see the Enhanced Curriculum Plan in the appendices of this document. The headteacher is responsible for planning and organising whole school enhancements and the classteachers are responsible for planning and organising individual class enhancements.

Individual class enhancements include termly: 1 trip, 2 walks into the community, 2 visitors into each class.

Whole school enhancements include termly: parent INSPIRE mornings, parent assemblies, speakers into assembly, fund raising activities, inter school competitions, intra school competitions, sporting events.

Published Materials

School does use a number of published schemes to enhance our school curriculum. The use of published schemes was given careful consideration because we believe that all children are unique and learn in many different ways and hence published schemes are used with caution. Published schemes were purchased for the following reasons:

• They help clarify age related expectations in light of the new national curriculum and the advent of assessing without levels.
• They provide clarification for teachers of some of the more challenging terminology within the new national curriculum.
• They ensure coverage of content throughout a year and across a key stage.
• They provided an effective opportunity for children to continue their learning outside of school owing to the web-based approach to learning.

In order to ensure the published schemes are used to meet the needs of each individual a number of procedural actions were agreed by the teaching staff.

• The published schemes are to be used as a scaffold when appropriate or when the member of staff require clarification on an objective.
• The schemes can be used as a source of continuity if on the rare occasion a supply teacher is covering.
• The schemes must not be followed day upon day.

The published schemes used in school are part of Pearsons Active Learn:

Abacus Maths

Wordsmith

Bug Club

Spelling and Grammar

School also uses White Rose Maths Hub planning blocks and resources when delivering Mathematics.

The curriculum and inclusion

The curriculum in our school is designed to be accessed by all children who attend the school. If we think it necessary to modify some children's access to the curriculum, in order to meet their needs, then we do this only after their parents or carers have been consulted. This happens only in very exceptional circumstances.

If children have special needs, our school does all it can to meet the individual needs, and we comply with the requirements set out in the SEN Code of Practice. If a child displays signs of having special needs, then his/her teacher makes an assessment of this need in partnership with the SENCo. In most instances, the teacher is able to provide the resources and educational opportunities that meet the child's needs, within normal class organisation. If a child's need is more severe, we consider the child for statutory assessment, and we involve the appropriate external agencies in making an assessment. We always provide additional resources and support for children with special needs. The SEN Policy explains in greater detail schools approach to meeting the needs of this group of children.

The school provides Pupil Page Profiles for each of the children who are on the special needs register and Support Plans for children who are undergoing statutory assessment. These documents set out the nature of the special need, outlines how the school will aim to address it and also sets targets for improvement, so that we can review and monitor the progress of each child at regular intervals.

Some children in our school have disabilities. We are committed to meeting the needs of these children, as we are to meeting the needs of all groups of children within our school. The school complies fully with the requirements of the amended Disability Discrimination Act that came into effect from 2005. All reasonable steps are taken to ensure that these children are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared with non-disabled children. Teaching and learning are appropriately modified for children with disabilities. For example, they may be given additional time to complete certain activities, or the teaching materials may be adapted.

The school has implemented the recommendations of The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry: Macpherson Report (1999). Our schemes of work address the diversity of our society, and reflect the National Curriculum programmes of study.

The school is aware of the need to ensure that our curriculum meets the needs of the Pupil Premium children and contributes to them making accelerated progress in order to narrow the gap between them and non-pupil premium children. The Pupil Premium Policy explains in greater detail schools approach to meeting the needs of this group of children.

The school is aware of the importance of the physical development of all children and hence the Sports Funding is used to maximum effect to ensure that all children receive specialist PE teaching weekly and through this school provides excellent opportunities for teachers to develop their quality first teaching in PE.

The Foundation Stage

The curriculum that we teach in the Foundation Stage meets the requirements set out in the revised National Curriculum at Foundation Stage. Our curriculum planning focuses on the Early Learning Goals and on developing children's skills and experiences.Our school fully supports the principle that young children learn through play, and by engaging in well planned and structured activities. Teaching in the Upper Foundation Stage builds on the experiences of the children in Lower Foundation Stage and clearly focuses upon developing year 1 readiness.

Each term in the Foundation Stage, the teachers will assess the skills development of each child, and record this in the Foundation Stage Profile. This assessment forms an important part of the future curriculum planning for each child.

We are well aware that all children need the support of both the parents/carers and the teachers to make good progress in school. We strive to build positive links with the parents/carers of each child, by keeping them informed about how the children are being taught, and how well each child is progressing.

The role of the subject leader

The role of the subject leader is to:

• Inspire children an other stakeholders about their subject
• Provide a strategic lead and direction for the subject;
• Support and advise colleagues on issues related to the subject;
• Monitor pupils' progress in that subject area;
• Provide efficient resource management for the subject.

The school gives subject leaders non-contact time each term, so that they can carry out their duties. It is the role of each subject leader to keep up to date with developments in their subject, at both national and local levels. They review the way in which the subject is taught in the school, and plan for improvement. This development planning links to whole-school objectives. Each subject leader reviews the curriculum plans for the subject, ensures that there is full coverage of the National Curriculum, and sees that progression is planned into schemes of work. The subject leader also keeps a portfolio of children's work, which s/he uses to illustrate the achievements of children at each key stage, and to exemplify the attainment expected.

Monitoring and Review

Our Governing Body’s Standards Committee is responsible for monitoring the way in which the school curriculum is implemented.

There is a named governor assigned to each of the subjects. The governors liaise with the respective subject leaders, and monitor closely the way in which these subjects are taught. There are also named governors assigned to special needs and pupil premium, who liaise with the SENCo and Pupil Premium coordinator, to monitor impact in these areas.

The headteacher is responsible for the day-to-day organisation of the curriculum. The subject leaders monitor curriculum planning for their subject, ensuring that all classes are taught the full requirements of the National Curriculum, and that all lessons have appropriate learning objectives.

Subject leaders inspire learning in their subject and monitor the way in which their subject is taught throughout the school. They examine long-term and medium-term planning, and ensure that appropriate teaching strategies are used. Subject leaders also have responsibility for monitoring the way in which resources are stored and managed. Curriculum monitoring completed by subject leaders is forwarded to the headteacher along with strengths and actions for further development.

This policy is monitored by the governing body and will be reviewed annually, or before if necessary. The policy was last reviewed in August 2017 and will next be reviewed in July 2018.