OUR CURRICULUM
INFORMED BY THE BEST RESEARCH AVAILABLE
Here you will find in-depth information about each of our year groups and find out what they learn about in school.
For many years, Kingsland Primary School has been developing a fully resourced, intelligently sequenced, knowledge-rich curriculum, informed by the best research evidence available.
The curriculum is underpinned by the best evidence about how pupils learn. The units are intelligently sequenced to ensure that key knowledge is retained and developed over time. All resources are coherently aligned, allowing complete clarity during teaching.
The knowledge organiser is the beating heart of each unit. The core content is meticulously curated and itemised to clarify the necessary (but not sufficient) knowledge necessary to develop a sophisticated schema for each unit of work. Over the course of the years, these knowledge organisers ensure that all pupils become ‘culturally literate’ (Hirsch, 1987) and have the opportunity to engage in ‘powerful knowledge’ (Young, 2013) A knowledge organiser acts as a planning, teaching and assessment tool. It provides complete clarity to leaders, teachers, pupils and parents about what is expected to be learnt and remembered by the end of the lesson, the unit, and in the long term.
To view each subject curriculum, simply click on each tab and the curriculum will magically appear!
If you have any queries regarding the school curriculum and any policies or plans regarding this, we welcome these in an attempt to strive to improve our school learning environment for all. Please feel free to contact the school office.
ENGLISH & WRITING
ENCOURAGING CONFIDENT AND REFLECTIVE WRITING
“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write”- Martin Luther
At Kingsland School we aim for all children to write in a variety of genres with enthusiasm, flair and with clarity, accuracy and a clear purpose for an audience in mind. For written work to reflect the pupils own ideas thoughts and feelings with accuracy in grammar, spelling and punctuation and to be written in a neat and clear cursive style.
Writing is taught daily with coverage of a wide range of writing genres, developing from simple sentence structure in Reception to complex passages of narrative and non-narrative in Y6. We teach 4 days of curricular English a week that links to our scheme, and then we spend Friday’s writing with a cross curricular focus. There is a strong focus on Spelling and Grammar, with this being a strong focus to elevate writing and in turn offer access to Y7 and beyond as a good, fluent and confident writing style can give confidence and access to additional opportunities in life.
Our writing policy provides further detail into the intent behind our learning here at Kingsland Primary School, with this being separated into three categories of intent, implementation, and impact.
Intent is outlined in our writing policy with long term plans to support children with teaching and learning across all language/genre forms.
Implementation refers to the clear medium term plans and targets that are used to support planning and assessment
Impact is judged by big picture assessment, regular unit independent writing assessments, as well as marking and Gap Tasks in books. This is supported by clear targets and moderation tools.
POLICIES AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
KS1 & KS2 GENRE COVERAGE
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MATHS
CHILD-INITIATED, INTERACTIVE LEARNING
"Mathematics is not just about numbers, equations, computations, or algorithms: it is about understanding." - William Paul Thurston
High-quality mathematics education is key to allow children to understand the world and develop the skills they will need in future life. Providing children with the opportunity to develop their ability to reason mathematically and how to manipulate numbers in a real life context creates a passion and drive to understand the thinking behind the procedural systems.
At the centre of our approach to the teaching of mathematics at Kingsland Primary School is the belief that all children have the potential to succeed and will be supported to ensure they do so. We believe that all children need a deep understanding of the mathematics they are learning so that: future mathematical learning is built on solid foundations.
We use a mixture of White Rose, NCETM, Nrich together with Maths No Problem to underpin our planning and delivery of mathematics from Foundation through to Key Stage 2.
At Kingsland Primary School, we believe that all pupils should be able to:
– Use mathematical concepts, facts and procedures appropriately, flexibly and fluently
– Recall key number facts with speed and accuracy and use them to calculate and work out unknown facts
– Have sufficient depth of knowledge and understanding to reason and explain mathematical concepts and procedures and use them to solve a variety of problems
– Solve problems of greater complexity (i.e. where the approach is not immediately obvious), demonstrating creativity and imaginatio
– Independently explore and investigate mathematical contexts and structures, communicate results clearly and systematically explain and generalise the mathematics.
– Represent and solve ever increasing complex problems through a concrete pictorial abstract approach CPA
INTENT
At Kingsland Primary School we recognise that Mathematics is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment.
We aim to provide a high-quality mathematics education with a mastery approach so that all children:
- become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics;
- reason mathematically;
- can solve problems by applying their mathematics
(National Curriculum 2014)
IMPLEMENTATION
At Kingsland Primary we use Maths No Problem from reception through to Year 6. This scheme has been written to support teachers in all aspects of their planning whilst delivering Maths Mastery methods effectively.
Teachers are provided with an additional three planning days per year in addition to their PPA, to plan. As part of this process, teachers need to plan the following for mathematics lesson.
- Precise questioning to test conceptual and procedural knowledge.
- How and when manipulatives will be used within in each lesson to scaffold difficult tasks.
- Low stake quizzes to support learner’s ability to block learning and increase space in their working memory.
- Tasks and challenge questions to challenge pupils to apply and deepen their learning and mathematical reasoning.
In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), we relate the mathematical aspects of the children’s work to the Development Matters statements and the Early Learning Goals (ELG), as set out in the EYFS profile document. Mathematics development involves providing children with opportunities to practise and improve their skills in counting numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems, and to describe shapes, spaces, and measures. The profile for Mathematics areas of learning are Number (ELG 11) and shape, space and measures (ELG 12). We continually observe and assess children against these areas using their age-related objectives, and plan the next steps in their mathematical development through a topic-based curriculum.
There are opportunities for children to encounter Maths throughout the EYFS (both inside and outside) – through both planned activities and the self-selection of easily accessible quality maths resources. Whenever possible children’s interests are used to support delivering the mathematics curriculum.
Towards the end maths will happen as a class together so that by the time children move into Year 1 they are familiar with a structured lesson / activity.
IMPLEMENTATION
Our mathematics curriculum is based upon ‘Maths No Problem’ resources which are fully supported by the Department for Education as they meet the requirements of the new curriculum. The Maths No Problem primary school series has been created specifically for children living in the UK and is fully aligned to the 2014 curriculum. It provides all the elements that teachers need to teach Maths mastery with confidence and encourage children to talk using maths language. We measure our impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
-A reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes;
-Termly assessment Progress in Understanding Mathematics Assessment (PUMA) which is a suite of termly standardised maths tests which enable school to track progress, predict future performance and benchmark against national averages; –
– Pupil discussions about their learning.
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SCIENCE
DEVELOPING SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE
‘The important thing is to never stop questioning.’ – Albert Einstein
At Kingsland, our vision is to provide a science curriculum to our children that allows them to explore and discover the world around them, enabling them to have a deeper understanding of the world we live in. We believe science to be a unique subject that provides a range of ideal opportunities to nurture children’s natural curiosity.
We aim to provide an inquiry-based curriculum that is hands-on and full of opportunities for children to explore and investigate the world around them, building up their scientific enquiry and investigative skills. We want all children to access science through a range of stimulating and challenging experiences that children find fun and engaging whilst also extending their understanding of scientific knowledge and vocabulary. We aim to provide these experiences in a cross-curricular way using STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) so that our children obtain skills ready for these future industries.
A successfully implemented Science curriculum at Kingsland will:
- Develop a love for science, building on their natural curiosity through a range of experiences.
- Develop their scientific knowledge, vocabulary and understanding through exploring a range of scientific topics linked to chemistry, physics and biology.
- Develop a range of investigative techniques through the completion of a wide range of scientific enquiries and experiments, helping them to learn more about the world around them.
IMPLEMENTATION
HOW IS THE SCIENCE CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTED?
At Kingsland, we have designed a bespoke high-quality curriculum for our children to provide a unique and engaging science experience for all learners. Our curriculum is designed to be progressive throughout the school, building on prior learning in each year group both in terms of knowledge and skills gained. While all year groups will complete activities that encourage curiosity, our EYFS are highly encouraged to explore the world around them through a wide range of engaging activities.
Key Stage 1 will cover 4 topics in each year while Key Stage 2 will cover 5 topics in each year group. Within these topics children will receive high-quality knowledge-based lessons, covering content from the national curriculum, alongside skills-based lessons. The skills-based lessons will take the form of 6 focussed lessons per topic, each one dedicated to a particular investigative skill (asking questions, plan, observe and measure, record, report, evaluate). They will provide ample opportunities for children to be curious, explore and use a wide range of equipment while developing their scientific vocabulary. Resources are monitored and updated to support this. The coverage of science will be tracked by teachers through the use of knowledge organisers, ensuring children are provided with a full, progressive curriculum.
IMPACT
WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF THE SCIENCE CURRICULUM?
Through providing this science curriculum we expect all children to enjoy and be enthusiastic about science. With this enjoyment we expect children to gain a deep understanding of the world around them and how it works. Children will be ready to further explore the world and build on their knowledge in their further education, being confident in their use of scientific language and having wider skills such as working collaboratively. We measure the impact of our curriculum through the use of AfL during lessons, tracking of children all children, regular learning walks, book trawls and pupil conferencing.
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ART AND DESIGN
ALL CHILDREN ARE ARTISTS
At Kingsland School we consider that Art is a fantastic way for all children of all ages and all abilities to express themselves, be creative and have the freedom to explore and experiment with a range of materials and equipment.
Here at Kingsland Primary School we truly believe that “All children are artists” – Pablo Picasso. We want our children to love art and design. Along-side our drive for cultural capital, we want our children to have no limits to what their ambitions are and to grow up actually wanting to be, sculptures, painters, illustrators, graphic designers, curators or printmakers! We want our children to remember their art and design lessons in our school and embrace the artistic opportunities they may be are presented with now and in the future
At Kingsland Primary, we believe that all children should be given the opportunity to be inspired by great artists and to learn the skills they need to express themselves creatively. We also aim to foster a life-long love and appreciation of the subject. Children will be actively encouraged to explore art as a visual representation of cultural diversity and to use this to help their wider understanding of the world around them. Throughout their time at Kingsland, children will study a diverse range of male and female artists throughout history in order to gain an appreciation and understanding of their own and others’ cultural heritage. Older children will also consider how art movements throughout history mirror the cultural and social shifts that have shaped our world today.
Using the National Curriculum as a starting point, our progression skills map in art has a focus on developing proficiency in: drawing and sketching, understanding colour, creating pattern and texture, using line, form space and shape and sculpture. In line with the Kingsland’s emphasis on promoting oracy, children will be taught the correct vocabulary to describe, respond, evaluate and criticise their own work and that of the artist they are studying.
HOW IS THE ART CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTED?
At Kingsland, we teach a skills and knowledge based art curriculum, which allows children to express their creative imagination as well as providing them with opportunities to practise with a range of media and materials and develop mastery in the strands that are outlined in the our school’s art skills progression map. Through the study of key artists and the development of skills connected to their work, children are able to confidently implement these elements within their own work at a level appropriate to their year group.
Units are linked to topics where appropriate and taught in alternate half term blocks on a weekly basis over a two year cycle. Lesson sequences involve studying existing pieces of art, sketching aspects of these with a particular focus on experimentation and the development of the necessary skills to complete a final piece. Evidence of their work is collected within the art sketch book which the children build upon throughout the school as a record of their progress. Photographs of larger, group or 3D pieces are also kept within this book.
The development of skills and knowledge will be assessed against the key strands of the school’s skill progression map. Children are encouraged to continually reflect on their progress throughout the unit and to evaluate their final piece against class developed success criteria. They will present and evaluate their final pieces of artwork and pieces will be photographs and placed onto their class online gallery and original pieces (unless used for actual display) will be sent home to enable parents to share their children’s success and engage with their child’s artwork.
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DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
ENCOURAGING CHILDREN TO DESIGN WITH HANDS ON LEARNING
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” - Steve Jobs
At Kingsland through our Design Technology curriculum we strive to inspire our creative pupils within this rigorous and practical subject. We expect pupils to use creativity and imagination to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems with a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. It is estimated that 65% of primary school children will have jobs that don’t exist yet due to the constant changing of technology, and we intend to prepare our pupils for a world of needs not yet considered.
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY PRINCIPLES
- User – Pupils should have a clear idea of who they are designing and making products for, considering their needs, wants, values, interests and preferences. The intended users could be themselves or others, an imaginary or story-based character, a client, a consumer or specific target group
- Purpose – Pupils should be able to clearly communicate the purpose of the products they are designing and making. Each product they create should be designed to perform one or more defined tasks. Pupils’ products should be evaluated through use.
- Functionality – Pupils should design and make products that work/function effectively in order to fulfil users’ needs, wants and purposes.
- Design Decisions – Pupils need opportunities to make their own design decisions. Making design decisions allows pupils to demonstrate their creative, technical and practical expertise, and draw on learning from other subjects. Through making design decisions pupils decide on the form their product will take, how their product will work, what task or tasks it will perform and who the product will be for.
- Innovation – When designing and making, pupils need some scope to be original with their thinking. Projects that encourage innovation lead to a range of design ideas and products being developed and are characterised by engaging open-ended starting points for learning.
- Authenticity – Pupils should design and make products that are believable, real and meaningful to themselves and others.
IMPLEMENTATION
HOW IS THE DT CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTED?
At Kingsland we have designed our high quality curriculum to engage and inspire all learners, which is progressive throughout the school. We use a range of teaching and learning styles to provide a curriculum which builds on from children’s prior knowledge and skills. Resources are monitored by the subject lead and ordered, if needed, at the end of each year for the following September. Children begin their DT learning in EYFS where they begin to explore skills and understanding in areas including ‘Understanding the World’ and ‘Expressive arts and design’.
In Key Stage 1 and 2 DT is taught through 3 specific topics a year, working alongside the creative subject of art, making cross curricular links where possible. Children will also have the chance to apply the skills they have developed in a cross curricular way within their history and geography topics. Lessons will be differentiated through scaffolding and adult support and taught in mixed ability year groups. Teachers will track the coverage of DT to make sure the full coverage is being completed through the use of knowledge organisers, made for each topic, and the skills progression.
IMPACT
WHAT IS THE IMPACT ON OUR PUPILS?
At Kingsland we expect all children to be confident in a broad range of DT knowledge, skills and language. We expect children to have a deep understanding of design technology in the ‘real world’ and be able to be confident problem solvers. We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods; AFL during the lesson, annual tracking of those WTS and GDS, marking of written work or booklets, self and peer evaluations of the products, not only at the end of a topic but throughout the process too. The subject lead will review repeatedly and carry out regular learning walks, book trawls, observations and pupil conferencing.
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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
INTENT, IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPACT
"I believe that religious education must be the sole concern of religious associations" - Mahatma Gandhi
The vision of RE at Kingsland Primary school is that our lessons are intended to offer a broad and rich RE curriculum to allow for coverage of the areas prescribed; to allow for a variety of ways to explore religions, community and personal development and well-being. The lessons have an intention of providing a high quality, coherent and progressive experience of the subject, with scope for cross-curricular learning.
Through each unit, children will know about and understand a range of religions and world views. The children will be able to identify, investigate and respond to a variety of issues. SMSC, personal growth and community cohesion are featured throughout the syllabus and are there to ensure opportunities for children to develop positive attitudes and values and to reflect on and relate their learning in RE to their own experiences. The intent is to make sure that children understand the relevance of RE in today’s modern world and how it affects our lives.
IMPLEMENTATION
HOW IS OUR RE CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTED?
Our scheme of work for Religious Education covers all of the requirements of the Birmingham Agreed Syllabus 2007. RE is taught in termly units across the whole school in a combination of religion-based and thematic topics. There are a set of core units based on the 24 dispositions that we are required to deliver.
In EYFS and KS1, children begin to look at other religions, focusing on celebrations and rituals. In KS2, we offer a wider range of learning opportunities about the world’s religions including deeper understanding of the origin of those religions and their key stories and teachings. Throughout both key stages, emphasis on personal growth and community cohesion is evident, allowing for personal development for the children from KS1 to the end of KS2.
There are Knowledge Organisers and weekly lesson plans available for each year group to follow, which demonstrates the development of key skills and additional resources to help the teacher support the progress of children’s learning. An example of key words have been included to show the progression skills around the specific language involved in the children’s learning, so teachers can assess their understanding and progress through the use of vocabulary as well
IMPACT
WHAT IS THE IMPACT ON OUR PUPILS?
We believe that the impact of using the Birmingham Agreed Syllabus as the basis of our RE curriculum will be for children to have a better understanding of the religions that make up our world and how they can learn from and work alongside each other to create community cohesion. All children will be more informed about their position in the world, and the decisions they can make which will ultimately impact their future.
In our school, all children will be able to talk confidently about their well being, moral and cultural development for the society in which they live. Our RE curriculum will promote inquisitive minds, respect, tolerance and understanding for all those around them including themselves.
The suggested lessons from the syllabus, enable high quality work to be produced and evidenced, showcasing a deep understanding of the main religions of the world, their community and their future. This evidence will be seen through using the correct vocabulary, explanations and respectful opinions, as well as cross-curricular evidence, for example religious and cultural art work, drama, craft and presentations. Impact will be seen by all teachers and children en-joying the experience of teaching and learning RE and understanding how it can help them in their future.
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MUSIC
DEVELOPING CHILDREN'S SINGING, CREATING AND PERFORMING SKILLS
Music education should not be a privilege for a lucky few, it should be a part of every child's world of possibility." - Hillary Clinton
The vision of Music at Kingsland Primary school is that Music is fully embedded in every aspect of school life and our aspiration is that every child adopts a lifelong love of music.
Through playing, singing, creating and performing, children will develop confidence, communication skills, thinking and creative skills and improve their emotional well-being. Children will find that music is enjoyable and relaxing. Children will build on skills such as ‘determination, resilience, hard-work and bravery’ when performing to an audience. We aim to creating the next generation of musicians and a deep understanding of musical structures.
IMPLEMENTATION
HOW IS OUR MUSIC CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTED?
Music lessons are delivered and supported by the Music express programme.
The essence of Music Express is to create a topic-based, cross-curricular approach to support children’s learning in music and across other subjects through music. A steady progression plan has been built into Music Express, both within each year and from one year to the next, ensuring consistent musical development.
When the children are in Year 4 they are all provided with the opportunity to play either the clarinet or trumpet which is taught by specialist music teachers. Services for education provide weekly lessons for all year 4 children and as they progress into year 5 & 6 they are giving the option of continuing with their musical journey and playing in a school musical ensemble. They have played at royal symphony hall in Birmingham and for our senior citizens at Christmas.
Singing is a highly important part of our music curriculum. Weekly singing assemblies take place to teach children how to sing with a sense of pitch and melody. They are taught how to warm up their voices, sing in rounds and harmony, and build up a repertoire of songs. Our school choir sings at a number of events including our community Christmas light switch on, elderly Christmas meal and the young voices event.
IMPACT
WHAT IS THE IMPACT ON OUR PUPILS?
If we have developed a love of music and an understanding of musical structures and have learnt an instrument then we will feel like we have done our job well and prepared them for the next part of their learning journey.
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PERSONAL, SOCIAL, HEALTH AND ECONOMICS
DEVELOPING CHILDREN'S SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS
"The mind is like a parachute, it works much better when it’s open" - Frank Zappa
At Kingsland Primary school we are committed to the development of children’s social and emotional skills, self-esteem, health and well-being. We promote the value of scholarship within school and aim to develop children’s responsibilities towards themselves, others in school and the local community. This commitment is embodied within the schools mission statement whereby children can develop in a safe and secure learning environment which is both stimulating and supportive.
IMPLEMENTATION
HOW IS OUR PSHE CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTED?
Children learn through a planned programme of learning in which they acquire the knowledge and skills they need to manage their lives now and in the future. Within the planned curriculum, British Values are at the heart of the whole school approach as well as being part of a Rights Respecting School children learn about their rights as a child through the articles developed through UNICEF.
As part of a whole school approach, PSHE education helps pupils to develop the qualities and attributes they need to thrive as individuals, family members and members of society. The subject is developed through children exploring feelings about themselves and others and understanding their place in the family and wider community. Throughout PSHE children are provided with opportunities to explore, clarify and challenge their own and others values, attitudes and beliefs and rights and responsibilities.
IMPACT
WHAT IS THE IMPACT ON OUR PUPILS?
Children are able to explore feelings about themselves and others and understand their value and self-worth as members of a community. Opportunities are provided whereby children can explore, clarify and challenge their own and others values, attitudes and beliefs as well as rights and responsibilities. They will also develop social and emotional skills including self-esteem and confidence.
Kingsland provides a safe and supportive learning environment whereby children can express opinions, share experiences and ask relevant questions in order to develop their knowledge and curiosity.
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COMPUTING
DIGITAL TECHNOLGY AND THE FUTURE
"Whether you want to uncover the secrets of the universe or you want to pursue a career in the 21st Century, basic computer programming is an essential skill to learn.” – Stephen Hawking
Our aim is for all our children to leave Kingsland Primary with the skills to equip them in an increasingly technological world. They will understand the fundamentals of computer science and programming, as well as having a secure skills base within the standard office/business applications and software. The children will have a deep and thorough understanding of how to stay safe and be responsible online.
IMPLEMENTATION
HOW IS OUR COMPUTING CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTED?
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IMPACT
WHAT IS THE IMPACT ON OUR PUPILS?
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HISTORY
DEVELOPING CHILDREN'S KNOWLEDGE
At Kingsland our curriculum is designed to enthuse, engage, and motivate children to learn and foster a sense of curiosity about the past, present and future. We aim to stimulate children’s interest in local and worldwide History to develop skills, knowledge and understanding of the past and how it’s impacts and differs from modern life.
At Kingsland through our History curriculum we aim to fire pupils’ curiosity about the past in Britain and the wider world and to encourage thinking about how the past influences the present. We will provide opportunities for children to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments and develop perspective and judgment. Children will be encouraged to develop a chronological framework for their new knowledge of significant events and people. We will provide children with the knowledge, understanding and skills to find out about the past, explain what happened and what people then and now think about what happened.
IMPLEMENTATION
HOW IS OUR HISTORY CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTED?
At Kingsland we have designed our high quality curriculum to engage and inspire all learners, which is progressive throughout the school. We use a range of teaching and learning styles to provide a curriculum which builds on from children’s prior knowledge and skills. We value the importance high quality experiences to promote Cultural Capitalism through our History teaching and we provide a range of opportunities for children to handle artefacts and resources independently, visit Museums and places of interest, Listen to talks from visitors discussing their experiences from the past.
Children begin their History learning in the EYFs where they begin to talk about things that have happened in the past and compare and contrast characters from stories and nursery rhymes. In Key Stage 1 History is taught through half termly History focused topics providing children with the skills and knowledge to be able to talk as ‘Historians’ talking about and comparing the past and present. In Key stage 2 we progress on to termly cross curricular topics as children will now have a thorough understanding of the role of a ‘Historian’ and this is revisited at the beginning of each school year. Each topic has a knowledge organiser which will provide a range of questions, historical vocabulary, time lines and historical facts to provide opportunities for consolidation, challenge and variety to ensure interest and progress in the subject.
IMPACT
WHAT IS THE IMPACT ON OUR PUPILS?
At Kingsland we expect all children to be confident ‘Historians’ and use historical vocabulary accurately demonstrating confidence in their knowledge and application of key historical skills, with a deep understanding of.
We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods; AFL during the lesson, quizzes, essay writing, annual reporting of standards across the curriculum, marking of written work in books. This is reviewed on a termly basis by the subject leaders, who also carry out regular learning walks, book trawls and lesson observations and through interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
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GEOGRAPHY
PROVOKING CURIOSITY ABOUT THE WORLD
At Kingsland our curriculum is designed to enthuse, engage, and motivate children to learn and foster a sense of curiosity and wonder at the beauty of the world around them. We aim to stimulate children’s interest in their surroundings to develop skills, knowledge and understanding of the physical and human processes which shape places.
At Kingsland through our Geography curriculum we strive to create opportunities which will inspire and provoke pupil’s curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Our aim is to deepen children’s knowledge, skills and understanding through a range of enquiry based research activities. We intend to equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.
IMPLEMENTATION
HOW IS OUR HISTORY CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTED?
At Kingsland we have designed our high quality curriculum to engage and inspire all learners, which is progressive throughout the school. We use a range of teaching and learning styles to provide a curriculum which builds on from children’s prior knowledge and skills. Children begin their Geography learning in the EYFs where they begin to explore and show curiosity in the world around them describing what they see, hear and feel outside.
In Key Stage 1 Geography is taught through half termly Geography focused topics providing children with the skills and knowledge to be able to talk as a ‘Geographer’. In Key Stage 2 we progress on to termly cross curricular topics as children will now have a thorough understanding of the role of a ‘Geographer’ and this is revisited at the beginning of each school year.
Each topic has a knowledge organiser which will provide a range of questions, geographical vocabulary, map skills and geographical facts to provide opportunities for consolidation, challenge and variety to ensure interest and progress in the subject.
IMPACT
WHAT IS THE IMPACT ON OUR PUPILS?
At Kingsland we expect all children to be confident ‘Geographers’ and use geographical vocabulary accurately demonstrating confidence in their knowledge and application of key geographical skills, with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.
We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods; AFL during the lesson, quizzes, essay writing, annual reporting of standards across the curriculum, marking of written work in books. This is reviewed on a termly basis by the subject leaders, who also carry out regular learning walks, book trawls and lesson observations and through interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
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PHONICS
CULTIVATING A CRUCIAL LIFE SKILL
Kingsland Primary School aims to create a safe and secure learning environment where all pupils feel valued, happy and receive the highest standards of teaching and learning. It is essential that our approach to teaching phonics and reading is accessible to all learners, regardless of background.
At Kingsland Primary, we believe that all our children can become fluent readers and writers. This is why we teach reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which is a systematic and synthetic phonics programme. We start teaching phonics in Nursery and follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school.
As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read. At Kingsland Primary we also model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects.
COMPREHENSION
At Kingsland Primary, we value reading as a crucial life skill. By the time children leave us, they read confidently for meaning and regularly enjoy reading for pleasure. Our readers are equipped with the tools to tackle unfamiliar vocabulary. We encourage our children to see themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose. Because we believe teaching every child to read is so important, we have a Phonics Leader and a Reading / Literacy Leader who drive the early reading programme in our school. These teachers are skilled at teaching phonics and reading, and they monitor and support our teachers, so everyone teaches with fidelity to the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.
IMPLEMENTATION
HOW IS OUR PHONICS AND READING CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTED?
Foundations for phonics in Nursery
We provide a balance of child-led and adult-led experiences for all children that meet the curriculum expectations for ‘Communication and language’ and ‘Literacy’. These include sharing high-quality stories and poems, learning a range of nursery rhymes and action rhymes, activities that develop focused listening and attention, including oral blending attention to high-quality language. We ensure Nursery children are well prepared to begin learning grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) and blending in Reception.
Daily phonics lessons in Reception and Year 1
We teach phonics for 20 /25 minutes a day. In Reception, we build from 10-minute lessons, with additional daily oral blending games, to the full-length lesson as quickly as possible.
Each Friday, we review the week’s teaching to help children become fluent readers.
Children make a strong start in Reception: teaching begins in Week 2 of the Autumn term.
We follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised expectations of progress:
Children in Reception are taught to read and spell words using Phase 2 and 3 GPCs, and words with adjacent consonants (Phase 4) with fluency and accuracy.
Children in Year 1 review Phase 3 and 4 and are taught to read and spell words using Phase 5 GPCs with fluency and accuracy.
Little Wandle rapid intervention / Daily Keep-up lessons ensure every child learns to read. Any child who needs additional practice has daily Keep-up support, taught by a fully trained adult. Keep-up lessons match the structure of class teaching, and use the same procedures, resources and mantras, but in smaller steps with more repetition, so that every child secures their learning.
We timetable frequent phonics lessons for any child in Year 2 or 3 who is not fully fluent at reading or has not passed the Phonics screening check. These children urgently need to catch up, so the gap between themselves and their peers does not widen. We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessments to identify the gaps in their phonic knowledge and teach to these using the Keep-up and Rapid intervention resources – at pace.
If any child in Year 3 to 6 has gaps in their phonic knowledge when reading or writing, we plan phonics ‘catch-up intervention’ lessons to address specific reading/writing gaps.
Teaching reading:
In Reception and Year 1 we teach children to read through reading practice sessions three times a week. These are taught by a fully trained adult to small groups of approximately six children who use Little Wandle Big Cat reading books matched to the children’s secure phonic knowledge using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessments and book matching grids on pages 11–20 of ‘Application of phonics to reading’
These are monitored by the class teacher, who rotates and works with each group on a regular basis.
Each reading practice session has a clear focus, so that the demands of the session do not overload the children’s working memory. The reading practice sessions have been designed to focus on three key reading skills:
- Decoding
- prosody: teaching children to read with understanding and expression
- comprehension: teaching children to understand the text.
In Reception these sessions start in Week 4 for those children that are ready. Children who are not yet decoding have daily additional blending practice in small groups, so that they quickly learn to blend and can begin to read books.
In Year 2 we continue to teach reading in this way as children still need to practise reading with decodable books.
In Years 3 to 6, we continue to teach reading during Reading lessons.
Home reading
Little Wandle Big Cat Collins Decodable reading books are taken home to ensure success is shared with the family Reading for pleasure books also go home for parents to share and read to children. We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised parents’ resources to engage our families and share information about phonics, the benefits of sharing books, how children learn to blend and other aspects of our provision, both online and through workshops. Recorded workshops are available to watch on the website.
Additional reading support for vulnerable children
Children in Reception and Year 1 who are receiving additional phonics Keep-up sessions read their reading practice book to an adult regularly.
Ensuring consistency and pace of progress
Every teacher in our school teaches reading. They receive regular whole school curriculum meetings to ensure that as a school we all have the same expectations of progress. We all use the same language, routines and resources to teach children to read so that we lower children’s cognitive load.
Weekly content grids in Nursery, year 1 and 2 map each element of new learning to each day, week and term for the duration of the programme. Lesson templates, Prompt cards and How to videos ensure teachers all have a consistent approach and structure for each lesson. The Phonics Leader, Reading / Literacy Leader and SLT regularly monitor and observe teaching; they use the summative data to work with teachers to identify children who need additional support and gaps in learning.
IMPACT
WHAT IS THE IMPACT ON OUR PUPILS?
Assessment is used to monitor progress and to identify any child needing additional support as soon as they need it.
Assessment for learning is used:
- daily within class to identify children needing Keep-up support
- weekly in the Review lesson to assess gaps, address these immediately and secure fluency of GPCs, words and spellings.
Summative assessment is used:
- every six weeks to assess progress, to identify gaps in learning that need to be addressed, to identify any children needing additional support and to plan the Keep-up support that they need.
- by the Phonics leader and SLT and scrutinised through the assessment tracker, to narrow attainment gaps between different groups of children and so that any additional support for teachers can be put into place.
The Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised placement assessment will be used:
- with any child new to the school to quickly identify any gaps in their phonic knowledge and plan provide appropriate extra teaching.
Statutory assessment
- Children in Year 1 sit the Phonics screening check. Any child not passing the check re-sits it in Year 2.
Ongoing assessment for catch-up
- Children in Year 2 to 6 are assessed through:
- their teacher’s ongoing formative assessment / rapid intervention assessments.
Phonics and Reading - A Deep Dive
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
HELPING CHILDREN STAY ACTIVE
“The game is never more important than the people you play with.” - Debra Demaline Maxted
Physical education contributes to the whole school aims and objectives. It conforms to the National Curriculum and the values shared by the school, its stakeholders and the Local Authority.
At Kingsland Primary School, we aim to provide children with a stimulating and inspirational PE curriculum in which our children learn new skills and develop as individuals. Talents are fostered through well established links with outside agencies, competitive activity, a vast range of after school clubs and well taught P.E. lessons with the support of a local sports foundation.
The distinctive contribution of physical education is to ensure that all children:
- Are physically literate , competent and confident in a range of physical activities
- Have a clear understanding of the relationship between activity , fitness and long term health
- Are able to work as individuals, in groups and in teams
- Are given the opportunity to be creative and work cooperatively
- Are given the opportunity to be in competitive situations
- Plan, perform and evaluate to improve physical performance
- Have an appreciation of the factors involved in quality movement and performance
- Enjoy learning, participating and achieving through physical activity
IMPLEMENTATION
HOW IS OUR PE CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTED?
PE is taught as a separate lesson as well as being embedded throughout school day routines, we use activate to develop co-ordination and gross motor skills and we also use yoga sessions as part of our mental health and wellbeing particularly in KS1.
All children follow a scheme of work set by school staff which ensures a broad and balanced curriculum. KS1 PE lessons focus on vital skills for physical development, along with learning how to co-operate and participate in team games. KS2 lessons are sport specific and aim to encourage children to try all different types of sport to experience a wide variety.