Curriculum Overviews 2023/2024
Approach to Learning
Our approach to learning is founded on the belief that the curriculum should be child-centred, based on practical, hands-on, concrete experiences, so that each child can build his/her knowledge, skills, concepts, and attitudes through understanding.
We assess where each child is when s/he enters school at whatever key stage. We begin from that point and take the child through the curriculum at a pace appropriate to individual needs, so that each may be offered an equal opportunity to achieve their full potential.
We aim to deliver a broad, balanced, relevant, and exciting curriculum that is designed to develop a love of learning that will last a lifetime and cover the physical, spiritual, moral, social, aesthetic, literate, mathematic, and scientific development of our pupils.
We strive to improve the teaching and learning in our school through a process of ongoing evaluation. We believe that the children should develop the skill to evaluate their own performance against agreed success criteria leading to next steps and achievable targets designed to help them move on with their learning. This approach is a way of developing lifelong learning skills that can be adapted to any area at any stage of life.
At Saughall All Saints we offer a curriculum to our children which is varied, rich, and relevant. It consists of all the learning activities, experiences, and interactions that promote our school values, meets the requirements of the National Curriculum, and also includes what we believe is important for our children’s all-around development.
The National Curriculum
The National Curriculum in England sets out the knowledge and skills to be taught in all state-funded schools. It states that all state schools must offer a curriculum that is balanced and promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental, and physical development of pupils at the school and society and prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities, and experiences of later life.
The National Curriculum consists of three core subjects - Maths, English, and Science, plus Religious Education and non-core foundation subjects - History, Geography, Computing, Design and Technology, Music, Art and Design, Physical Education, and Languages (French). We structure and plan the curriculum to ensure that good practice remains central, equality of opportunity is ensured and we integrate the requirements National Curriculum into our topics, projects, and subject teaching
Stages of Learning
From Year 1 children are taught in mixed-age classes ( Yr 1/2, Yr 3/4, Yr 5/6) and the curriculum is based on a two-year program of learning.
Education is divided into phases of learning linked to the National Curriculum.
Foundation Stage: In September 2000 a new Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) was introduced. This covers the period of education from 0 to 5 years. It begins in the Children’s Centre, then Nursery, and continues to the end of the Reception year. Children in the Foundation Stage will be working towards the Early Learning Goals which summarise the knowledge, skills, and understanding across the seven areas of learning and development that young children should gain. The seven areas consist of three prime areas: Communication and Language, Physical Development, Personal Development, and four specific areas of learning; Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World, and Expressive Arts and Design. Most children will be able to reach goals by the end of Reception. This will prepare them for work on the National Curriculum at Key Stage 1.
Key Stage 1: In years 1 and 2 children are following the National Curriculum. The learning is delivered via a topic-based approach when appropriate. Statutory Assessments in Mathematics and English are undertaken at the end of Year 2.
Key Stage 2:
Years 3/4. In Year 3 children begin studying the next phase of the National Curriculum. They continue with a topic-based approach with more opportunities for independent research. They will use and further develop skills learned in earlier phases.
Years 5/ 6. The children continue with the Upper Key Stage 2 phase of the National Curriculum. They will continue to develop independent skills building upon prior resilience to make decisions about how they learn best. This will culminate in formal assessment (SATS) at the end of Year 6. Their curriculum prepares them for the challenges of secondary education at Key Stage 3.
In Year 5/6 children are given the opportunity to experience lessons or visits to their local secondary school. In Year 6 these links are more fully established and visits to and from High Schools are made.
Assessing Progress
The teacher is continuously assessing his/her children as a natural, integrated part of his/her practice: his/her intentions are, to sum up where a child is (formative), to plan where to take the child next, and to diagnose any difficulties (diagnostic). Detailed records are kept. At the end of Key Stages 1 and 2 all children undergo the national SATs (Standard Assessment Tasks) (summative) and results are reported to parents. Parents are invited to discuss their child’s progress three times a year in the autumn, spring, and summer terms. At Year 2 and in Key Stage 2 the spring term meeting allows parents an opportunity to meet their child’s set teachers, whilst autumn and summer meetings are with the class teachers.
We all have high expectations of the children; we give them praise and encouragement; we aim to deliver a full curriculum that is aimed to develop the whole child. The emphasis is always on what the individual child CAN do. However, it is also an opportunity for parents, teachers, and children to identify targets at which to aim to
Assessment at the end of each Phase
Foundation Stage. At the end of Reception, based on classroom observations, a Foundation Stage profile will be completed for every child in line with statutory requirements. This helps teachers plan appropriately for each child’s next phase of learning.
Key Stage 1. At the end of Key Stage 1, children will be assessed as part of the Statutory Assessment Tests (S.A.T.S.) (summative). This will take place in their last term of Year 2, within their normal classroom environment, and will consist of assessment by their own teacher and a variety of tasks externally set, but implemented by their teacher.
To ensure progression in learning and the development of skills, data from the end of Key Stage 1 assessments is used to plan each child’s work as they begin Key Stage 2 programs of study.
Key Stage 2. At the end of Key Stage 2, following the timetable for a week specified by the Department of Education, children in Year 6 sit statutory national tests in English and Mathematics. Levels achieved by the children in the tests, together with the teacher’s assessment across the subject for the year, are reported to parents.
Reading and Phonics
We place the utmost importance on reading and the development of reading skills throughout the whole school. We recognise reading as an essential life skill and promote ‘reading for pleasure and enjoyment’ aiming to stimulate the desire to read in all children.
We regularly link reading to our topics, where possible, placing the development of reading skills in a meaningful context and use a range of genres and different types of novels to engage children. There are a range of different methods that we currently adopt to raise the profile and standards of reading at our school. These include:
Writing
We aim to develop pupils’ writing in all subjects to support their acquisition of knowledge and promote the enjoyment of writing. We aim to develop the stamina and skills to write at length, with accurate spelling and punctuation with the correct use of grammar. We aim to expand the range of their writing and the variety of the grammar children use. The writing they do includes narratives, explanations, descriptions, comparisons, summaries, and evaluations: such writing supports them in rehearsing, understanding, and consolidating what they have heard or read already.
Mathematics
We see Mathematics as essential to everyday life. A high-quality mathematics education therefore provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about and enjoyment of the subject.
We aim to ensure that all pupils:
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become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
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reason mathematically by following a line of inquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification, or proof using mathematical language
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can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.