Curriculum
About Our Learning
At Newton Blossomville CE school we designed a curriculum that focusses on progression of skills and practise of skills in a variety of contexts. Our curriculum centres around learning about our immediate environment (school/village) local environments (Olney/Newport Pagnel/Milton Keynes) Great Britain and the wider world. By focussing on the same skills and learning intentions but learning different facts and information will support pupils use of skills and application to different contexts and in depth facts and information about local environments and communities broadening out to Great Britain and the wider world, building their 'cultural capital'.
We follow the national curriculum and have end of year expectations that we are all aiming towards. The cycle centres around themes which incoportae the core subjects of English and science and the wider curriculum. Maths is discrete, we have introduced 'Power Maths' a maths mastery approach, that all year groups follow, but cross curricular elements are taught where appropriate. Our pupils are excited about the topic themes and gain much from the enriched curriculum through the varied trips, visits and visitors. There are times when we plan learning from pupil interest, local or national occasions i.e. a child returning from a trip abroad/ a child's family celebrations (such as Eid/ Hannukah)/the Royal Wedding/Olympics/Rugby World Cup/Milton Keyne's 50th birthday. It's important that learning is connected to real events where possible, is up to date, relevant to pupils interests, lively and engaging.
At Newton Blossomville School we also love our trips, Warwick Castle, The Science Museum and Birmingham Sealife Centre to name a few! Along with country walks, forest schools, cooking and visitors there's always plenty of excitement in our learning.
If you require any further information, please get in touch.
Our Curriculum
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Intent-The intent is to learn about the local area/communities/buildings/nature and widen to MK and globally taking into account the pupils in the school i.e. what links locally and globally do the children have? Where have they visited on holiday? What do they need to learn? What communities are they part of? The intent is to start with what they know and gradually widen the experience to local areas, England, Great Britain and the wider world. Implementation- The curriculum implementation is to support the individual cohorts and school communities, there is flexibility for planning around the skills to support cohort need. Revisiting the skills through different contexts over two years will deepen understanding, broaden knowledge, allow links to be made and commit both skills and knowledge to long term memory. The curriculum is flexible to enable schools to plan for the children in their schools, what do the children need to learn to move onto their next stage in life? (this won’t be the same for all 5 schools). Impact-. By revisiting the skills over and over again, pupils will be able to transfer the skills to any learning experience, skills and knowledge will be committed to longer term memory and pupils will have a deep understanding of their place in their community, local community and the world. Pupils will be ready for the next stage in their school life with the specific skills and knowledge required. |
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Topics -The topic overview will remain the same year on year , topic titles will be chosen to suit the focus for planning year on year E.g. ‘Buildings around the world’ one year may focus on houses and homes and the following year on castles. The movement of the earth (science) and the seasons/weather should be ongoing throughout the school year as the movement of the earth influences the seasons.
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Autumn People and communities (around the world)
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Spring Buildings around the world
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Summer The Great Outdoors (plants, animals)
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Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
In our school our EYFS class is our first class, children start in the September in the year in which they turn 5. The curriculum is based on 17 areas of learning which are broken down into milestones culminating in the Early Learning Goal (ELG). Children's learning is focused on three characteristics of effective learning: playing and exploring, active learning, creative and critical thinking.
Teaching in EYFS is centered on pupils interests, the 17 areas are planned for through a theme, such as 'growing', or centered around a book, activities are planned for inside and out so children can access the 17 areas of learning. Through skilled questioning teachers take pupils learning forward guiding them to discover new skills. Most learning is child initiated a small proportion is teacher led, such as handwriting, letter formation, maths skills, reading and phonics.
The children have a daily phonics session (see section on phonics) which starts at phase 1/2 or 3 depending on the individuals starting points.
EYFS children learn to read using the books available in school which are banded in colours.
EYFS information for parents.
Characteristics of Effective Learning.
What makes an effective learner?
Key Stage 1 Topic Planning Cycle
Links to National Curriculum for Parents
Year 1 and 2 Curriculum Information
Phonics
It is a statuatory requirement for schools to teach systematic synthetic phonics. The following is an explanation from Oxford Owl and easy to access website with resources and guidance for parents:
When your child is learning to read there are two crucial things to learn:
- the sounds represented by written letters
- how to blend the sounds together to make words.
Synthetic Phonics is a way of teaching reading.
Children are taught to read letters or groups of letters by saying the sound(s) they represent – so, they are taught that the letter l sounds like llllll when we say it. Children can then start to read words by blending (synthesising) the sounds together to make a word.
At school, you will probably hear teachers talking about blending , but you might also hear them refer to sounding out or Fred Talk too, depending on which phonic scheme your child’s school is using. All these terms focus on the same point – synthesising sounds .
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/home/reading-owl/expert-help/what-is-synthetic-phonics
At Newton Blossomville School we use 'Read Write Inc' as a scheme for our daily lessons for learning sounds, decoding, blending, reading and writing. It is a powerful scheme which sees children at the end of foundation stage ready for year 1 with a high level of decoding and blending skills.
http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/read-write-inc-programmes/phonics/
Read Write Inc Phonics cards
Supporting and Understanding Phonics
Reading
At Newton Blossomville School we use a range of books from Oxford Reading Tree and Read Write Inc as our reading schemes. The children's books are changed daily and children are encouraged to read at home regularly. The children are surrounded by books in school and the ethos is fostering a love of books and a love of reading.
Reading with your child
British Values
- Newton Blossomville C of E School, Newton Blossomville, Turvey, Bedford. MK43 8AL
- Telephone:01234 881 294
- E-Mail: office@newtonblossomvilleschool.co.uk