Curriculum
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 Village Schools federation is a collaborative group of small, rural village schools with Christian values at its heart. The intention of our long term curriculum plan is to offer the schools autonomy to plan for the needs of their pupils taking into account their interest, using local communities and environments as starting points and broadening out to the wider local area, to Great Britain and the wider world. The intent is to plan and teach skills, build on skills, repeat skills, practise skills and commit kills and facts to memory. The curriculum is planned from the end of year 2 backwards, what do the children need to be able to do to transition to year 3 and what experiences do they need in EYFS to attain the skills at the end of year 1 and subsequently year 2. Each subject policy has it’s own intent, implementation and impact statement from which to create medium term and short term plans. The intention of our long term plan is to repeat skills taught through broad overarching topic areas which will have different focus’ depending on the children’s needs/ knowledge/experiences/communities. Our intent is aligned with our vision that children can ‘be the best that they can be, working together as a team’. The curriculum intention is to inspire learners with exciting content and experiences, to foster curiosity, develop resilience, promote questions and a desire to find answers, to expand knowledge and experience so children can aim high and find joy in learning and enjoying school. Our intent is to enhance, excite and inspire learners whilst growing together. Implementation- Through high quality planning, teaching and reviewing of knowledge, skills and vocabulary across all subjects all children will be challenged to be curious, compassionate, courageous and resilient learners. They will have opportunities to influence their own learning through age appropriate and progressive skills taught through the topics and other pertinent themes. Characteristics of effective learning, including being active, playing and exploring and creating and thinking critically will drive teaching and learning. Impact-. Our children will have skills, knowledge and Christian Values to confidently apply to all aspects of their life. In short they will learn more, remember more and enjoy more; spiritually, socially and emotionally the children will be able to move through the continuum of life and education confidently and be ready for the next phase in their school journeys. |
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Themes - We believe the current themes are all encompassing and allow teachers autonomy to shape the planning to respond to pupils interests, needs, local and wider environments and current affairs such as events locally and globally developing children’s ‘cultural capital’. Themes will allow the federation to share teaching expertise, ideas, extracurricular activities, such as educational visits, and content. Planning – The intention of learning is focussed on skills progression – what is the skill being taught, what is the intended outcome? i.e To write with purpose – use time connectives/ To work scientifically – write questions.
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Autumn
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Spring
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Summer
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People and communities
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Buildings and Places
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Natural world
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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?
Long term plan 2020
Termly Planning
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
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