Whalley Primary School
Curriculum Overview
Overview:
Whalley CE Primary School delivers a fun, relevant, stimulating and challenging curriculum for each and every child that attends our school. Our curriculum is organised to ensure that we provide children with all of the statutory requirements as set out by The National Curriculum (2014) as well as tailoring our curriculum to ensure that it is personalised and very well-suited to the needs of the children in our school. Curriculum leaders have identified key knowledge we want the children to remember and these are shown in the subject areas below.
As most of our lessons are in mixed age classes, we have ensured that the curriculum is carefully planned to avoid repetition and to ensure progression of knowledge, skills and undersatnding is clear across each phase. We assess each child's understanding at the end of a unit of learning.
Our local area is at the heart of many aspects of our learning and we use the amazing resources on our doorstep to enhance our curriculum in history, geography, science, art, RE, PE, Forest School and other areas.
We use a variety of schemes of work to ensure that all subjects have clear progression in knowledge. However these have been personalised to ensure that they reflect the needs and nature of our children:
English: We use the 'Lancashire Talk Programme' as the basis for our English sessions and each unit focuses on teaching English within carefully sequenced units of work including:
- vocabulary
- spoken language
- role play and drama
- reading
- modelled and independent response outcomes
- writing - modelled and independent outcomes
All staff have accessed CPD over a 12 month period t be confident in delivering the units.
We try to encourage an enthusiasm for reading and class novels are carefully selected each half term for each class. Children in KS2 use Accelerated Reader to help select books which are suitable for their ability and awards are presented at key milestones.
Phonics: Our EYFS and KS1 phonics scheme is based on Red Rose Phonics. Reading books have been carefully graded to support the scheme.
Mathematics: We are part of the North West Maths Hub and teach using a mastery approach; we follow the mastering number programme in Reception, KS1 and Year Three using materials from NCETM and White Rose Maths in years 1 to 6.
Science: We use Developing Experts as our core scheme, supplemented with materials from Oak Academy
History: We have developed our own History curriculum tailored to our school. Several units have been developed to take advantage of the history in our locality. Each unit of work has key knowledge and vocabulary and is based on an overall theme which is then broken down into key questions. These questions cover key disciplinary skills:
- Chronology - understanding the order in which historical events took place
- Source and Evidence- asking questions, using sources and evidence to construct and challenge the past, and communicating ideas
- Cause and Consequence - selecting and combining information that might be deemed a cause and shaping it into a coherent causal explanation and understanding the relationship between an event and other future events.
- Change and continuity - analysing the pace, nature and extent of change.
- Similarity and difference - analysing the extent and type of difference between people, groups, experiences or places in the same historical period.
- Historical significance - understanding how and why historical events, trends and individuals are thought of as being important.
Evidence and interpretations - understanding how and why different accounts of the past are constructed
Geography: We have developed our own Geography curriculum tailored to our school. Several units have been developed to take advantage of our locality. Each unit of work has key knowledge and vocabulary and is based on an overall theme which is then broken down into key questions.
Computing: We use the 'iLearn2' scheme of work.
RE: We use the Blackburn Board of Education scheme of work (Questful RE)
French: We use Language Angels resources at KS2
PSHE: We use the PSHE association scheme of work
Art: We use Access Art as our core scheme.
DT: Units are adapted from PlanBee units of work
Music: We use SparkYard scheme to suport music teaching in KS1 and Lower KS2; progression in knowledge follows the guidance in the Model Music National curriculum; cross-curricular links are made when appropriate. We supplemement lessons using the Charanga music scheme for occasional units of work. In Upper KS2, children receive lessons from a speacialist teacher from Lancashire Music Service and learn to play, compose and perform using the ukulele. Lower KS2 children learn the recorder in music lessons.
PE: We use the Lancashire PE scheme of work utilising the Passport app.
