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Curriculum

The children are taught throughout the school according to their age, aptitude and ability, through a cross-curricular, experiential approach.  Each child is encouraged to develop their full potential academically, physically, socially, artistically, technologically, spiritually and morally.  We pride ourselves on our creative approach to the curriculum.  Staff always display work from projects attractively, reflecting our quality learning environment.  The corridors also have a high standard of work on display.  We have many visitors to school to study our approach to the curriculum.

 

We are extremely proud of the curriculum we offer at Aston Fence Junior and Infant School and of the excellent standard of work produced by the children who come here!

 

The school follows the new National Curriculum which became statutory in September 2014.

 

The basic curriculum is made up of Core and Foundation subjects of which there are ten:

 

Three Core Subjects

English, Mathematics and Science

 

Foundation Subjects

Geography, History, Technology, Art, Music,

Physical Education and Design Technology.  Religious Education is also part of the curriculum.

 

We have clear schemes and guidance to guide the teaching and learning in the school to help ensure that all children, no matter what their ability, achieve their full potential.

 

In the Primary School there are three “Key Stages” for the different age groups:

 

  • The Foundation Stage: 4 to 5

  • Key Stage One: 5 to 7

  • Key Stage Two: 7 to 11

 

From 2015 children aged 7 and 11 will be assessed in line with the new National Curriculum assessments.  Children will be assessed by way of a formal test in Mathematics, Reading and English, Spelling, punctuation and grammar.  Writing will be assessed by teacher assessment and judgements are verified through moderation meetings.

 

Children in the Foundation Stage are assessed and at the end of the school year the evidence collected provides a profile of their attainment against six areas of learning.

 

All children are assessed throughout school using a range of tasks and assessment procedures which provide a clear indication of their progress and needs.

 

The curriculum is all the planned activities that we organise in order to promote learning and personal growth and development.  It includes not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum, but also the range of extra-curricular activities that the school organises in order to enrich the experience of the children.  It also includes the ‘hidden curriculum’, or what the children learn from the way they are treated and expected to behave.  We aim to teach children how to grow into positive, responsible people, who can work and co-operate with others while developing knowledge and skills, so that they achieve their true potential.

 

Further information can be obtained by reading our Ofsted report.  The curriculum has been judged to be outstanding in each of the previous three inspections.  Additional information can be found on the Ofsted Good practice example: Schools.  We are proud to have further recognition of our approach to the curriculum.

 

 

Values

 

Our school curriculum is underpinned by the values that we hold dear at our school. The curriculum is the means by which the school achieves its objective of educating children in the knowledge, skills and understanding that they need in order to lead fulfilling lives.

 

  •  We value the way in which all children are unique, and our curriculum promotes respect for the views of each individual child, as well as for people of all cultures. We value the spiritual and moral development of each person, as well as their intellectual and physical growth.

  • We value the importance of each person in our community. We organise our curriculum so that we promote co-operation and understanding between all members of our community.

  • We value the rights enjoyed by each person in our society. We respect each child in our school for who they are, and we treat them with fairness and honesty. We aim to enable each person to be successful, and we provide equal opportunities for all the children in our school.

  • We value our environment, and we aim, through our curriculum, to teach respect for our world, and how we should care for it for future generations, as well as our own.

 

 

The aims of our school curriculum are:

  •  to enable all children to learn and develop their skills to the best of their ability;

  • to promote a positive attitude towards learning, so that children enjoy coming to school, and acquire a solid basis for lifelong learning;

  • to teach children the basic skills of literacy, numeracy and information technology;

  • to enable children to be creative and to develop their own thinking;

  • to teach children about their developing world, including how their environment and society has changed over time;

  • to help children understand Britain’s cultural heritage;

  • to enable children to be positive citizens in society;

  • to fulfil all the requirements of the National Curriculum and the Locally Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education;

  • to teach children to have an awareness of their own spiritual development, and to understand right from wrong;

  • to help children understand the importance of truth and fairness, so that they grow up committed to equal opportunities for all;

  • to enable children to have respect for themselves and high self-esteem, and to be able to live and work co-operatively with others.

 

Organisation and planning

 

We plan our curriculum in three phases. We agree a long-term plan for each key stage. This indicates what topics are to be taught in each term, and to which groups of children. We review our Long Term Plan on an annual basis.

 

With our medium-term plans, we give clear guidance on the objectives and teaching strategies that we use when teaching each topic.  We use the Programmes of study from the 2014 National Curriculum to plan our topics and refer back to the Primary Strategies if necessary.  

 

Our short-term plans are those that our teachers write on a weekly basis. We use these to set out the learning objectives for each session, and to identify what activities we are going to use in the lesson.

 

In the Foundation Stage, at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 we adopt an inter-disciplinary topic approach to curriculum planning. We plan the curriculum carefully, so that there is coherence and full coverage of all aspects of the National Curriculum and/or Early Learning Goals, and there is planned progression in all curriculum areas.  

 

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