OUR CURRICULUM...
...preparing children for life in modern Britain.
Curriculum Statement of Intent: We believe that every child should have the opportunity to be extraordinary and future ready through a curriculum which is creative, bold and courageous. This is achieved through our knowledge -engaged, enquiry approach that is rooted in the unique opportunities offered by our local community & expertise, local issues, and the historical and geographical context of our locality. They also have opportunities to look beyond themselves, ask ‘big questions’ and think globally about life and develop an understanding of disadvantage, deprivation and the exploitation of the natural world. Our curriculum not only aims to provide children with the skills that they need now, but also the ability to be flexible, resourceful, reflective and resilient, helping them to adapt and problem solve as they grow up in an ever changing world.
It is underpinned by our school ethos, vision and our four core Christian values: Love, Integrity, Forgiveness and Equality (LIFE). We explicitly plan opportunities to develop children's understanding of what these mean. We aim for our children to be able to reflect on these values and apply them to different situations and dilemmas, so developing their own reference points or ‘moral compass’ and a strong understanding of right and wrong that will guide them through life. “So let’s choose for ourselves what is right. Let’s learn together what is good’. Job 34:4
These are the aims which underpin our knowledge -engaged curriculum:
How is the curriculum implemented?
The curriculum is all the planned activities that we organise in order to facilitate the development of our pupils, their learning and personal growth and understanding of British values. It includes not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum, but also the range of enrichment and extra-curricular experiences planned in order to benefit the learning and development of all pupils. It also includes the ‘hidden curriculum’, what the children learn from the school’s values and ethos that guide choices and actions in everything that we do, and includes the way they are treated and expected to behave.
We aim to do this through our Knowledge Engaged Curriculum:
This approach is a balance between skills and knowledge. We use cross-curricular teaching to make the curriculum relevant and meaningful to children, putting knowledge into context and putting it into appropriate sequences of content.
Following on from the curiosity led and child-initiated learning in Early Years, our enquiry based cross-curricular and topic based curriculum is firmly rooted in a set of knowledge and skills which are progressive. It has been developed to allow all children to achieve and flourish in both their personal and academic development.
Each curriculum topic identifies enquiry questions that give our learners the opportunity to engage with the topic and give them an opportunity to explore what they would like to find out. Topics are enriched wherever possible by providing the opportunities for hands-on exciting learning experiences that help to bring learning to life and show the relevance to ‘real life’. This could be a visit, a visitor bringing in artefacts, a drama or immersion day. Throughout the topic, there are further careful links to high quality texts and real life maths experiences. We also stretch our learners in the wider curriculum with a big focus on drama, art, music, dance and sport. We provide children with planned opportunities to take on a variety of leadership roles, charitable work and local debates, as well as participation in local and national competitions and sporting events.
Every pupil is nurtured and challenged throughout. We feel this approach to learning makes our school a dynamic, fresh and stimulating place to learn. Please look at our Curriculum overview pages for additional information regarding each subject
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The REACHING Curriculum and Approach to Learning:
Our REACHING Curriculum:
Relevant
Evaluative
Ambitious- excellence for all
Community-grounded
Hard work and Effort
Involvement
Nurturing
Gracious
Our Approach to Learning: ‘REACHING’
Our learning values help our children become better learners by encouraging good learning habits and attitudes (Responsible; Evaluative; Ambitious, Collaborative; Hardworking; Initiative; Nimble-minded; Gritty) which will enable them to face challenges and difficulties in a calm, confident, positive and creative way. This approach, aims to make children fearless in their learning, willing to learn from their mistakes, helping them know what they can get better at something as long as they practise, keep trying and always have an attitude of ‘I may not be able to do it YET’.
Prosocial (LIFE) |
Epistemic (REACHING) |
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Love |
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Responsible |
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Evaluative |
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Integrity |
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Ambitious |
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Collaborative |
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Forgiveness |
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Hard-working |
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Independent |
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Equality |
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Nimble-minded |
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‘Gritty’ |
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How do we evaluate and monitor the impact of our curriculum?
High quality practice across the school provides a strong foundation for learning along with opportunities for children to collaborate and develop social skills both within and outside school. Our curriculum design also ensures that the needs of all individuals can be met within an environment of quality first teaching, supported by targeted interventions where appropriate.
Enjoyment of the curriculum promotes achievement, self-esteem and excellent behaviour. Children share their learning with each other, their parents and carers and other year groups through assemblies, performances, exhibitions and events involving other schools and local community groups.
Subject leaders monitor their subjects through lesson drop ins, book scrutiny, learning walks, pupil and parent conferencing and discussion with staff about how improvements can be made. This is then shared with the Whole Governing Body who are also invited to share in the learning journey by attending or supporting events. Data analysis is an important and regular contributor to the final evaluation.
Areas for development are subsequently added to the School Improvement plan (SIP), to which all staff contribute. The SIP is reviewed termly by the SLT (Senior Leadership Team) and shared with Governors
The impact is monitored through:
•clubs
•hobbies and pastimes
•local opportunities
•charity work
• lessons, events, routines, clubs, responsibilities and leadership
We are all committed to the principles of the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child, especially Article 28: Every child has the right to an education.
From September 2014, we have been teaching the new primary National Curriculum.
Our Early Years and Foundation Stage departments follow the Statutory Framework for the curriculum.
In preparation for the new 2014 Primary Curriculum, we have collaborated to make sure our curriculums:
meet statutory requirements
are broad and balanced
offer first-hand experiences
offer opportunities to explore spiritual, moral, social and cultural experiences, ideas and issues.
have clear skills progressions
allow pupils to apply these skills
encompass the arts
support vulnerable groups and individual needs
foster pride in our community
promote health and well-being
fulfill the requirement to promote British values
support children’s place in a multicultural society
provide opportunities for children to reflect on their spirituality, through experiencing moments of awe and wonder and a range of emotion.
We share high expectations of our pupils and our staff, our curriculum has a common approach to assessment for learning and we all aim for high standards in all areas.
The school has been awarded the Gold Sports Mark and the Schools Music Mark that recognises excellent provision in these aspects of the wider curriculum and our commitment to providing broad and balanced experiences.
'One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who
touched our human feelings.The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth
is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.'
What We Learn In School |
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Our School Curriculum follows all the requirements of the National Curriculum but we are proud to offer a much broader curriculum than that, making the most of many and varied opportunities to broaden and enrich the curriculum for our children. Our school curriculum is driven by our core values and we aim for all our children to develop the qualities and capacities detailed in our vision statement.
The National Curriculum provides the school with the outline of knowledge, skills and understanding that we are required to cover in school. We choose to teach much of this through creative, cross-curricular themes where children learn different strands of the curriculum from a range of subjects, all within one common theme for a term. These themes are taught through key questions that provide the basis for the children to explore different concepts, knowledge and skills. The children are also encouraged to generate their own learning questions that may be explored and answered through their studies. Our curriculum theme titles are shown in the table below. In Year R, the Early Years Foundation Stage is used to scaffold the curriculum the children follow. The approach to the curriculum in Year R is generated each half term, using the children's interests. (Please see further details below). An overview of our topic cycles (so far) are below. Please note that the Year R curriculum is for guidance only, and parents will be advised of topics of interest each half term.
In addition to delivering the statutory national curriculum we have a strong wider curriculum, and actively promote school sport, music, art and drama as focus areas. We offer a wide range of sporting opportunities, encouraging our children to participate in competitive sport at some point- We also offe
We also regularly take part in Art Competitions and display our work in the community. We are regular prizewinners at the annual Alton Art Exhibition & the Rotary Photography Competition. Our participation in the village Horticultural Competition involves a range of entries, often including craft work such as origami, embroidery and felting. We have also taken part in the 'Take One Picture' national competition, run by the National Gallery. |
In helping to prepare children for life in our modern, cosmopolitan world, children across the whole school will sometimes learn about aspects of the same theme. Themes such as 'Equality' or 'Community' are examples. At the end of this, children in each class present their learning to the rest of the school in a sharing assembly.
At Four Marks C of E Primary School we believe it is crucial to provide children with a solid foundation in Reception in order to enable them to achieve their full potential and have the very best start to their educational journey. Our Early Years Foundation Stage is child-led with continual ‘in the moment’ learning that follows the children’s interests. This instils positive attitudes towards learning, building confidence and resilience where children’s natural instincts to discover and explore are encouraged.
Using the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, ‘Development Matters’, we are able to tailor every activity and line of enquiry to the children’s current interests and fascinations. Our planning is based on observations and assessments of each child in a spontaneous cycle. This allows us to provide an individualised learning experience which celebrates and values diversity and the unique child. Some examples of lines of enquiry that have been developed by the children and enhanced by adult provision include ‘Changing and growing’, ‘Under and over the Sea’ and ‘The Seasons’. The length of time spent exploring these interests depends upon the depth of the children’s interest and engagement. Some lines of enquiry may last for a week, while others may continue over several weeks.
By providing opportunities for children to achieve an early mastery of essential skills, we aim to ensure all pupils successfully access the wider curriculum as they progress through the primary years and beyond. Initial reading and writing skills are taught using the Government’s Letters and Sounds synthetic phonics scheme which provides pupils with a rigorous and thorough grounding in reading and writing. Opportunities for writing are developed through the children's interests and are designed to engage and motivate all children across all areas of learning.
We feel children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and carers. We are lucky enough to have an exciting and engaging outdoor teaching and learning area which includes a woodland space. The children have access to the outdoors in all weathers, helping them to develop a strong understanding of the world around them and build the necessary skills to become independent life-long learners. We provide parents and carers with as many opportunities as possible to share their knowledge of their children and engage in their learning. Our ‘open door’ policy also includes ‘Come and Play’ sessions, Workshops on Phonics, Writing and Tapestry, and access and contributions to children’s Tapestry learning journals.
Our Religious Education curriculum follows the Hampshire ‘Living Difference’ syllabus which reflects the mainly Christian traditions of Great Britain, and the Christian ethos of our school, whilst recognising and celebrating the diversity of the other principal religions represented in the country.
Great importance is attached to enabling our children to become fluent readers. The school follows the progression of the ‘Letters and Sounds’ program, followed by 'Support for Spelling'. Detailed information about the phonics scheme, and materials to support your child at home can be found on our 'Supporting Learning' section of the website . Reading comprehension skills are taught widely and children receive focused tuition in guided reading sessions each week. All the children are required to read independently on a regular basis. Their progress, as independent readers, is tracked through personal reading journals. Please see our 'Reading Widely and Often' page for ideas on how you can help to support your child's reading development.
The school predominantly uses the Project X and Oxford Reading Tree scheme to help emerging fluent readers. When children are confident and fluent they are encouraged to use the library regularly to change their books. The school provides a variety of incentives and competitions throughout the year to celebrate children’s reading achievement.
Children are taught to write in a variety of styles including prose, poetry and reporting, and to suit different purposes and audiences. The purpose and audience for children’s writing is central to our English program of study. There is an emphasis on children publishing their work for someone to read, and we have our own school magazine, as well as contributing regularly to the village magazine, The Four Marks News. As a child progresses, an increasing emphasis is placed on the correct use of spelling, grammar and punctuation. Spelling and grammar knowledge is taught in discrete sessions each week and children are encouraged to apply taught spelling and grammar rules whenever they write. A whole school policy for handwriting is aimed at children progressing towards a cursive style and being able to write smoothly, legibly and neatly.
Speaking, listening and performing skills are promoted throughout the school through storytelling, discussion groups, drama lessons, and role play. Such opportunities, as well as whole school assemblies, provide a valuable means of building confidence and developing the ability to listen to, and appreciate the efforts of others.
The school aims to give all children a thorough understanding of number, geometry, measurement, statistics and algebra. A strong emphasis is placed on investigative and problem solving activities to achieve this. Individual mathematical concepts are taught in an extended series of lessons that aim to deepen and embed children’s understanding through a range of representations and routines. Children are taught to reason mathematically using appropriate vocabulary. Mathematical language is taught explicitly.
The ability for children to know and manipulate age appropriate number facts is a key focus of our Mathematics teaching. Daily mental recall and memorization sessions are delivered to ensure that children secure and retain number facts such as times tables. Children also regularly play mental mathematics agility games.
Our school Science curriculum is taught through key concepts which have been carefully mapped. Children are taught to observe, discuss, classify, compare, set up fair tests and record and interpret their findings. Through their investigations children are given the opportunity to learn about life processes and living things, materials and their properties and physical processes. Activities will take place in the context of the study of themes laid down in the National Curriculum and concepts will be revisited every two years as the children develop and deepen their understanding.
Computing is a new program study in our school curriculum. The children are taught to design and write simple computer programs, explain algorithms and understand computer networks and the internet. Computer programing is taught through software such as Scratch, Lego Mindstorm and Kodo. Our program of study also includes the use of Microsoft Publisher, Prezi, Pixlr and Weebly website software. During their computer studies the children are taught to use the internet safety. There are also opportunities for the children to use media devices to record sound and images.
The school’s program of study in History examines the Romans, Ancient Greeks, Anglo Saxon and Viking invaders, Ancient Egyptians, Victorians and Mayan civilization. There are also British studies of the Stone age and Iron age periods as well as a local history study.
The school’s program of study for Geography compares settlements and cities around the world. The children study the formation of rivers, seas, volcanoes and beaches. Children learn to use maps and compass directions accurately. This includes practical field trip experiences and orienteering. The program of study also includes metrological, conservation and ecology work.
The school's program of study of Art is centred on developing the skills of drawing, painting, sculpture and collage. Our curriculum includes opportunities for children to learn about modern artists and to make jewellery, pottery and textiles.
The school's program of study for DT links closely to our topics each term. The children learn to construct a variety of different objects that build key skills. We also teach food technology which involves a wide range of cookery and food preparation skills.
At Four Marks we teach the children French. Children are taught to speak, read and write basic French. Children learn practical conversational French which they can use in a variety of situations.
Children are taught to sing as well as play instruments. The whole school is taught singing each week in assembly, and children in KS2 are introduced to playing a wide variety of musical instruments through the Hampshire Music, Listen 2 Me, program.
The school's PE curriculum carefully balances the tuition of games, gymnastics and dance. The children are also taught a wide variety of sports which include: Football, Cricket, Hockey, Tennis, Netball, Rugby, Athletics.
The school has a detailed program of personal and social development which is based on the Hampshire Local Authority scheme. The program looks specifically at developing key life skills such as healthy lifestyles, safe choices, road safety, sex education, drug education, citizenship, diversity, prejudice and democracy. The school frequently explores bullying and cyberbullying, and how to tackle these issues.
The school's RE curriculum explores all the major world faiths through a variety of concepts such as 'Freedom'. The school holds themed weeks that explore concepts in more depth, for example, through our Intercultural Week & Equalities week. We follow the Hampshire RE syllabus, 'Living Difference 111', which fulfils statutory requirements, and uses a philosophical approach.