Stratford Preparatory School

Introduction

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.

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.

Our school is in full agreement with the values statement included in the introduction to The National Curriculum Handbook for Primary Teachers in England. These are the main values of our school, upon which we have based our curriculum:

·           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.

Aims and objectives

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 (ICT);

·         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 have 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.

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

In the Foundation Stage and at Key Stage 1, we plan the curriculum carefully, so that there is coherence and full coverage of all aspects of the National Curriculum and early learning goals, and there is planned progression in all curriculum areas.

At Key Stage 2 the curriculum at our school places a greater emphasis on the core and foundation subjects than it does at Key Stage 1, and we teach these subjects separately.

Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. 

The curriculum in our school is designed to provide access and opportunity for all children who attend the school. If we think it necessary to adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of individual children, then we do so only after the parents of the child have been consulted.

If a pupil has a learning difficulty and/or disability, our school does all it can to meet these individual needs. We comply with the requirements set out in the SEN Code of Practice in providing for children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. If a child displays signs of having learning difficulties and/or disabilities, his/her teacher makes an assessment of this need. In most instances the teacher is able to provide resources and educational opportunities which meet the child’s needs within the normal class organisation. If a child’s need is more severe, we consider the child for assessment of Special Educational Needs, and we involve the appropriate external agencies when making this assessment. We always provide additional resources and support for children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities

The school provides an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) for each of the children who are on the learnign support/SEN register. This sets out the nature of the learning difficulties and/or disabilities, and outlines how the schools will aim to address them. It also sets out targets for improvement, so that we can review and monitor the progress of each child at regular intervals.

The Foundation Stage

The curriculum that we teach in the reception class meets the requirements set out in the revised National Curriculum at Foundation Stage. Our curriculum planning focuses on the Early Learning Goals and on developing children’s skills and experiences, as set out in this document.

Our school fully supports the principle that young children learn through play, and by engaging in well-planned structured activities. Teaching in the reception class builds on the experiences of the children in their pre-school learning. We do all we can to build positive partnerships with the variety of nurseries and other pre-school providers in the area.

Assessment is carried out through observation over the Reception year.  These assessment records form an important part of the future curriculum planning for each child.

We are well aware that all children need the support of parents and teachers to make good progress in school. We strive to build positive links with the parents of each child by keeping them informed about the way in which the children are being taught and how well each child is progressing.

Key skills

The following skills have been deemed ‘key skills’ in the revised National Curriculum:

·         communication;

·         application of number;

·         information technology;

·         working with others;

·         improving own learning and performance;

·         problem-solving.

In our curriculum planning we highlight these skills, so that the children’s progress in all of these areas can be identified and monitored. All subject areas contribute to a child’s progress in these skills. Our school believes that all children need to make good progress in these skill areas in order to develop to their true potential.

The role of the subject leader

The role of the subject leader is to:

·         provide a strategic lead and direction for the subject;

·         support and offer advice to colleagues on issues related to the subject;

·         monitor and ensure effective pupil progress in that subject area;

·         provide efficient resource management for the subject.

It is the role of each subject leader to keep up to date with developments in their subject, at both national and local level. They review the way the subject is taught in the school and plan for improvement. This development planning links to whole-school objectives. Each subject leader reviews the curriculum plans for their subject, ensures that there is full coverage of the National Curriculum and that progression is planned into schemes of work. The subject leader also keeps childrens’ books to show achievement, at each key stage and to give examples of expectations of attainment.

Monitoring and review

The Principal is responsible for monitoring the way the school curriculum is implemented. The Principal reviews each subject area in its three year cycle of review and development.

The department heads are responsible for the day to day organisation of the curriculum. They  monitor the weekly lesson plans for all teachers, ensuring that all classes are taught the full requirements of the National Curriculum, and that all lessons have appropriate learning objectives.