Some helpful Websites for Pupils
Numeracy
Mathletics
BBC Maths Revisewise
Maths Games for Kids
Literacy
BBC Literacy Revisewise
Science
BBC Science Revisewise
VLE
Curriculum Intent Statement 2019
At Longroyde Primary School the curriculum is designed to: recognise children’s prior learning, provide first hand learning experiences, allow the children to develop interpersonal skills, build resilience, become creative, critical thinkers, form tolerance for diversity and develop key life skills for winning at life.
Every child is recognised as a unique individual. We celebrate and welcome differences within our school community. The ability to learn is underpinned by the teaching of basic skills, knowledge, concepts and values. We constantly provide enhancement opportunities to engage learning and believe that childhood should be a happy, investigative and enquiring time in our lives where there are no limits to curiosity and there is a thirst for new experiences and knowledge. We promote School Values and British Values to develop positive attitudes to learning and the society we live in; these reflect the values and skills needed to promote responsibility for learning and future success.
Community involvement is an essential part of our curriculum as we celebrate local traditions, learning new skills to enable the children to take an active role in events throughout the year.
Children leave the school with a sense of belonging to a tightly knit community where they have the confidence and skills to make decisions, self-evaluate, respect diversity and become lifelong learners.
Curriculum Implementation
Longroyde Primary School engages all learning styles using a variety of resources including Early Years Outcomes, National Curriculum Statutory Guidance, PSHE Association’s Primary Planning Toolkit, 'Believing and Belonging' the new RE Agreed syllabus 2019 , Outdoor Learning and enhancement opportunities which support the teaching of the curriculum.
Learning Research
The curriculum has been designed after consultation with staff, parents and children.
The school has recognised the use of clear, focused learning intentions and success criteria as an effective tool in gaining intended learning outcomes. Staff have had training to use effective questioning techniques to develop higher order thinking skills. They have built the curriculum around statutory guidance, as well as a clear focus on the building of key skills throughout Key Stage 1 and 2.
SEND
At Longroyde Primary School we are committed to ensuring that all pupils are included in all aspects of school life. We believe that all pupils have a right to a broad and balanced curriculum that is adapted to their personal needs, designed to engage and challenge them and that is developed to include all - irrespective of their needs. We have high expectations of our SEND pupils and encourage them to make good progress, despite their level of need and the barriers to learning they may encounter. We want them to achieve the best that they can; through supportive working relationships with parents and close involvement of pupils in all aspects of their learning, this helps us to deliver the best opportunities for their future.
Subject Leaders
At Longroyde Primary we have subject leaders who oversee, develop, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of their subject within school across all year groups and phases. Staff are committed to delivering high quality learning experiences throughout the curriculum. Each coordinator has invested time in planning a progression of skills for their subject, throughout KS1 and KS2, while addressing the national curriculum objectives.
Class Teachers
Year group teams have worked together, using the progression of skills for each subject and the national curriculum objectives, to plan lessons. These medium term plans firmly focus on the school’s intent (Resilience, Basic Skills and Winning at Life) in order to provide activities that challenge the children, develop their knowledge and skills and prepare them for the society in which we live. Class teachers are aware of the parent and pupil feedback, regarding our curriculum, and have addressed this in their plans. For example: KS2 parents requested more opportunities for outdoor learning and so this has been planned into the curriculum, where appropriate.
Impact/Assessment
In Early Years children are assessed against Development Matters, to monitor their ongoing progress and inform their next steps for learning. In KS1 and KS2, English and Maths are formerly assessed three times a year (using NFER tests, writing moderation and Accelerated Reading). Year 2 and Year 6 use past SAT papers termly, to build resilience and ensure that they are familiar with the foremat of the test so it is not a barrier to their achievement. Phonics in Year 1 is assessed half termly, using previous phonics screens, and this information is used to target children for intervention and to inform planning. Summative assessments are used to inform future lesson plans.
New for the curriculum 19, children will be base line assessed at the start of a half termly topic and then assessed at the end. This will allow class teachers to monitor the impact. Subject coordinators will continue to provide assessment folders for science and foundation subjects. These, as always, will be taken in by coordinators, to allow them to monitor progress in their subject.
Early Years Outcomes and National Curriculum
At Longroyde Primary School we have a two year cycle for our themed planning. All EYFS follow the long term map. We plan half termly topics that we feel will inspire the children’s curiosity, understanding and development. All seven main areas of learning are incorporated into our environment (indoor and outdoor). Throughout the curriculum we always incorporate children’s skills and development under the characteristics of effective learning. We integrate long term planning throughout our EYFS to ensure continuity and progression.
All staff are involved in medium term planning (half termly) to ensure year groups are planning a wide range of exciting activities that are linked to the correct age band (Calderdale Learning and Development Progress Tracker) and that they promote our core values of achievement, perseverance, community, manners and responsibility. We aim to have a cohort of happy, independent, confident and determined learners who are able to communicate well and have the ability to think critically and share their ideas and thoughts. We ensure essential skills are developed to specific planned activities and identify assessment opportunities, which in turns support the individual child to move forward in their learning.
We pride ourselves in our creative curriculum which allows for many ‘I wonder’ moments as the children engage in many real life opportunities within an immersive environment.
Short term (weekly) planning includes specific plans for coverage of the daily Literacy, Mathematics, phonic and topic whole class teaching sessions, where learning objectives are shared verbally with the children. Adult led focus activities are also planned to develop and move children forward in all areas of their learning, again small targets are verbally shared to support progression in each child’s individual learning experience. Invitations to learning are planned on a daily basis with the whole team to include opportunities for extension; child requested activities and further planned adult led activities. We plan activities around their interests and have a balance of adult led and child initiated activities.
During independent learning time the children have their own ideas and take control of their own learning through play based opportunities. The children have independent access to a stimulating curriculum both indoors and outdoors on a daily basis. We are in the process of developing an outdoor environment that includes access to a forest area. This will help to further enhance the children's learning through exploring and gaining new learning experiences engaging with the outdoor environment whatever the weather.
Maths
At Longroyde Primary School, we are committed to implementing a mastery approach to teaching and learning in mathematics. We believe in providing opportunities for all leaners to develop a deep and secure knowledge and understanding of mathematics at each stage of their learning. Our whole-school maths curriculum in underpinned by a concrete-pictorial-abstract approach through which we aim to enable all pupils to access, understand and fundamentally apply the underlying structure of maths. It is our intention that pupils routinely use multiple and varied representations accurately and cross a range on contexts to address, improve and consolidate:
Fluency
English
Writing is taught through a range of exciting stimuli which includes books, film clips, artefacts, visitors and real life experiences. We strive to equip children to develop a rich vocabulary which can help them bring their writing to life. Basic skills and non-negotiables underpin writing in all areas of the curriculum. Teachers model the writing process and demonstrate the ambitious high standards expected of all children. Every child is encouraged to let their imagination and personality shine through in their writing.
Reading is a fundamental part of everything we do at Longroyde. Children are exposed to high quality texts across the curriculum and reading skills are taught explicitly in all year groups. Alongside the skills of decoding and comprehension, guided reading lessons encourage children to think as a reader and discuss their preferences, likes and dislikes. Reading for pleasure is a cornerstone of our approach, with a well-stocked and well organised school library which children access both within the timetable and in their own time. The high profile of reading in school is further enhanced by Accelerated Reading project which runs throughout the school.
Science
Our Science curriculum is taught through a variety of engaging and stimulating topics which cover the domains of chemistry, biology and physics as required by the national curriculum. We use video clips, story books, interactive resources and real life experiences to develop pupils’ interests in and enjoyment of science. Topics are planned to build on children’s curiosity and therefore to instil a positive attitude towards science for all pupils. Lessons are planned to include practical and theory based learning to ensure that children are confident to think and work scientifically. We encourage children to ask and answer questions, hypothesise and predict, conduct scientific investigations, accurately record and analyse their findings and use appropriate scientific language and skills to communicate. Our curriculum aims to support children to acquire sufficient scientific knowledge to consider the implications of science in our world today and in the future.
PSHE
Currently, PSHE is taught through a progressive, spiral programme, reflecting the needs shared by all young people and the specific needs of the pupils at Longroyde Primary. It is based upon the PSHE Association’s Scheme of Work Primary Planning Toolkit, ensuring coverage of the Programmes of Study, Health and Wellbeing, Relationships and Living in the Wider World. Relationships Education and Physical Health and Mental Wellbeing Education will become statutory in 2020, and we will be adapting our curriculum to cover these statutory objectives in a way that also addresses the needs of the pupils within our school.
RE
Using the 'Believing and Belonging' new RE Agreed syllabus 2019, children are taught knowledge and understanding around a range of religious and worldwide views so that they can: describe, explain, analyse and investigate allowing them to appreciate beliefs and practices, recognising the diversity, meanings and values within and between communities (including their own) and amongst individuals.
Modern Foreign Language
Our MFL curriculum, using the Salut programmes of study, is designed to progressively develop children’s skills in French, through regular taught lessons. Children progressively acquire, use and apply a growing bank of vocabulary organised around topics. All of these approaches help to equip our children with the skills to be confident global citizens.
Computing
Our computing curriculum is designed to equip children with the skills and understanding to live in a technological world; this includes being able to use a variety of computer software and coding programmes. There is an emphasis on the importance of Online Safety for all year groups.
History
Our curriculum for history aims to inspire pupils' curiosity to know more about local, national and international history. Pupils develop the chronological, enquiry and interpretation skills needed to understand the history of Britain and the wider world as a coherent narrative, from the earliest times to the present day. Pupils achieve this by asking perceptive questions, thinking critically, weighing evidence, sifting arguments, and developing perspective and judgement. Through learning about significant events and individuals from the past, pupils gain an understanding of the complexity of people's lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.
Lessons are taught using a theme based approach.
Pupils will be taught:
Geography
Our geography curriculum inspires children to be curious and fascinated about the world and its people. Children will have knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments. They will have a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.
The four main areas (Locational knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical geography and geographical skills and fieldwork) will be taught in all year groups, building on the children’s prior knowledge through a skills based Geography curriculum.
Physical Education
Our physical education curriculum is designed to support the progression and development of skills throughout the year groups. Children are taught skills based on the National Curriculum requirements and are given the opportunity to apply their developed skills by taking part in a wide range of sports as they move through the key stages. In sport, we encourage children to show resilience towards learning new skills, become active participants and enjoy winning as individuals or as part of a team. We encourage children to take part in physical exercise or movement whenever possible throughout the school day through games at play time and resources used within subject classroom time.
Art
Our art curriculum is designed to equip the children with the skills, knowledge and understanding to access the art curriculum. There is an emphasis on building up their level of skill as they progress through school and a skills progression overview has been designed by the art coordinator. The art coordinator has also ensured that all the statutory requirements for the art national curriculum 2014 are also being met across the school.
DT
Our curriculum in DT aims to allow children to develop skills in a variety of areas throughout their time in primary school. Skills are built on each year, with all areas of design and technology being covered at least once between year 1 and year 6.
Children are taught how to make healthy food choices and how to use kitchen appliances and utensils independently and safely. Children are also taught how to use different mechanical systems (including electrical) to make products move for different purposes. Further to this, children are given the opportunity to research products and their target audience in order to make an appropriate product.
Evaluation is an important part of the subject and so is often linked to English skills.
Music
Music is a unique way of communicating that can inspire and motivate children. It is a vehicle for personal expression and it can play an important part in the personal development of people. Music reflects the culture and society we live in, and so the teaching and learning of music enables children to better understand the world they live in. Besides being a creative and enjoyable activity, music can also be a highly academic and demanding subject. It also plays an important part in helping children feel part of a community. We provide opportunities for all children to create, play, perform and enjoy music, to develop the skills to appreciate a wide variety of musical forms, and to begin to make judgements about the quality of music.
The aims of music teaching at LPS are to enable children to:
(All aims are directly linked to the school aims, SEF and SDP)
At Longroyde Primary School we make music an enjoyable learning experience. We encourage children to participate in a variety of musical experiences through which we aim to build up the confidence of all children. Singing lies at the heart of good music teaching. Our teaching focuses on developing the children’s ability to sing in tune and with other people. Through singing songs, children learn about the structure and organisation of music. We teach them to listen and to appreciate different forms of music. As children get older, we expect them to maintain their concentration for longer and to listen to more extended pieces of music. Children develop descriptive skills in music lessons when learning about how music can represent feelings and emotions. We teach them the disciplined skills of recognising pulse and pitch. We often teach these together. We also teach children how to work with others to make music and how individuals combine together to make sounds. We also teach them varying forms of musical notation and how to compose music.
We recognise that there are children of widely different musical abilities in all classes, so we provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching the challenge of the task to the ability of the child. We achieve this in a variety of ways by:
To provide for the gifted and talented, as well as those who ‘just want a go!’, children are offered the opportunity to study a musical instrument with peripatetic teachers from Y1 onwards. Peripatetic music teaching is organised by Rastrick High School and Longroyde Primary School has chosen to participate in the direct billing programme. Parents who want their children to participate in the scheme must pay the additional music lesson fees on a termly basis. These lessons are normally taught to small groups of children who have chosen to learn one of a variety of instruments, such as the guitar, clarinet, flute or cornet. This is in addition to the normal music teaching of the school, and usually takes place during afternoon lessons from which children are withdrawn for the duration of the instrumental lesson.
Outdoor Learning
Longroyde Primary is undergoing training by the EYFS and KS1 teachers to train KS2 teachers to take children outside the classroom more frequently, to make learning more relevant to their lives in the community and wider world. We believe outdoor learning offers all learners opportunities to achieve and develop self-confidence and self-esteem through hands on learning experiences using natural materials. We encourage children to be responsible for and respect the local community and environment, giving them a sense of belonging and ownership of the place in which they live. Outdoor Learning sessions are linked to the National Curriculum to enhance the learning taking place in the classroom, whilst also using the ethos of Forest Schools to develop social, physical and communication skills. At Longroyde children take part in Outdoor Learning activities throughout the year in our school grounds, integrating subjects so that meaningful activities can be planned and delivered effectively and regularly. This enables children to connect with nature, fostering a sense of respect and ownership with the outdoors. Children learn how to be safe, keep their friends safe and treat the outdoors environment with respect. Activities include exploring, investigating, collecting natural objects, discovering a range of plants and animals, den building, making objects, using equipment, solving problems, playing team games…plus much more!
Visits and Visitors
In the curriculum we recognise that children’s learning is enhanced by different experiences. We offer children a wide range of educational visits which are used to motivate and engage learning which improves retention. For example, Year 1 visit the seaside which supports learning in English and foundation subjects, Year 4 go to Eureka to support learning in science and take a residential trip to Whitby to support learning in History and Geography.
Regular visitors in school give the children another perspective on values, attitudes, learning and understanding. These include charities, people from different professions (eg, the Fire Service, SpecSavers and local Police); subject enhancement visitors (Viking Day in Year 5) and the community (eg, local vicar and members of the Royal Legion).
Lunchtimes
We consider lunchtime to be an extension of the curriculum. Children have the opportunity to practice the transferable skills they have learnt during lessons. Structured play opportunities are provided; children are encouraged to think creatively, apply their understanding in individual ways to be able to draw upon their own experiences and to be imaginative during play.
Curriculum Impact
The impact of the curriculum is evident in the outcomes for all pupils.
At Longroyde Primary School the curriculum is designed to: recognise children’s prior learning, provide first hand learning experiences, allow the children to develop interpersonal skills, build resilience, become creative, critical thinkers, form tolerance for diversity and develop key life skills for winning at life.
Every child is recognised as a unique individual. We celebrate and welcome differences within our school community. The ability to learn is underpinned by the teaching of basic skills, knowledge, concepts and values. We constantly provide enhancement opportunities to engage learning and believe that childhood should be a happy, investigative and enquiring time in our lives where there are no limits to curiosity and there is a thirst for new experiences and knowledge. We promote School Values and British Values to develop positive attitudes to learning and the society we live in; these reflect the values and skills needed to promote responsibility for learning and future success.
Community involvement is an essential part of our curriculum as we celebrate local traditions, learning new skills to enable the children to take an active role in events throughout the year.
Children leave the school with a sense of belonging to a tightly knit community where they have the confidence and skills to make decisions, self-evaluate, respect diversity and become lifelong learners.
Curriculum Implementation
Longroyde Primary School engages all learning styles using a variety of resources including Early Years Outcomes, National Curriculum Statutory Guidance, PSHE Association’s Primary Planning Toolkit, 'Believing and Belonging' the new RE Agreed syllabus 2019 , Outdoor Learning and enhancement opportunities which support the teaching of the curriculum.
Learning Research
The curriculum has been designed after consultation with staff, parents and children.
The school has recognised the use of clear, focused learning intentions and success criteria as an effective tool in gaining intended learning outcomes. Staff have had training to use effective questioning techniques to develop higher order thinking skills. They have built the curriculum around statutory guidance, as well as a clear focus on the building of key skills throughout Key Stage 1 and 2.
SEND
At Longroyde Primary School we are committed to ensuring that all pupils are included in all aspects of school life. We believe that all pupils have a right to a broad and balanced curriculum that is adapted to their personal needs, designed to engage and challenge them and that is developed to include all - irrespective of their needs. We have high expectations of our SEND pupils and encourage them to make good progress, despite their level of need and the barriers to learning they may encounter. We want them to achieve the best that they can; through supportive working relationships with parents and close involvement of pupils in all aspects of their learning, this helps us to deliver the best opportunities for their future.
Subject Leaders
At Longroyde Primary we have subject leaders who oversee, develop, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of their subject within school across all year groups and phases. Staff are committed to delivering high quality learning experiences throughout the curriculum. Each coordinator has invested time in planning a progression of skills for their subject, throughout KS1 and KS2, while addressing the national curriculum objectives.
Class Teachers
Year group teams have worked together, using the progression of skills for each subject and the national curriculum objectives, to plan lessons. These medium term plans firmly focus on the school’s intent (Resilience, Basic Skills and Winning at Life) in order to provide activities that challenge the children, develop their knowledge and skills and prepare them for the society in which we live. Class teachers are aware of the parent and pupil feedback, regarding our curriculum, and have addressed this in their plans. For example: KS2 parents requested more opportunities for outdoor learning and so this has been planned into the curriculum, where appropriate.
Impact/Assessment
In Early Years children are assessed against Development Matters, to monitor their ongoing progress and inform their next steps for learning. In KS1 and KS2, English and Maths are formerly assessed three times a year (using NFER tests, writing moderation and Accelerated Reading). Year 2 and Year 6 use past SAT papers termly, to build resilience and ensure that they are familiar with the foremat of the test so it is not a barrier to their achievement. Phonics in Year 1 is assessed half termly, using previous phonics screens, and this information is used to target children for intervention and to inform planning. Summative assessments are used to inform future lesson plans.
New for the curriculum 19, children will be base line assessed at the start of a half termly topic and then assessed at the end. This will allow class teachers to monitor the impact. Subject coordinators will continue to provide assessment folders for science and foundation subjects. These, as always, will be taken in by coordinators, to allow them to monitor progress in their subject.
Early Years Outcomes and National Curriculum
At Longroyde Primary School we have a two year cycle for our themed planning. All EYFS follow the long term map. We plan half termly topics that we feel will inspire the children’s curiosity, understanding and development. All seven main areas of learning are incorporated into our environment (indoor and outdoor). Throughout the curriculum we always incorporate children’s skills and development under the characteristics of effective learning. We integrate long term planning throughout our EYFS to ensure continuity and progression.
All staff are involved in medium term planning (half termly) to ensure year groups are planning a wide range of exciting activities that are linked to the correct age band (Calderdale Learning and Development Progress Tracker) and that they promote our core values of achievement, perseverance, community, manners and responsibility. We aim to have a cohort of happy, independent, confident and determined learners who are able to communicate well and have the ability to think critically and share their ideas and thoughts. We ensure essential skills are developed to specific planned activities and identify assessment opportunities, which in turns support the individual child to move forward in their learning.
We pride ourselves in our creative curriculum which allows for many ‘I wonder’ moments as the children engage in many real life opportunities within an immersive environment.
Short term (weekly) planning includes specific plans for coverage of the daily Literacy, Mathematics, phonic and topic whole class teaching sessions, where learning objectives are shared verbally with the children. Adult led focus activities are also planned to develop and move children forward in all areas of their learning, again small targets are verbally shared to support progression in each child’s individual learning experience. Invitations to learning are planned on a daily basis with the whole team to include opportunities for extension; child requested activities and further planned adult led activities. We plan activities around their interests and have a balance of adult led and child initiated activities.
During independent learning time the children have their own ideas and take control of their own learning through play based opportunities. The children have independent access to a stimulating curriculum both indoors and outdoors on a daily basis. We are in the process of developing an outdoor environment that includes access to a forest area. This will help to further enhance the children's learning through exploring and gaining new learning experiences engaging with the outdoor environment whatever the weather.
Maths
At Longroyde Primary School, we are committed to implementing a mastery approach to teaching and learning in mathematics. We believe in providing opportunities for all leaners to develop a deep and secure knowledge and understanding of mathematics at each stage of their learning. Our whole-school maths curriculum in underpinned by a concrete-pictorial-abstract approach through which we aim to enable all pupils to access, understand and fundamentally apply the underlying structure of maths. It is our intention that pupils routinely use multiple and varied representations accurately and cross a range on contexts to address, improve and consolidate:
Fluency
- Pupils can use efficient strategies and do not get too ‘bogged down’ in too many steps or lose the logic of the strategy.
- Pupils carry out operations with accuracy (e.g. careful recording, knowledge of number facts, number bonds and relationships, careful double checking of results).
- Pupils are flexible and can choose an appropriate strategy for the number(s) involved (e.g. split/compensation/near doubles/formal methods) and use another method to check their results.
- Pupils can explain, justify and prove ideas showing a deepening understanding of a concept.
- Pupils use correct terminology. Key vocabulary is reinforced (by teachers, children, role/peer modelling) displayed and accessible.
- Children regularly experience ‘non-routine’ problems.
- Children show resilience as they actively seek solutions, explore patterns and formulate conjectures.
- Children make connections across mathematics and apply knowledge in other subject areas.
English
Writing is taught through a range of exciting stimuli which includes books, film clips, artefacts, visitors and real life experiences. We strive to equip children to develop a rich vocabulary which can help them bring their writing to life. Basic skills and non-negotiables underpin writing in all areas of the curriculum. Teachers model the writing process and demonstrate the ambitious high standards expected of all children. Every child is encouraged to let their imagination and personality shine through in their writing.
Reading is a fundamental part of everything we do at Longroyde. Children are exposed to high quality texts across the curriculum and reading skills are taught explicitly in all year groups. Alongside the skills of decoding and comprehension, guided reading lessons encourage children to think as a reader and discuss their preferences, likes and dislikes. Reading for pleasure is a cornerstone of our approach, with a well-stocked and well organised school library which children access both within the timetable and in their own time. The high profile of reading in school is further enhanced by Accelerated Reading project which runs throughout the school.
Science
Our Science curriculum is taught through a variety of engaging and stimulating topics which cover the domains of chemistry, biology and physics as required by the national curriculum. We use video clips, story books, interactive resources and real life experiences to develop pupils’ interests in and enjoyment of science. Topics are planned to build on children’s curiosity and therefore to instil a positive attitude towards science for all pupils. Lessons are planned to include practical and theory based learning to ensure that children are confident to think and work scientifically. We encourage children to ask and answer questions, hypothesise and predict, conduct scientific investigations, accurately record and analyse their findings and use appropriate scientific language and skills to communicate. Our curriculum aims to support children to acquire sufficient scientific knowledge to consider the implications of science in our world today and in the future.
PSHE
Currently, PSHE is taught through a progressive, spiral programme, reflecting the needs shared by all young people and the specific needs of the pupils at Longroyde Primary. It is based upon the PSHE Association’s Scheme of Work Primary Planning Toolkit, ensuring coverage of the Programmes of Study, Health and Wellbeing, Relationships and Living in the Wider World. Relationships Education and Physical Health and Mental Wellbeing Education will become statutory in 2020, and we will be adapting our curriculum to cover these statutory objectives in a way that also addresses the needs of the pupils within our school.
RE
Using the 'Believing and Belonging' new RE Agreed syllabus 2019, children are taught knowledge and understanding around a range of religious and worldwide views so that they can: describe, explain, analyse and investigate allowing them to appreciate beliefs and practices, recognising the diversity, meanings and values within and between communities (including their own) and amongst individuals.
Modern Foreign Language
Our MFL curriculum, using the Salut programmes of study, is designed to progressively develop children’s skills in French, through regular taught lessons. Children progressively acquire, use and apply a growing bank of vocabulary organised around topics. All of these approaches help to equip our children with the skills to be confident global citizens.
Computing
Our computing curriculum is designed to equip children with the skills and understanding to live in a technological world; this includes being able to use a variety of computer software and coding programmes. There is an emphasis on the importance of Online Safety for all year groups.
History
Our curriculum for history aims to inspire pupils' curiosity to know more about local, national and international history. Pupils develop the chronological, enquiry and interpretation skills needed to understand the history of Britain and the wider world as a coherent narrative, from the earliest times to the present day. Pupils achieve this by asking perceptive questions, thinking critically, weighing evidence, sifting arguments, and developing perspective and judgement. Through learning about significant events and individuals from the past, pupils gain an understanding of the complexity of people's lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.
Lessons are taught using a theme based approach.
Pupils will be taught:
- about changes within and beyond living memory which reflect aspects of change in national life, including those that are significant globally or nationally. As they progress into Key Stage Two, pupils will note connections, contrasts and trends over time, thus developing a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across the periods they study.
- about the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements, such as: Mary Seacole, Mary Anning and Florence Nightingale.
- about significant historical events, such as: The Battle of Hastings, Roman, Anglo Saxon and Viking Invasions.
- to develop the appropriate use of historical terms relating to the passing of time.
- to understand ways in which information about the past is represented, using a range of sources when addressing and sometimes devising historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference, and significance.
- to construct informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information.
Geography
Our geography curriculum inspires children to be curious and fascinated about the world and its people. Children will have knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments. They will have a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.
The four main areas (Locational knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical geography and geographical skills and fieldwork) will be taught in all year groups, building on the children’s prior knowledge through a skills based Geography curriculum.
Physical Education
Our physical education curriculum is designed to support the progression and development of skills throughout the year groups. Children are taught skills based on the National Curriculum requirements and are given the opportunity to apply their developed skills by taking part in a wide range of sports as they move through the key stages. In sport, we encourage children to show resilience towards learning new skills, become active participants and enjoy winning as individuals or as part of a team. We encourage children to take part in physical exercise or movement whenever possible throughout the school day through games at play time and resources used within subject classroom time.
Art
Our art curriculum is designed to equip the children with the skills, knowledge and understanding to access the art curriculum. There is an emphasis on building up their level of skill as they progress through school and a skills progression overview has been designed by the art coordinator. The art coordinator has also ensured that all the statutory requirements for the art national curriculum 2014 are also being met across the school.
DT
Our curriculum in DT aims to allow children to develop skills in a variety of areas throughout their time in primary school. Skills are built on each year, with all areas of design and technology being covered at least once between year 1 and year 6.
Children are taught how to make healthy food choices and how to use kitchen appliances and utensils independently and safely. Children are also taught how to use different mechanical systems (including electrical) to make products move for different purposes. Further to this, children are given the opportunity to research products and their target audience in order to make an appropriate product.
Evaluation is an important part of the subject and so is often linked to English skills.
Music
Music is a unique way of communicating that can inspire and motivate children. It is a vehicle for personal expression and it can play an important part in the personal development of people. Music reflects the culture and society we live in, and so the teaching and learning of music enables children to better understand the world they live in. Besides being a creative and enjoyable activity, music can also be a highly academic and demanding subject. It also plays an important part in helping children feel part of a community. We provide opportunities for all children to create, play, perform and enjoy music, to develop the skills to appreciate a wide variety of musical forms, and to begin to make judgements about the quality of music.
The aims of music teaching at LPS are to enable children to:
- know and understand how sounds are made and then organised into musical structures;
- know how music is made through a variety of instruments;
- know how music is composed and written down;
- know how music is influenced by the time, place and purpose for which it was written;
- develop the interrelated skills of performing, composing and appreciating music.
(All aims are directly linked to the school aims, SEF and SDP)
At Longroyde Primary School we make music an enjoyable learning experience. We encourage children to participate in a variety of musical experiences through which we aim to build up the confidence of all children. Singing lies at the heart of good music teaching. Our teaching focuses on developing the children’s ability to sing in tune and with other people. Through singing songs, children learn about the structure and organisation of music. We teach them to listen and to appreciate different forms of music. As children get older, we expect them to maintain their concentration for longer and to listen to more extended pieces of music. Children develop descriptive skills in music lessons when learning about how music can represent feelings and emotions. We teach them the disciplined skills of recognising pulse and pitch. We often teach these together. We also teach children how to work with others to make music and how individuals combine together to make sounds. We also teach them varying forms of musical notation and how to compose music.
We recognise that there are children of widely different musical abilities in all classes, so we provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching the challenge of the task to the ability of the child. We achieve this in a variety of ways by:
- setting common tasks, which are open-ended and can have a variety of responses;
- setting tasks of increasing difficulty (not all children complete all tasks);
- grouping children by ability in the room and setting different tasks to each ability group;
- providing resources of different complexity depending on the ability of the child;
To provide for the gifted and talented, as well as those who ‘just want a go!’, children are offered the opportunity to study a musical instrument with peripatetic teachers from Y1 onwards. Peripatetic music teaching is organised by Rastrick High School and Longroyde Primary School has chosen to participate in the direct billing programme. Parents who want their children to participate in the scheme must pay the additional music lesson fees on a termly basis. These lessons are normally taught to small groups of children who have chosen to learn one of a variety of instruments, such as the guitar, clarinet, flute or cornet. This is in addition to the normal music teaching of the school, and usually takes place during afternoon lessons from which children are withdrawn for the duration of the instrumental lesson.
Outdoor Learning
Longroyde Primary is undergoing training by the EYFS and KS1 teachers to train KS2 teachers to take children outside the classroom more frequently, to make learning more relevant to their lives in the community and wider world. We believe outdoor learning offers all learners opportunities to achieve and develop self-confidence and self-esteem through hands on learning experiences using natural materials. We encourage children to be responsible for and respect the local community and environment, giving them a sense of belonging and ownership of the place in which they live. Outdoor Learning sessions are linked to the National Curriculum to enhance the learning taking place in the classroom, whilst also using the ethos of Forest Schools to develop social, physical and communication skills. At Longroyde children take part in Outdoor Learning activities throughout the year in our school grounds, integrating subjects so that meaningful activities can be planned and delivered effectively and regularly. This enables children to connect with nature, fostering a sense of respect and ownership with the outdoors. Children learn how to be safe, keep their friends safe and treat the outdoors environment with respect. Activities include exploring, investigating, collecting natural objects, discovering a range of plants and animals, den building, making objects, using equipment, solving problems, playing team games…plus much more!
Visits and Visitors
In the curriculum we recognise that children’s learning is enhanced by different experiences. We offer children a wide range of educational visits which are used to motivate and engage learning which improves retention. For example, Year 1 visit the seaside which supports learning in English and foundation subjects, Year 4 go to Eureka to support learning in science and take a residential trip to Whitby to support learning in History and Geography.
Regular visitors in school give the children another perspective on values, attitudes, learning and understanding. These include charities, people from different professions (eg, the Fire Service, SpecSavers and local Police); subject enhancement visitors (Viking Day in Year 5) and the community (eg, local vicar and members of the Royal Legion).
Lunchtimes
We consider lunchtime to be an extension of the curriculum. Children have the opportunity to practice the transferable skills they have learnt during lessons. Structured play opportunities are provided; children are encouraged to think creatively, apply their understanding in individual ways to be able to draw upon their own experiences and to be imaginative during play.
Curriculum Impact
The impact of the curriculum is evident in the outcomes for all pupils.