A Curriculum the Wilthorpe Way

We aim to provide ALL our children with an engaging, purposeful curriculum that develops good knowledge, understanding, vocabulary and skills so they can achieve their aspirations for their community and themselves. We believe that providing our pupils with key experiences will enhance their learning and personal development to help them become successful, confident, resilient and independent learners.

When planning our curriculum, Wilthorpe Primary has considered the needs of our pupils and families. We want learning to be meaningful and memorable so that our pupils are ready for the next step in their journey. Staff have drawn on each others' expertise and teaching methods that we know to be successful with our children. After consultation with staff, we reflected on what our curriculum offer would look like to a child in our school.

How we deliver the curriculum

Reading is given a high priority in our curriculum as it the ability to read and understand which opens up learning for children. School has targeted phonics as a high priority, particularly in EYFS and Year 1, with children being taught Letters and Sounds through the phases. Children are placed in groups to ensure good progress through these phases is being made. School has recently sourced new reading texts to support the fluency of reading throughout school, this is to support all children in keeping up with expectation. Reading as a class is taught predominantly through VIPERS, with teachers planning and teaching from the school overview. To further enhance reading school also uses reading  buddies across year groups, has a home school reading challenge ‘Read with Kong Phooey’ and each class has a daily story/book time at the end of the day to generate a love of reading.

In Maths we follow a mastery approach where all pupils are taught to their year group expectation and practise fluency, reasoning and problem solving. We aim to ensure that children become confident in all areas of mathematics, master their curriculum and demonstrate this by applying their learning and solving mathematical problems across the full curriculum. In order to deepen learning, stem sentences are used through KS1 and KS2.  These statements allow children to gain a greater understanding of mathematics beyond fluency.

Foundation Curriculum Subjects

Each year group has an engaging curriculum – the “A Curriculum the Wilthorpe Way” - which provides our children with the opportunity to learn about a variety of exciting themes. We have thought carefully about the needs of our children at Wilthorpe Primary School, and have planned a series of themes that will provide excellent learning opportunities where our children can develop core knowledge to support their development of skills, enjoy exciting experiences and make good progress. The “A Curriculum the Wilthorpe Way” will prepare all of our children for the next stage of their education, whether that is their transition into KS1, into KS2 or into KS3.

It is our intention to provide our children with the best, first-hand experience that will engage their interests and drive their learning with a key purpose. We ensure that our children have a stimulating learning environment that motivates and enhances their ability to learn.

Science

Our Science Intent:

'Albert Einstein said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning; curiosity has its own reason for existing.” Through our teaching and learning of Science, children develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena and whilst there are often answers in Science, this knowledge is only as good as the latest, accepted theory and so children are encouraged to question evidence and discoveries from the scientific greats of the past and present. During learning, the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of Science are taught and learnt in a variety of contexts. We apply constructivist theory to many areas of our Curriculum and especially Science, acknowledging that children are not ‘empty vessels’ that come to school to be ‘filled’ with ‘real, correct Science.’ Children question and often lead the line of scientific enquiry. Ultimately, learning is an active, not passive process, and teachers facilitate this learning, helping children to deepen their scientific understanding.

Geography

Our Geography Intent:

Geography at Wilthorpe fosters children’s curiosity and fascination of the world and its people. Children take part in learning about the diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments across the world. Through Geography, children learn to care about the world around them as they study the impact of humans on the physical world and the interaction that the two have.

Art and Design

Our Art and Design Intent:

Art and Design at Wilthorpe allows children to creatively express themselves by harnessing ideas that they themselves may already have whilst taking inspiration from some of the great artists, designers and architects that have lived. Children are engaged and inspired from this balance of freedom of expression and artwork that is already in the public domain.

Religious Education Intent:

At Wilthorpe Primary School we believe Religious Education teaches pupils valuable insights into the diverse beliefs & opinions held by people today. Through Studying a wide range of different faiths, pupils develop their knowledge, understanding and awareness of the beliefs, values and traditions of other individuals, societies, communities and cultures. We encourage our pupils to ask questions about the world and to reflect on their own beliefs, values and experiences. Our RE curriculum is enhanced further with educational visits to places of worship in our local area and by visitors in school . Because we live in a dynamic ever-changing society full of different perspectives beliefs and cultures, we believe we are preparing and supporting our pupils to help them see the world clearly along with developing a genuine understanding about the world and the people in it.

We are committed to ensuring that our children at Wilthorpe Primary school receive a curriculum that they can be proud of, which enables them to enjoy their learning and become successful, confident learners. The curriculum will help them to develop their social, moral, spiritual and cultural understanding and will promote our school values of Independence, Determination, Kindness, Pride and Respect.

At Wilthorpe Primary School we follow the National Curriculum and strive to enrich the curriculum wherever possible. In our Reception children follow the Early Years Curriculum and develop their knowledge, skills and understanding through a combination of both play-based learning and more focused teacher led sessions. Pupils learn to share, work independently and play with others. In Key Stage 1 and 2 our children are taught in classes, small groups or individually, according to their needs, within the framework of the National Curriculum. A variety of teaching styles are used in school, based on good practice and teachers continually reflect on their teaching. We are always seeking to innovate, improve and develop where appropriate, to maintain our high standards and provide the best in primary school practice. Pupils with special needs are well-supported in school with extra support and/or resources deployed where necessary to help close individual learning gaps. Staff are encouraged to use alternatives to written recording for subjects where knowledge can be demonstrated in different ways .

Assessment across the curriculum is being developed and is to used to identify children’s progress and find out areas where they are less confident. These assessments inform teacher’s lesson planning to support differentiation and support. Assessment is carried out across the curriculum through questioning and teacher assessment. Children complete summative assessments termly to show progress in reading, writing, SPaG and maths.

If you require any further information regarding our A Curriculum the Wilthorpe Way, please contact Mrs Cathryn Egginton or Mrs Liz Heppenstall via the School on 01226 288676.

Assembly

In addition to the whole school curriculum, key themes are explored in assembly through stories, short film clips and discussions.