Curriculum

Aims and Objectives of our Curriculum

Aim of our Curriculum:

The aim of our curriculum is to engage every child in a relevant and interesting curriculum.  We believe as educators that the curriculum should be aspirational, purposeful and inclusive, to ensure that all children develop a sense of curiosity and identity in the world around them.  A progressive curriculum offers the chance for every individual child to access learning at their level by building on previous knowledge and skills.   Each child should be challenged and inspired through a rich curriculum to ensure that they are motivated to achieve their best in preparation for the next key stage.

Objectives of our Curriculum:

• To provide a curriculum that facilitates opportunities for every child to access a broad and balanced curriculum that encompasses all objectives of the National Curriculum and beyond.
• To develop all children’s aspiration, confidence, independence and self-motivation relevant to life in modern Britain.
• To engage pupils in learning that promotes depth and a richer understanding of the world – past, present and future.
• To underpin reading, writing and speaking and listening skills across the curriculum in a variety of contexts for a range of purposes.
• To challenge and support every child so that they reach their potential or National academic benchmarks and are well prepared for the next key stage.

Rational – Our Approach to Curriculum Design

EYFS – Nursery and Reception

In EYFS, children will experience the seven areas of learning that are outlined in the DfE Guidance – Development Matters. This is organised under the following areas:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Communication and Language
• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Physical Development
• Expressive Art and Design

These areas underpin the organisation of the learning environment; the activities provided for children and the monitoring of children’s progress and development.

Children benefit from meaningful learning across the Early Years curriculum through play-based activities.  The EYFS curriculum is taught considering responsible pedagogy in relation to the learning needs of the children in order for children to understand the world around them.  Staff present information clearly to children, promoting appropriate discussion about the subject matter being taught. They communicate well to check children’s understanding, identify misconceptions and provide clear explanations to improve their learning. In so doing, they respond and adapt their teaching as necessary.  Staff read to children in a way that excites and engages them, introducing new ideas, concepts and vocabulary.

All Early Years staff help young children learn and cover all aspects of the curriculum in order to best prepare children at the start of their school journey.  Adults’ interactions with children during planned and child-initiated play and activities ensure clear communication to provide a model of language through showing, explaining, demonstrating, exploring, encouraging, questioning and recalling.  Therefore, adults are able to facilitate and set challenges to assist children’s progress in all areas of the curriculum.  The provision provides attention to the physical environment, as well as the structure and routines of the day that establish expectations.  Integral to teaching is how practitioners assess what children know, understand and can do, as well as taking account of their interests and dispositions to learn (characteristics of effective learning), and how practitioners use this information to plan children’s next steps in learning and to monitor their progress and to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts.  The skills that children develop in order to gain new knowledge prepares them for the work they will undertake in Key Stage 1 and 2.

Children are taught phonics through the letters and sounds programme.

Key Stage One and Two – Years 1 to 6

In Key Stage One and Key Stage Two, children are taught all the elements of the National Curriculum for both core (English, Maths and Science) and foundation subjects (history, geography, music, art, physical education (PE), design technology and religious education). Philosophy is also features in our curriculum in order to generate opportunities for critical thinking. In Key Stage Two, children are taught French as a Modern Foreign Language.

Key Stage 1 and 2:

Whole School Overview – Year Group Topics

Early Years Foundation Stage

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Nursery	All About Me	Bears in the Forest	Traditional Tales	Farming	Jungles and Rainforests	Water
Reception	Family and Friends	Changes	Healthy Living	Traditional Tales	Our Planet and Beyond	Mini-beasts and Habitats

KS1 and KS2 Curriculum Topics

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Year 1	Amazing Africa	Ourselves	Queen Elizabeth II	Into the Woods	Now and Then	Island Life
Year 2	Journeys Around London	Arctic and Antarctica	The Great Fire of London	South America	Nocturnal animals/habitats	Local Location Peckham/Camberwell
Year 3	Kenya	Stone Age	Asia	Tudors	Disaster strikes	Tomb Raiders
Year 4	Through The Ages: Romans	The Shang Dynasty	United Kingdom	Here come the Vikings	Saving Planet Earth	Amazonia
Year 5	Blast Off!	North America	Mayan Civilisation	Remembering Heroes WW1	Doctor, Doctor	Desert Survival
Year 6	WW2 The Home Front	Europe	The Ancient Greek	Evolution	Local Community	Water: Friend or Foe

Within each year group, topic focuses have been carefully allocated in order to take into consideration full coverage of each of the National Curriculum subjects that need to be covered. Each topic consists of one of the humanities subjects (History or Geography), as well as linking either Art or DT. The following aspects of learning are broadly covered in each year group’s curriculum:

• History: A specified period of history; and a historical monarch.
• Geography: A link to the UK; and a continent of the world
• Art: A period, a movement, a famous artist, a famous piece of artwork; a medium
• DT: A material; a design brief; a resource (Food, Textiles, Resistant Material)
• ICT: A coding program; a device; a multi-media software

Each year group also has one topic that lends itself to a Science unit of work making this an opportunity to broaden children’s Science curriculum from the isolated lesson that are taught every week.

It is the expectation that Literacy will underpin each topic, including development of Speaking and Listening skills, Reading skills and Writing skills across a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

To find out more information regarding our curriculum, please contact your child’s class teacher  or Ms Thangarajah [Deputy Head]