Curriculum Intent
Principles
Learning is a change to long-term memory. To this end, our aim is to ensure that our children experience a wide breadth of study and will have committed to their long-term memory an ambitious body of procedural and semantic knowledge (knowledge and skills).
Curriculum drivers shape our curriculum breadth. They are derived from an exploration of the backgrounds of our children, our beliefs about high quality education and our values.
Cultural capital gives our children the vital background knowledge required to be informed and thoughtful members of our community who understand and believe in British Values.
Threshold Concepts
Threshold concept is the key understanding without which the learner cannot progress – a portal.
Milestones
These are the goals that the children should reach to show that they are meeting the expectations of our curriculum.
Assessment
We assess the outcomes for computing through our POP tasks which are built into our planning to help us assess how well and how deeply pupils know and understand what we have taught and what the children have learnt.
Curriculum Intent Statement
At Longvernal Primary School we value Art and Design as an important part of the children’s entitlement to a balanced, broad curriculum. Our high-quality art and design education engages, inspires and challenges pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils progress, they are able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.
Breadth of StudyEarly Years Foundation StageAt Longvernal Primary School our pupils explore and use a variety of media and materials through a combination of child initiated and adult directed activities. They have opportunities to learn to:
Key Stage 1At Longvernal Primary School we teach our children to use a range of materials creatively to design and make products. We teach them to use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination to develop a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space. Pupils also experience the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers, describing the differences and similarities between different practices and disciplines, and making links to their own work. By investigating and exploring the work of a range of great artists, architects and designers the children can enhance their own learning through taking inspiration and ideas from those they have studied.Key Stage 2During their time in Key Stage 2, our pupils are taught to create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas. They also learn how to improve their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials, as well as learn about great artists, architects and designers in history. Our curriculum distinguishes between subject topics and threshold concepts which tie together the subject topics into meaningful schema. The same concepts are explored in a wide breadth of topics. Our forwards and backwards engineering of the curriculum allows children to return to the same concepts over and over again, gradually building their understanding of them.Threshold ConceptsWe want our children to:
MilestonesAt Longvernal Primary School, we help pupils progress in art by:
PrinciplesLearning is a change to long-term memory. To this end, our aim is to ensure that our children experience a wide breadth of study and will have committed to their long-term memory an ambitious body of procedural and semantic knowledge (knowledge and skills).Curriculum IntentCurriculum drivers shape our curriculum breadth. They are derived from an exploration of the backgrounds of our children, our beliefs about high quality education and our values.Cultural capital gives our children the vital background knowledge required to be informed and thoughtful members of our community who understand and believe in British Values.At Longvernal Primary School, we ensure that a high-quality computing education equips the children to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world. Our children are taught the principles of information and computation, how digital systems work, and how to put this knowledge to use through programming. Building on this knowledge and understanding, children will be equipped to use information technology to create programs, systems and a range of content. Computing will also ensure that children become digitally literate – able to use, and express themselves and develop their ideas through information and communication technology.Breadth of StudyKey Stage 1Children will be taught to:
Key Stage 2Pupils should be taught to:
Our curriculum distinguishes between subject topics and threshold concepts which tie together the subject topics into meaningful schema. The same concepts are explored in a wide breadth of topics. Our forwards and backwards engineering of the curriculum allows children to return to the same concepts over and over again, gradually building their understanding of them.Threshold ConceptsWe want our children to:
MilestonesThese are the goals that the children should reach to show that they are meeting the expectations of our curriculum.At Longvernal Primary School, we help pupils progress in computing by:
AssessmentWe assess the outcomes for computing through our POP tasks which are built into our planning to help us assess how well and how deeply pupils know and understand what we have taught and what the children have learnt.
At Longvernal Primary School, Design and Technology (DT) is an inspiring and practical subject. Using creativity and imagination, pupils design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. They acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on other subjects such as mathematics, science, computing and art.
Breadth of StudyKey Stage 1
Design
Make
Evaluate
Key Stage 2
Technical knowledge
Cooking and nutrition
As part of their work with food, pupils should be taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. Instilling a love of cooking in pupils will also open a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity. Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life.
Key Stage 1
Our curriculum distinguishes between subject topics and threshold concepts which tie together the subject topics into meaningful schema. The same concepts are explored in a wide breadth of topics. Our forwards and backwards engineering of the curriculum allows children to return to the same concepts over and over again, gradually building their understanding of them.
We want our children to:
At Longvernal Primary School, we help pupils progress in design and technology by:
At Longvernal, we strive for children to be happy, confident and resilient individuals with an enthusiastic love for learning. We provide a holistic, safe and secure environment, both indoors and outdoors. This allows children to flourish in all aspects of their development, whilst exploring their individual interests.We believe that children should be provided with rich resources so they can learn through their play. Ultimately, learning should be fun, stimulating and engaging for the children whilst providing suitable challenges.We value the importance of our outdoor learning environment and our weekly Forest School lessons as we believe it helps children develop their confidence, autonomy, problem solving and risk taking skills.In the Early Years at Longvernal, we are committed to providing the best possible introduction to school life, encompassing teaching children skills and sharing experiences which will ensure their positive well-being and success in the future.
In line with all the primary schools across the Midsomer Norton Schools’ Partnership, our curriculum is currently under review. The documents included in this section will be updated to reflect our practice going forward; additionally the English Policy will be reviewed annually.
Writing:
We encourage children to write from an early age in a variety of ways using a multi-sensory approach: painting; drawing letters/shapes in sand/salt/flour; felt pens; large sheets of paper; chalks on the groundoutside etc. Children progress to using whiteboards and pens to practise individual letter formation in line with the phonics programme- representing phonemes with graphemes from the early days in Reception.From Nursery we seek to identify a child’s preferred grip and intervention is put in place where there is difficulty or fine motor skill challenges. These skills then support children in developing their independent writing of simple sentences which can be read to themselves and others. Emergent writing is celebrated with opportunities provided for writing for a purpose. This approach continues up through the school with writing linked to the wider curriculum and a range of stimuli including quality literature. From Year 1, children are taught to use a pre-cursive font to enable them to progress smoothly to full cursive. Individual needs are catered for with regard to fine motor skill support and teachers are aware of individual pupil’s preferred pencil grip and whether they are right or left-handed. We use a variety of models for teaching writing: teacher modelling shared writing; supported composition; guided and independent writing. The skills that children will acquire will inform their ability to communicate effectively whilst Writing to Entertain, Writing to Inform, Writing to Persuade and Writing to Discuss. There is a focus on children editing and improving their work through guided editing sheets initially, leading to ‘Editing Stations’ from Year 4 onwards. The aim is for the end product to be of the highest quality by ‘publication’. Additionally,children in Key Stage 2 have regular, less structured Creative Writing sessions to express themselves in a chosen genre. Alongside this, children are taught discrete lessons for grammar, punctuation, spelling and handwriting though these are also explored both implicitly and explicitly in Writing and Reading lessons.
Reading:The sequence of reading books show a cumulative progression in phonics knowledge that is matched to our Read, Write, Inc. phonics programme, meaning that the book a child is expected to read matches the phoneme correspondences which they know. Children re-read these books to encourage fluency. Along with these phonetically decodable books, children also take home a book simply to enjoy. It is made explicit, using a colour-coded book mark, which book is for adults to read and share with their child. It is through sharing books that children’s vocabulary is broadened, cultural capital is built and a love of reading is nurtured. Each class has a dedicated reading corner and, in addition, we have a new reading house inwhich to promote a love of books and storytelling.Every class has a dedicated whole class Guided Reading session which is informal in Reception and Year 1, gradually becoming more focused around identified reading objectives as they proceed through the school. The aim is for all children to benefit from exposure to a broad range of quality texts both to expand their knowledge of the world and their vocabulary so that no child is disadvantaged, irrespective of their starting points. Reading lessons are structured to cover skills including inference, prediction, retrieval, explanation and summarising. Importantly, every class enjoys a daily story session of 20 minutes where an adult models reading aloud including characterisation, modulation and fluency.
Phonics:We follow the Read, Write, Inc. programme. This is taught in daily discrete lessons from the very beginning of Reception until children can read fluently. There are clear term by term expectations of progress from Reception to Year 2. Continuous assessment quickly identifies where learners have not fully grasped each phoneme. The aim is for all children to ‘keep up’ rather than have to ‘catch up’ with same day intervention and a whole class approach together with targeted adult support as required. Speed Sound phonic charts are used in all classes throughout the school to support a strategic approach to spelling. At the end of Year 1, all children are given a Phonics Screening Check to ensure they have mastered the appropriateknowledge.
Spelling:
To help children learn and improve their spellings we use Read Write Inc Spelling which complements our phonics programme until the end of Key Stage 2. In a series of discrete 15-minute lessons, pupils are introduced to spelling rules in line with the Year 2 curriculum. In Key Stage 2 we use No Nonsense Spelling.This approach encourages children to apply spelling at the point of writing using the Speed Sound Chart and a ‘have a go’ approach in their ‘Spelling Matters’ book. Children’s individual spellings include ‘cued’ spellings from their personal errors, curriculum words, common exception words and words form the statutory word list for their year group. We no longer set 10 spellings a week, aiming instead for fewer words but with the aim of children embedding these in their long term memory; once learnt, they are leant for ever- and applying them to their writing.
At Longvernal Primary School, we ensure that we inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching equips our children with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.Our curriculum breadth is adapted to the context of our school to secure pupils’ social and cultural development by placing a particular focus on vocabulary and providing experiences that our pupils may not otherwise be exposed to such as visiting We the Curious and Bristol Zoo.The curriculum is sequenced in long and medium-term plans to help pupils build cumulative knowledge towards agreed milestones or expected standards, creating a secure schema on which to build throughout their school career. The key subject content is organised through threshold concepts which organise new knowledge systematically and ensure a logical progression. In keeping with recent research into meta-cognition, to ensure their learning is embedded, quizzes and other low stakes tests are a regular feature of lessons. Our curriculum design helps pupils to read widely by ensuring high quality texts such Shackleton’s Journey that relate to geography are studied during Whole Class Guided Reading.
At Longvernal Primary School, we give our children a high-quality history education which helps them gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. We inspire children’s curiosity to know more about the past, which equips children to ask questions and think critically, helping children to understand people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity.
The curriculum breadth is adapted to the context of our school to secure pupils’ social and cultural development by placing a particular focus on vocabulary and providing experiences to which our pupils may not otherwise be exposed. For example, visiting the Roman Baths or spending a day as a Victorian school pupil. Further to this, we ensure our ambitious curriculum is accessed by all children - including those with SEND - by providing pre and post teaching in addition to scaffolding so that they can keep up and not have to catch up.
The curriculum is sequenced in long and medium-term plans to help pupils build cumulative knowledge towards agreed milestones or expected standards, creating a secure schema on which to build throughout their school career. The key subject content is organised through threshold concepts which organise new knowledge systematically and ensure a logical progression. In keeping with recent research into meta- cognition, to ensure their learning is embedded, quizzes are tasks are a regular feature of lessons. Our curriculum design helps pupils to read widely by ensuring high quality texts such Good Night Mr Tom that relate to History are studied during Whole Class Guided Reading.
Our curriculum intent for maths reflects the purpose and aims of the national curriculum by helping our pupils to:
The Maths curriculum breadth is adapted to the context of our school by focussing on a progression of knowledge and skills from EYFS to Year 6. The most important subject content is organised through ‘threshold concepts’ which organise new knowledge systematically and ensure a logical progression.
The Mathematical threshold concepts are:
The progression of learning is based on the White Rose Hub Schemes of Learning Small Steps, where the National Curriculum objectives are met. The Maths curriculum is sequenced into long and medium term plans to help pupils build cumulative knowledge towards expected National Curriculum attainment targets for Maths.
Pupils are assessed using mastery tasks from White Rose Hub and reasoning questions as proof of progress in the specific threshold concept.
The curriculum design for mathematics reflects the importance of spoken language in pupils’ development across the whole curriculum – cognitively, socially and linguistically. The quality and variety of language that pupils hear and speak are key factors in developing their mathematical vocabulary and presenting a mathematical justification, argument or proof; assisted in making their thinking clear to themselves as well as others, and teachers should ensure that pupils build secure foundations by using discussion to probe and remedy their misconceptions.
Any pupils who have gaps in their skills and knowledge, or any children who are socially disadvantaged, are ensured a rich maths curriculum through our teaching strategies, resources and knowledge of the importance of recall. Teachers model learning through clear explanations and instruction, scaffold tasks so that all children can work at the expected level and identify gaps in learning or misconceptions that children may have before a unit of work. The importance of pre- and post-teaching is considered within mathematical interventions, so that children are familiar with the concepts and vocabulary expected of their age range.
At Longvernal Primary School, we believe that music is a powerful and unique form of communication that can change the way pupils feel, think and act. It brings together feeling and intellect, enabling personal expression, reflection and emotional development. Music is an integral part of culture, past and present, and helps pupils understand the importance of the development of musical styles throughout history. Our Music Curriculum at Longvernal is designed to progressively develop children’s skills in all areas of musicality. We consider the appreciation of music (both listening and discussing a range of different musical styles), performances with voice and a range of instruments, composition and styling, as well asrecording and evaluating our own musical performances. We like to encourage our children to take inspiration from key musicians and how exploration into the work of others can help to develop our own approach to musical compositions and play.
Breadth of StudyKey Stage 1Children will be taught to:
Key Stage 2Children will be taught to:
Our curriculum distinguishes between subject topics and threshold concepts which tie together the subject topics into meaningful schema. The same concepts are explored in a wide breadth of topics. Our forwards and backwards engineering of the curriculum allows children to return to the same concepts over and over again, gradually building their understanding of them. We ensure that children progressively develop their skills in all areas of music.
Threshold ConceptsWe want our children to:
MilestonesAt Longvernal Primary School, we help pupils progress in music by:
PSHE education helps pupils to develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to manage life’s challenges and make the most of life’s opportunities. At Longvernal, our curriculum is based on national and, where appropriate, local initiatives/challenges. We believe that by teaching our pupils to be responsible citizens, informing them how to keep healthy, develop resilience, mutual respect for others and how to make the correct choices they will be well prepared for the world in which we live. We have used research and resources from the PSHE Association to support our approach to the delivery of PSHE.
There is evidence to show that PSHE education can address teenage pregnancy, substance misuse, unhealthy eating, lack of physical activity, emotional health and other key issues. An effective PSHE programme can also tackle barriers to learning, raise aspirations and improve the life chances of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils.
Under section 78 of the Education Act 2002 and the Academies Act 2010, schools must provide a ‘balanced and broadly-based curriculum’ which promotes ‘…the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society, and prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life’.PSHE education makes a major contribution to schools fulfilling this duty.
In addition to the above, our PSHE curriculum is also supported by the Jigsaw programme which is divided into six jigsaw pieces:
The above values are embedded beyond the classroom through our themed assemblies and active School Council and Equalities Team. Underlying all we do in the ‘Longvernal Family’ is the core belief:‘It’s good to be me!’
Click here for Longvernal's Personal Development overview
Our curriculum intent for physical education reflects the purpose and aims of the national curriculum by inspiring all pupils to triumph in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities. The curriculum breadth is adapted to the context of our school to ensure that all pupils become physically confident, allowing them to live healthy lives. The physical education curriculum is sequenced in long and medium term plans to provide pupils with cumulative knowledge towards agreed milestones, whilst also ensuring that pupils receive access to a wide range of sports and physical activities throughout their primary school years. As a school, we actively seek opportunities to compete in sport to support children in learning important values such as teamwork, fairness, confidence and respect.
Our curriculum intent for R.E reflects the purpose and aims of the National Curriculum by provoking challenging questions about; meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human.
In R.E, children learn about religions and worldviews in local, national and global contexts. They are encouraged to evaluate different sources and develop their own ideas, while at the same time respecting the rights of others to differ.
The curriculum breadth is adapted to the context of our secular school by covering a range of world religions and also non-religious views - for example, Humanism. It develops pupils’ understanding of fundamental British Values alongside an appreciation of different religious and world views. For instance, through weekly whole-school assemblies, our displays and class-based teaching. The ultimate aim is thatthis should enable pupils to participate positively and respectfully in our society, with its diverse religious and non-religious views.
The curriculum is sequenced in long and medium term plans to help pupils build cumulative knowledge towards agreed milestones, with planned-in ‘POP tasks’ to track that learning is secure. The subject knowledge is organised systematically across both Key Stages to ensure logical progression, through five threshold concepts: ‘Understanding beliefs’, ‘Understanding how beliefs are conveyed’, ‘Understanding practices and lifestyles’,’ Understanding values’ and ‘Reflect’.
The curriculum design helps pupils to read widely by exposing them to stories from a range of religions and cultures. Key events associated with different religious / non-religious views are available for all pupils to access, for example through our Harvest Festival, singing assemblies (which incorporate songs from a variety of religions and cultures) and regular assemblies regarding different religious festivals. There is also the opportunity for all children and their families to share a Christmas meal and guest speakers contribute in class or in assemblies regarding different beliefs and outlooks.
A high quality science curriculum provides the building blocks for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Through the exploration of key knowledge and concepts, the children recognise the power of explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about science. They should be encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes. We develop children’s knowledge and skills, enabling them to make sense of the world through investigation, as well as using and applying process skills. Children are exposed to learning experiences both inside and outside the classroom (during ForestSchool), thus developing their scientific enquiry and investigative skills and broadening their scientific vocabulary.
Breadth of StudyKey Stage 1Working ScientificallyDuring years 1 and 2, pupils should be taught to use the following practical scientific methods, processes and skills through the teaching of the programme of study content:
Year 1PlantsPupils should be taught to:
Pupils should be taught to:
Everyday materialsPupils should be taught to:
Seasonal ChangesPupils should be taught to:
Year 2Living things and their habitatsPupils should be taught to:
PlantsPupils should be taught to:
Animals, including humansPupils should be taught to:
Uses of everyday materialsPupils should be taught to:
Lower Key Stage 2Working ScientificallyDuring years 3 and 4, pupils should be taught to use the following practical scientific methods, processes and skills through the teaching of the programme of study content:
Year 3PlantsPupils should be taught to:
RocksPupils should be taught to:
LightPupils should be taught to: recognise that they need light in order to see things and that dark is the absence of light notice that light is reflected from surfaces recognise that light from the sun can be dangerous and that there are ways to protect their eyes recognise that shadows are formed when the light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object find patterns in the way that the size of shadows change
Forces and magnetsPupils should be taught to:
Year 4Living things and their habitatsPupils should be taught to:
States of matterPupils should be taught to:
SoundPupils should be taught to:
ElectricityPupils should be taught to:
Upper Key Stage 2Working ScientificallyDuring years 5 and 6, pupils should be taught to use the following practical scientific methods, processes and skills through the teaching of the programme of study content:
Year 5Living things and their habitatsPupils should be taught to:
Properties and changes of materialsPupils should be taught to:
Earth and SpacePupils should be taught to:
ForcesPupils should be taught to:
Year 6Living things and their habitatsPupils should be taught to:
Evolutions and inheritancePupils should be taught to:
LightPupils should be taught to:
MilestonesAt Longvernal Primary School, we help pupils progress in Science by:
Longvernal Primary School is committed to providing a full curriculum to all pupils. We believe that children learn best in a warm, caring environment where every effort is made to foster strong relationships between children, adults, and the community. We believe in the importance of positive self-esteem for all children. Our school aims to build a supportive, caring community within which all members recognise the dignity, rights, cultures, and attitudes of others and work together in an atmosphere of mutual self-respect. We seek to establish a culture which encourages each one of us to realise our full potential, to make use of our special talents and to strive for the fulfilment that comes from achieving individual excellence.
For all learners, we believe that high-quality teaching is vital for all children to achieve. However, for some children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) there are times when further,additional support may be needed for to help them achieve their targets. All interventions and additional provisions are set according to individual needs and include working alongside external professionals such as : educational psychologists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and play therapists. Each additional intervention is monitored and tracked by the SENCo, class teacher and SLT. To find out more about our highly inclusive school, please read our:● SEN information report● SEN PolicyPlease click here to find the ‘local offer’ of special educational needs provision for families living in BANES: http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/localoffer