Hindley Junior and Infant School - 'Believe and Achieve' Curriculum Statement

Intent

The overarching purpose of our curriculum at Hindley Junior and Infant School is to ensure that the children are prepared for their next step in life: academically, emotionally and socially.

Unfortunately, historical patterns tell us that many of our children start school socially, academically and emotionally below their age-related expectation. It is our duty as a school to narrow these gaps, and successfully implementing a curriculum that is going to inspire, empower and broaden the children's horizons to the world around them is instrumental in achieving this.

Our curriculum meets the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum (Year 1 to Year 6) and the statutory framework for The Early Years Foundation Stage. Reading is prioritised from the very start of school. Our bespoke curriculum ensures that our children are exposed to the richest and most varied opportunities and experiences that we can provide in order to contextualise their learning. The curriculum at school not only includes what is being delivered in the classrooms on a daily basis, but also consists of the wide range of visits and visitors, the range of assemblies and collective worships, whole school theme days based on promoting Fundamental British Values and our school characteristics, a variety of extracurricular activities and the range of personal development opportunities available to all children. Please see our Hindley Junior and Infants School Experience promise.
Our teachers, subject leaders, curriculum leaders and headteacher have worked with a range of subject experts from professional associations, secondary school teachers and outstanding primary schools, drawing upon the latest academic research and literature, to develop a sequential and coherent curriculum for our children.  

Each individual subject has its own knowledge, skills and vocabulary progression chart.  These progression charts make it very clear on the knowledge the children are expected to know and understand. These charts make it very clear on which subject-specific skills children should be able to use. These progression charts make it very clear which subject specific vocabulary the children should be able to use and understand. The end of year expectations for individual subjects are very clear for all stakeholders. These expectations are cumulative and have been sequenced so that knowledge, skills and vocabulary build up over time.

Our curriculum is vocabulary rich. Our children generally start school with poor language skills and limited understanding of words, so vocabulary must be at the conscious forefront, the front line of every conversation, every lesson and every interaction. All subjects have a focus on vocabulary and promote the use of learning, understanding and using new words appropriately.

The learning of specific skills and knowledge are very much intertwined. Knowledge is power, and the development of knowledge is vital so children can apply or learn skills. Sometimes children will learn and develop knowledge through applying skills, whereas other times children will have to learn specific knowledge before skills can be applied and refined. Our bespoke knowledge, skills and vocabulary progression charts can be found within our individual subject pages below.

Our long-term plans have been carefully designed and sequenced so that children can make links between subjects and learning from one year group to the next, from one term to the next, or from one lesson to the next. This is based on the theories of distributed practice and interleaving. We firmly believe that repeated studying of similar information spaced out over time will lead to greater retention of that information in the long run, compared with repeated studying of the same amount of time in a condensed time frame. Therefore, we have consciously designed our long-term plans so that certain ideas and themes are revisited at different times. For example, the children learn about the work of LS Lowry in art in Year 5, but will only study the Victorian era in history in Year 6. In Year 6 history, they will have to recall prior learning from art in Year 5, another advantage of this is that the children will have some prior knowledge of the Victorian era through what they have learned in Year 5 art. Children are regularly being asked to retrieve prior learning from their long-term memories.

As well as developing academic skills and knowledge, developing social skills is important to us as a school. This prepares children for a lifetime of healthier interactions in all aspects of life. Social skills are an integral part of functioning in society. Displaying good manners, communicating effectively with others, being considerate and empathetic towards to the feeling and beliefs of others and expressing personal needs are all important components of solid social skills. We have developed a set of key characteristics at Hindley Junior and Infant school which are closely aligned to the fundamental British Values. These characteristics (being respectful, resilient, honest, determined, confident, cooperative and ambitious) are taught, promoted and celebrated through all elements of school life, and they are closely aligned to our school behaviour management procedures. 

Implementation

At Hindley Junior and Infant School, we implement an inclusive curriculum that meets the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum and the statutory framework for The Early Years Foundation Stage. Our curriculum is delivered through highly effective ‘quality first teaching’, and specialist staff are used for certain elements including PE and music. This quality first teaching consists of several components: sound and secure subject knowledge; effective questioning; clear, direct verbal feedback, misconceptions identified and addressed; high expectations for all children; effective use of resources, including support staff; assessment for learning to shape skills the direction and pace of learning; effective pace and use of time and appropriate balance of teacher-child talk.

As a one form entry school, children are taught in mixed ability groups, however when the children reach upper Key Stage 2, they are set into two ability groups for reading, writing and maths, like they are at secondary school.

Reading is prioritised throughout school. All children need to be able to read to access new knowledge and to learn. Specialist one-to-one reading staff are employed to listen to identified children daily.   Additionally, children who are reading below age-related expectations access intense extra teaching to help them to catch up. Staff CPD regarding the teaching of reading is prioritised. More information regarding our reading offer can be found here.

Reading, writing and maths is taught daily. All subjects are taught as discrete subjects and a ’topic based’ approach to delivering the curriculum is not used as the norm. We believe it is vitally important that children know which subject they are learning; that children are acquiring the subject specific knowledge as a result of lessons and experiences; that children are learning and refining subject-specific skills and using the subject specific vocabulary when learning that specific subject.

Despite Year 1 to Year 6 not adopting a topic based approach as the norm, links between subjects are explicitly made by staff when appropriate, and children are actively encouraged to make links between prior learning within the same subject, and between various subjects. Our teaching and learning is sequenced into a coherent and cumulative series of lessons that build and connect on previous content. Specific skills and knowledge are discretely taught and practised so that they become embedded into the children’s long-term memory.

Children’s understanding is assessed regularly through a mixture of formative and summative assessment strategies including effective questioning, mini low risk quizzes and mind-mapping activities. Formal assessments in core subjects are carried out three times per year. Assessment drives and informs future teaching in order to raise children’s attainment.

At Hindley Junior and Infant School, we use the Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle as part of the graduated response to special educational needs laid out in the SEND Code of Practice 0-25 (2014). Children will be given support according to their need.

All support will follow a cycle of Assess-Plan-Do-Review and will provide information about the child and their barriers to learning.

A curriculum lead oversees our full curriculum and works alongside subject leaders - supporting and guiding them.  Curriculum leaders champion their subjects. They regularly monitor standards in their subjects and use findings to devise, implement and review subject action plans. Curriculum leaders update senior leaders and governors regularly. Subject leaders are encouraged to be outwards facing and access CPD and networking  opportunities to further develop their own subject and pedagogical knowledge, so they become the ’expert’ within their subject. They also organise and/or deliver staff CPD to raise standards within their subject across school.

Impact

Academic impact

• ‘Children should know more and remember more’: Children can confidently articulate their learned knowledge and demonstrate their learned skills, using appropriate vocabulary within all subjects.
• Children can read fluently with age related understanding.
• All children make at least the expected progress across key stages, and many make accelerated progress.
• Children attain inline or better than national expectations for the core subjects at the end of Year 6.
• Children are prepared academically for their next step in education when they leave Hindley junior and Infant School.

 Social impact

• Children take pride in their work, try hard and show positive attitude to learning.
• Children consistently demonstrate our key characteristics of being respectful, resilient, honest, determined, confident, cooperative and ambitious.
• Children conduct themselves well, in and around school, and are reflective about their conduct.
• Children conduct themselves well outside of school and contribute positively to the local and wider community.
• Children have a sound knowledge and understanding of the world: showing empathy, respect and understanding towards all people of differing beliefs and cultures to themselves.

Emotional impact

• Children feel safe, are happy and enjoy coming to school.
• Children understand how to keep themselves safe and healthy.
• Children have positive relationships with a variety of people including peers, siblings, parents/careers and teachers.
• Parents and carers are happy with school and the vast majority would recommend us to others.