Curriculum Introduction
Intent
At Smithdown Primary School we aim high. We want every part of our school community- pupils, parents and members of staff to experience success. Our motto is ‘Together we Grow’.
We ensure that every child has access to a broad, balanced and supportive curriculum. Through this we are able to give our pupils a range of opportunities and experiences to grow and develop academically, physically socially and morally.
Implementation
All National Curriculum subjects are carefully planned, structured and sequenced to ensure progression across units of work and across year groups or key stages. It is structured to help pupils remember long term the content that they have been taught and pupils are encouraged to integrate this new knowledge into larger areas. It is rooted, and has grown from, a solid agreement between all subject leaders about the knowledge and skills that our pupils will need in order to ensure that they develop resilience; growing and developing academically, physically, socially and morally. We aim to tailor our curriculum to fulfil every child’s potential, taking into account (and adapting our curriculum) to incorporate local events and exhibitions. Through a curriculum that is both stimulating and challenging, we develop curiosity about the world around them and enable children to grow and develop; becoming independent, active learners.
Throughout all areas of the curriculum, reading is prioritised. Key vocabulary for all subjects is prominent on working walls and children are given access to a range of age appropriate texts across all subject areas.
There is a sharp focus on phonics for our younger pupils and a programme of support is in place for any older children who may need additional help, these may be SEND, EAL or new to country.
A range of after school activities and additional experiences such as; fieldwork, educational visits and visitors to school, ensure that both enjoyment and learning are enhanced – helping to engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement.
Impact
Children’s progress is carefully monitored through appropriate assessment and, where children are found to need additional support, we have a variety of interventions to help them.
Our staff at Smithdown Primary School work hard, and are incredibly proud of, our stimulating and progressive curriculum that meets the needs of all of our pupils.
Please click here to view our Curriculum Policy.
Cross Curricular Planning
We plan and tailor our curriculum to make the most out of pertinent cross curricular links.
Please see our individual curriculum pages for more information.
Each Term we will add our termly overview. Please click on the links below to find out what your child is learning about this term.
Curriculum Year Overviews – Please visit you child’s class page for detailed information.
Phonics
At Smithdown we teach phonics by following the Read Write Inc Phonics scheme. All teachers and LSA’s have received training and support on how to teach children Phonics effectively, so that all children make rapid progress through the scheme and can read with fluency by 6 years old. For more information about ReadWriteInc phonics please click the links below.
Read Write Inc FAQ for Parents
At the end of Year 1 all children complete a phonics screening check, during this check children are asked to read 40 real and nonsense words.