Curriculum

As a Church of England Voluntary Controlled School we are required to implement the National Curriculum from Year 1 to Year 6. National Curriculum subjects at primary school are: English, Maths, Science, Design and Technology, History, Geography, Art and Design, Music, Physical Education (PE) including swimming, Computing (ICT), and Ancient and Modern Foreign Languages (at key stage 2). We also provide Religious Education (RE) in line with the Suffolk RE Agreed Syllabus 2012. We use the Emmanuel Project to support the development of RE which encourages the children to focus on exploring the ‘Big Questions’ which are central to different faith groups and their beliefs.

We also teach these other subjects: Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education including Relationships and Sex Education (RSE). (Click here to see the latest DFE Guidance on RSE), Citizenship and Modern Foreign Languages at Key Stage 1. Please click on the link to view the Long Term Plan for PSHE.

We have carefully considered what should be included in our curriculum to ensure that the children at Bures Primary School are provided with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. It is vital to us that the curriculum is equally accessible to all pupils whatever their needs or disabilities thus complying with our duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Regulations 2014. We have summarised this in our Curriculum Overview.

Reading

Children in EYFS through to Year 2 are taught to read using the ‘Success for All’ (SFA) phonics programme. Children receive daily targeted phonics instruction in class groups. Children who may find it difficult to keep up receive small group interventions.  Children also have many opportunities to listen and respond to books through individual, partner reading, and story sessions within the class to develop their love of reading and their comprehension skills.

Once the decoding skills are mastered, reading in Year 2 and KS2 is then developed through the ‘Success for All’ reading programme. This programme offers daily lessons in reading, developing the key skills of inference, deduction, summarisation, prediction and questioning. SFA has been developed in line with years of evidence-based practice and research that supports and challenges both basic and more competent readers to develop their skills through reading a wide range of carefully selected texts.

The SFA curriculum is based entirely around real books by famous authors with over 100+ units ranging from one to four weeks long in a wide variety of genres from fiction to non-fiction, poetry to plays, classical extracts to digital e-texts. Children read the entire book and answer different comprehension questions related to the text, as well as predicting what may happen next and discussing books that may be similar. The programme supports teachers in developing essential KS2 literacy skills and weekly units contain mini-comprehension tests based around question type identification strategies, which research has shown to be excellent preparation for Year 6 SATs tests.

Writing

Writing is taught in separate lessons within the school day. All year groups are taught writing through The Write Stuff. This programme uses high quality texts to help children learn about grammar and sentence structure, supporting them to write independently. For the texts covered, click here.

Alongside these programmes, children are encouraged to develop their reading and writing skills through activities in all other curriculum areas. For example, they may be asked to write an explanation text linked to their current learning in Science, or they may need to use their reading skills to find out more about life in Ancient Rome.

Maths

The Maths curriculum is taught through the Maths Mastery Approach. A mathematical concept or skill has been mastered when a pupil can represent it in multiple ways, has the mathematical language to communicate related ideas, and can independently apply the concept to new problems in unfamiliar situations. Mastery is a journey and long-term goal, achieved through exploration, clarification, practice and application over time. At each stage of learning, pupils should be able to demonstrate a deep, conceptual understanding of the topic and be able to build on this over time. Pupils should have the opportunity to stay together and work through new content as a whole group. While mastery schemes of work may be challenging for some, the vast majority should be aiming for this standard. Intervention support and scaffolding are provided for children who for various reason may not be working at the expected standard. Click here to see the Maths Mastery units taught in each year group.

Through our carefully planned curriculum we aim to enable children to develop a deep and progressive understanding within each subject. Links between foundation subjects are exploited where meaningful and developed into themes for a term. Local links within the area are also developed and referenced within the curriculum. Other foundation subjects are taught independently with teachers making good use of published schemes and other resources to support pupils’ learning.

Our School Day – The official compulsory start of our school day is 8.40 am and the compulsory end of the day is 3.15 pm. This equates to 32 hours and 55 minutes per typical week in school.

Please click on the links below to see the Long Term Curriculum Plans for each year group.

Year 1                         Year 2                         Year 3                         Year 4                         Year 5                         Year 6

Early Years Foundation Stage

The children in our Reception Class (100 Acre Wood) follow the Early Years Foundations Stage Curriculum.

Key Stage 1

Key Stage One includes our Year 1 Class (Brambly Hedge) and Year 2 Class (Emerald City).

Key Stage 1 – Statutory Tests and Assessments

Year 1 phonics screening check

The check will take place in June when your child will read 40 words out loud to a teacher. You’ll find out how your child did, and their teacher will advise you if they have met the required standard. The children will have the opportunity to resit the test in Year 2 and extra support will be put in place if they do not meet the required standard in Year 1.

Key Stage 1 Tasks and Tests

Key Stage 1 tasks and tests cover: Reading, Writing, Speaking and listening, Maths and Science

The tasks and tests are taken when the school chooses. Your child’s teacher will use the child’s work to inform you of the level your child is at in each area.

 

You can find out more about each class by clicking the class name below.

Key Stage 2

Key Stage Two covers Year 3 to Year 6. Key Stage 2 tests cover: English reading, English grammar, punctuation and spelling and Maths Arithmetic and Maths Problem Solving and Reasoning.

The tests are taken across a week in mid-May. You’ll get the results in July with your child’s annual report.

When your child reaches the end of Key Stage 2 the teacher will also report on your child’s progress in Writing, Science and the Foundation Subjects.

 

You can find out more about each class by clicking the class name below.

Bures Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, Nayland Road, Bures, Suffolk, CO8 5BX

T: 01787 227446 E: primary@bures.suffolk.sch.uk

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