Castle Carrock School Curriculum

Our Vision

Castle Carrock School will offer each child an aspirational, all round, forward thinking, first class education based on traditional values.

Respect, resilience and togetherness are at the core of all that we do. We want to inspire every child to be the best they can be.

Our school will teach valuable life skills, provide an array of exciting extra curricula opportunities for all children and offer a caring, happy and inclusive working environment where pupils are taught to be independent, responsible and well-rounded members of the local community.

In short, we offer a firm foundation for life.

About

Science

History

Geography

Music

PSHE and SRE

PE and School Sports

Religious Education

Our curriculum is creative, relevant and adventurous.

We use a knowledge -engaged, enquiry approach that is rooted in the unique opportunities offered by our local community, expertise, and the historical and geographical context of our locality.

We plan in opportunities for the children to look beyond themselves, ask ‘big questions’ and think globally about life and develop an understanding of disadvantage, deprivation and the exploitation of the natural world.

Our curriculum provides children with the skills that they need now, but also the ability to be flexible, resourceful, reflective and resilient, helping them to adapt and problem solve as they grow up in an ever changing world.

Curriculum Implementation and Evaluation

Curriculum: the implementation

The curriculum is all the planned activities that we organise in order to facilitate the development of our pupils, their learning and personal growth and understanding of British values.

It includes not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum, but also the range of enrichment and extra-curricular experiences planned in order to benefit the learning and development of all pupils.

It also includes the ‘hidden curriculum’, what the children learn from the school’s values and ethos that guide choices and actions in everything that we do, and includes the way they are treated and expected to behave.

The impact is monitored through:

Improvement in core skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening, maths, computing).

Improvement in developing links within and across the wide curriculum.

Improvement in caring for themselves, each other, their belongings, and their world.

Improvement in the engagement of all learners/ the re-engagement of children/ families that may struggle to engage.

How do we evaluate and monitor the impact of our curriculum?

Our curriculum design ensures that the needs of all individuals can be met within an environment of quality first teaching, supported by targeted interventions where appropriate.

Enjoyment of the curriculum promotes achievement, self-esteem and excellent behaviour.

Children share their learning with each other, their parents and carers and other year groups through assemblies, performances, exhibitions and events involving other schools and local community groups.

Subject leaders monitor their subjects through lesson drop ins, book scrutiny, pupil and parent conferencing and discussion with staff about how improvements can be made.
This is then shared with the Governing Body who are also invited to contribute and share by attending or supporting events.

Data analysis is an important and regular contributor to the final evaluation.

Areas for development are subsequently added to the School Improvement plan (SIP), to which all staff contribute. The SIP is reviewed termly by the SLT (Senior Leadership Team) and shared with Governors.

National Curriculum 2014

Contents

Writing

Rationale: At Castle Carrock School we give our children a writing curriculum which will enable them to be confident, creative and independent writers. Our children are supported to develop transferable skills which are used across the curriculum. Our children leave Castle Carrock with the technical skills needed to communicate clearly.

Enhancing: We recognise that seeing good writing in action is vital for the children to develop their own creativity and sense of audience. Our writing curriculum is enhanced through visiting authors; real-world opportunities to write; publishing work; digital platforms and .

Parental Involvement: Expectations for parents - including elements such as the terminology are shared at termly meetings. Where the children are working in comparison to age related expectations is recorded and shared with parents.

Assessment: Writing is assessed regularly as part of the teacher’s own planning, questioning and feedback - however we also do a termly assessed piece using 'Ros Wilson’s' criteria. Children regularly edit their own work which supports assessment and allows them to self assess their work against appropriate expectations. This also allows us to ensure that progress is standardised across the school. Staff meetings and joint meetings with other schools allow moderation and high standards.

In the EYFS teachers track progress using Development Matters and the Early Learning Goal for Writing and Physical development. Ros Wilson’s Assessment for Writing is used during the Summer term for the Reception children. Staff use their own observations of children which are recorded in each child’s profile on Tapestry.

Implementation and Strategy:
Teacher’s planning for writing ensures progression through the national curriculum objectives. In the EYFS a systematic approach to phonics is used, following the Letters and Sounds programme. In Key Stage 1 spelling is taught through phonics following the Letters and Sounds programme which then leads into the Year 2 Spelling Programme.

In Key Stage 2 spelling and grammar are taught discretely as well as weaved through English lessons. Spelling is linked to the national curriculum objectives and is supported by the handwriting policy.

Contents

Reading

Rationale:
We recognise the importance of reading for pupils in all areas of the curriculum and as a life long skill. Our pupils will finish Castle Carrock confident readers who can access the written word for a wide range of needs. They will enjoy reading, and will have read a wide variety of genres, authors and media. They will be able to infer an author's intentions and to refer to a dictionary and thesaurus to support them with unknown words. They start We want to give our pupils at Castle Carrock a wide range of reading experiences including author experiences, illustrators and dramas.

In the Early Years and Key Stage 1 the focus is on the Letter and Sounds programme, which is taught in small groups and tailored towards their level. Guided reading groups is then the preferred way in to wider reading experiences and increased comprehension.

Enhancing
We enhance the reading curriculum with access to high quality texts which are regularly refreshed. Our children meet authors and illustrators and learn from their experiences. We also visit libraries and our planning ensures that reading is linked to topics where appropiate.

Parental Involvement

Every child has a home-school reading diary that allows for the children to share what they are reading and parents and teachers to make notes about progress. Parents are informed of children’s achievement and targets during Parents’ evenings and through the end of year report.

Assessment

Guided reading and whole-class teaching of reading gives the teacher plenty of opportunites to assess their pupils informally. We also carry out reading age tests twice a year on the younger children, this is in addition to the phonics work that Year 1 do ready for their statutory test.

Each term throughout the school we carry out standardised tests for comprehension, this allows teachers to measure progress and to be aware of any gaps the children may have in vocabulary and understanding.

Contents

Spoken Language

The national curriculum for English reflects the importance of spoken language in pupils’ development across the whole curriculum – cognitively, socially and linguistically. Spoken language underpins the development of reading and writing. The quality and variety of language that pupils hear and speak are vital for developing their vocabulary and grammar and their understanding for reading and writing.

Teachers will ensure the continual development of pupils’ confidence and competence in spoken language and listening skills. Pupils should develop a capacity to explain their understanding of books and other reading, and to prepare their ideas before they write. They must be assisted in making their thinking clear to themselves as well as to others, and teachers should ensure that pupils build secure foundations by using discussion to probe and remedy their misconceptions. Pupils will also be taught to understand and use the conventions for discussion and debate.

All pupils will participate in and gain knowledge, skills and understanding associated with the artistic practice of drama.They will have opportunities to improvise, devise and script drama for one another and a range of audiences, as well as to rehearse, refine, share and respond thoughtfully to drama and theatre performances.