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We believe that our children deserve and need us to provide more than just the National Curriculum. Life has so much more to offer and our children have so much more to learn and experience. With this in mind we worked to prioritise the things we wanted our children to experience during their time with us and below is the document which outlines our aspirations. We use these six 'drivers' to underpin the development work we undertake in all areas of school life and to ensure our curriculum offer is enriched and personalised to our children and their families.
Early childhood is the foundation on which children build the rest of their lives. At High Littleton Primary School, we greatly value the important role that the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) plays in laying secure foundations for future learning and development.
We aim to:
provide a safe, challenging, stimulating, caring and sharing environment which is sensitive to the needs of the child, including children with additional needs
provide a broad, balanced, relevant and creative curriculum that will enable each child to develop personally, socially, emotionally, spiritually, physically, creatively and intellectually to his/her full potential.
provide opportunities for children to learn through planned, purposeful play in all areas of learning and development
use and value what each child can do, assessing their individual needs and helping each child to progress
enable choice and decision-making, fostering independence and self-confidence
work in partnership with Parents/carers and value their contributions
ensure that all children, irrespective of ethnicity, culture, religion, home language, family background, learning difficulties, disabilities, gender or ability, have the opportunity to experience a challenging and enjoyable programme of learning and development
We use the Unlocking Letters and Sounds phonics programme. We begin teaching phonics in the first few weeks of term 1 in Reception and children make rapid progress in their reading journey. Children begin to learn the main sounds heard in the English Language and how they can be represented, as well as learning ‘Common Exception’ words for Phases 2, 3 and 4. They use these sounds to read and write simple words, captions and sentences. Children leave Reception being able to apply the phonemes taught within Phase 2, 3 and 4.
In Year 1 through Phase 5a, b and c, they learn any alternative spellings and pronunciations for the graphemes and additional Common Exception Words. By the end of Year 1 children will have mastered using phonics to decode and blend when reading and segment when spelling. In Year 1 all children are screened using the national Phonics Screening Check.
In Year 2, phonics continues to be revisited to ensure mastery of the phonetic code and any child who does not meet age related expectations will continue to receive support to close identified gaps.
For further details please see our Unlocking Letters and Sounds progression document below.
To ensure no child is left behind at any point in the progression, children are regularly assessed and supported to keep up through bespoke 1-1 interventions. These include GPC recognition and blending and segmenting interventions. The lowest attaining 20% of pupils are closely monitored to ensure these interventions have an impact.
The reading books children take home are very closely matched to a child's current phonics knowledge so that every child can experience real success in their reading and decode at least 95% of the text. We use books from a range of reading schemes which have been carefully matched to ensure complete fidelity to the Unlocking Letters and Sounds progression.
It is our intent at High Littleton Primary School to provide children with a high-quality education in reading so that they are able to read fluently and with confidence. We intend to encourage all children to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction and to develop their knowledge of themselves, the world in which they live, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, to gain knowledge across the curriculum and develop their comprehension skills.
Our reading curriculum follows the National Curriculum and aims to build on and enhance this. To ensure that pupils develop a secure knowledge and skills base that they can build on, reading is organised into a progression model that outlines the skills to be taught in a sequentially coherent way towards defined expectations at the end of each year and at the end of Year 6.
Over the course of the last twelve months, we have introduced Accelerated Reader (AR) at High Littleton Primary School.
What is AR?
AR is a computer program that helps teachers manage and monitor a child’s independent reading practice. Children choose a book that falls within their ZPD level and when they have finished reading, they take a short quiz on a computer. Passing the quiz is an indication that the child has understood what has been read. If they are reading at the recommended level for them, then most children are likely to be successful and enjoy the books and quizzes. Best of all they learn and grow at their own pace.
Star Reading Test
During the first two weeks of this academic year, your child will complete an initial Star Reading Test. Star Reading is an online assessment used to determine a child’s English reading level. It is a computer-based reading assessment program that uses computer-adaptive technology. Questions continually adjust to each child’s responses. If the response is correct, the difficulty level is increased. If they cannot answer a question, or answer incorrectly, the difficulty level is reduced. The test uses multiple-choice questions and takes approximately 20-30 minutes.
What is a ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development)?
A ZPD is the range of books that will challenge a child without causing frustration or loss of motivation. Each child will receive a ZPD after taking a Star Reading test. It is important for children to read with a high degree of comprehension and within their ZPD.
How can I help my child using AR?
As with anything, reading and understanding the English language improves with practice. According to research, children who read at least 20 minutes a day and achieve a 90% comprehension rate on AR quizzes see the greatest gains. Encourage your child to read at home, discuss books, and ask questions about what they have read.
Book Quizzes
After reading a book, the children must complete a book quiz at the earliest opportunity (but hopefully within 24 hours of finishing the book). The children will need to visit this specific website: https://global-zone61.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/6702595
They will be able to login, find the book they have read and then complete the comprehension quiz. This information will be accessible to your child’s teacher and will support them in supporting the children.
At High Littleton Primary School, we have adopted "The Write Stuff" by Jane Considine to bring clarity to the mechanics of writing. "The Write Stuff" follows a method called "Sentence Stacking" which refers to the fact that sentences are stacked together chronologically and organised to engage children with short, intensive moments of learning that they can then immediately apply to their own writing. An individual lesson is based on a sentence model, broken into 3 learning chunks. Each learning chunk has three sections:
Initiate section – a stimulus to capture the children’s imagination and set up a sentence.
Model section – the teacher models a sentence that outlines clear writing features and techniques.
Enable section – the children write their sentence, following the model.
Children are challenged to ‘Deepen the Moment’ which requires them to independently draw upon previously learnt skills and apply them to their writing during that chunk.
"The Write Stuff" uses three essential components to support children in becoming great writers
The three zones of writing :-
IDEAS - The FANTASTICs uses a child friendly acronym to represent the nine idea lenses through which children can craft their ideas.
TOOLS - The GRAMMARISTICS. The grammar rules of our language system and an accessible way to target weaknesses in pupils' grammatical and linguistic structures.
TECHNIQUES - The BOOMTASTICs which helps children capture 10 ways of adding drama and poetic devices to writing in a vivid visual.
Handwriting style
Please find below a link to our animated alphabet for children in Reception and Year 1:
https://linkpenfonts.co.uk/index.php?main_page=page&id=7
Please find below a link to our animated alphabet for children from Year 2 to Year 6:
https://linkpenfonts.co.uk/index.php?main_page=page&id=10
We believe that mathematics is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. Our high-quality mathematics education aims to develop a love of mathematics, an understanding of its relevance in the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.
We believe that all children should be challenged so that they can reach their full potential. A mastery approach to mathematics is applied to all lessons. Reasoning and problem solving is part of every lesson for every pupil no matter a child’s perceived ability. It is our belief in an ambitious ‘Quality Teach First’ approach where the class teacher supports all students especially those SEND pupils. Children should be taught the curriculum inline with their chronological age. Where this is not possible, teachers and 1 to 1 TAs should adapt the curriculum accordingly. Our curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced (based on the White Rose scheme of learning) so that children can build upon their prior learning in a cumulative way.
In line with our Curriculum Drivers we want our Scientists to be:
Independent thinkers who ask questions about the world around us.
Have confidence and initiative to plan investigations to try to answer some of these questions
Be able to develop as reporters by acquiring excellent Scientific knowledge and skills to present this knowledge both verbally and in written form.
Be imaginative and original
Develop their cultural capital and passion for Science and its application.
At High Littleton Church of England Primary School, 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.
In line with our Curriculum Drivers, we want our children to:
develop an emotional understanding and become digitally literate
experience the richness of diversity in society
become resilient and resourceful in their own work
engage in computational experiences and express themselves
value everyone’s contributions to the world of computing
In line with our Curriculum Drivers, we want our children to:
develop an emotional understanding of the world around them
experience the richness of diversity in society
become resilient and resourceful in their own work
engage in design and technology experiences and express themselves
value everyone’s contributions to the world of design and technology
In line with our Curriculum Drivers, we want our children to:
develop a curiosity and fascination of the world around them
experience the richness of diversity in society
engage in and care about the management and sustainability of the world in which they live
engage in geographical experiences and express themselves
value everyone’s contributions to the world of design and technology
In line with our Curriculum Drivers, we want our children to:
develop an emotional understanding of the past
understand the diversity of societies
ask questions and think critically
become resilient and resourceful in their own work
value everyone’s contributions to the historical world
In line with our Curriculum Drivers, we want our children to:
develop an emotional understanding of the world around them
experience the richness of diversity in society
become resilient and resourceful in their own work
engage in music experiences and express themselves
value everyone’s contributions to the world of music
At High Littleton Church of England Primary School, our curriculum intent for Religion and Worldviews 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 RW, 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.
In line with our Curriculum Drivers, we want our children to:
be inspired to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities
become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness
build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect
Our French SoW offers a carefully planned sequence of lessons, ensuring progressive coverage of the skills required by the national curriculum. Our chosen themes - Time Travelling, Let's Visit a French Town and This Is France - provide an introduction to the culture of French-speaking countries and communities. It aims to foster children’s curiosity and help deepen their understanding of the world. A linear curriculum has been chosen to allow opportunities for children to gradually build on their skills. Our SoW enables children to express their ideas and thoughts in French and provides opportunities to interact and communicate with others both in speech and in writing. At the heart of our scheme is the desire to expose children to authentic French, so the scheme offers regular opportunities to listen to native speakers.
In Lower KS2, children acquire basic skills and understanding of French with a strong emphasis placed on developing their Speaking and Listening skills. These will be embedded and further developed in Upper KS2, alongside Reading and Writing, gradually progressing onto more complex language concepts and greater learner autonomy. Through our scheme, we intend to inspire pupils to develop a love of languages and to expand their horizons to other countries, cultures and people. We aim to help children grow into curious, confident and reflective language learners and to provide them with a foundation that will equip them for further language studies.
By enabling our children and young people to develop their own skills, knowledge and understanding of how to be who they are, understand the world they are growing up in and how to keep themselves safe in all areas of their world, we believe that we are giving each and every one of them the best chance for their lives ahead. Our curriculum has been designed with our children in mind and may vary in content to reflect the ever-changing world we live in.
At High Littleton Church of England Primary School we use a scheme called JIGSAW. This scheme brings together PSHE, emotional literacy, social skills and spiritual development in a comprehensive scheme of learning. A lesson a week helps teachers to focus on tailoring the lessons to their children’s needs and to enjoy building the relationship with their class, getting to know them better as unique human beings.
