Curriculum
The school’s curriculum is based around an enquiry approach. We use open questions as a starting point for driving the children’s learning.
- Autumn 1 Goshawks
- Autumn 1 Otters
- Autumn 1 Swallowtails
- Autumn 1 White tailed Eagles
- Autumn 2 Goshawk
- Autumn 2 Otters
- Autumn 2 Swallowtail
- Autumn 2 White tailed Eagles
- Spring 1 Goshawks
- Spring 1 Otters
- Spring 1 Swallowtails
- Spring 1 White tailed Eagles
Each year there are 6 enquiries, which each last a half term. 3 of these enquiries are planned and delivered to the whole Key Stage (Please see 2 year curriculum map). This joint planning allows opportunities for collaborative learning across the Jigsaw Partnership. For example, KS2 had a partnership Stone Age Day linked to their question: What can we learn about our past by digging in the ground?
In addition to the three partnership topics, children are also given opportunities to direct their own enquiries and suggest suitable areas to investigate as a class. There are many more examples on the class pages on the website of the work involved in these topics.
These enquires link the foundation subjects together and are sometimes used to create a purpose for writing in English. Some subjects are regularly taught outside of this approach e.g. Maths, Science, PE, RE and Music, however on occasions these subjects are also incorporated.
In Maths, we often use challenge based learning. Children are not organised in ability groups and instead they are given opportunities to choose the challenge most appropriate for their learning. We believe that this “Learning without Limits” approach enables children to manage and evaluate their own learning more effectively.
We also use the CPA approach to introducing mathematical concepts. This is where a concept is introduced through a concrete example, then transferred to a picture and finally presented as an abstract concept.
As well as cross-curricular writing, children also have stand-alone English lessons where they are able to experience and become inspired by a range of high quality texts and authors. Every child in our school should experience the following text-based units every year:
- Traditional/ classic tales
- Well-loved stories
- Contemporary fiction
- Poetry (including narrative poetry in KS2)
- Picture books
- Non-fiction – writing for a purpose linked to topics and real events and experiences
Further information is available in our Enquiry-based Approach to Learning Case Study
Phonics is taught across EYFS and KS1 through the use of Read, Write, Inc. In KS2, classes have daily VCOP (a session where children are taught to up-level their vocabulary and sentence structures as well as key grammatical structures) and regular guided reading sessions alongside their English lessons.