Curriculum

Curriculum Intent Statement

 

For information regarding SEN Provision, please follow the below link;

https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/kingsmoor-lower-school/UploadedDocument/9491441d95a34b99a1a48e572b57fa03/send-policy-2019.pdf

 

For information regarding our Equality Provision, please follow the link below;

https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/kingsmoor-lower-school/UploadedDocument/e559e016fd574ca2abec3e1307cb1a87/equality-information-and-objectives.pdf

At Kingsmoor Lower School, the curriculum is designed to: recognise children’s prior learning, provide first hand learning and cultural experiences, develop and strengthen high aspirations, allow the children to develop interpersonal skills, build resilience and become creative, critical thinkers, all underpinned by our values.

Every child is recognised as a unique individual. We celebrate and welcome differences within our school community and encourage tolerance, understanding and acceptance. We are an inclusive community ensuring that pupils with SEND are fully included in every aspect of life at Kingsmoor. The ability to learn is underpinned by the teaching of basic skills, knowledge, concepts and our values curriculum which are taught weekly in whole school assembly followed by a class assembly. We constantly provide enhancement opportunities to engage learning and believe that childhood should
be a happy, investigative and enquiring time in our lives where there are no limits to curiosity and there is a thirst for new experiences and knowledge. We teach Growth Mindset strategies, celebrating mistakes as the start of a positive learning journey and helping to develop resilience. We use Stunning Starts and Fabulous Finishes to promote positive attitudes to learning, hooking the children in and giving learning a purpose.

Community involvement is an essential part of our curriculum and children are taught the value of relationships and family.  Strong links are made with the community, encouraging visitors into the school and visits out.

Children leave Kingsmoor with a sense of belonging to a tightly knit community where they have the confidence and skills to make decisions, self-evaluate, make connections and become lifelong learners.

Implementation

Our curriculum has been designed to create a balance between the National Curriculum statutory requirements and a range of experiences which allow our pupils the opportunities to broaden their life experiences. Our curriculum provides our pupils with experiences and opportunities which best meet their learning and developmental needs. Through clear strategic planning, our curriculum provides not only memorable experiences but is rich in opportunities from which the children can learn and develop
transferrable skills.

The acquisition of knowledge and the development of skills is carefully planned to create a purposeful and exciting learning journey for every child, ensuring that milestones are met at key stages throughout their primary education. Our vibrant and rich curriculum is designed so that the subject specific skills are scaffolded within a cross-curricular theme or context each term. In order to ensure that progression and balance is maintained, the programmes of study are then developed into medium term plans which clearly highlight the learning objectives, assessment opportunities, differentiated tasks as well as links to other subjects. Teachers plan and tailor units of work and lessons to address the specific individual needs of pupils so that all pupils are able to reach their full potential regardless of their starting point.

 

Quality first teaching:

• highly focused lesson design with sharp objectives;
• high demands of child engagement with their learning;
• high levels of interaction for all children;
• appropriate use of teacher questioning;
• modelling and explaining;
• emphasis on learning through dialogue;
• an expectation that children will develop resilience and accept responsibility for their own learning and work independently;
• Regular use of encouragement and praise to motivate children.

 

Target setting

• Individual children's progress tracked;
• Strengths and weaknesses identified supporting planning and intervention;
• Data collected on a regular basis and shared with staff and children;
• Children have regular opportunities to discuss their progress;
• Teachers actively involve children in setting and reviewing their progress towards their targets;
• Teaching, interventions and revision programmes are adjusted in the light of the progress children make;
• Parents and carers are regularly updated on their child's progress;
• Processes run across the whole academy to ensure consistency and are regularly evaluated by SLT to ensure that the needs of the children are being met.

 

Focussed assessment

• Rigorous assessment and tracking of children's performance take place to inform classroom practice allowing children to make good progress and close attainment gaps;
• Day to day, Periodic and Transitional assessments used effectively;
• Assessment for Learning (ALF) evident across the academy - learning objectives, learning outcomes, success criteria, self and peer evaluation.

Intervention

• Individuals and groups who are not making sufficient progress are identified;
• Provision for intervention is mapped according to need;
• Detailed plans are put into place;
• Learners are enabled to perform beyond age related expectations, deepening their knowledge and understanding;
• Interventions are evaluated and relevant adjustments are made;
• Securing Standards Meetings take place regularly to discuss current and future interventions engaging in dialogue around the impact of interventions, potential barriers and further actions required. 

 

Learning environment

• Organisation of the classroom/learning environment adapted to the children's learning needs;
• The use of learning resources and ICT developed to allow children to work independently and successfully;
• Make effective use of other spaces - 'outdoor classroom', ICT suite, hall space;
• Displays to be a mixture of celebration of children's work, supportive resources such as our working walls and the knowledge the pupils have gained through our Knowledge Building Boards.

 

Curriculum organisation

• The curriculum is designed to cater for the needs and interests of a full range of learners.
• Some pupils may follow a bespoke curriculum ensuring that the whole child is developed and supported.
• The curriculum is taught through whole school themes which focus on reading and vocabulary development.

 

Extended curriculum

Kingsmoor offers a full range of 'out of hours' activities and clubs which enhance and extend the basic curriculum;

• We ensure access for all;
• Pupils have access to a range of activities before and after school.
• Pupils have access to opportunities that will prepare them for life in the future, including weekly career aspiration and cultural capital assemblies.
• Pupils to work with or within the community checking the air pollution in different areas for example.
• Pupils to have workshop opportunities both within the school and externally for example Bletchley Park and The Grove Theatre.
• Pupils have the opportunity to work closely with pupils in other schools.
• Pupils have the opportunity to participate in sporting events.
• Pupils have the opportunity to attend educational trips and visits.

 

The school is committed to address inequalities, ensuring that disadvantaged pupils have the same opportunities as their peers beyond the classroom.

 

Parents and carers, as well as the wider community, are involved in extended provision;

• Parents and carers have access to workshops such as Triple P parenting.
• Parents have the opportunity to contribute to their child's education through Open Days
• Parents have opportunities to attend workshops and presentations to support and safeguard their child.
• The school employs a Pastoral Support Worker

 

Our Curriculum

 

Writing:

At Kingsmoor, writing is taught in a cross-curricular way, making natural links with other areas of the curriculum especially History and Geography as well as in discrete lessons. Pupils are taught the craft of writing using Talk For Writing strategies. Pupils are supported to move towards independent writing through a range of activities including film, imagery, modelled, shared and guided writing, peer and self-editing and discussion. The teaching of writing focuses on authors intent, the skills of writing and the development of sophisticated vocabulary. We encourage the pupils to see themselves as authors, considering the purpose of the text, the audience and justifying the choices they make. To promote the status of written work we provide opportunities for pupils to publish their work on our website or in our newsletter each month. Grammar lessons are taught separately in some year groups focusing on specific skills linked to the objectives being taught in Writing Lessons. This enables the pupils to apply their newly acquired knowledge, ensuring that it is committed to their long term memory. Handwriting sessions are incorporated into the English lessons and promoted in all lessons across the curriculum.

 

Reading:

Reading is an important part of our curriculum and is an integral part of all of our lessons. At Kingsmoor, we teach reading through:

• Discreet comprehension lessons: At Kingsmoor, we teach lessons which focus on developing pupils’ level of understanding of the text, through discussion, written and oral tasks; and the exploration of new vocabulary. Pupils will be taught to retrieve, infer, predict, summarise, analyse and evaluate a whole class text.
• Big Read Lessons: At Kingsmoor, we encourage our pupils to read for pleasure and to read widely. In these lessons, pupils explore a novel, developing their reading skills and their ability to understand the author’s intent, connections and links to their own experiences. Discussion and critiquing are key aspects of these lessons.
• Reading across the curriculum: At Kingsmoor, we maximise opportunities for pupils to read, through our Topic Reading Lessons. These lessons focus on the teaching of reading whilst increasing the pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the topics being taught in History and Geography.
• Independent Reading: Kingsmoor uses quiet whole class reading times in KS2 to promote independent reading. Pupils are regularly tested to assess their reading level, ensuring that pupils are reading the most appropriate books. Reluctant readers, or those pupils who struggle with reading are heard more regularly to ensure that they make expected progress.

 

Each Key Stage within the school focuses on age appropriate skills and uses a range of strategies and interventions to support the pupils.

 

In EYFS, reading is taught through shared reading, using large print books and picture books. Pupils are taught the process of reading; learning that words and pictures have meaning. Through a range of practical activities children learn familiar stories. Pupils explore skills such as sequencing, prediction and retrieval. Using the Little Wandle Phonics programme our pupils are taught the progression of sounds.

 

 In Key Stage 1, we use Letters and Sounds for our phonics programme. Phonic awareness helps the development of reading by segmenting and blending sounds. The children will be heard reading individually and in groups. Reading is taught through a shared reading approach using large print books that are rhythmical and have repetitive patterns. Pupils explore vocabulary, prediction, sequencing, making inferences and retrieving information.  Pupils are taught reading through a whole class approach using VIPERS comprehension skills. Pupils explore vocabulary, prediction, sequencing, making inferences and retrieving information.

 

In Key Stage 2, we teach reading through a whole class approach focusing on the curriculum domains. We use VIPERS comprehension skills to ensure consistency across the Key Stage. Pupils explore vocabulary, prediction, sequencing, making inferences and retrieving information, ensuring that they are able to make justified responses using evidence from the text. Pupils explore a wide range of fiction and non-fiction texts in their foundation lessons, which are based around age appropriate texts linked to the topic being studied

 

Maths:

At Kingsmoor, maths is predominantly taught as a stand-alone subject, but is woven through all areas of the curriculum as and where natural links present themselves. We teach maths for mastery, meaning the objectives are effectively taught at a slower pace which results in greater progress, as children have the time to really understand ‘why’ as well as ‘how’. They master the subject, and become able to solve maths problems without having to memorise procedures. In turn, they develop a deep and adaptable understanding of maths, rather than shallow knowledge which relies on rote learning. In years 1-4 we follow a maths mastery scheme called ‘Maths – No Problem’. It is a child-centred approach that incorporates ‘concrete, pictorial, abstract’ philosophy that our teachers enjoy teaching and pupils benefit from greatly. Importantly, we find it to be a very inclusive approach where all children achieve.

 

Science:

At Kingsmoor, we believe that since ‘Science stimulates and excites a pupil’s curiosity about natural phenomena and events in the world around them’, we have implemented a science teaching strategy that incorporates both reading, encourages the development of an understanding of our environment, primarily through first-hand experience, exploration, interaction with scientific phenomena and by developing scientific language. All our pupils develop their skills of enquiry and investigation to promote and progress their creative thinking. They learn to ask scientific questions and begin to appreciate the way Science will affect their future at a personal, national, and even at a global level. Throughout the school, pupils engage in scientific activities which encourage them to ask questions, to learn through practical experiences and to offer and investigate their own solutions to problems, enabling them to become independent and effective learners. We believe that all pupils must have regular access to Science appropriate to their age and stage of development. Furthermore, our in-situ Woodland Area provides a natural outdoor science lab which our children can explore. The school library aids the teaching of the most wonderful subject in the world – SCIENCE! In order to promote the excitement that Science offers, pupils who have flourished in Science will have the opportunity to share class work in assemblies and on school communication platforms. 

 

History:

At Kingsmoor, we teach a progressive History curriculum. Pupils explore significant British events, significant world events and British Kings and Queens. Pupils are taught knowledge through high quality texts, trips and visits, whilst developing their key skills such as: chronological awareness, understanding historical context, and organising, evaluating and communicating information.

 

Geography:

At Kingsmoor, we teach a progressive Geography curriculum. Pupils explore Local geography; landmarks and physical features and Natural Disasters. Pupils are taught knowledge through high quality texts and trips and visits, whilst developing their key skills such as: map reading, interpreting data, comparing, locating and scale.

 

Art:

Art is a subject area that we celebrate and enjoy. Art is taught through high quality school projects, where pupils across the school work towards a whole school theme, such as The Elements, Animal Kingdoms and Dynasties. Each year group will learn a range of skills and techniques, use different mediums and develop the ability to experiment with different kinds of art, craft and design whilst increasing the pupil’s awareness and appreciation of art. Throughout the year, pupils will have opportunities to develop their artistic skills and will be taught to: Use materials to design and make products. Use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination. Develop a wide range of art and design techniques using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space. Create sketches to record their observations. Use a range of materials including clay, charcoal, paint, pencil and fabric in our Art Studio. Art will be celebrated across the school through high quality displays which illustrate our appreciation and love of Art.

 

PE:

At Kingsmoor we value sports and what it can bring to our young people, from social skills and lifelong values. We can use sports as a vehicle to develop each child into a healthy, independent and positive person. Our PE lessons are where each child will start their learning journey into sports so we want this to be a positive experience for all and this is what we strive for every day. We do this by having layered activities for children to choose from so they can decide which challenge they are ready for and a clear progression to achieve the lessons overall objective. We also focus lessons on our fundamental movement skills which are agility, balance and coordination and we believe this underpins every sport we play. Agility - ability to move quickly and easily. Balance - an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady. Coordination - that you have control over the movements of your body.

 

Computing:

At Kingsmoor, we teach our pupils the skills required for the digital era. Pupils will be taught skills such as programming, producing music and coding. We believe that our pupils need to have access to high quality computing lessons which will prepare them for their future career opportunities.

 

Music:

Music is highly valued at Kingsmoor, as we ensure that all of our KS1 & KS2 pupils are continuously exposed to quality first teaching . Our approach is to provide all pupils with the opportunity to excel and express themselves musically by delivering an extensive programme of high quality music provisions. Our wide and expansive range of musical instruments and equipment allows pupils to experience well-resourced music lessons following the national curriculum, whole class instrumental lessons and before school choir. We also recognise talent, and parents/carers have the opportunity to have 1:1 instrument tuition.

 

Impact

Curriculum Impact. At Kingsmoor, children are assessed during every lesson which enables our teachers to plan the next steps for each child. Teachers assess against the learning objectives and the basic skill requirements for each year group and provide live feedback which enables each pupil to make progress within the lesson and overtime. Children are expected to make good or better progress in all subjects and this individual progress is tracked and reported to parents and carers at parents evening and on the end of year report.

Kingsmoor uses rigorous triangulated monitoring throughout the year to gauge the impact of the curriculum design. Senior Leaders and Subject Leaders monitor individual subjects: reviewing learning, evaluating pupil voice, providing individual feedback to move practice forward, celebrating positives and highlighting areas of development that through coaching and continued professional development are developed and strengthened.  The impact of the curriculum is reviewed half termly and progress is measured against end of year outcomes for individual pupils and for the year group.

Enjoyment of the curriculum promotes achievement, confidence and good behaviour. Children feel safe to try new things. The pupils will be able to work collaboratively with their peers and independently as inquisitive learners who are motivated to excel and who have a thirst for learning. The pupils will have a strong desire to embrace challenge and to be resilient learners.

Our curriculum will also enable our pupils to become good citizens and demonstrate an appreciation for each other, the school community and the world. Our pupils will be respectful and will show tolerance and acceptance to those from different faiths and backgrounds as Values is the foundation of our curriculum, with weekly assemblies led by the Head Teacher and follow up class assemblies each week.

All pupils at Kingsmoor participate in a progressive reward scheme which focuses on; Following the school rules, Being responsible for their own learning, demonstrating resilence and determination. Contributing to school life and the wider community.

 

We will measure the impact of curriculum through: Pupil achievement data. Attendance rates. Behaviour. Extra Curriculum registers. Pupil questionnaires. Pupil Voice. Parent questionnaires. Lesson observations. Curriculum Reviews.

 

Breadth and Balance Statement

Breadth (experiences that the curriculum provides for our children)

 

Our curriculum is planned with our intent at the forefront of all decisions. Stunning Starts and Fabulous Finishes such as trips to Mountfitchet Castle, Whipsnade Zoo, Hazard Alley, Marston Mortaine Forest Centre and visitors in such as the Fire Brigade, birds of prey, clay workshops for Viking masks, Police, Olympic athletes,  Flitwick Town Mayor and many more give our children a wealth of experiences to support their learning and inspire their aspirations.

 

Opportunities to build resilience are woven through our curriculum with challenge days such as ‘No Pen Day’ and our ‘Outdoor Classroom Day’. Recently we have been developing our Forest Area and are currently training a teacher as a Forest School Lead so that we can offer all of our pupil’s access to Forest School opportunities.  We also offered our first residential to our Key Stage Two children in 2019, to Boughton Woods.  This was a survival type residential where children built their own dens and then could sleep in them over night, prepared and cooked their own food and built their own camp fires.  We will be offering an opportunity this year to any children that don’t sign up for the residential to camp in the school in the school grounds over-night.

 

We have an open door policy and encourage parents into class regularly to see their child’s achievements.  We also invite parents in to work with their children, for example during our Bottoms, Burps and Bile topic; parents were invited in to explore the digestive system alongside their child.

 

We also take children out into the community through our participation in the Flitwick Town Carnival, singing carols in care homes, trips to the local park and shops and through our link with Redborne Upper School (Sports Partnership). We strive to further this community approach to learning by continuing to identify further opportunities.

 

Children also have the opportunity to perform in front of an audience at least once a year through their class assemblies which are linked to our school Values. Performances also take place for reception and KS2 at Christmas with KS1 reciting Christmas poems and singing carols.

 

Balanced (academic development, core subjects and foundation, personal development, physical and mental well-being)

 

Pupil progress is monitored closely in core subjects to ensure that all pupils meet age related expectations (ARE) throughout the year.  Monitoring by subject leaders and senior leaders through: lesson observations, book scrutiny and pupil interviews take place every half term.  Team planning opportunities take place every week and staff meetings are held each term to look at new developments and Pedagogy clinics are held to support colleagues with any challenges they may be facing with teaching.

 

We follow a creative, knowledge based curriculum to make links across subjects linked to topics carefully selected to meet the needs and interests of our pupils. Every afternoon is timetabled for Science and Foundation subjects.  We have a Science week once a year; when every afternoon is devoted to investigations. We are currently developing a Cognitive Learning Theory approach to teaching and learning to ensure that pupil’s long term memory is enhanced, which in turn leads to Greater Depth and Mastery.

 

Reception children are taught tennis skills though a Teddy Tennis coach once a week and are taught Dance and Gymnastics by their class teacher.

 

We currently fund a sports coach to teach two afternoons a week in KS1 and KS2. They also have the opportunity to attend festivals through the school’s link with Redborne School Sports Partnership. We ensure that every child has the opportunity to attend one of these by the time they leave us so that they experience what it is like to work as a team, to have fun taking part in a sporting event and to feel the sense of achievement that it brings when they have competed. We are lucky to have a cricket coach work with us in the summer term to develop pupil’s skills and love of cricket.  The coach has also delivered high quality training to the staff.

 

Music plays a big part in the life of Kingsmoor.  We invest in the Music Service SLA and have choir practice each week led by the head of the Music Service.  Children learn to play ukulele in KS2 and learnt percussion last year.  Our Year Four pupils take part in Sing Out at the Bedford Corn Exchange every year and have been selected for the last two years to perform their instruments as well.  KS1 teachers plan their own Music lessons, linking them to the topics wherever possible that they are covering.  Reception children have the opportunity to explore a wide range of percussion instruments, sing daily and attend a weekly singing assembly with the whole school.

 

We follow the Jigsaw scheme for PSHE, which covers all requirements for PSHE in our age range. We have also planned at least one health and well-being day for our pupils across the school with opportunities for mindfulness, strategies for managing feelings and fun activities for children to learn about themselves. We have strong links with our local church who helped deliver the mindfulness day.  They also come into school once a month to deliver a fun and engaging assembly, usually with children joining them as actors.

 

We also employ a Pastoral Worker who runs a nurture room three days a week.  Her main role is mentoring pupils that are identified by key adults in the child’s life.  Groups of children are also worked with to develop relationships or support with transition for example.

 

 

The new Primary National Curriculum was implemented in 2014.  The implementation of this new curriculum has provided us with the opportunity to develop and improve the curriculum which we offer our children.  In addition to providing children with a curriculum which meets these statutory requirements we have developed a curriculum which we also believe meets the need of the 21st Century.

21st Century Curriculum

The world is an ever changing place.  The only certainty would appear to be that the pace of change will get quicker and not slower.  Our children will almost certainly have many jobs throughout their lives (the days of a job for life are long gone); most likely have more than one career; and those jobs and careers may well not even exist as we sit here reading this.  We believe that for children to succeed being able to read, write and solve maths problems to a high standard is not enough.  We pride ourselves on setting incredibly high academic standards for our children but we also recognise the importance of developing qualities which not only enable them to achieve academically but also become responsible thinkers who will go on to make a positive contribution towards society.  We have identified the following attributes which we are currently focusing on developing in our children.

• Careful listeners
• Communicators who can share their vision of the future
• Independent learners
• Responsible thinkers
• Resilient learners who can solve problems, eventually!
• Adaptable thinkers

 

Values Education

We also strongly believe in developing well rounded individuals who respect themselves, the individual person and society as a whole. Kingsmoor Lower School is a value based school that seeks to promote educational philosophy based on valuing ourselves and others.  We have identified our values which we believe all of us should aim to uphold in each and every day of our lives.  Our values are:

• Positivity
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Friendship / Patience
• Self-Belief
• Kindness
• Honesty
• Happiness
• Understanding
• Thoughtfulness
• Courage

Our values run on a two year cycle with one value for each month.

We recognise that these values aren’t strictly 21st Century skills.  We know that careful listening has always been important, but they are skills which the national curriculum does not explicitly address and which we believe should be taught in school today.  These skills and values are therefore embedded  in all of our teaching.  Where strong links can be made they are exploited to explicitly teach these skills.

 These Values and 21st Century Skills

We strongly believe that where there are strong links between subjects which provide children with the opportunity to develop their understanding and deepen their learning then they should be exploited.  There are many ways that links can be made between subjects and we believe that the people best placed to identify these links are your children’s class teachers.   At Kingsmoor Lower School the children learn through an exciting and challenging thematic based approach to learning called the ‘creative curriculum’.  Each term children embark on a new learning journey which has been carefully planned to ensure coverage and progression of National Curriculum targets.  These topic based learning journeys provide cross curricular links with Art, History, Geography, Computing, Design and Technology, Science, Music and Dance.

Some subjects are taught discreetly.  These include English, Maths, Phonics, Handwriting, RE, PE and Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education.

We start each topic with a 'Stunning Start' to hook children into their learning and a 'Fabulous Finish'  which gives the learning a purpose.  These include visits from the Fire Brigade and police, dressing up as superheroes, clay workshops and even a practical exploration of the digestive system!  We do invite parents in as oftenn as we can to enjoy these events with their children to include them in their child's learning experiences at school.

 

 

E Safety

 

At Kingsmoor Lower School, we are fully committed to the safeguarding of our pupils and believe that E Safety is of paramount importance.  With the ongoing support of our parent body, we aim to educate our children to make the right decisions and keep themselves safe online.

 

Phonics

The school has adopted the Letters and Sounds document (2007) to teach phonics with some resources in the Foundation Stage from Jolly Phonics.

 

In the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 phonics is taught daily at a discrete dedicated time. Children are grouped across Reception and Key Stage 1 according to the phase they are working at.

 

Letters and Sounds – we use this website in school for resources and games. There are useful online games accessible via this website.

         

letters and sounds

 

Resources to support the learning of phonics:

Suggested websites

(Literacy > Letters and Sounds)

• BBC – there are a number of resources available through the BBC website, for example:

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/levels/z3g4d2p

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/highlights/sections/primary

• Family Learning:

http://www.familylearning.org.uk/phonics_games.html

• Phonics Play –Lots of free games to play.

http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/

 

• ICT games

http://www.ictgames.com/literacy.html

 

Year 1 Phonics Screening Check

The statutory Year 1 Phonics Screening Check generally take place in June. Please ensure that your child is in school during this time.

The check is a list of 40 words which children will read one -to-one with their class teacher.  It will assess phonics skills and knowledge learned through Reception and Year 1.

It will check that your child can:

• Sound out and blend graphemesin order to read simple words e.g. n-igh-t
• Read phonically decodable one-syllable and two-syllable words, e.g. cat, sand, windmill.
• Read a selection of nonsense words which are referred to as ‘pseudo words’.

 

 

Please click on the link below to view the Calculation Policy we use at Kingsmoor.

If you would like further information on the curriculum we teach, please contact the school directly.