INTENT

With an ever changing and growing technological world, here at Shawlands primary school we strive to prepare our young people to be able to apply technical and practical expertise to their own ideas. Our children have the opportunity to work creatively when designing and when making using a wide range of materials and equipment. Art and Design and Technology is able to be taught across a range of subjects including maths, science and geography.     

Physical Education is inspiring and develops children to explore the limitless capabilities of their bodies. Our children build mutual respect, self-belief and an overall team spirit through taking part in a wide range of sports and physical activities. With specialised teachers, our children receive engaging lessons that create confident athletes and sports people.   

Music facilitates the opportunity for children at Shawlands primary school to express themselves through creative learning experiences. The centre of our ethos is that exploration through music promotes confident and passionate performers. The children will explore a range of styles and genres of music as well as develop their of music skills through many practical class performances.

IMPLEMENTATION

Teachers follow carefully planned long plans for Art, DT, Music and PE which ensure both continuity and progression both within and across key stages.

Subject leaders deliver frequent CPD sessions to keep staff knowledge up to date, and monitor their subjects to ensure consistency.

Good examples of work from the creative arts subjects are kept in Phase Learning Journey books which subject leaders can use to monitor continuity and progression.

IMPACT.

Teachers input each child’s attainment in Art, DT, Music and PE on an online tracker twice per year, with judgements made against age-related expectations. These are then monitored by the subject leaders and SLT members.

INTENT:

At Shawlands Primary School our literacy, phonics and drama curriculum encourages children to express themselves creatively through a variety of ways.  We believe in a systematic comprehensive approach to help develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion. This will provide our children with sufficient knowledge and skills for future learning and employment.  We want to inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking, listening and performing and be able to present their work and ideas with pride.  We allow children to explore a variety of drama techniques to support our broad and balanced curriculum.

PSHE enables our children, particularly the most disadvantaged and those with special educational needs, to become healthy, responsible and independent members of a community.  This will provide them with the cultural capital and knowledge they need to succeed in life.  It aims to help them understand how they are developing personally and socially, and tackles many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up in British society.  We provide our children with opportunities for them to learn about what it means to be a respectful member of a diverse society.  Our children are encouraged to develop their sense of self-worth by playing a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community.

IMPLEMENTATION:

Teachers work in phase-teams throughout school to plan long, medium and short-term units of work which give the children access to a broad and balanced diet of experiences, resources and opportunities.  Children are exposed to high quality texts and teaching resources which help them pick up and develop new skills and knowledge, which they are then given the opportunities to apply both in supported and independent work.  Teachers ensure that diversity and equality are represented throughout the resources and texts used, and children are given the opportunity to discuss their own beliefs and those of others through discussions, drama and role-play and in their own written work.

Every opportunity for cross-curricular work is taken in order to maximise the learning opportunities available, and teachers constantly assess the understanding of each child which informs future planning.  Wherever possible children are supported to make their own choices about the level of challenge they are comfortable with between carefully planned and differentiated tasks.

IMPACT:

All children are assessed in Writing at the end of each term, with attainment reported to parents twice a year including on the end of year report.  Teachers discuss progress and attainment in Pupil Progress Meetings three times a year.

Children are constantly informally assessed during phonics lessons, and each month the phonics leaders use this data to move children into the phonics group best suited to the phase they are learning.

The impact of teaching through school can be seen in the end of year EYFS, KS1 and KS2 SATs results as well as the phonics screening checks in Y1 and Y2.

Teachers input each child’s attainment in PHSE and Drama on an online tracker twice per year, with judgements made against age-related expectations. These are then monitored by the subject leaders and SLT members.

The fundamental aim of the study of humanities is to help our pupils develop an understanding of their lives and the world in which they live. This is achieved through the study of individuals, societies, cultures and the environment. The learning of humanities promotes an understanding of the causes and consequences of change through physical and human actions and processes, also it provides knowledge and understanding of people, cultures and events in a variety of places and at different times. Humanities subjects develop children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding, knowledge and skills. Communication skills will be developed through the introduction of new vocabulary, questioning, formulating opinions and arguments, making judgements and carrying out investigations.

 In R.E children will develop their knowledge and understanding of principal religions and world views. The teaching of R.E will provoke challenging questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, the self and nature of reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human. It will develop pupils’ awareness and understanding of religious beliefs, teachings, practices, and forms of expressions and the influence of religion on individuals, families, communities and cultures. Pupils will learn from the diversity of different religions, beliefs, values and traditions, whilst affirming their own faith or search for meaning. We will challenge pupils to reflect on, consider, analyse, interpret and evaluate issues of truth, belief, faith and ethics and to communicate their responses. We will also encourage pupils to develop their sense of identity and belonging and enable them to flourish individually within their communities, as citizens in a diverse society and global community. R.E plays an important role in preparing pupils for adult life and employment, enabling them to develop respect and sensitivity towards others, in particular those with different faiths and beliefs, and to combat prejudice and negative discrimination.

IMPLEMENTATION

Teachers follow carefully planned long plans for History, Geography and RE which ensure both continuity and progression both within and across key stages.

Subject leaders deliver frequent CPD sessions to keep staff knowledge up to date, and monitor their subjects to ensure consistency.

Good examples of work from the humanities subjects are kept in Phase Learning Journey books which subject leaders can use to monitor continuity and progression.

IMPACT.

Teachers input each child’s attainment in History, Geography and RE on an online tracker twice per year, with judgements made against age-related expectations. These are then monitored by the subject leaders and SLT members.

INTENT:

At Shawlands Primary School, we prioritise reading. We are determined that every pupil will learn to read, regardless of their background, needs and abilities. We intend to create confident readers who have the ability to develop a deep and true understanding of what they read. It is important for us that children are able to comprehend at a high level. We aim to create a love of reading through encouraging reading at home and working closely with parents to do this is vital. We use a range of reading rewards and techniques to promote a love of reading throughout school.

IMPLEMENTATION:

All children in Year 1 and the Year 2 phonics resit children receive daily Read Write Inc guided reading sessions four times a week. These sessions run as part of their phonics lessons and are linked to the current sounds that they are learning. The sessions include the children reading with a partner, staff reading to them and on the final session the children answer questions from the text. Each session the children read and identify green and red tricky words.

From Year 2 above there are three novel sessions a week which will follow the VIPERS pedagogical process. These comprehension sessions run for 30-45 minutes each. There is whole class teaching based on one content domain at a time however some sessions may touch on other VIPERS taught in previous sessions and where appropriate questions may include a maximum of two VIPERS. All content domains will be covered through the year. In one session a week, teachers will focus on an extract text. This is to allow a wider knowledge of texts and also to give more support to the reading recovery groups/bottom 20% of readers.

A High Quality Guided Reading Session will consist of:

1. Book Introduction which sets a purpose for the reading with reference to learning objectives, covers genre/text type, makes connections to prior reading or previous session and skims over text to gain overview before reading.
2. Strategy Check which will make explicit reference to strategies children will use to help them decode and comprehend what they are reading and will encourage pupils to explain to each other how they will read new/unfamiliar words. Beginner readers will be prompted to use their developing phonic knowledge, whilst developing readers will be prompted to use comprehension skills; skimming, scanning, re-reading; checking for organisational features. Any difficult vocabulary or choice of words by the author will also be discussed.
3. Independent Session in which children read independently either in a “soft” voice or silently while the teacher moves round the group listening to individuals reading a short extract. Questions may be asked or focus given to particular teaching points to deepen understanding. Praise will be given for use of appropriate strategies.
4. Return to the Text for a whole group consideration of text, reviewing the use of particular strategies, revisiting questions asked at the start of the session and encouraging the children to identify issues to be discussed or clarified.
5. Respond to the Text in which children are given time to respond to the text, develop and justify their opinions and explore personal preferences. Follow up tasks may be set, to be completed before next reading session.

Tasks for other children in the Guided Reading sessions will be set according to their needs, levels and the professional discretion of the teacher.

Reading Extracts

At least one session of guided reading each week is a lesson focussing on an extract which allows the children to access more non-fiction texts and also gives them time to work more independently. The extract could be linked to topic, current events/themes or be completely discrete. Throughout this session, adults will work with the reading recovery group and lower ability readers.

IMPACT

All children are assessed in Reading at the end of each term using standardised tests from Y2 which complement Teacher Assessments. Attainment is reported to parents twice a year including on the end of year report.  Teachers discuss progress and attainment in Pupil Progress Meetings three times a year.

The impact of teaching through school can be seen in the end of year EYFS, KS1 and KS2 SATs results.

INTENT:

We believe that all pupils should have a love of learning and curiosity of the world that will enable them to be self-motivated, lifelong learners. In Science, Mathematics and Information Technology, we provide children with challenges and opportunities that allow them to carry out research; naturally ask questions and to solve problems. We aim to equip them with these skills to enable them to make sense of the environment around them and adapt easily and quickly to changes in the highly complex world.

IMPLEMENTATION:

Teachers follow carefully planned long and medium term plans for Maths, Science and ICT which ensure both continuity and progression both within and across key stages. Science and Maths resources are very high quality and stored attractively and accessibly in the heart of the school, whilst ICT is also very well resourced for all areas of the curriculum.  Subject leaders deliver frequent CPD sessions to keep staff knowledge up to date, and monitor their subjects to ensure consistency.

In Maths the teaching sequence is the teacher modelling new skills and knowledge with clear explanations and addressing common misconceptions, followed by the children working through some examples either individually or with a partner.  This results in quick and accurate self and teacher assessment of understanding.  Children are then supported to choose the level of challenge they feel in appropriate with teachers and teaching assistants often supporting groups of children to access a higher level of challenge than they would have been independently.

In Science, children frequently work through the scientific process of asking a question, designing and then carrying out a fair test and then recording and explaining their results.

Whilst ICT is often used to complement other subject areas, children are explicitly taught skills such as entering specific and clear search terms, recognising that not all online information can be trusted and using different technologies to present information effectively.

IMPACT:

All children are assessed in Maths using standardised tests to complement Teachers Assessments at the end of each term, with attainment reported to parents twice a year including on the end of year report.  Teachers discuss progress and attainment in Pupil Progress Meetings three times a year.

The impact of teaching through school can be seen in the end of year EYFS, KS1 and KS2 SATs results as well as in-house data.

Teachers input each child’s attainment in ICT and Science on an online tracker twice per year, with judgements made against age-related expectations. These are then monitored by the subject leaders and SLT members.