St Thomas' CE (VC) Junior School
Curriculum
School Context
St Thomas’ serves a community that is steeped in history. There has been coal mining in Featherstone from the 14th century until the 1984, but more recently it has become well known for the War Horse Memorial which commemorates the soldiers who died in WW1. Featherstone Rovers RLFC (formerly Featherstone Trinity RUFC) was formed in 1889, the club has grown in strength and popularity. They work in partnership with the children at St Thomas’, and through sport, they help the children here grow in confidence, work as a team and build resilience.
Our school vision statement states that we will teach, learn and care as Jesus did. Our curriculum is key to realising this vision. In order to fully access our curriculum, we are determined that all pupils will be able to read fluently and develop a love for reading as they move through school. This will help them to unlock their potential and enjoy all that our curriculum has to offer.
What is taught
Curriculum Leaders use The National Curriculum as a benchmark to ensure a broad and ambitious scope for curriculum coverage. Sequencing of topics ensures that learning is systematically developed over time, building on what the children already know and feeding into future learning.
Our curriculum is being developed through an ongoing focus on:
• The development of vocabulary and teaching children how to use it, speaking clearly and fluently for a range of purposes.
• Providing concrete experiences and models to provide a firm foundation for learning over time.
• The importance of social and emotional development and wellbeing to ensure children are ready to learn.
• Valuing and celebrating our rich community.
How it is taught / Pedagogy
At St Thomas’ we believe that achievement is likely to be maximised when children are given the opportunity to:
• Share overviews of learning and sequences of learning so that links can be made (within a unit, and across units over the year).
• Regularly review main ideas
• Recognise that learning need to be built on secure practical and concrete experience.
• Use high quality modelling effectively to demonstrate expected outcomes
• Use effective scaffolding materials to support learning
• Introduce, teach and use appropriate subject specific vocabulary
• Build in independent enquiry based over learning and practice to cement deeper learning
• Carry out regular checking to enable children to recall material .
• Build in opportunities for time to stop, wonder, question, think and reflect.
• Plan for regular opportunities for discussion throughout the curriculum to learn through talk and to learn to talk.
Impact
At St Thomas’, we want the children to:
• Leave with a broad wisdom and an articulate voice.
• Grow in confidence, both in their skills/abilities and in their voice/ opinions/ whole self.
• Have hope and resilience to overcome challenges
• Apply their skills and abilities to contribute to their community locally, nationally and globally both now and in future challenges.
• Be ambitious about what they can achieve.
ENGLISH 
Phonics and Reading
At St Thomas' we aim to create a love of reading through everything we do.
Reading at home is one of the best ways your child will become a better reader and writer. Reading for just 20 minutes a day has a massive impact on the amount of vocabulary a child knows.
Read Write Inc
We use the highly successful Read Write Inc. Phonics programme to ensure we teach our children, who are not yet out of the reading gate, to read. We teach the Read Write Inc. programmes with fidelity and passion – we know what it takes to make literacy pleasurable and rewarding for our children.
Your child will bring different sorts of books home from school. It helps if you know whether this is a book that your child can read on their own or whether this is a book that you should read to them. The teacher will have explained which is which. Please trust your child’s teacher to choose the book(s) that will help your child the most. Children will always be given the opportunity to choose their own book to bring home which they will have chosen from our school library or year group reading area.
As children are developing their reading, it is beneficial to read a book more than once.
Help your child to sound out the letters in words and then to ‘blend’ the sounds together to make a whole word. Try not to refer to the letters by their names. Help your child to focus on the sounds. You can hear how to say the sounds correctly by clicking on the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkXcabDUg7Q
We know parents and carers are very busy people. But if you can find time to read to your child as much as possible, it helps him or her to learn about books and stories. They also learn new words and what they mean. Show that you are interested in reading yourself and talk about reading as a family.
Writing
At St Thomas' we take extreme pride, care and enjoyment from our writing. All our writing units are linked to a carefully planned curriculum that is based on a book or film clip. Our children have a clear context, purpose and audience for their writing
Handwriting
MATHS 
Through the use of White Rose Maths scheme, we aim for pupils to become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, to be able to reason and to solve problems. Our curriculum embraces these National Curriculum aims, and provides guidance to help pupils to become:
Visualisers – we use the CPA approach to help pupils understand mathematics and to make connections between different representations.
Describers – we place great emphasis on mathematical language and questioning so pupils can discuss the mathematics they are doing, and so support them to take ideas further.
Experimenters – as well as being fluent mathematicians, we want pupils to love and learn more about mathematics.
To work alongside Maths lessons in school our scheme provide free downloads where children can operate at a similar level to that within school. Please get in touch with school if you need any assistance with this.
Click here to access the link.
Maths Calculation Policy (taken from White Rose Maths Scheme)
Primary Progression Maps (taken from White Rose Maths Scheme)
Religious Education 
The curriculum for R.E. at St Thomas' Junior School aims to ensure that all pupils:
- Know about and understand a range of religions and views.
- Express ideas and insights about the nature, significance and impact of religions on the world
- Gain and deploy the skills needed to engage with religions and worldviews.
- Pupils are taught the knowledge, skills and understanding when learning about Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Jewish faiths. Children will also be exposed to other religions through themes and celebrations. Children will learn about religions through first-hand experiences with artefacts, stories, religious buildings and visitors.
- We have strong links with the local community church - St Thomas'
HISTORY 
St Thomas' History scheme of work aims to inspire pupils to be curious and creative thinkers who develop a complex knowledge of local and national history and the history of the wider world. We want pupils to develop the confidence to think critically, ask questions, and be able to explain and analyse historical evidence. Through our schemes of work, we aim to build an awareness of significant events and individuals in global, British and local history and recognise how things have changed over time. History will support children to appreciate the complexity of people’s lives, the diversity of societies and the relationships between different groups. Studying History allows children to appreciate the many reasons why people may behave in the way they do, supporting children to develop empathy for others while providing an opportunity to learn from mankind’s past mistakes. Our History scheme aims to support pupils in building their understanding of chronology in each year group, making connections over periods of time and developing a chronologically-secure knowledge of History.
We aim to develop pupils’ understanding of how historians study the past and construct accounts and the skills to carry out their own historical enquiries.
GEOGRAPHY 
“The study of geography is about more than just memorizing places on a map. It’s about understanding the complexity of our world, appreciating the diversity of cultures that exists across continents, and in the end, it’s about using all that knowledge to help bridge divides and bring people together.”
President Barack Obama
Our scheme of work aims to inspire pupils to become curious and explorative thinkers with a diverse knowledge of the world; in other words, to think like a geographer. We want pupils to develop the confidence to question and observe places, measure and record necessary data in various ways, and analyse and present their findings. Through our curriculum, we aim to build an awareness of how Geography shapes our lives at multiple scales and over time. We hope to encourage pupils to become resourceful, active citizens who will have the skills to contribute to and improve the world around them.
Our scheme encourages:
• A strong focus on developing both geographical skills and knowledge.
• Critical thinking, with the ability to ask perceptive questions and explain and analyse evidence.
• The development of fieldwork skills across each year group.
• A deep interest and knowledge of pupils’ locality and how it differs from other areas of the world.
• A growing understanding of geographical concepts, terms and vocabulary.
SCIENCE 
'The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge' Issac Newton
A high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, and all pupils should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. Almost everything that a person does requires a basic knowledge of science, and logical reasoning that is based on this subject. Through building up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts, pupils should be encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. They should be encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes.
FRENCH 
'To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world’ Chinese Proverb
Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.
COMPUTING 
'The computer was born to solve problems that did not exist before’ Bill Gates
Technology has become part of the way in which we work and entertain ourselves. We want our children to become confident users of computers, equipped to contribute to a world of rapid technological change.
At St Thomas', children learn how technology can support them in their learning, and are encouraged to enthusiastically try out new apps and software. They will gain the transferable skills needed to adapt to ever-changing software, and devices, to prepare them for the technologies that they will encounter as they grow up and enter the world of work.
Crucial to much of this is the ability to think logically, sequence and break ideas down into discrete steps, as recognised in the National Curriculum. These computer science skills are therefore a vital strand in our teaching.
Our children will know how to use technology safely and responsibly, who to talk to when they come across something that doesn’t seem right, fair, acceptable or appropriate, and know when to turn off the technology to take a break (and why this is important). They will be taught to treat others with respect and understand that expectations about their online behaviour are the same as those in ‘real life’.
ART 
'There is no must in art because art is free.' Kandinsky
The Art and Design curriculum is structured around core skills in drawing, painting and other techniques and processes. Each year group has clear guidance and progression for the knowledge, key elements and concepts, exploration of media and ideas and reference to work of other artists which informs planning.
These elements form the concepts for the sequencing of learning across school:
- Skills
- Knowledge and key elements
- Explore and experiment with media and ideas
- Reference to work of other artists
- Outcome
Each year group plans developments in these concepts through their class units of work which are evident on the subject knowledge map.
RSE
The aim of RSE is to provide children with age-appropriate information, opportunities to explore attitudes and values and develop skills in order to empower them to make positive decisions about their relationships, health and wellbeing. Helping the children to:
- understand the fundamental building blocks of and characteristics of positive relationships, with reference to friendships, family relationships and relationships with other children and adults
- know how to take turns, how to treat each other with kindness, consideration and respect, the importance of honesty and truthfulness, permission seeking and giving, and the concept of personal privacy
- understand personal space and boundaries, showing respect and understanding the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe physical, and other, contact
- respect themselves and others, their views, backgrounds, cultures and experiences
- develop positive values and a moral framework that will guide their decisions and behaviour
- develop loving, caring relationships based on mutual respect
- be supported through their physical, emotional and moral development and move with confidence from childhood, through adolescence
- develop a secure sense of identity and to function well in the world
- accept the responsibility for their own actions
- operate freely and safely in the online world
- make good decisions about their own health and wellbeing
Teaching about families requires sensitive and well-judged teaching based on knowledge of pupils and their circumstances and background. Families of many forms provide a nurturing environment for children. (Families can include for example, single parent families, Lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) parents, families headed by grandparents, adoptive parents, foster parents/carers amongst other structures.) Care needs to be taken to ensure that there is no stigmatisation of children based on their home circumstances and needs, to reflect sensitively that some children may have a different structure of support around them, e.g. looked after children or young carers
MUSIC 
'I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music.’ Billy Joel
Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. A high-quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. As pupils progress, they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination to the best in the musical canon.
We teach Music using the award-winning Charanga scheme, where the following elements of the Music Curriculum are developed through carefully sequenced units and the delivery of key skills and knowledge.
- Playing and Performing
- Creating and Composing
- Responding and Reviewing
- Listening and Understanding
‘Intelligence and skills can only function at the peak of their capacity when the body is healthy and strong’- John F. Kennedy
At St Thomas', we believe that PE, School Sport and Physical Activity have a vital role to play in the physical, social, emotional and intellectual development of our children.
A high-quality physical education curriculum inspires all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities. It should provide opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness. Opportunities to compete in sport and other activities build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect.
Policy
Skills and knowledge progression
"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." Maya Angleou
We believe that Design &Technology contributes to the school curriculum in many ways. It prepares young children to cope in a rapidly changing technological world and helps them to understand how to think and intervene creatively to improve that world.
Road Map - Systems and Structures
St Thomas' CE (VC) Junior School
Curriculum
School Context
St Thomas’ serves a community that is steeped in history. There has been coal mining in Featherstone from the 14th century until the 1984, but more recently it has become well known for the War Horse Memorial which commemorates the soldiers who died in WW1. Featherstone Rovers RLFC (formerly Featherstone Trinity RUFC) was formed in 1889, the club has grown in strength and popularity. They work in partnership with the children at St Thomas’, and through sport, they help the children here grow in confidence, work as a team and build resilience.
Our school vision statement states that we will teach, learn and care as Jesus did. Our curriculum is key to realising this vision. In order to fully access our curriculum, we are determined that all pupils will be able to read fluently and develop a love for reading as they move through school. This will help them to unlock their potential and enjoy all that our curriculum has to offer.
What is taught
Curriculum Leaders use The National Curriculum as a benchmark to ensure a broad and ambitious scope for curriculum coverage. Sequencing of topics ensures that learning is systematically developed over time, building on what the children already know and feeding into future learning.
Our curriculum is being developed through an ongoing focus on:
• The development of vocabulary and teaching children how to use it, speaking clearly and fluently for a range of purposes.
• Providing concrete experiences and models to provide a firm foundation for learning over time.
• The importance of social and emotional development and wellbeing to ensure children are ready to learn.
• Valuing and celebrating our rich community.
How it is taught / Pedagogy
At St Thomas’ we believe that achievement is likely to be maximised when children are given the opportunity to:
• Share overviews of learning and sequences of learning so that links can be made (within a unit, and across units over the year).
• Regularly review main ideas
• Recognise that learning need to be built on secure practical and concrete experience.
• Use high quality modelling effectively to demonstrate expected outcomes
• Use effective scaffolding materials to support learning
• Introduce, teach and use appropriate subject specific vocabulary
• Build in independent enquiry based over learning and practice to cement deeper learning
• Carry out regular checking to enable children to recall material .
• Build in opportunities for time to stop, wonder, question, think and reflect.
• Plan for regular opportunities for discussion throughout the curriculum to learn through talk and to learn to talk.
Impact
At St Thomas’, we want the children to:
• Leave with a broad wisdom and an articulate voice.
• Grow in confidence, both in their skills/abilities and in their voice/ opinions/ whole self.
• Have hope and resilience to overcome challenges
• Apply their skills and abilities to contribute to their community locally, nationally and globally both now and in future challenges.
• Be ambitious about what they can achieve.
ENGLISH
Phonics and Reading
At St Thomas' we aim to create a love of reading through everything we do.
Reading at home is one of the best ways your child will become a better reader and writer. Reading for just 20 minutes a day has a massive impact on the amount of vocabulary a child knows.
Read Write Inc
We use the highly successful Read Write Inc. Phonics programme to ensure we teach our children, who are not yet out of the reading gate, to read. We teach the Read Write Inc. programmes with fidelity and passion – we know what it takes to make literacy pleasurable and rewarding for our children.
Your child will bring different sorts of books home from school. It helps if you know whether this is a book that your child can read on their own or whether this is a book that you should read to them. The teacher will have explained which is which. Please trust your child’s teacher to choose the book(s) that will help your child the most. Children will always be given the opportunity to choose their own book to bring home which they will have chosen from our school library or year group reading area.
As children are developing their reading, it is beneficial to read a book more than once.
Help your child to sound out the letters in words and then to ‘blend’ the sounds together to make a whole word. Try not to refer to the letters by their names. Help your child to focus on the sounds. You can hear how to say the sounds correctly by clicking on the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkXcabDUg7Q
We know parents and carers are very busy people. But if you can find time to read to your child as much as possible, it helps him or her to learn about books and stories. They also learn new words and what they mean. Show that you are interested in reading yourself and talk about reading as a family.
Writing
At St Thomas' we take extreme pride, care and enjoyment from our writing. All our writing units are linked to a carefully planned curriculum that is based on a book or film clip. Our children have a clear context, purpose and audience for their writing
Handwriting
MATHS
Through the use of White Rose Maths scheme, we aim for pupils to become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, to be able to reason and to solve problems. Our curriculum embraces these National Curriculum aims, and provides guidance to help pupils to become:
Visualisers – we use the CPA approach to help pupils understand mathematics and to make connections between different representations.
Describers – we place great emphasis on mathematical language and questioning so pupils can discuss the mathematics they are doing, and so support them to take ideas further.
Experimenters – as well as being fluent mathematicians, we want pupils to love and learn more about mathematics.
To work alongside Maths lessons in school our scheme provide free downloads where children can operate at a similar level to that within school. Please get in touch with school if you need any assistance with this.
Click here to access the link.
Maths Calculation Policy (taken from White Rose Maths Scheme)
Primary Progression Maps (taken from White Rose Maths Scheme)
Religious Education
The curriculum for R.E. at St Thomas' Junior School aims to ensure that all pupils:
- Know about and understand a range of religions and views.
- Express ideas and insights about the nature, significance and impact of religions on the world
- Gain and deploy the skills needed to engage with religions and worldviews.
- Pupils are taught the knowledge, skills and understanding when learning about Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Jewish faiths. Children will also be exposed to other religions through themes and celebrations. Children will learn about religions through first-hand experiences with artefacts, stories, religious buildings and visitors.
- We have strong links with the local community church - St Thomas'
HISTORY
St Thomas' History scheme of work aims to inspire pupils to be curious and creative thinkers who develop a complex knowledge of local and national history and the history of the wider world. We want pupils to develop the confidence to think critically, ask questions, and be able to explain and analyse historical evidence. Through our schemes of work, we aim to build an awareness of significant events and individuals in global, British and local history and recognise how things have changed over time. History will support children to appreciate the complexity of people’s lives, the diversity of societies and the relationships between different groups. Studying History allows children to appreciate the many reasons why people may behave in the way they do, supporting children to develop empathy for others while providing an opportunity to learn from mankind’s past mistakes. Our History scheme aims to support pupils in building their understanding of chronology in each year group, making connections over periods of time and developing a chronologically-secure knowledge of History.
We aim to develop pupils’ understanding of how historians study the past and construct accounts and the skills to carry out their own historical enquiries.
GEOGRAPHY
“The study of geography is about more than just memorizing places on a map. It’s about understanding the complexity of our world, appreciating the diversity of cultures that exists across continents, and in the end, it’s about using all that knowledge to help bridge divides and bring people together.”
President Barack Obama
Our scheme of work aims to inspire pupils to become curious and explorative thinkers with a diverse knowledge of the world; in other words, to think like a geographer. We want pupils to develop the confidence to question and observe places, measure and record necessary data in various ways, and analyse and present their findings. Through our curriculum, we aim to build an awareness of how Geography shapes our lives at multiple scales and over time. We hope to encourage pupils to become resourceful, active citizens who will have the skills to contribute to and improve the world around them.
Our scheme encourages:
• A strong focus on developing both geographical skills and knowledge.
• Critical thinking, with the ability to ask perceptive questions and explain and analyse evidence.
• The development of fieldwork skills across each year group.
• A deep interest and knowledge of pupils’ locality and how it differs from other areas of the world.
• A growing understanding of geographical concepts, terms and vocabulary.
SCIENCE
'The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge' Issac Newton
A high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, and all pupils should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. Almost everything that a person does requires a basic knowledge of science, and logical reasoning that is based on this subject. Through building up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts, pupils should be encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. They should be encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes.
FRENCH
'To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world’ Chinese Proverb
Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.
COMPUTING
'The computer was born to solve problems that did not exist before’ Bill Gates
Technology has become part of the way in which we work and entertain ourselves. We want our children to become confident users of computers, equipped to contribute to a world of rapid technological change.
At St Thomas', children learn how technology can support them in their learning, and are encouraged to enthusiastically try out new apps and software. They will gain the transferable skills needed to adapt to ever-changing software, and devices, to prepare them for the technologies that they will encounter as they grow up and enter the world of work.
Crucial to much of this is the ability to think logically, sequence and break ideas down into discrete steps, as recognised in the National Curriculum. These computer science skills are therefore a vital strand in our teaching.
Our children will know how to use technology safely and responsibly, who to talk to when they come across something that doesn’t seem right, fair, acceptable or appropriate, and know when to turn off the technology to take a break (and why this is important). They will be taught to treat others with respect and understand that expectations about their online behaviour are the same as those in ‘real life’.
ART
'There is no must in art because art is free.' Kandinsky
The Art and Design curriculum is structured around core skills in drawing, painting and other techniques and processes. Each year group has clear guidance and progression for the knowledge, key elements and concepts, exploration of media and ideas and reference to work of other artists which informs planning.
These elements form the concepts for the sequencing of learning across school:
- Skills
- Knowledge and key elements
- Explore and experiment with media and ideas
- Reference to work of other artists
- Outcome
Each year group plans developments in these concepts through their class units of work which are evident on the subject knowledge map.
RSE
The aim of RSE is to provide children with age-appropriate information, opportunities to explore attitudes and values and develop skills in order to empower them to make positive decisions about their relationships, health and wellbeing. Helping the children to:
- understand the fundamental building blocks of and characteristics of positive relationships, with reference to friendships, family relationships and relationships with other children and adults
- know how to take turns, how to treat each other with kindness, consideration and respect, the importance of honesty and truthfulness, permission seeking and giving, and the concept of personal privacy
- understand personal space and boundaries, showing respect and understanding the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe physical, and other, contact
- respect themselves and others, their views, backgrounds, cultures and experiences
- develop positive values and a moral framework that will guide their decisions and behaviour
- develop loving, caring relationships based on mutual respect
- be supported through their physical, emotional and moral development and move with confidence from childhood, through adolescence
- develop a secure sense of identity and to function well in the world
- accept the responsibility for their own actions
- operate freely and safely in the online world
- make good decisions about their own health and wellbeing
Teaching about families requires sensitive and well-judged teaching based on knowledge of pupils and their circumstances and background. Families of many forms provide a nurturing environment for children. (Families can include for example, single parent families, Lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) parents, families headed by grandparents, adoptive parents, foster parents/carers amongst other structures.) Care needs to be taken to ensure that there is no stigmatisation of children based on their home circumstances and needs, to reflect sensitively that some children may have a different structure of support around them, e.g. looked after children or young carers
MUSIC
'I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music.’ Billy Joel
Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. A high-quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. As pupils progress, they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination to the best in the musical canon.
We teach Music using the award-winning Charanga scheme, where the following elements of the Music Curriculum are developed through carefully sequenced units and the delivery of key skills and knowledge.
- Playing and Performing
- Creating and Composing
- Responding and Reviewing
- Listening and Understanding
‘Intelligence and skills can only function at the peak of their capacity when the body is healthy and strong’- John F. Kennedy
At St Thomas', we believe that PE, School Sport and Physical Activity have a vital role to play in the physical, social, emotional and intellectual development of our children.
A high-quality physical education curriculum inspires all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities. It should provide opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness. Opportunities to compete in sport and other activities build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect.
Policy
Skills and knowledge progression
"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." Maya Angleou
We believe that Design &Technology contributes to the school curriculum in many ways. It prepares young children to cope in a rapidly changing technological world and helps them to understand how to think and intervene creatively to improve that world.
Road Map - Systems and Structures
St Thomas' CE (VC) Junior School
Curriculum
School Context
St Thomas’ serves a community that is steeped in history. There has been coal mining in Featherstone from the 14th century until the 1984, but more recently it has become well known for the War Horse Memorial which commemorates the soldiers who died in WW1. Featherstone Rovers RLFC (formerly Featherstone Trinity RUFC) was formed in 1889, the club has grown in strength and popularity. They work in partnership with the children at St Thomas’, and through sport, they help the children here grow in confidence, work as a team and build resilience.
Our school vision statement states that we will teach, learn and care as Jesus did. Our curriculum is key to realising this vision. In order to fully access our curriculum, we are determined that all pupils will be able to read fluently and develop a love for reading as they move through school. This will help them to unlock their potential and enjoy all that our curriculum has to offer.
What is taught
Curriculum Leaders use The National Curriculum as a benchmark to ensure a broad and ambitious scope for curriculum coverage. Sequencing of topics ensures that learning is systematically developed over time, building on what the children already know and feeding into future learning.
Our curriculum is being developed through an ongoing focus on:
• The development of vocabulary and teaching children how to use it, speaking clearly and fluently for a range of purposes.
• Providing concrete experiences and models to provide a firm foundation for learning over time.
• The importance of social and emotional development and wellbeing to ensure children are ready to learn.
• Valuing and celebrating our rich community.
How it is taught / Pedagogy
At St Thomas’ we believe that achievement is likely to be maximised when children are given the opportunity to:
• Share overviews of learning and sequences of learning so that links can be made (within a unit, and across units over the year).
• Regularly review main ideas
• Recognise that learning need to be built on secure practical and concrete experience.
• Use high quality modelling effectively to demonstrate expected outcomes
• Use effective scaffolding materials to support learning
• Introduce, teach and use appropriate subject specific vocabulary
• Build in independent enquiry based over learning and practice to cement deeper learning
• Carry out regular checking to enable children to recall material .
• Build in opportunities for time to stop, wonder, question, think and reflect.
• Plan for regular opportunities for discussion throughout the curriculum to learn through talk and to learn to talk.
Impact
At St Thomas’, we want the children to:
• Leave with a broad wisdom and an articulate voice.
• Grow in confidence, both in their skills/abilities and in their voice/ opinions/ whole self.
• Have hope and resilience to overcome challenges
• Apply their skills and abilities to contribute to their community locally, nationally and globally both now and in future challenges.
• Be ambitious about what they can achieve.
ENGLISH
Phonics and Reading
At St Thomas' we aim to create a love of reading through everything we do.
Reading at home is one of the best ways your child will become a better reader and writer. Reading for just 20 minutes a day has a massive impact on the amount of vocabulary a child knows.
Read Write Inc
We use the highly successful Read Write Inc. Phonics programme to ensure we teach our children, who are not yet out of the reading gate, to read. We teach the Read Write Inc. programmes with fidelity and passion – we know what it takes to make literacy pleasurable and rewarding for our children.
Your child will bring different sorts of books home from school. It helps if you know whether this is a book that your child can read on their own or whether this is a book that you should read to them. The teacher will have explained which is which. Please trust your child’s teacher to choose the book(s) that will help your child the most. Children will always be given the opportunity to choose their own book to bring home which they will have chosen from our school library or year group reading area.
As children are developing their reading, it is beneficial to read a book more than once.
Help your child to sound out the letters in words and then to ‘blend’ the sounds together to make a whole word. Try not to refer to the letters by their names. Help your child to focus on the sounds. You can hear how to say the sounds correctly by clicking on the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkXcabDUg7Q
We know parents and carers are very busy people. But if you can find time to read to your child as much as possible, it helps him or her to learn about books and stories. They also learn new words and what they mean. Show that you are interested in reading yourself and talk about reading as a family.
Writing
At St Thomas' we take extreme pride, care and enjoyment from our writing. All our writing units are linked to a carefully planned curriculum that is based on a book or film clip. Our children have a clear context, purpose and audience for their writing
Handwriting
MATHS
Through the use of White Rose Maths scheme, we aim for pupils to become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, to be able to reason and to solve problems. Our curriculum embraces these National Curriculum aims, and provides guidance to help pupils to become:
Visualisers – we use the CPA approach to help pupils understand mathematics and to make connections between different representations.
Describers – we place great emphasis on mathematical language and questioning so pupils can discuss the mathematics they are doing, and so support them to take ideas further.
Experimenters – as well as being fluent mathematicians, we want pupils to love and learn more about mathematics.
To work alongside Maths lessons in school our scheme provide free downloads where children can operate at a similar level to that within school. Please get in touch with school if you need any assistance with this.
Click here to access the link.
Maths Calculation Policy (taken from White Rose Maths Scheme)
Primary Progression Maps (taken from White Rose Maths Scheme)
Religious Education
The curriculum for R.E. at St Thomas' Junior School aims to ensure that all pupils:
- Know about and understand a range of religions and views.
- Express ideas and insights about the nature, significance and impact of religions on the world
- Gain and deploy the skills needed to engage with religions and worldviews.
- Pupils are taught the knowledge, skills and understanding when learning about Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Jewish faiths. Children will also be exposed to other religions through themes and celebrations. Children will learn about religions through first-hand experiences with artefacts, stories, religious buildings and visitors.
- We have strong links with the local community church - St Thomas'
HISTORY
St Thomas' History scheme of work aims to inspire pupils to be curious and creative thinkers who develop a complex knowledge of local and national history and the history of the wider world. We want pupils to develop the confidence to think critically, ask questions, and be able to explain and analyse historical evidence. Through our schemes of work, we aim to build an awareness of significant events and individuals in global, British and local history and recognise how things have changed over time. History will support children to appreciate the complexity of people’s lives, the diversity of societies and the relationships between different groups. Studying History allows children to appreciate the many reasons why people may behave in the way they do, supporting children to develop empathy for others while providing an opportunity to learn from mankind’s past mistakes. Our History scheme aims to support pupils in building their understanding of chronology in each year group, making connections over periods of time and developing a chronologically-secure knowledge of History.
We aim to develop pupils’ understanding of how historians study the past and construct accounts and the skills to carry out their own historical enquiries.
GEOGRAPHY
“The study of geography is about more than just memorizing places on a map. It’s about understanding the complexity of our world, appreciating the diversity of cultures that exists across continents, and in the end, it’s about using all that knowledge to help bridge divides and bring people together.”
President Barack Obama
Our scheme of work aims to inspire pupils to become curious and explorative thinkers with a diverse knowledge of the world; in other words, to think like a geographer. We want pupils to develop the confidence to question and observe places, measure and record necessary data in various ways, and analyse and present their findings. Through our curriculum, we aim to build an awareness of how Geography shapes our lives at multiple scales and over time. We hope to encourage pupils to become resourceful, active citizens who will have the skills to contribute to and improve the world around them.
Our scheme encourages:
• A strong focus on developing both geographical skills and knowledge.
• Critical thinking, with the ability to ask perceptive questions and explain and analyse evidence.
• The development of fieldwork skills across each year group.
• A deep interest and knowledge of pupils’ locality and how it differs from other areas of the world.
• A growing understanding of geographical concepts, terms and vocabulary.
SCIENCE
'The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge' Issac Newton
A high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, and all pupils should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. Almost everything that a person does requires a basic knowledge of science, and logical reasoning that is based on this subject. Through building up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts, pupils should be encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. They should be encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes.
FRENCH
'To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world’ Chinese Proverb
Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.
COMPUTING
'The computer was born to solve problems that did not exist before’ Bill Gates
Technology has become part of the way in which we work and entertain ourselves. We want our children to become confident users of computers, equipped to contribute to a world of rapid technological change.
At St Thomas', children learn how technology can support them in their learning, and are encouraged to enthusiastically try out new apps and software. They will gain the transferable skills needed to adapt to ever-changing software, and devices, to prepare them for the technologies that they will encounter as they grow up and enter the world of work.
Crucial to much of this is the ability to think logically, sequence and break ideas down into discrete steps, as recognised in the National Curriculum. These computer science skills are therefore a vital strand in our teaching.
Our children will know how to use technology safely and responsibly, who to talk to when they come across something that doesn’t seem right, fair, acceptable or appropriate, and know when to turn off the technology to take a break (and why this is important). They will be taught to treat others with respect and understand that expectations about their online behaviour are the same as those in ‘real life’.
ART
'There is no must in art because art is free.' Kandinsky
The Art and Design curriculum is structured around core skills in drawing, painting and other techniques and processes. Each year group has clear guidance and progression for the knowledge, key elements and concepts, exploration of media and ideas and reference to work of other artists which informs planning.
These elements form the concepts for the sequencing of learning across school:
- Skills
- Knowledge and key elements
- Explore and experiment with media and ideas
- Reference to work of other artists
- Outcome
Each year group plans developments in these concepts through their class units of work which are evident on the subject knowledge map.
RSE
The aim of RSE is to provide children with age-appropriate information, opportunities to explore attitudes and values and develop skills in order to empower them to make positive decisions about their relationships, health and wellbeing. Helping the children to:
- understand the fundamental building blocks of and characteristics of positive relationships, with reference to friendships, family relationships and relationships with other children and adults
- know how to take turns, how to treat each other with kindness, consideration and respect, the importance of honesty and truthfulness, permission seeking and giving, and the concept of personal privacy
- understand personal space and boundaries, showing respect and understanding the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe physical, and other, contact
- respect themselves and others, their views, backgrounds, cultures and experiences
- develop positive values and a moral framework that will guide their decisions and behaviour
- develop loving, caring relationships based on mutual respect
- be supported through their physical, emotional and moral development and move with confidence from childhood, through adolescence
- develop a secure sense of identity and to function well in the world
- accept the responsibility for their own actions
- operate freely and safely in the online world
- make good decisions about their own health and wellbeing
Teaching about families requires sensitive and well-judged teaching based on knowledge of pupils and their circumstances and background. Families of many forms provide a nurturing environment for children. (Families can include for example, single parent families, Lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) parents, families headed by grandparents, adoptive parents, foster parents/carers amongst other structures.) Care needs to be taken to ensure that there is no stigmatisation of children based on their home circumstances and needs, to reflect sensitively that some children may have a different structure of support around them, e.g. looked after children or young carers
MUSIC
'I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music.’ Billy Joel
Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. A high-quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. As pupils progress, they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination to the best in the musical canon.
We teach Music using the award-winning Charanga scheme, where the following elements of the Music Curriculum are developed through carefully sequenced units and the delivery of key skills and knowledge.
- Playing and Performing
- Creating and Composing
- Responding and Reviewing
- Listening and Understanding
‘Intelligence and skills can only function at the peak of their capacity when the body is healthy and strong’- John F. Kennedy
At St Thomas', we believe that PE, School Sport and Physical Activity have a vital role to play in the physical, social, emotional and intellectual development of our children.
A high-quality physical education curriculum inspires all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities. It should provide opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness. Opportunities to compete in sport and other activities build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect.
Policy
Skills and knowledge progression
"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." Maya Angleou
We believe that Design &Technology contributes to the school curriculum in many ways. It prepares young children to cope in a rapidly changing technological world and helps them to understand how to think and intervene creatively to improve that world.
Road Map - Systems and Structures