Our Curriculum Rationale

In this section, you will find information about our school’s curriculum, including: 

• the content of the curriculum we follow in each academic year for every subject
• the names of the phonics and reading schemes we are using in KS1
• how parents or other members of the public can find out more about the curriculum we follow
  

At All Souls’ CE Primary, we value a knowledge rich curriculum underpinned within a carefully planned and sequenced framework to enable cumulative knowledge and effective learning. The curriculum is rooted in a strong belief of equality for all pupils therefore the approach is successfully designed to be ambitious – ensuring that pupils with SEND and those who are disadvantaged apply what they know and can do with increasing fluency and therefore gain confidence in learning and thereby transcend any barriers to successful learning.

Our curriculum ensures excellent coverage of the National Curriculum (Years 1-6) and Foundation Stage Early Years Curriculum (Nursery and Reception Children).  We have fully embraced the higher expectations set out in both curricula and have devised our own units of work for each subject area so that we can ensure a sound progression of learning. We also have a core team of specialist teachers who are passionate about their curriculum area. Our curriculum is broad and balanced and offers a wide range of curricular activities involving visits out of school and visitors to school to enhance learning and extend pupils’ cultural capital.

Our Curriculum Intent

Our curriculum for excellence at All Souls’ CE Primary is primarily focused upon ensuring that pupils are supported and challenged to gain knowledge, skills and attributes to ensure that they are ready for their next stage of education. Ultimately, we recognise that we preparing our pupils for lifelong learning and effective contribution to the diverse society in which we live. As a church school, we thread Christian values through the intricate web of our curriculum to ensure a moral and principled focus for our pupils.

All Souls’ CE teaches a curriculum through a subject specific approach to learning, making links across subjects where they naturally occur. Research always underpins the curriculum planning stage to ensure that this informs curriculum provision. Acknowledgement of short and long-term memory capacity as well as cognition overload features strongly in the planning and provision stages of our curriculum.

At All Souls’ CE we are: skilled readers, confident writers, mathematicians, scientists, historians, geographers, musicians, artists, linguists, theologists, athletes, designers and technologists, inclusive and diverse. We want our children to have no limits to what their ambitions are and want them to embody our core values.

The purpose of our curriculum is to:

• Produce successful learners who can communicate effectively
• Develop confident learners who are resilient to failure
• Promote responsible and effective contributors to society
• Encourage principled, reflective empathetic individuals

In developing our school curriculum, we acknowledged the uniqueness of our school within the context of its mono culture demographic and our celebrated religious status. This has framed the choices of the curriculum content we have made particularly in aspects of the curriculum such as geography and history and in consideration to the famous people we celebrate across all subject areas. The culturally wider the knowledge base is the more likely one is to be empathetic to others.

We enrich their time in our school with memorable, unforgettable experiences and provide opportunities which are normally out of reach. We firmly believe that it is not just about what happens in the classroom, it is about the added value and cultural capital we offer to really inspire our children.

In order to produce effective communicators there is a focus on pupil collaboration. This is a priority and therefore we provide many opportunities throughout the curriculum to debate moralistic issues - this ensures that pupils are encouraged to share their views but also are able to listen and respect the views of others within a regulated curriculum context.

We plan with the end points of learning at the forefront of curriculum design. Every subject has clearly defined end points of learning for key stages, year groups and individual lessons. This enables clarity of assessment for learning and determines a framework for leaders to measure curriculum performance.

Reading is a key priority within the school curriculum. There is an acknowledgement that in order to access any area of the curriculum successfully and independently reading has to be a well-developed area of learning for the pupil. We seek to develop fluency, vocabulary and a love of reading within this school.

Our Curriculum Implementation

At All Souls’ CE we provide a unique curriculum based on five sound principles of learning:

1. The National Curriculum (content) knowledge and skills be gained at each stage
2. Process Learning (approach)
3. Rosenshine’s Principles (pedagogy)
4. Stages of Learning (depth of learning)
5. End Points of Learning (assessment for learning)

Our curriculum has been carefully built and the learning opportunities and assessment end points for each year group crafted to ensure progression and repetition in terms of embedding key learning, knowledge and skills. Subject leaders have developed subject specific characteristics, which we expect the children to demonstrate in each discrete subject area. These characteristics underpin all work in these subjects and form a focal point for display areas and provide a common subject specific vocabulary for staff and pupils.  

When providing the curriculum to our pupils we ensure that there is clarity of: content - the National Curriculum, pedagogy – Rosenshine’s Principles, approach – process learning, depth of learning – stages of learning and assessment – end points.

The application of these principles ensures the consistency of the teaching and learning experiences for all our pupils across all key stages. It also allows for a shared language base and provides a means for school staff to carry out common discourse when evaluating learning.

We have developed year group specific long-term curriculum maps, which identify when the different subjects will be taught across the academic year. The vast majority of subjects are taught discretely but staff make meaningful links across subjects to deepen children’s learning.

We have eight school values which permeate all aspects of life at All Souls’ CE. Each half-term is allocated to one of these core values and these are explored as a whole-school theme. Weekly themes, under the core values umbrella theme, form the focus for our SMSC lessons and assemblies. For example, during our Safety themed half-term – our children explore themes such as ‘NSPCC Speak Out, Stay Safe.’

Curriculum provision ensures that learning is embedded within the pupils’ long-term memory and this is achieved through regular reviews of learning in all subject areas.

Misconceptions are addressed where possible at the point of learning – direct feedback by the teacher to the pupil ensures that misconceptions are addressed to enable the learner to redirect their thoughts thereby clarifying any misunderstandings.

Teachers have excellent knowledge of the subjects they teach and this is supported through sequential schemes of work, which have been carefully designed to build on pupils’ prior learning. Subject leaders provide any additional support required in relation to their subject specialism. 

Our Curriculum Impact

We know when our curriculum provision has been successful because this will lead to excellent outcomes by all of our pupils including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND. This will equally assure that pupils are ready for their next stage of learning.

Assessments are made for all pupils three times a year although ongoing formative assessment supports learners throughout their teaching and learning cycle. End points are instrumental in knowing whether pupils have been successful. We aim for our pupils to recall learning with fluidity and automaticity when this is required such as multiplication tables and phonics.

We use both formative and summative assessment information every day, in every lesson. Staff use this information to inform their short-term planning and short-term interventions – including in the foundation subjects. This helps us provide the best possible support for all of our pupils, including the more able. Subject leaders have mapped out the assessment milestones for each phase and further broken these objectives down for each year group in each subject area.

Assessment information is analysed by Subject Leads, the Assessment Lead and Headteacher as part of our monitoring cycle. Pupil progress reviews are conducted half termly (formative) and termly (summative). This process provides the SLT and Governors with an accurate and comprehensive understanding of the quality of education in our school.

We set out our monitoring cycle at the beginning of each academic year. This identifies when monitoring for all year groups is undertaken in all subject areas. Monitoring includes: book scrutiny, lesson observations and/or learning walks, pupil/parent and/or staff voice.

All of this information is gathered and reviewed. It is used to inform further curriculum developments and provision is adapted accordingly.

Where the reading curriculum has been successful pupils will read for pleasure engaging in a wide range of reading material. They will have a high level of fluency, comprehension and evaluative reading ability.

When measuring curriculum performance we also revisit the aims of the curriculum as a further reference for success measures:

The purpose of our curriculum is to:

• Produce successful learners who can communicate effectively
• Develop confident learners who are resilient to failure
• Promote responsible and effective contributors to society
• Encourage principled, reflective empathetic individuals

Whole-School Curriculum Map

Year Group Specific Curriculum Maps

Subject Specific Information

Phonics

Phonic teaching is a vital aspect of the English curriculum. At All Souls’ CE we use the Read Write Inc. phonic programme teach children fluent word reading skills and provide a good foundation for spelling from the earliest opportunity.

Phonics is a way of teaching children to read quickly and skilfully. They are taught how to:
• recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes;
• identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make - such as /sh/ or /oo/; and
• blend these sounds together from left to right to make a word.

Children can then use this knowledge to ‘decode’ new words that they hear or see. This is the first important step in learning to read.
Research shows that when phonics is taught in a structured way – starting with the easiest sounds and progressing through to the most complex – it is the most effective way of teaching young children to read.
Children who receive good teaching of phonics will learn the skills they need to tackle new words. They can then go on to read any kind of text fluently and confidently, and to read for enjoyment.

In addition to our curriculum we also follow Read, Write Inc Phonics. More information can be found by clicking the following link -

Ruth Miskin - Read, Write Inc.

Early Years Foundation Stage

Early Years Curriculum Rationale

At All Souls’ we are eager to learn! We want our youngest children to love their educational experiences. We want them to have no limits to what their ambitions are and grow up wanting to be whatever they choose to be. We want them to embody our core values and know that you are in ‘a place to grow’. The principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage guide are to develop the unique child, providing care and support in a safe environment so that every child’s full potential is reached. Positive relationships ensure that children feel secure, whilst a rich and varied learning environment allows children to discover the world around them and provides opportunities for challenge whilst remaining safe.
Children require opportunities to develop independence and self-confidence in an environment where they feel valued, respected and cared for. Clear rules help each child feel safe, whilst high but realistic expectations encourage each child to strive to achieve their best. All children develop at different rates and learn in different ways. Therefore, well planned experiences in all areas of learning and development are essential, with purposeful play underpinning the delivery of the Early Years education.
A high-quality Early Years education lays the foundations for children, with a focus on developing the whole child and to ensure ‘school readiness’. The EYFS provides children with a broad range of learning opportunities with the aim to embed firm foundations in the knowledge and skills needed for good future progress. We aim to develop children’s cultural capital so that they are able to engage with society and understand the importance of being a good UK and global citizen. A key priority of the EYFS is to maintain a determined approach to ensure that children learn to read fluently at an age appropriate level.

Curriculum Intent

The Early Years curriculum promotes curiosity and a love and thirst for learning. It is ambitious and empowers our children to become independent and resilient – like all curriculum areas.
We want to equip them with not only the minimum statutory requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum but to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. For example, our reception children on beginning school are placed in one of our four ‘families’ for their seven years at All Souls’. Each family has pupils from all year groups who through high standards of behaviour and positive attitudes to learning can win tokens to earn extra break time and the weekly trophy. The family approach helps our young children in understanding the importance of teamwork, belonging, shared goals, supporting others and aiming high. Close bonds are formed within families and in particular with their Year 6 paired friend through learning and playing together.
We want our children to use the vibrancy of our great city to learn from other cultures, respect diversity, co-operate with one another and appreciate what they have. We achieve this by providing a strong SMSC curriculum, with British Values and our core values placed at the heart of everything we do. This often feeds into the early years’ curriculum. For example, in the autumn term the whole-school celebrated ‘Remembrance’ as a theme and as part of this themed week, our pupils remembered and honoured those who sacrificed themselves to secure and protect our freedom. The children explored why remembrance is part of modern British life, culture and heritage. They impeccably observed a two-minute silence and explored how the poppy is a symbol of remembrance.
We enrich their time in our school with memorable, unforgettable experiences and provide opportunities which are normally out of reach – this piques their interests and passions. We firmly believe that it is not just about what happens in the classroom, it is about the added value we offer to really inspire our children.

Curriculum Implementation

The early years’ curriculum has been carefully built and the learning opportunities and assessment milestones for each year group crafted to ensure progression and repetition in terms of embedding key learning, knowledge and skills through the prime and specific areas of learning. As a school we seek to develop a love of great books and exploit learning opportunities to engage our children with the joys of reading. In planning and guiding the children’s activities, staff plan for the different ways that children learn and reflect these in their practice.
The Three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are:

• playing and exploring - children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’
• active learning - children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements
• creating and thinking critically - children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things

Staff develop year group specific long-term curriculum maps, which identify when the different areas and topics will be taught across the academic year. All areas are taught discretely but staff make meaningful links across the different aspects. They link prior knowledge to new learning to deepen children’s understanding. For example, in Reception when the children explore ‘Old Toys’ as part of the history aspect of understanding the world –they also read and discuss non-fiction texts in English, explore the materials toys are made out of in the science aspect and make a simple toy as part of the DT aspects of the curriculum. Our children are taught the right, connected knowledge.
We encourage staff to teach discrete Mathematics, Literacy, RE and French with the knowledge and skills from these applied throughout their topic work, which is led by Understanding of the World and Expressive Arts and Design. The three prime areas are woven throughout the day with thought and purpose. We use the Read Write Inc programme to teach daily phonic sessions and reading for fluency. Children take part in ‘Dinosaur School’ to develop positive relationships/friendships and Forest School to support teamwork, language, problem solving and a love of the environment. We believe that by creating our curriculum this way, we improve the potential for our children to retain what they have been taught and to grow as confident, resilient and eager learners.

Curriculum Impact

We use both formative and summative assessment information in each lesson. Staff use this information to inform their short-term planning and short-term interventions. This helps us provide the best possible support for all of our pupils, including the more able. The assessment milestones for each phase have been carefully mapped out and further broken down for each year group. This means that knowledge and skills are progressive, build on the previous year, and then feed into the National Curriculum for Year 1.
Our staff use formative assessment grids to systematically assess what the children know as the topic progresses and inform their future planning. These formative assessment grids then inform summative assessment judgements for each topic.
Assessment information is collected frequently and analysed as part of our monitoring cycle. This process provides an accurate and comprehensive understanding of the quality of education across early years. A comprehensive monitoring cycle is developed at the beginning of each academic year. This identifies when monitoring is undertaken. Monitoring in early years includes: book scrutinies, lesson observations and/or learning walks, pupil/parent and/or staff voice.
All of this information is gathered and reviewed. It is used to inform further curriculum developments and provision is adapted accordingly.

If you would like to know more about the National Curriculum please click here