Our Curriculum

Our curriculum is all the planned activities that we as a school organise in order to promote learning, personal growth and development. It includes, not only the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum, but also the range of extra-curricular activities that the school organises in order to enrich the experience of our children. We also aim for experiences to be real and engaging; we get out into the real world as much as we can, and we like to have visitors into school, helping to bring our learning to life. It also includes what children learn from the way they are treated and how they are expected to behave towards others.

We aim to teach children how to grow into positive, responsible people, who can work and co-operate with others, whilst developing knowledge, skills and attitudes to learning, in order that they achieve.

Individual detailed curriculum subject documents are attached below, so you can see how the learning of skills and acquiring of knowledge develops though every child's learning journey. However, the information below is designed to give you a flavour of what each subject entails.

The children are taught in four classes;

• Peppard class (Reception)
• Greys class (Year 1 and 2)
• Highmoor class (Year 3 and 4)
• Springwood (Year 5 and 6)

Two Yearly Topic Cycle

We operate a two yearly topic cycle to ensure that children learn all of the skills and knowledge they require to move onto the next part of their learning journey. Topics are based on big questions, designed to unlock children's curiosity. Where possible, we invite people in, to discuss their roles, their thoughts and their opinions about in the outside world and we travel to meaningful places to give learning more purpose.

This is all designed to create a love of learning in our children.

English.

Spoken Language, reading and writing are delivered daily through the use of rich texts and good quality resources. Synthetic phonics is taught through Years one and two using 'Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised.' Information can be found on the 'supporting your child at home' page. The children have a guided reading session in class for 20 minutes each day, as well as daily English lessons. Children are encouraged to read for at least 10 minutes a day at home too, and parents are asked to record reading in their reading record books.

Examples of quality texts for reading can be found by following this link, https://www.booksfortopics.com/yeargroups. We also encourage and guide children to  choose quality texts from our wide range of books within our class library.

The local libraries also offer an excellent choice of reading material and audiobooks. You can even reserve titles and listen online. Here are the opening times for Henley and Sonning Common.

Mathematics

Fluency, Problem Solving and Reasoning skills are taught through a series of small steps using the White Rose Maths scheme www.whiterosemaths.com (other materials to compliment the scheme are used). Our aim is for all children to be confident, flexible and engaged in learning Mathematics. Pupils are encouraged from EYFS up to Year 6 to represent their thinking through the use of manipulatives, drawings, words and numbers.

Maths is taught daily in all classes. The children have DoodleMaths accounts that they can access from home. Times tables are taught from Year 2 onwards and children are encouraged to practise for 10 minutes daily at home. 

Science is taught through PZAZ. As pupils go through the scheme, they will become adept scientists who are able to ask and investigate their own questions, present and analyse their results and critically evaluate their experiments.

Geography is taught through Rising Stars, a scheme which ensures complete coverage of the key knowledge, skills and concepts required by Ofsted for the Geography Primary Curriculum. 

History is taught through Key Stage History, a scheme which provides imaginative, enquiry-led learning activites, which will support the development of each child's knowledge and skills.

Art & Design is taught through Access Art. The AccessArt Primary Art Curriculum is designed around the idea that art is far more than a series of technical skills. Our holisitic curruclum nurtures creative thinking skills and helps ensure your pupils learn through art, as well as about art.  

Computing and Design & Technology are taught using 'Kapow Primary', which provides engaging, knowledge-rich and progressive schemes for both subjects. For DT, the scheme is authored by primary D&T specialists and provides a clear progression of learning throughout KS1 and KS2. It offers children the abilitiy to develop their skills across six areas: cooking and nutrition; mechanical systems; textiles; electrical systems; structures; and the digital world. 

Similarly, for Computing, the scheme is authored by primary computing specialists using free readily-available software. The content is mapped to Education for a Connected World framework and the Teaching online safety in schools DfE document. If offers children the abilitiy to develop their skills across six areas: digital literacy; online safety; computational thinking; computers and hardware; cross-curricular application; and coding. 

Music is taught using Charanga, the UK’s leading Scheme to teach the National Curriculum for Music. Charanga offers a high-quality, music education that engages and inspires pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement.

Religious Education is taught using the Oxfordshire Diocesan Board of Education's RE Scheme. Christianity is covered in every year group and there are units exploring the Hindu, Muslim, Jewish and Sikh faiths, as well as opportunities to touch on other worldviews. Every unit has a suggested enquiry question, outcomes and resource links as well as suggested learning activities. Collective Worship is also practised daily.

Physical Education is taught both on the Common and offsite regularly so that the children have access to good quality venues and equipment. We use an online planning tool, called iPEP to improve our planning and assessment. Wherever possible, we take part in competitions and festivals around the county.  As we are a small school, children have the opportunity to represent the school between three and ten times a year. The topic cycles for this term are below.

PSHE and Citizenship is a tailored scheme using Twinkl. The whole-school PSHE scheme of work includes units on British Values, Global Citizenship, Personal Safety, Health, RSE, Mental Wellbeing and more, supporting our school to deliver outstanding SMSC provision. Twinkl's PSHE planning and resources are fully in line with the PSHE Association Programme of Study and fulfil the statutory requirements for Relationships and Health Education.

If you require further detailed curriculum information, please contact Mrs Hilton, or Mr Steele, at the office.

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