KIPPAX GREENFIELD PRIMARY SCHOOL THE CURRICULUM

At Kippax Greenfield we offer our children a curriculum designed to equip them for the challenging world of the 21st Century, to ensure that our pupils develop as people who take increasing responsibility for their own physical well being, learning, relationships with others and their role in local, national and global community. Effective learning is our overall term for the ways in which we teach and children learn at Greenfield, through active participation, discussion and hands-on experiences. Effective learning encourages independence, motivation, problem solving, reflection, resilience, resourcefulness, social skills, enjoyment in learning and thus, lifelong learners.

A healthy physically active lifestyle is conducive to more effective participation in all that society has to offer and greater levels of success within and beyond school. This requires pupils to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours that enable them to:

Maintain good health and live a healthy lifestyle.

Understand the role of physical activity in ensuring good health.

Engage in physical activity.

We will provide frequent and easy access to water.

We will promote a healthy diet.

We will encourage children to eat fruit.

In our highly interconnected and interdependent world
pupils must learn to work with others by:

Building positive social relationships

Working and learning in teams

Managing and resolving conflicts

PERSONALISED LEARNING
As pupils progress through school they need to be encouraged and supported to take greater responsibility for their own learning and participation at school. This involves developing as individual learners who:

-Acquire self knowledge and attitudes which support learning

-Can learn with peers, including by seeking and responding appropriately to feedback.

-Increasingly manage their own learning and growth including by setting targets and managing resources to achieve these.

-Recognise and enact appropriate values within and beyond the school context.

-We will start each unit with an overview of what children will be learning and doing.

-We will begin each lesson by showing how their work fits into this big picture.

-We will identify all children as intelligent, finding their areas of strength.

-We will provide a broad curriculum so all children will be able to develop their own strengths.

-We will provide a range of learning and teaching styles for all children.

-We will encourage and enable children to demonstrate learning in a variety of ways e.g. drama, role-play, discussion, diagrams, charts, lists, maps, dance, debate, as well as the more traditional forms of recording.

Pupils also need to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours that enable them to take action as informed, confident members of a diverse and inclusive society. This involves a focus on:

Understanding their identity and roles within the community

Knowing their rights and responsibilities as citizens

Having the knowledge, skills and behaviours to participate in society and take responsible action in relation to other citizens and the environment at a local and broader level.

At Kippax Greenfield Primary School, activities are arranged to help all learners meet curriculum aims and to achieve their individual potential. All of their learning activities are selected to promote the aims of the curriculum and to maximise childrens' progress. Methods and approaches are designed to fit learners' individual needs and are planned to accommodate different learning styles. In order to achieve this, learning takes place in a range of contexts and settings so that all intelligences can be explored. This approach enables success and celebration across ALL subjects. A range of people are involved in providing learning experiences including parents, teachers, learning assistants and other pupils. All pupils, in conjunction with the teaching staff are involved in their own target setting and assessment processes.

The school curriculum consists of all the experiences and activities we organise to promote the intellectual, personal, social and physical development of the children. This includes the formal programme suggested in the National Curriculum, the schools own curriculum and an informal programme of extra curricular activities running alongside the values and qualities of relationships encouraged within the school.

The National Curriculum begins officially when your child reaches the age of 5.
It is organised on the basis of four key stages:


It consists of eleven subjects. These are:
English
Mathematics
Science
ICT
Design and Technology
History
Geography
Art
Music
Physical Education
French

Religious Education and collective worship must also be provided and taught according to the locally agreed syllabus which should reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are Christian, whilst taking account of the teachings and practices of other principal religions. School assemblies are broadly Christian but non denominational. Parents may exercise their right to withdraw their child from religious education and collective worship.

Schools must also promote spiritual, moral, social and cultural development across the National Curriculum. Explicit opportunities to promote children's development are provided in R.E., the framework for Personal, Social, Health Education and Citizenship (P.S.H.C.E.) and 'Circle time'.

HOW DOES THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM AFFECT THE CHILDREN IN RECEPTION?
Reception class are a valued part of our school which is called the FOUNDATION STAGE. It is here that the foundation for access to the National Curriculum is created. Each activity is carefully planned with access to the National Curriculum as a target.
The children's needs and experiences are considered in terms of the EARLY LEARNING GOALS, six areas of learning which set out what most children are expected to achieve by the end of the Foundation stage.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Language and Literacy

Mathematical Development

Knowledge and Understanding of the World

Physical Development

Creative Development

These provide the foundations of concepts and vocabulary in all National Curriculum areas in a crucial aspect called working towards Level 1. Children will progress at their own rate and levels of attainment may vary from child to child and subject to subject.

Reception is just as important as any other part of school for this year is spent sowing the seeds for the future and developing knowledge and skills for the rest of the school to build on.

SEX AND RELATIONSHIP EDUCATION
The Governors statement at Kippax Greenfield Primary School is that Sex Education, taught within the context of loving family relationships, will form part of a balanced health education programme. The Governors realise that parents are they key figures in preparing their children for the physical and emotional aspects of growing up. Parents are informed prior to any Sex Education lesson of the content and have the right to withdraw their child.

DRUGS EDUCATION
It is our policy to provide drugs education for all children at our school, throughout their time with us, through a programme which fulfils the requirements of the National Curriculum, is progressive and takes into account the needs of each age group, their ability and level of maturity. Drugs Education is placed within the context of the Health Education curriculum and where appropriate within PSHCE.

EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
The school supports an extensive range of extra curricular activities designed to enrich and extend the children's experiences in school. These depend on the strengths and interests of individual members of staff who are willing to share their own time with the children. Extra curricular activities take place at lunchtime and after school. Parents will be asked to sign a permission slip for each activity and the children are asked to make a strong commitment to the activity.

COLLECTIVE WORSHIP
The school has no affiliation with any particular religious denomination. A daily act of collective worship, mainly Christian in character takes place for all pupils. Parents who wish their child to be withdrawn from assembly must notify the school in writing. The aim of collective worship is to provide opportunities for children to reflect upon and respond to spiritual beliefs, practices, insights and experiences. The ethos of this school is one where children can grow, learn, play and develop in safety, trust and confidence within a secure and happy framework which reflects true expressions of Christianity, love, tolerance, gentleness and forgiveness. Through this ethos we seek to build relationships together. It is important for our children that the values we seek to impart to them are expressed not only through Religious Education and collective worship, but also in all relationships, both in and out of school.

TESTING
The intelligences or 'SMARTS' that Kippax Greenfield recognise and celebrate are personal, intrapersonal, literacy, numeracy, art, music, physical and nature smart. Unfortunately, many of these important intelligences are not formally assessed although we hold them in equal regard.

Our school assesses children's ability on a regular basis to enable us to match resources to need. However, at the end of Keystage 1 and Keystage 2 the Government requires that children aged 7 and 11 years old are assessed using STANDARDISED ASSESSMENT TESTS (SATs). These results are published in the prospectus and through the School Profile. The National Curriculum is not a pass or fail system but a level of achievement. It is recognition of what children can do, not a focus on what they yet have to learn.

 


© Copyright Kippax Greenfield Primary School 2007. All rights reserved.