National Curriculum
It is important to us that all children should feel safe and secure at the start of their time in school. We provide a consistent relationship across all aspects of time in school as we believe this is important in shaping children's regard for themselves and others. Values such as honesty, being fair, being truthful and taking care of people and possessions are encouraged.
In the Foundation Stage children work on 3 prime areas: Communication and Language, Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development.
As children grow, the prime areas help them develop skills in 4 further important areas. These are Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design.
For more information and a comprehensive explanation of the early years' ethos, follow this link:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/790580/EYFSP_Handbook_2019.pdf
The children learn to respect different cultures and customs through art, music, play, stories and RE. The curriculum develops an awareness of the lives and work of people both in the school and in the wider community. It also develops an awareness of change over time through talking about their own growth and family events. Children learn to read and write through meaningful activities.
Key Stage 1 and 2
The children learn in an attractive and safe environment to:
The Curriculum at Boddington Primary Academy:
The Intent, implementation and Impact of our Curriculum – English- writing:
updated December 2019
Intent
At Boddington Primary Academy the teaching of English is the foundation of our curriculum. Our main aim is to ensure that every single child becomes primary literate and progresses to the best of their ability in writing.
We recognise that each child has their own starting point upon entry to every year group and progress is measured in line with these starting points to ensure every child can celebrate success. We celebrate writing further by displaying it around our school where possible, allowing children to take pride in their work and have the opportunity to share it with their peers and visitors to our setting.
Writing is not only taught daily as a discrete lesson, but it is at the cornerstone of the entire curriculum. Our Literacy lessons are linked, wherever possible, to our topic teaching so that writing is interwoven into most areas of children’s learning. Our aim is for our children to become creative writers that are not afraid to experiment with language and use the ideas and models of others to push their own thinking further. At Boddington we strive for a high level of English for all, where expectations are continually high for all students. We aim to fully engage and develop the abilities of our pupils through the use of high-quality texts, immersing children in vocabulary rich learning environments and ensuring coverage of new curriculum expectations and the progression of skills are met. The children at our school will develop a love for creative writing sessions due to the encouraging and nurturing environment in which it is taught. Children are always encouraged to ask questions and engage in discussions with adults and their peers about what makes writing successful.
Implementation
At Boddington we believe consistency is a valuable tool in Literacy. We therefore aim to teach writing in the same style/manner from EYFS to Year 6. This ensures that the children are continually building upon previous knowledge and skills, in a purposeful and progressive manner. We have adopted a sentence stacking approach, when teaching writing skills. This requires teachers to heavily model and scaffold the construction of sentences and paragraphs, with an emphasis on really developing children’s knowledge and understanding of the construction of texts and how ideas fit together and can be manipulated. Children are expected to write different genres independently to ensure they are using taught skills in their own texts.
In line with the national curriculum, we also ensure that each year group is taught the explicit grammar, punctuation and spelling objectives required for their age range. As well as teaching the objectives, teachers are able to embed the skills throughout the year in cross-curricular writing opportunities and ensure that most children are achieving the objectives at the expected level and that some children are encouraged and striving for the greater depth standard. Our younger children are taught phonics discretely but this is also fed into creative writing sessions at all times.
The assessment of writing is consistent across the school. All teachers assess against a given framework, which have been produced in line with the end of Key Stage assessment frameworks as published by the Department for Education.
At Boddington we aim to adopt a mastery approach in our writing skills. We therefore spend a good period of time experiencing a given genre before moving on. This ensures a deeper level of understanding of each text type. Each year group are assigned a mixture of fiction and non-fiction texts which ensures even coverage over their primary school years.
Impact
The impact on our children is clear: progress, sustained learning and transferrable skills into secondary school and beyond. With the implementation of a consistent teaching approach to writing being well established and taught thoroughly in both key stages, children are becoming more confident writers and by the time they are in upper Key Stage 2, most genres of writing are familiar to them and all children are confident in their creative writing abilities. Further up the school, teachers can focus more deeply on writer’s craft, sustained writing and manipulation of grammar and punctuation skills to develop deep thinkers and greater depth writers.
As all aspects of English are an integral part of the curriculum, cross curricular writing standards are improving and skills taught in the English lesson are transferred into other subjects. This shows consolidation of skills and a deeper understanding of how and when to use specific grammar, punctuation and grammar objectives. We hope that as children move on from us to further their education and learning, that their creativity, passion for English and high aspirations travel with them and continue to grow and develop as they do.
The Curriculum at Boddington Primary Academy:
The Intent, implementation and Impact of our Curriculum – English- Reading:
updated December 2019
Intent
At Boddington Primary Academy we firmly believe in developing a culture that encourages a desire and love for reading. We aim for all of our children to leave primary school with the ability to read fluently and comprehensively and become lifelong readers. We encourage reading in all areas of the curriculum covering a mixture of genres. We carefully select books that are current and rich in vocabulary as well as embracing the classics that we believe all children should experience at least once in their lifetimes. We link texts to our creative curriculum to promote cross curricular links wherever possible. At Boddington we actively encourage children to use ideas from authors that they admire and weave them into their own writing as models and a starting point. We expose children to texts which continually develop their breadth of vocabulary. We explore words, phrases and sentences daily to unpick how and why they have been used. Reading lessons focus on enjoyment of a text as well as developing the comprehension of what the children are reading by asking carefully thought out questions.
It is the intention for the children in the younger years to build up a secure and firm basis of phonics knowledge. They are exposed to a range of words, sentences and paragraphs, that use these phonics skills progressively, to build upon previous knowledge and continually push on their learning. Our aim is for all children in Key stage one to have completed their phonic journey by the end of year 2. Any children identified to need further support will have interventions going forward, to secure their phonics knowledge as soon as possible.
Implementation
We, as staff, promote a love for reading by leading by example. We keep up to date with the latest books released and recommended reads for children in our Key stage. We regularly share our experiences and enjoyment of texts that we have read. We can confidently help children to choose books, based on their interests and that will keep them engaged. Children are actively encouraged to talk about the books that they are reading and share their enthusiasm with their peers. We include parents in our love for reading ethos, by holding a reading and phonics meeting for our EYFS children on an annual basis. Further up the school, we have book ‘taster’ sessions, with parents, to show them the wide variety of books we encourage the children to read. We also have a section on our newsletter which informs parents of book recommendations.
Within lessons we are developing a whole class reading structure. We pick texts that link to our current topic and ensure we look at differing text types suitable for each age range. Reading is taught daily through Literacy lessons where carefully selected texts are shared to explore language further. Children are encouraged to continually consider the meaning of words, intent of the chosen words and possible alternative ideas. A range of activities are planned alongside all texts read, that keep the children engaged, encourages them to ask questions and develops their inference and deduction skills. Children are encouraged to read daily, either independently, in a small group, as a class or to an adult. Our reading and writing curriculum overlap greatly. We regularly use a book that we are reading in our whole class reading sessions, to inspire our writing curriculum.
In the younger years, children are required to read books linked to their current phonic ability. In doing this they are continually reinforcing new sounds they have been taught. We also have a progressive reading scheme which the children work through from Reception to Year 2, with the hope they will become free readers by Year 3. Interventions are secured for those that have not quite achieved this. Children are read to daily, by an adult, to develop their love for reading. This also ensures time to have rich and meaningful discussions about texts and link it to their life experiences.
Reading is not only celebrated in classrooms at Boddington Academy but also around our school. There are displays which celebrate authors, children’s favourite books and reading reward schemes. In addition, throughout the school year the importance of reading is enhanced through World Book Day, author and poet visits and a range of trips and visits which enrich and complement children’s learning.
Impact
With a systematic teaching of phonics in place the aim is for all children to become free readers by the end of key stage one, leaving key stage two to develop fluency and comprehension in more detail. We carry out reading assessments continually in an informal manner and termly where scores from reading tests equate to a level. This ensures children are quickly identified, if extra support is needed. All children in Year one do the statutory phonics test. Those in year 2 and 6 partake in the reading SATs. These results are then measured against national averages.
Our biggest hope in terms of impact however, goes far beyond assessment results. We firmly believe that our reading curriculum develops the love of reading in all children. It gives them the opportunity to become immersed in another world and experience the magic of story-telling. We hope the impact of our reading curriculum is evident to all from the moment you walk in the door. Ask any child what they are reading and they will talk to you at length and with great enthusiasm.
MATHEMATICS
Intent
At Boddington Primary Academy, we believe that all children should progress through our school to become confident, articulate and inquisitive mathematicians, to the best of their ability. Through the teaching of mathematics we seek to enable children to develop knowledge of mathematical facts, acquire numeracy skills, conceptual structures and general strategies. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems to deepen their understanding rather than any acceleration through new content. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on. By following a mastery-based curriculum we aim for the children to develop positive attitudes to Mathematics as an interesting, enjoyable and challenging subject.
Progress for each child is measured according to each child’s individual starting and end point. Children are assessed on entry to each year group and progress measured from their individual starting points. Success is celebrated and opportunities for children to share these times with their peers, parents and other adults from our school is encouraged though our school rewards system.
Developing children’s mastery of mathematical language is also encouraged from the moment they arrive here. The use of stem sentences, general rules and answering problems in full sentences allow children to express their ideas with mathematical precision and clarity. These sentence structures often express key conceptual ideas or generalities and provide a framework to embed conceptual knowledge and build understanding.
“The quality of children’s mathematical reasoning and conceptual understanding is significantly enhanced if they are consistently expected to use correct mathematical terminology (e.g. saying ‘digit’ rather than ‘number’) and to explain their mathematical thinking in complete sentences.” NCETM calculation guidance Oct 2015.
In our nurturing environment, children will develop a love of maths and confidence to talk about their knowledge and skills acquired through their time with us.
Implementation
At Boddington Primary Academy, we believe that consistency and coherency of approach is vital to allow children progress smoothly through the school. By following a mastery-based curriculum the children are constantly building on knowledge and skills. Due to this approach, at Boddington, we spend greater time on each area of mathematics which allows for a deeper level of understanding for the children in each year group.
Our teaching for mastery reflects the National Centre for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics (NCETM)’s 5 Big Ideas. Opportunities for Mathematical Thinking allow children to make chains of reasoning connected with the other areas of their mathematics. A focus on Representation and Structure ensures concepts are explored using concrete, pictorial and abstract representations, the children actively look for patterns as well as specialise and generalise whilst problem solving. Coherence is achieved through the planning of small connected steps covered in lessons which build in to the children’s overall progression within that mathematical area.
Teachers use both procedural and conceptual Variation within their lessons to ensure concepts are understood and embedded fully. There is an emphasis on Fluency with a relentless focus on number and multiplication table facts as appropriate.
Whenever possible, concepts are taught using real life situations and manipulatives to give context and meaning to the children’s learning. This also allows for links to our whole school topics and other curriculum areas, when appropriate. The use of manipulatives in lessons, irrespective of a children’s ability or age is fundamental to being confident moving from the concrete, to the pictorial then abstract. Teachers draw on mastery resources from a range of sources including both text books and online resources which are adapted to the needs of the children in their classes.
Children are taught the knowledge and skills for their year group, as required by the National Curriculum Programme Of Study for Mathematics. Teachers assess against a given framework produced in line with the end of Key Stage assessments.
As all the classes here in Boddington are mixed-age, teaching may take the form of a variety of approaches depending on factors which may include the cohort numbers, individual children’s needs and the area of maths that is being taught. All teaching approaches are carefully considered in order for all children to progress and develop their knowledge and skills in mathematics.
Impact
With the mastery approach to the teaching of mathematics developing in our school, the impact of this should mean that the majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. However, decisions about when to progress should always be based on the security of pupils’ understanding and their readiness to progress to the next step. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems rather than any acceleration through new content. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on. All children should become more articulate in their use of mathematical language and show confidence, fluency and progress, with embedded skills ready to be transferred into secondary school and beyond.
SCIENCE
Includes exploration of science, living things, energy, forces and materials. We aim for pupils to develop the ability to relate science to everyday life, to express and communicate their findings in a variety of ways and to plan and hypothesise on what might happen. They develop these skills through observations and investigations into natural objects and phenomena, themselves and other living things, energy, forces and materials.
COMPUTING
We aim for all children to use ICT tools and information effectively to analyse, process and present information. We aim to equip our pupils to live in a technological age, teaching them how to access and use ICT across the curriculum. Key Stage 1 and 2 children can access the Internet as a vital learning tool. As well as interactive whiteboards we use laptops in all classrooms and thanks to the PTA now have a number of ipads to use.
The additional areas of study of the National Curriculum are called the Foundation Subjects which are essential to a balanced education. These are:
HISTORY
In History children look at past events, beginning with their own experiences, using the local area as a starting point to explore what the past was like. They develop a sense of chronology, and begin to explore why things happened as they did. Periods such as Romans, Ancient Greece and Britain since the 1930’s are taught.
GEOGRAPHY
We focus on our environment as a geographical area and then begin to look beyond our familiar surroundings, looking at the natural and man-made environment, and reasons why the landscape and populated areas have evolved.
TECHNOLOGY
We aim for children to develop design and technology capabilities. By exploring familiar objects and environments, children will work with a variety of materials to develop and communicate their own ideas and design, make, test and assess simple models and constructions.
ART/MUSIC/DRAMA
We aim to give children the skills to express themselves through a variety of media to develop their own aesthetic awareness and their appreciation of the work of others. We offer musical tuition through the Northamptonshire Music Service to pupils in Key Stages 2 in violin and guitar. We have to charge for tuition.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
All children take part in a varied physical education programme. They will experience a range of team and individual sports as well as developing aesthetic skills through dance and gymnastics. In Key Stage 2 all children will visit Daventry Swimming Pool on a rota basis for swimming lessons. The children have access to fun equipment to use in lunch-time play which supports their physical development.
We also have lunchtime sports clubs and after-school clubs that support the physical education of our children
If your child has pierced ears they need to be able to remove their studs themselves before taking part in sport. For health and safety reasons your child will not be able to take part in outside PE if he/she does not have a PE kit in school. A reminder note will be sent home. Indoor PE is done in bare feet unless a doctor requests otherwise.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
As a Church of England controlled Academy, Boddington has strong bonds with its local church. Religious Education is taught throughout the school. The Rector and other members of the church community visit the school on a regular basis to take assembly.
Collective worship is held on a held daily. These are either in classes, groups or as a whole school. We end the day with a Class Prayer which the children have written.
The ethos of the school is based on sound Christian principles whilst acknowledging the need for recognition and respect for other beliefs and faiths. Parents have the right to request withdrawal of their child from this area of the curriculum.
RSE (Relationship and Sex Education)
We share the responsibility of educating our pupils with their parents and guardians. Sex education is presented within a Christian and moral framework. Carefully monitored, structured programmes are used in Year 5 and 6 with parental knowledge and consent. Throughout the school questions are answered frankly and naturally as they arise in the course of general class work.
The school takes a pro-active role in drug education. Awareness is taught through Personal, Social and Health Education, Science and English. The school actively co-operates with the community police, social services, the LEA and Health Authority.
We use the services of the ‘Life Education Bus’ which visits the school once a year to deliver age appropriate education to all of our children on the subject matter that is relevant to them under the RSE bracket.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
Every child has the chance to participate fully in school activities irrespective of gender or race. The school has policies on Racism and Equal Opportunities which are available on request.
CITIZENSHIP AND CULTURAL AWARENESS
At Boddington Primary Academy each individual is respected and valued. Awareness and respect for people from other cultures is taught through Art, Literature, RE, History, Geography and Music. Throughout the year visitors celebrate aspects of these cultures with the children. Values and relationships are promoted.
HOMEWORK
We endeavour to give children work to do at home which will support their learning in school. This work is intended to be low impact on time spent by children working at home. We believe that the majority of work that children do should be during school hours. Activities should be a balance of creative/topic related tasks and more formal tasks related to maths and English learning.
TEACHING STYLES
A variety of teaching styles is used to deliver the curriculum. Sometimes the whole class is involved, in discussion or instruction, as in Literacy or Numeracy lessons, in specific skills teaching in subjects such as ICT, or in a whole class activity such as P.E. or drama. At other times teachers work with a group of children who may be at a similar level, a mixed ability group or with individual children, whichever teaching method may be most appropriate for the children’s needs. Children also learn from each other through co-operating in groups and working independently on set tasks.
Teachers usually plan work for their class using a theme that covers the concepts they want to teach. These themes have been devised through whole staff agreement and form a Planning Policy, which is followed by each class. Each theme covers the appropriate curriculum areas, whilst other subjects such as
English, Maths and I.T. are taught alongside the current theme. Teachers base the work on practical activities and first hand experiences using, where appropriate, a wide variety of methods for the children to record what they have discovered - written reports, graphs, poems, tape-recordings, pictures, prints, models, charts, etc.
ASSESSMENT
Careful records are kept to inform us about children’s progress and on areas for future development in all curriculum areas. Progress is discussed with parents at two parents’ evenings in the Autumn Term and Summer Term and a full report is sent in the Spring term.
Foundation Stage Profile
During their first year of school Reception children are assessed through observation and discussion, ensuring they are meeting the requirements of the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage. These assessments are kept in a portfolio for each child and are shared with the parents.
Standard Statutory Tasks
The children in Year 2 are assessed using the Statutory Standard Tasks during the year. The children in Year 6, at the end of Key Stage 2, are assessed using Statutory Standard Tasks in accordance with the Government Policy.
CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
Any child with learning difficulties in any area of the curriculum will receive extra support from both the class teacher and classroom assistants, working in a small group or individually on specific tasks aimed at tackling areas of difficulty. The special needs coordinator gives advice, helps set up programmes of support and monitors Special Needs across the school. Occasionally we might ask for extra support or advice from the local authority’s Pupils Support Service (IPS) and if this occurs parents are always consulted.
In the Foundation Stage children work on 3 prime areas: Communication and Language, Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development.
As children grow, the prime areas help them develop skills in 4 further important areas. These are Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design.
For more information and a comprehensive explanation of the early years' ethos, follow this link:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/790580/EYFSP_Handbook_2019.pdf
The children learn to respect different cultures and customs through art, music, play, stories and RE. The curriculum develops an awareness of the lives and work of people both in the school and in the wider community. It also develops an awareness of change over time through talking about their own growth and family events. Children learn to read and write through meaningful activities.
Key Stage 1 and 2
The children learn in an attractive and safe environment to:
- Develop independence
- Cooperate with others
- Respect the feelings, beliefs and the way of life of others
- Develop confidence and self esteem
- Be well motivated
- Develop self discipline
- Make decisions for themselves
- Be caring, tolerant and considerate towards each other
- Develop their own moral code
- Communicate with their peers and adults
The Curriculum at Boddington Primary Academy:
The Intent, implementation and Impact of our Curriculum – English- writing:
updated December 2019
Intent
At Boddington Primary Academy the teaching of English is the foundation of our curriculum. Our main aim is to ensure that every single child becomes primary literate and progresses to the best of their ability in writing.
We recognise that each child has their own starting point upon entry to every year group and progress is measured in line with these starting points to ensure every child can celebrate success. We celebrate writing further by displaying it around our school where possible, allowing children to take pride in their work and have the opportunity to share it with their peers and visitors to our setting.
Writing is not only taught daily as a discrete lesson, but it is at the cornerstone of the entire curriculum. Our Literacy lessons are linked, wherever possible, to our topic teaching so that writing is interwoven into most areas of children’s learning. Our aim is for our children to become creative writers that are not afraid to experiment with language and use the ideas and models of others to push their own thinking further. At Boddington we strive for a high level of English for all, where expectations are continually high for all students. We aim to fully engage and develop the abilities of our pupils through the use of high-quality texts, immersing children in vocabulary rich learning environments and ensuring coverage of new curriculum expectations and the progression of skills are met. The children at our school will develop a love for creative writing sessions due to the encouraging and nurturing environment in which it is taught. Children are always encouraged to ask questions and engage in discussions with adults and their peers about what makes writing successful.
Implementation
At Boddington we believe consistency is a valuable tool in Literacy. We therefore aim to teach writing in the same style/manner from EYFS to Year 6. This ensures that the children are continually building upon previous knowledge and skills, in a purposeful and progressive manner. We have adopted a sentence stacking approach, when teaching writing skills. This requires teachers to heavily model and scaffold the construction of sentences and paragraphs, with an emphasis on really developing children’s knowledge and understanding of the construction of texts and how ideas fit together and can be manipulated. Children are expected to write different genres independently to ensure they are using taught skills in their own texts.
In line with the national curriculum, we also ensure that each year group is taught the explicit grammar, punctuation and spelling objectives required for their age range. As well as teaching the objectives, teachers are able to embed the skills throughout the year in cross-curricular writing opportunities and ensure that most children are achieving the objectives at the expected level and that some children are encouraged and striving for the greater depth standard. Our younger children are taught phonics discretely but this is also fed into creative writing sessions at all times.
The assessment of writing is consistent across the school. All teachers assess against a given framework, which have been produced in line with the end of Key Stage assessment frameworks as published by the Department for Education.
At Boddington we aim to adopt a mastery approach in our writing skills. We therefore spend a good period of time experiencing a given genre before moving on. This ensures a deeper level of understanding of each text type. Each year group are assigned a mixture of fiction and non-fiction texts which ensures even coverage over their primary school years.
Impact
The impact on our children is clear: progress, sustained learning and transferrable skills into secondary school and beyond. With the implementation of a consistent teaching approach to writing being well established and taught thoroughly in both key stages, children are becoming more confident writers and by the time they are in upper Key Stage 2, most genres of writing are familiar to them and all children are confident in their creative writing abilities. Further up the school, teachers can focus more deeply on writer’s craft, sustained writing and manipulation of grammar and punctuation skills to develop deep thinkers and greater depth writers.
As all aspects of English are an integral part of the curriculum, cross curricular writing standards are improving and skills taught in the English lesson are transferred into other subjects. This shows consolidation of skills and a deeper understanding of how and when to use specific grammar, punctuation and grammar objectives. We hope that as children move on from us to further their education and learning, that their creativity, passion for English and high aspirations travel with them and continue to grow and develop as they do.
The Curriculum at Boddington Primary Academy:
The Intent, implementation and Impact of our Curriculum – English- Reading:
updated December 2019
Intent
At Boddington Primary Academy we firmly believe in developing a culture that encourages a desire and love for reading. We aim for all of our children to leave primary school with the ability to read fluently and comprehensively and become lifelong readers. We encourage reading in all areas of the curriculum covering a mixture of genres. We carefully select books that are current and rich in vocabulary as well as embracing the classics that we believe all children should experience at least once in their lifetimes. We link texts to our creative curriculum to promote cross curricular links wherever possible. At Boddington we actively encourage children to use ideas from authors that they admire and weave them into their own writing as models and a starting point. We expose children to texts which continually develop their breadth of vocabulary. We explore words, phrases and sentences daily to unpick how and why they have been used. Reading lessons focus on enjoyment of a text as well as developing the comprehension of what the children are reading by asking carefully thought out questions.
It is the intention for the children in the younger years to build up a secure and firm basis of phonics knowledge. They are exposed to a range of words, sentences and paragraphs, that use these phonics skills progressively, to build upon previous knowledge and continually push on their learning. Our aim is for all children in Key stage one to have completed their phonic journey by the end of year 2. Any children identified to need further support will have interventions going forward, to secure their phonics knowledge as soon as possible.
Implementation
We, as staff, promote a love for reading by leading by example. We keep up to date with the latest books released and recommended reads for children in our Key stage. We regularly share our experiences and enjoyment of texts that we have read. We can confidently help children to choose books, based on their interests and that will keep them engaged. Children are actively encouraged to talk about the books that they are reading and share their enthusiasm with their peers. We include parents in our love for reading ethos, by holding a reading and phonics meeting for our EYFS children on an annual basis. Further up the school, we have book ‘taster’ sessions, with parents, to show them the wide variety of books we encourage the children to read. We also have a section on our newsletter which informs parents of book recommendations.
Within lessons we are developing a whole class reading structure. We pick texts that link to our current topic and ensure we look at differing text types suitable for each age range. Reading is taught daily through Literacy lessons where carefully selected texts are shared to explore language further. Children are encouraged to continually consider the meaning of words, intent of the chosen words and possible alternative ideas. A range of activities are planned alongside all texts read, that keep the children engaged, encourages them to ask questions and develops their inference and deduction skills. Children are encouraged to read daily, either independently, in a small group, as a class or to an adult. Our reading and writing curriculum overlap greatly. We regularly use a book that we are reading in our whole class reading sessions, to inspire our writing curriculum.
In the younger years, children are required to read books linked to their current phonic ability. In doing this they are continually reinforcing new sounds they have been taught. We also have a progressive reading scheme which the children work through from Reception to Year 2, with the hope they will become free readers by Year 3. Interventions are secured for those that have not quite achieved this. Children are read to daily, by an adult, to develop their love for reading. This also ensures time to have rich and meaningful discussions about texts and link it to their life experiences.
Reading is not only celebrated in classrooms at Boddington Academy but also around our school. There are displays which celebrate authors, children’s favourite books and reading reward schemes. In addition, throughout the school year the importance of reading is enhanced through World Book Day, author and poet visits and a range of trips and visits which enrich and complement children’s learning.
Impact
With a systematic teaching of phonics in place the aim is for all children to become free readers by the end of key stage one, leaving key stage two to develop fluency and comprehension in more detail. We carry out reading assessments continually in an informal manner and termly where scores from reading tests equate to a level. This ensures children are quickly identified, if extra support is needed. All children in Year one do the statutory phonics test. Those in year 2 and 6 partake in the reading SATs. These results are then measured against national averages.
Our biggest hope in terms of impact however, goes far beyond assessment results. We firmly believe that our reading curriculum develops the love of reading in all children. It gives them the opportunity to become immersed in another world and experience the magic of story-telling. We hope the impact of our reading curriculum is evident to all from the moment you walk in the door. Ask any child what they are reading and they will talk to you at length and with great enthusiasm.
MATHEMATICS
Intent
At Boddington Primary Academy, we believe that all children should progress through our school to become confident, articulate and inquisitive mathematicians, to the best of their ability. Through the teaching of mathematics we seek to enable children to develop knowledge of mathematical facts, acquire numeracy skills, conceptual structures and general strategies. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems to deepen their understanding rather than any acceleration through new content. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on. By following a mastery-based curriculum we aim for the children to develop positive attitudes to Mathematics as an interesting, enjoyable and challenging subject.
Progress for each child is measured according to each child’s individual starting and end point. Children are assessed on entry to each year group and progress measured from their individual starting points. Success is celebrated and opportunities for children to share these times with their peers, parents and other adults from our school is encouraged though our school rewards system.
Developing children’s mastery of mathematical language is also encouraged from the moment they arrive here. The use of stem sentences, general rules and answering problems in full sentences allow children to express their ideas with mathematical precision and clarity. These sentence structures often express key conceptual ideas or generalities and provide a framework to embed conceptual knowledge and build understanding.
“The quality of children’s mathematical reasoning and conceptual understanding is significantly enhanced if they are consistently expected to use correct mathematical terminology (e.g. saying ‘digit’ rather than ‘number’) and to explain their mathematical thinking in complete sentences.” NCETM calculation guidance Oct 2015.
In our nurturing environment, children will develop a love of maths and confidence to talk about their knowledge and skills acquired through their time with us.
Implementation
At Boddington Primary Academy, we believe that consistency and coherency of approach is vital to allow children progress smoothly through the school. By following a mastery-based curriculum the children are constantly building on knowledge and skills. Due to this approach, at Boddington, we spend greater time on each area of mathematics which allows for a deeper level of understanding for the children in each year group.
Our teaching for mastery reflects the National Centre for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics (NCETM)’s 5 Big Ideas. Opportunities for Mathematical Thinking allow children to make chains of reasoning connected with the other areas of their mathematics. A focus on Representation and Structure ensures concepts are explored using concrete, pictorial and abstract representations, the children actively look for patterns as well as specialise and generalise whilst problem solving. Coherence is achieved through the planning of small connected steps covered in lessons which build in to the children’s overall progression within that mathematical area.
Teachers use both procedural and conceptual Variation within their lessons to ensure concepts are understood and embedded fully. There is an emphasis on Fluency with a relentless focus on number and multiplication table facts as appropriate.
Whenever possible, concepts are taught using real life situations and manipulatives to give context and meaning to the children’s learning. This also allows for links to our whole school topics and other curriculum areas, when appropriate. The use of manipulatives in lessons, irrespective of a children’s ability or age is fundamental to being confident moving from the concrete, to the pictorial then abstract. Teachers draw on mastery resources from a range of sources including both text books and online resources which are adapted to the needs of the children in their classes.
Children are taught the knowledge and skills for their year group, as required by the National Curriculum Programme Of Study for Mathematics. Teachers assess against a given framework produced in line with the end of Key Stage assessments.
As all the classes here in Boddington are mixed-age, teaching may take the form of a variety of approaches depending on factors which may include the cohort numbers, individual children’s needs and the area of maths that is being taught. All teaching approaches are carefully considered in order for all children to progress and develop their knowledge and skills in mathematics.
Impact
With the mastery approach to the teaching of mathematics developing in our school, the impact of this should mean that the majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. However, decisions about when to progress should always be based on the security of pupils’ understanding and their readiness to progress to the next step. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems rather than any acceleration through new content. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on. All children should become more articulate in their use of mathematical language and show confidence, fluency and progress, with embedded skills ready to be transferred into secondary school and beyond.
SCIENCE
Includes exploration of science, living things, energy, forces and materials. We aim for pupils to develop the ability to relate science to everyday life, to express and communicate their findings in a variety of ways and to plan and hypothesise on what might happen. They develop these skills through observations and investigations into natural objects and phenomena, themselves and other living things, energy, forces and materials.
COMPUTING
We aim for all children to use ICT tools and information effectively to analyse, process and present information. We aim to equip our pupils to live in a technological age, teaching them how to access and use ICT across the curriculum. Key Stage 1 and 2 children can access the Internet as a vital learning tool. As well as interactive whiteboards we use laptops in all classrooms and thanks to the PTA now have a number of ipads to use.
The additional areas of study of the National Curriculum are called the Foundation Subjects which are essential to a balanced education. These are:
HISTORY
In History children look at past events, beginning with their own experiences, using the local area as a starting point to explore what the past was like. They develop a sense of chronology, and begin to explore why things happened as they did. Periods such as Romans, Ancient Greece and Britain since the 1930’s are taught.
GEOGRAPHY
We focus on our environment as a geographical area and then begin to look beyond our familiar surroundings, looking at the natural and man-made environment, and reasons why the landscape and populated areas have evolved.
TECHNOLOGY
We aim for children to develop design and technology capabilities. By exploring familiar objects and environments, children will work with a variety of materials to develop and communicate their own ideas and design, make, test and assess simple models and constructions.
ART/MUSIC/DRAMA
We aim to give children the skills to express themselves through a variety of media to develop their own aesthetic awareness and their appreciation of the work of others. We offer musical tuition through the Northamptonshire Music Service to pupils in Key Stages 2 in violin and guitar. We have to charge for tuition.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
All children take part in a varied physical education programme. They will experience a range of team and individual sports as well as developing aesthetic skills through dance and gymnastics. In Key Stage 2 all children will visit Daventry Swimming Pool on a rota basis for swimming lessons. The children have access to fun equipment to use in lunch-time play which supports their physical development.
We also have lunchtime sports clubs and after-school clubs that support the physical education of our children
If your child has pierced ears they need to be able to remove their studs themselves before taking part in sport. For health and safety reasons your child will not be able to take part in outside PE if he/she does not have a PE kit in school. A reminder note will be sent home. Indoor PE is done in bare feet unless a doctor requests otherwise.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
As a Church of England controlled Academy, Boddington has strong bonds with its local church. Religious Education is taught throughout the school. The Rector and other members of the church community visit the school on a regular basis to take assembly.
Collective worship is held on a held daily. These are either in classes, groups or as a whole school. We end the day with a Class Prayer which the children have written.
The ethos of the school is based on sound Christian principles whilst acknowledging the need for recognition and respect for other beliefs and faiths. Parents have the right to request withdrawal of their child from this area of the curriculum.
RSE (Relationship and Sex Education)
We share the responsibility of educating our pupils with their parents and guardians. Sex education is presented within a Christian and moral framework. Carefully monitored, structured programmes are used in Year 5 and 6 with parental knowledge and consent. Throughout the school questions are answered frankly and naturally as they arise in the course of general class work.
The school takes a pro-active role in drug education. Awareness is taught through Personal, Social and Health Education, Science and English. The school actively co-operates with the community police, social services, the LEA and Health Authority.
We use the services of the ‘Life Education Bus’ which visits the school once a year to deliver age appropriate education to all of our children on the subject matter that is relevant to them under the RSE bracket.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
Every child has the chance to participate fully in school activities irrespective of gender or race. The school has policies on Racism and Equal Opportunities which are available on request.
CITIZENSHIP AND CULTURAL AWARENESS
At Boddington Primary Academy each individual is respected and valued. Awareness and respect for people from other cultures is taught through Art, Literature, RE, History, Geography and Music. Throughout the year visitors celebrate aspects of these cultures with the children. Values and relationships are promoted.
HOMEWORK
We endeavour to give children work to do at home which will support their learning in school. This work is intended to be low impact on time spent by children working at home. We believe that the majority of work that children do should be during school hours. Activities should be a balance of creative/topic related tasks and more formal tasks related to maths and English learning.
TEACHING STYLES
A variety of teaching styles is used to deliver the curriculum. Sometimes the whole class is involved, in discussion or instruction, as in Literacy or Numeracy lessons, in specific skills teaching in subjects such as ICT, or in a whole class activity such as P.E. or drama. At other times teachers work with a group of children who may be at a similar level, a mixed ability group or with individual children, whichever teaching method may be most appropriate for the children’s needs. Children also learn from each other through co-operating in groups and working independently on set tasks.
Teachers usually plan work for their class using a theme that covers the concepts they want to teach. These themes have been devised through whole staff agreement and form a Planning Policy, which is followed by each class. Each theme covers the appropriate curriculum areas, whilst other subjects such as
English, Maths and I.T. are taught alongside the current theme. Teachers base the work on practical activities and first hand experiences using, where appropriate, a wide variety of methods for the children to record what they have discovered - written reports, graphs, poems, tape-recordings, pictures, prints, models, charts, etc.
ASSESSMENT
Careful records are kept to inform us about children’s progress and on areas for future development in all curriculum areas. Progress is discussed with parents at two parents’ evenings in the Autumn Term and Summer Term and a full report is sent in the Spring term.
Foundation Stage Profile
During their first year of school Reception children are assessed through observation and discussion, ensuring they are meeting the requirements of the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage. These assessments are kept in a portfolio for each child and are shared with the parents.
Standard Statutory Tasks
The children in Year 2 are assessed using the Statutory Standard Tasks during the year. The children in Year 6, at the end of Key Stage 2, are assessed using Statutory Standard Tasks in accordance with the Government Policy.
CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
Any child with learning difficulties in any area of the curriculum will receive extra support from both the class teacher and classroom assistants, working in a small group or individually on specific tasks aimed at tackling areas of difficulty. The special needs coordinator gives advice, helps set up programmes of support and monitors Special Needs across the school. Occasionally we might ask for extra support or advice from the local authority’s Pupils Support Service (IPS) and if this occurs parents are always consulted.
