Our Curriculum
We believe in Courage to Shine:
Courage to…
- Face new challenges.
- Be the best version of ourselves.
- Have an inquisitive mind.
BE STRONG AND OF GOOD COURAGE (DEUTERONOMY 31:6)
Courage is what we intrinsically promote through our curriculum at Brompton-on-Swale CE Primary School. There are many opportunities for children to engage in through our wider curriculum e.g. performing on stage, representing a team, leading a collective worship, etc. Through taking part in these, we teach children to be brave, try new things and learn from our mistakes to help us move forward.
Face New Challenges
This is all about challenging ourselves to try new things or work towards goals and targets. These can be a range of different challenges, from times tables to ‘keepy ups’ on the playground! Through this we learn about resilience and the Christian value of endurance.
Be the best version of ourselves
Through the teaching of Christian Values we aim to be the best version of ourselves. These are at the heart of our curriculum and taught explicitly through collective worship. Links are also made within PSHE and, where appropriate, across the wider curriculum. Children are able to reflect on these at the end of their time at Brompton and assess how they have developed their Christian Values.
Have an inquisitive mind
Our school curriculum has placed great emphasis on children asking good questions and exploring their learning further. How we teach has been adapted to help develop children’s independence and their ability to research for themselves in order to find out facts and information. Teachers and staff help facilitate this learning pathway but a pupil led approach is encouraged. Through the Christian Value of wisdom, we help prepare children for an ever-changing world where information is regularly available and so we must be able to assess this to know which is of value.
What do we intend the children who attend our school to learn?
There are several aspects to our curriculum that are really important and are therefore prioritised within our teaching and learning. We hope that the following pages give you a flavour of what is available at Brompton-on-Swale CE Primary School.
Why is reading so important?
Reading is our number 1 priority! We challenge ourselves to make sure that every child who attends our school can read by the time they leave Year 1. Reading is essential. If you can’t read, it’s life-limiting! Evidence suggests that children who read for enjoyment every day not only perform better in reading tests than those who don’t, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures.
In fact, reading for pleasure is more likely to determine whether a child does well at school than their social or economic background. It’s the most important skill that we can teach children in school.
Teaching reading doesn’t finish at the end of Year 1 – we want to turn all children into really fluent readers who enjoy reading. Therefore, reading is prioritised right through the school.
How does learning build knowledgeable learners?
Each subject has a ‘Knowledge Progression’ which ensures that learning is built upon through key components (small steps of learning), year on year and children keep on learning, whether that be in English, Art, PE or French, for example. The knowledge progression is based on the thinking and theory from the educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom. You can view our knowledge progressions on the individual subject pages.
How does the curriculum all link together?
We have a ‘Context Plan’ that provides our teachers with a framework, so they know what to teach, and in which year group. It’s our ‘curriculum Bible’! Through our context plan we hope to achieve composites of learning- the outcomes brought about by practising the key components through the knowledge progression. It’s the teachers’ job to ensure that they cover all the content of our curriculum by the end of each academic year.
How do we try to ensure that learners remember what they’ve been taught?
It’s really important that we help children to try to remember what they’ve been taught or we’re all wasting our time and learning becomes irrelevant and very frustrating for everyone! In some areas of the curriculum such as phonics and maths, we follow a clear framework for teaching that allows for spaced repetition in order to aid long term memory. We use a range of strategies and resources, such as:
- Daily Flashback 4 maths activities
- Little Wandle Phonics teaching resources (following the prescriptive planning for teaching)
- Regular engagement in Times Table Rock Stars (Y2-6) and NumBots (Key Stage 1)
- Working displays in the classroom where key knowledge is referred to and built upon
In all subjects we ensure that teachers engage with effective retrieval practice to support their learning. A range of strategies are used, for example:
- Mini quizzes
- Chunking information
- Writing notes
- Making connections with other learning
- Use of rhymes and songs
- Encouraging active learning
- Making learning exciting
Why do we use technology to support the curriculum so much?
Technology is a massive part of life in the 21st Century. It’s virtually impossible to think of a job that doesn’t use some form of technology. Therefore, it’s essential that our curriculum helps our children prepare for the next step in their education but also helps them to consider how they can use it positively in their own lives.
We regularly teach e-safety through our Computing and PSHCE curricula – a very important aspect. Our school Internet connection is effectively filtered and any device that leaves the school also has access to our cloud-based filtering facilities.
There’s also an opportunity for our families to lease their own laptop from the school for the time that their child is with us in school. This allows them to bring their laptop into school every day and use it in lessons as required, as well as to help them with their learning at home.
Accessible to all
We ensure that our curriculum complies with the Equality Act 2010 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014. For further information, please visit our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities page.
Would you like to find out more?
Parents and other members of the public can find out more about the curriculum our school is following by contacting Mrs. Becca Hustwick either by telephone (01748 811683) or by email (admin@bromptonschool.net).
