Woolden Hill Primary School uses the Ruth Miskin Read, Write Inc phonics programme to support the teaching of early reading and phonics across EYFS and Year One. To find out more about this programme, feel free to watch this short video below:
Curriculum Information
Captains Close Curriculum Statement
Our curriculum has been written to develop children who:
- Are inspired learners.
- Are good citizens.
- Are independent thinkers.
- Have curiosity
- Are great friends.
This is the philosophy of how we want to work and learn. These aims underpin all of the learning that takes place in our school.
Click on the link to see our Curriculum Intent – The Big Picture Overview to gain a great understanding of our curriculum Intentions.
Click on the link to see our Curriculum – planning overview for whole school
Characteristics of Learning
Curriculum implementation
English
Phonics
Maths
Science
The Arts
Health & Wellbeing
Characteristics of Learning
At the heart of our curriculum are the following eight characteristics of learning. This features in our planning and the way that children talk about their learning.
- Confidence
- Perseverance
- Drive
- Resilience
- Curiosity
- Teamwork
- Respect
- Independence
- Inquisitive
- Creativity
- Bravery
Curriculum implementation
Our learning takes place through children developing their knowledge, skills and understanding via carefully chosen topics that will capture the children’s interests. These topics have the key drivers of ‘past, present and future’ to help the children gain a sense of what has gone before, what is happening now in the world and how they can be an agent for change in the future. Throughout each year group, six key global themes will also be explored:
- Environment
- Being Healthy
- Human Rights
- Equality & Diversity
- Aspiration
- Technology
This helps the children gain a clear understanding of the world they live in and how they can make a difference both now and in the future.
English
Spelling:
Children are taught spelling through the Read Write Inc scheme, which is for children in Years 2 to 6 who are starting to read more accurately, with increasing speed. With 15 minutes of daily teaching, children develop confident spelling. They are taught specific spelling rules which are then assessed at the end of the week. Click here for parental spelling advice.
Reading:
Children are taught to read in whole class Guided Reading sessions. Throughout KS1, children have access to a great range of fiction and non-fiction books that are arranged using a coloured book band system.
In KS2, children are taught the reading skills: decode, retrieve, explain and choice using a range of picture books, film, fiction and non-fiction titles.
As a school, we use Accelerated Reader which assesses the children and helps teachers guide them to books that are on their individual reading levels. After each book, children are quizzed to check their understanding.
As a school, we value reading and have several ways to celebrate and engage our pupils:
- Reading buddies
- Race to a million words
- World Book Day
- Story Time Selfie Challenge
- Our best books Year 5/6
- Harry Potter Book Night
Writing:
At Captain’s Close, we encourage our children to be creative and independent writers. We encourage them to write clearly and with confidence across genres. The children are taught to use punctuation and grammar accurately and edit to make improvements as go they go. We value the development of correct letter formation and neatly presented handwriting through our use of PROUD. We give the children a wide range of opportunities in which to develop their writing skills and display the wonderful work they have produced. Our children love our half termly Writing Champions, which are proudly displayed in school. Through our English curriculum, we aim to nurture in the children a love of literature and language, and the confidence to continue reading and writing throughout their lives.
Phonics
Discovery Schools Phonics Lessons
To watch our very own Discovery Trust phonics videos to support your child’s learning with phonics at home, click hereMaths
Captains Close Primary School is committed to embedding a Maths Mastery curriculum with pedagogies and practices built around the true principles of this.
To support this, we are using a mastery scheme produced by the White Rose Maths Hub, as well as continuing to use our knowledge of the Maths No Problem Singapore approach.
Our philosophy to the Maths Curriculum at Captain’s Close
In EYFS, children explore mastery in mathematics through teacher led activities as well as independent continuous provision. Children explore different representations of numbers and learn about number sense.
Here are some statements which explain what Maths lessons look like at Captain’s Close:
- Learning questions are focussed on the use of precise mathematical vocabulary
- Success criteria with mathematical vocabulary
- All children will work towards the expectations of their year group and no child will be given activities relating to objectives beyond their own year group.
- Whole class teaching
- Vocabulary and the learning journey are displayed on working walls
- Teachers model full sentences for answers given and encourage pupils to do the same
- Challenges are planned throughout lessons to deepen understanding
- Children with SEND needs who are unable to access the curriculum may have separate activities planned
- Manipulatives are accessible to all children throughout the school and are included in lesson delivery
- Concrete, Pictoral and Abstract stages are used throughout a lesson
- Teacher’s questioning encourages children to give reasons for their answers to develop their reasoning skills.
To support our children learning their multiplication facts, we subscribe to the Times Table Rock stars (TTRS) website which has been extremely successful and has encouraged pupils to practice their times tables in a way that is competitive and fun. Our Battle Day, when we dressed as rock stars, really kick started this and we will continue with regular battle days from now on.
As a school we have taken pupils to the DSAT Maths conference and have been involved in maths activities in school during the DSAT Number day. We celebrated this day by holding an assembly where classes could share their learning and perform a number song, rhyme or rap learnt during the day!
Website links for parents:
Oxford Owl Times table- Help at home
BBC Super Movers Times Table Songs
Science
Our aim in Science is to inspire and motivate our children so they become curious and inquisitive learners. We introduce children to the skills needed to conduct experiments and investigations and ensure that these include a range of different enquiry types. We teach them to observe, record and draw conclusions about the living, material and physical world around them. We ensure that the knowledge that is imparted will be retained, through regular spaced and retrieval practice activities. Knowledge Organisers play a key role in this and children are asked to share these with parents so that learning can be reinforced at home.
Our personalised curriculum allows children to focus on Science for two full weeks at a time so learning is progressive and meaningful, with clear outcomes. Forest Schools and the outdoor
environment enrich the children’s experiences as well as school trips and visitors to school. Our aim for pupils of ‘achieving success, creating futures together’ runs through our teaching in
Science and our curriculum includes drivers centred around the past, present and future.
In Science, children discover how scientific inventions in the past have influenced their lives, the place of Science plays in our lives today in terms of current innovations and jobs and then their personal aspirations for the future.
We developed seven Science Principles that reflected the views of the children and staff which now form the basis of every Science lesson:
Sensory
Curious
Investigative
Exciting
Natural
Cool
Exploratory
The Arts
The Arts encompass a wide range of subject areas and disciplines including Music, Dance, Drama, Art and Design. The Arts at our school means providing our pupils with the opportunity to learn about and participate in each of these areas. It also provides them with the platform from which to be creative, to express themselves, find success and share these experiences, talents and abilities through performance.
Mission Statement
At Captain’s Close Primary School we are committed to providing all children with the opportunities to engage and succeed in the Arts. We encourage children to share and explore both their own and new diverse cultural experiences within the Arts. We aim to enable children to achieve high standards through a creative and enriching curriculum. We are passionate about developing and promoting the Arts through an enjoyable, creative and cross-curricular approach. As well as focussed high quality teaching of the arts through our creative curriculum, we enrich our children’s learning and experiences of the Arts through a range of school time and after school opportunities. We are also committed to providing opportunities for our pupils to share and perform their abilities and talents in the Arts, both during a range of events in school and in the wider community. At Captain’s Close Primary School, we aim to ensure that all our children enjoy, thrive, succeed and achieve their potential in the Arts.
Aims
Children should be:
- Inspired by being immersed in different art forms throughout their journey through the school.
- Engaged within a variety of art forms on a regular basis in order to explore values, attitudes, feelings and meanings.
- Develop the ability to create, appreciate and make critical judgements about artworks.
- Encouraged to work independently and in teams, to share arts experiences and present artworks to others.
- Given opportunities to develop an understanding of the role of the arts in society including artworks of different cultures.
- To have an age appropriate theatre experience per Key Stage.
- To celebrate and share all that is achieved within the Arts with the school and wider community.
Peripatetic music lessons
We offer private keyboard, guitar and oboe music lessons. The children attend weekly lessons and have the opportunity to perform termly to their parents and the school.
Rocksteady
Rocksteady has been very popular at Captain’s Close for both pupils and parents. Pupils can enrol to become a member of a rock band. Pupils choose their instrument and have weekly band rehearsals (during school time). This group mixes instruments with performance and wellbeing. The rock bands perform every term to parents and the school.
Health & Wellbeing
Our pastoral team at Captain’s Close Primary School are dedicated to improving the mental health and wellbeing of all children. We have a variety of support on offer to help children who may be experiencing difficulties. Children can attend emotional literacy sessions with our school ELSA who works with your child to understand the main barriers to promoting their wellbeing and complete activities together to learn strategies and skills to help them move forward. Children have access to interventions such as Zones of Regulation which helps children to name, describe and regulate a range of different emotions and they will create their own personal ‘tool box’ of strategies to help in different situations. Staff promote awareness of the importance of good mental health and wellbeing across the curriculum and we offer a range of activities at break, lunch and after school to engage children in healthy and active lifestyle choices.
If you are concerned about your child’s mental health and wellbeing please contact your child’s class teacher or Mrs French-Gray who is a qualified National Leader in Mental Health who can provide additional help and support.
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