Our Curriculum

Intent

At Hadleigh Junior School, our curriculum aims to support both academic achievement and character development, preparing our pupils for the next stage of their education and beyond and inspiring them to be lifelong learners.

Experiences, growth mind-set and mastery are the key drivers of our broad and balanced curriculum, which teaches the objectives of the National Curriculum for all subjects, and the Locally Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education, and is underpinned by our whole school values which help pupils become Resilient, Independent, Creative and Inquisitive. We aim to meet the needs and interests of all our pupils through a purposeful, progressive and engaging curriculum which provides opportunities for LOTC, rich learning experiences and challenge. We also intend to help children grow into positive and responsible people who are able to achieve success and fulfilment.

All pupils, irrespective of ability, share a common entitlement to our school’s curriculum. As such, we are committed to offering an inclusive, mastery curriculum to ensure the best possible progress for all our children whatever their needs or disabilities. Special provision will be made as necessary for children with a special educational need with the main emphasis on integrating and giving them access to the school curriculum through a whole school approach. (For further details, please see the SEND Policy and School Offer.)

We oppose all forms of prejudice and discrimination and see all learners and their parents/carers, as of equal value, regardless of their race, gender, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age. Our curriculum aims to promote equality in these areas whilst also taking account of differences of life-experience, outlook and background. We foster positive attitudes and relationships and a sense of belonging and community.

Organisation

The curriculum is organised across year groups and by term to enable pupils to acquire secure age related English and maths skills and to ensure coverage, clear progression and strong achievement in all National Curriculum subjects. Objectives are taught as part of a termly cross-curricular topic and at the heart of each topic are two high quality texts, one fiction and one non-fiction, which are also used to promote the importance of, as well as a love of, reading. Teachers plan engaging and exciting ways to teach the curriculum to foster interests, a love of learning and good outcomes. Each topic will include at least some of the following aspects: an educational visit, key visitors to school, a parental engagement event and volunteering/charity work. The topics and objectives for all subjects are set out in year group curriculum maps which can be found above.

For each subject, we have key threads which run through the curriculum from Year 3 to Year 6. This embeds key concepts for pupils over time and helps them to link different units of content. These can be found above in the Curriculum Policies folder.

Our timetable is designed to ensure appropriate time is given to all subjects and includes a daily wellbeing session which promotes different aspects of this important area.

Each week, our pupils participate in five maths lessons where they are taught the key objectives linked to their year group. We aim for most children to achieve mastery of the objectives in their year group by teaching them the skills and then providing opportunities to use and apply their learning in different ways so that the learning becomes embedded (this includes active maths, investigations, reasoning and problem solving). Practical, hands on equipment is used to support the children in understanding key concepts and a series of progressive challenges helps them build and deepen their understanding. Additional daily maths practice sessions enable children to further embed maths skills. Children also participate in the Times Tables Rock Stars programme which is a fun way to learn times tables up to 12 x 12 (a National Curriculum expectation by the end of Year 4). Opportunities are also given to apply maths skills in other subjects outside of maths lessons.

English is a key part of all lessons and we teach with a cross-curricular topic approach. English specific lessons are organised as follows:

Daily reading sessions which focus on the enjoyment of reading as well as expanding vocabulary and comprehension.
Daily English lessons which teach understanding and the use of different text types through reading and writing objectives and will include appropriate spelling and grammar instruction.
English basic skills sessions which specifically teach age related aspects of spelling, grammar and handwriting.

As with Maths, we aim for most children to achieve mastery level of the age-related expectations.

The subjects of music, computing and languages (currently French) are taught by specialist teachers during weekly sessions and, where appropriate, are linked to topics.

We are very proud of our school orchestra and choir who give a variety of performances throughout the year. French is taught through a range of games, videos, songs and computer programmes. Pupils learn key vocabulary and language structures to develop their spoken and written language skills, as well as learn about cultural elements of the language. We have a well-equipped computing suite which develops important skills for the 21 century.

RE lessons follow the Essex Agreed Syllabus.

RSE (relationship and sex education) is delivered in accordance with the SEEAT policy which is based on age related objectives and can be found in the policy section of the website.

Pupils participate in two lessons of PE each week and learn skills in gymnastics, dance, swimming, athletics and a variety of team and ball games. Specialist teachers are invited to deliver some of these lessons throughout the year.

Homework is used to consolidate learning or to explore an upcoming topic. Pupils are expected to practise times tables and reading at home, as well as learning or investigating spelling rules and patterns. They are also given a piece of Maths and English homework each week. Holiday homework projects are also set during the year which link to the topics in each year group.

During the year we hold several special themed weeks and months. These have included Black History Month, Online Safety Week, Enterprise Week and Anti-bullying Week. This is not a finite list and we are always looking for exciting themes to further boost our curriculum.

Personal development

As well as our academic commitment to our pupils, we ensure the curriculum, along with our school ethos, develops them as good citizens with an understanding of key British Values, how to keep healthy, how to make and sustain good relationships and how to stay safe, including online. A daily slot on the timetable is designated for wellbeing which may include being active, being mindful of ourselves and ways to relax. The provision of rich experiences, alongside a full and varied extra-curricular programme, fosters pupils’ interest in the areas of sport, music and the arts and develops a healthy approach to competition, performance and sportsmanship.

A key driver for our curriculum is a growth mindset. This is embedded in our school ethos and whole school teaching practice. It is evident in all aspects of school life and is promoted through displays throughout the school, during assemblies and during PSHE lessons. We value and celebrate examples where pupils use a growth mindset to keep trying at a task until they are successful or further forward and to understand the value of practice and learning from mistakes. Further information can be found on the Growth Mindset page of our website.

We regularly review our curriculum to ensure it remains relevant, in all respects, and meets the needs of our pupils, whilst engaging them and inspiring them to love learning and appreciate the range of rewards it brings.

Further details can be found in the Curriculum Policy but if you have any questions please contact me via the school office.

If you wish to discover more about our curriculum please contact Miss Cole (Curriculum Lead and Head of School) via the School Office.