CURRICULUM OVERVIEW AND APPROACH
At Queen’s Park Primary School, we recognise and value individual differences in an inclusive learning community. Our belief in community, creativity, environment, and aspiration underpins our curriculum and reinforces our aim to nurture children to be caring, lifelong learners.
We broaden the experience and perspective of our children in order to raise aspiration and demonstrate opportunities, such as through our links with the National Theatre, cultural community groups and local connections through, for example the “Let’s Dance” and Brighton Children’s parade as well as trips and visits to places such as the science museum, the seven sisters county park, and places of historical interest.
We believe in a creative curriculum, providing pupils with many ways to express themselves and embrace the arts.
We plan a curriculum that builds on prior learning and develops key skills. It ensures coverage of the national curriculum and uses materials to develop fluency, mastery and the deepening of skills, knowledge and understanding.
The curriculum also provides children with an interesting vibrant learning experience, creating lifelong memories and teaching children lifelong learning skills such as resilience, perseverance, creativity, motivation reflection, problem solving and team work that will set them up for their future, and face the challenges in modern society. We teach our children that all great learners make mistakes and learn from them.
We are continually improving our curriculum and are currently focusing on how we can ensure it reflects the needs of our current community and embraces current local and national issues such as Black Lives Matter. As part of our school of sanctuary approach, we have strong links to the EMAS service, who support us in leading staff meetings, working with individual teachers, undertaking learning walks and meeting with parents.
We instruct children about religions, faiths, cultures, and lifestyles in order to promote mutual respect and understanding; we want children to be aware that they are a central part of and have a role to play in our community and that they are part of a bigger national and international community. We have links with the local places of worship, charities, such as local food banks and environmental and arts groups.
We promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. We model democratic processes through our highly active Learning Council. In normal times we also have an Eco group, art ambassadors and an art council, a science council with science pupil leads as well as IT ambassadors.
We incorporate personal, social, health, citizenship, and emotional education (PSHCE) using the local authority framework to ensure all pupils learn and achieve as appropriate to their needs.
We believe that children learn by doing, so we take them on of educational visits, invite speakers into school, and bring in artefacts and interesting objects. We incorporate theme weeks to foster an understanding of why they are learning skills and knowledge and are developing links with the community so that children understand the world of work.
We make use of the local area such as the beach and the wildlife centres to support our learning. We believe in teaching children that the environment needs protecting and we have an eco-group led by a climate change aware teacher.
We aim to provide our children with the skills, knowledge, and aspiration, they need to be successful when they leave us to go onto the secondary phase of education and the skills, knowledge, and ability to be successful in whatever they choose to do.
Reading
Reading is a key part to our curriculum. We read across subjects, through class readers and in guided reading sessions. In guided reading sessions, children are in ability groups. When children start reading, they read fully-decodable books that are in line with the sounds and tricky words they have been taught. These are read in school and then the children take these home to practise.
As soon as children can read unfamiliar words confidently, they read wider children’s literature and no longer read books in the school’s levelled reading programme.
All pupils can also borrow a book from the school library and class book corner that their adult can read with them at home.
Phonics
In Reception, Year 1 and 2, phonics is taught in ability groups 30 minutes daily. We follow the accredited Twinkl scheme. Additional daily catch-up interventions take place to help children who need to overlearn.
Twinkl phonics introduction for parents – This document will define key terminology that we use in school and your children will use. It explains how synthetic phonics works and outlines the expectations for what children should be able to do by the end of each level. Additionally, there is information about the Year 1 phonics screening check and suggestions for how to help your child at home.
Please take a look at the link below to find out how we pronounce the phonetic sounds.
Twinkl YouTube video for the correct sound pronunciation
Spelling
Key Stage 2 teach spelling using the Spelling Shed scheme.
Maths
In Maths we follow a mastery approach through a cycle of – high quality group based instruction, monitoring, correction, enrichment and review. We follow a clear progression of skills to ensure the development of number skills and follow a clear plan to develop number fluency.
Please find the progression of skills below and the fluency plan. If your child is fully confident on the fluency focus, they will be given a further challenge.
Maths Progression Document 2022-23
Queen’s Park Addition and subtraction calculation policy
Queen’s Park Multiplication and Division calculation policy
wrm-reception-scheme-guidance-for-teachers
If you would like to find out how you can help at home with your child’s maths, please click on the link here.
Ways to Help with Maths at Home
If you have any further questions about the curriculum please contact us on admin@queenspark.brighton-hove.sch.uk
QPPS 2022 – 23 Curriculum Poster Reception[9453]
QPPS 2022-23 Curriculum Posters Year 1
QPPS 2022-23 Curriculum Posters Year 2
QPPS 2022 – 23 Curriculum Posters Year 3
QPPS 2022- 23 Curriculum Posters Year 4