We aim to provide opportunities for children to learn, build on and develop new skills. We try hard to ensure that we make the most of opportunities to learn about our immediate surroundings and use local history, geography and traditions to enrich our curriculum.
Whenever possible, both schools work together and we organise opportunities for the children in both schools to work and learn together. These experiences help our children to work with a wider peer group, to develop social skills and to learn from each other.
We plan trips and invite visitors to our school, so that children receive a wide range of experiences during their primary years.
Our curriculum is underpinned by high quality teaching. Teaching meets the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum, the new 2014 National Curriculum and the agreed local syllabus for Religious Education.
To find out more about the National Curriculum please click here
We deliver a topic based curriculum, so that learning is related and children can make links between subject areas.
Our curriculum follows the new National Curriculum, ensuring that all children study the content required, but is supplemented with learning which is relevant, exciting and matches the interests of the children within our schools.
As we are small schools, our classes are mixed age groups. Therefore, we have planned a rolling programme of topics so that there is progression for all children.
Our curriculum is regularly reviewed, so that changes and improvements can be implemented.
Maths & Literacy
Maths and literacy will be taught discreetly following the new National Curriculum, but wherever possible the topic work will involve elements of maths and literacy, so that children can see the relevance of their learning and practise their skills.
Music & The Arts
We value the importance of the arts within our schools. Mercury and Jupiter receive music within their lessons and use a variety of musical instruments which we have in school. This year we are also using the County Music service to provide brass tuition for children in Years 4, 5 and 6, as well as teaching the children how to read music music and of music theory.
Our schools deliver a rolling Topic Plan each year to every year group, providing stimulating topic subjects to engage and broaden children’s minds, knowledge and learning. Our current Topic Plans for 2016/2017 can be found at the bottom of this page.
Our PE provision is provided by both school staff and outside sports specialists. We aim to deliver high quality PE lessons for all children developing their skills in dance, gymnastics and games. A wide range of extra-curricular sports clubs will be offered during the course of the year, so that children have the opportunity to experience different sports and skills. Swimming will be provided by the county swimming service for children in Years 2 – 4 on a weekly basis during the summer term.
Modern Foreign Languages
Across the Federation, children from Year 2 upwards will learn French through weekly French lessons. There will be an emphasis upon developing confidence in listening and speaking in a foreign language, as well as reading and writing simple phrases and sentences in French.
We are delighted to have been awarded the Bronze Lingua Marque award, following the introduction of the Primary Languages in 2013. This demonstrates the delivery of best practice in our approach to support the development of Primary Languages within the curriculum.
ICT & Computing
At The Kingfisher Schools Federation we aim to teach our pupils to be confident in the use of computers as a tool for learning. We also teach them how to write and debug simple computer programs. We use a variety of resources to do so, including LegoWedo, Scratch and Barefoot.
The Barefoot resources are available free, online. If you would like to support your child’s learning at home, or find out more about computing yourself, then the Barefoot website at www.barefoot.org.uk.You will need to register to use the site, but it is free to do so.
We provide regular updates on how parents can support their children’s learning. However, should you wish for further assistance or explanation, please do come and talk to us at school.