CURRICULUM
LEARNING THE GTPS WAY
Our approach to learning can be encapsulated in our school motto ‘Enjoy, Respect, Achieve’.
This means our whole curriculum and school experience focus upon providing our children with the widest range of learning opportunities aimed at developing the whole child. Our Learner @ statements underpin every learning opportunity as we believe these skills enable children to be successful learners for life.
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Whilst, of course, we place high importance on academic achievement we know that well rounded learners are developed through access to a range of much wider experiences such as social, sporting, artistic and cultural.
We feel strongly that understanding emotional development and promoting positive mental health is key part of our role. All children and families, at some point, face challenges and through our well-developed approach to pastoral care we are ready to listen and support whether through class teacher and teaching assistant support or via our in house family support team.
Curriculum Intent, Implement and impact statements for more details
Intent
We have designed our curriculum as we believe in mastery, meaning that we want all children to have a secure understanding of year group specific key threads, skills and knowledge. Our curriculum clearly identifies these and the sequence by which they should be introduced, revisited and developed.
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Our intent is for children to become lifelong learners. At Great Totham our Learner @ Statements identify the attributes we believe a lifelong learner needs.
At Great Totham we use the EYFS Curriculum, National Curriculum, ExploRE, (the Essex agreed RE syllabus) and British values as the basis for our coherently planned curriculum. In addition, we adapt our curriculum to meet the changing needs of our children, selecting appropriate themes and additional opportunities.
Implementation
Our approach to teaching is centred upon our understanding of brain development and awareness of working memory. In addition, we are a Trauma Perceptive Practice (TPP) aware school that believes in compassion, hope and connection – relationships are key for all.
Our curriculum is delivered through a combination of topics and discrete subjects. Developed from our subject specific overviews, our medium term plans identify the key prior knowledge that forms the foundation for new learning. These documents are constantly under review as year teams make adaptations for specific cohorts needs.
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We refer to our plans as spirals which build upon new knowledge while revisiting and applying prior learning (the ‘bubbling pot’ analogy). Some of the strategies we use in lessons include scaffolding, modelling, chunking, fluency development through consolidation, as we work with children on their journey from novice to expert learners.
Assessment is used to adapt plans and form an overall picture of children’s progress and attainment against our mastery statements (core) and key knowledge (foundation). Assessment data is used to track individuals, groups and cohorts as part of our data cycle that informs future curriculum developments, planned interventions and resource deployment.
Impact - How do we know our curriculum meets our intent?
The intended impact of our curriculum is that children leave us as confident, rounded learners with the skills and attributes to continue to be successful on their learning journey.
Some of the ways in which we evidence this are:
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National tests show that attainment both as individual subjects and combined are above national standards
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Internal summative assessment shows the majority of children achieve age related expectations as they move through the school
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Children with SEND make good progress against their individual targets
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Our internal monitoring (books, pupil interviews etc.) shows children are making good progress across the whole curriculum
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Visitors to our school often compliment the behaviour and attitude of our children
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We receive many positive comments about our children during and following off site visits
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Our excellent sports provision has been recognised by achieving the Gold School Games Kite Mark for the last two years
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Our tracking shows the majority of children participate in our extra-curricular provision
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Our children enjoy their learning and sharing their achievements
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Feedback from the many secondary schools our children move on to is that they join them very well prepared and easily identified as ‘Totham’ learners
Reading
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At Great Totham, our reading curriculum is designed so that each child becomes an enthusiastic reader with the necessary skills to tackle any text. Children are taught strategies including phonic skills, word recognition and the use of pictures and contextual clues to develop comprehension skills and increase independence in reading for enjoyment.
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Strand 1: Skills and Fluency
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We develop children’s reading skills through a systematic approach to synthetic phonics. The scheme we use is Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised.
In Reception and Year 1 children have three weekly reading practice sessions in school as part of the Little Wandle scheme. The books the children will read with a member of staff are pitched at 90% fluency which means children should only need to decode 1 word in 10.
The focus is on children applying their phonics knowledge and not guessing words or trying to deduce words from picture or grammar clues. Then through repetition the children build fluency and confidence.
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In Year 2 the majority of children will have successfully completed the Little Wandle scheme and will have a secure foundation of reading skills from which to build. Whole class reading lessons are taught alongside weekly individual reading with an adult. The children will bring home a practice book aimed at continuing to develop their reading skills. These banded books ensure children can apply their knowledge and gain further proficiency.
In KS2 Guided Reading is introduced. The texts studied are chosen to help the children develop their stamina, vocabulary and comprehension skills. Books are selected to ensure children are introduced to a diverse range of authors and genre, with supplementary texts used to enrich their understanding.
In addition, children continue to have an individual book, working through the colour bands until they become a free reader. This is normally by the end of Year 4.
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Strand 2: Reading for Pleasure
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We want all children to love and enjoy books. Sharing books with an adult or older siblings helps to encourage children to become lifelong readers.
In Reception and Year 1, all the children will bring home books they have chosen to enjoy sharing at home with you, as they will not yet have developed the skills to read these books independently.
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From Year 2 children choose reading for pleasure books which could be from the school or public library, book corner or books from home. These books could be for sharing, reading independently or by an adult, both at home and in school.
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Our curriculum includes dedicated browsing times and extended reading sessions to develop stamina. All children will be read to by adults in school, meaning many children get the opportunity to enjoy text at a higher level than they could access independently. We have developed a recommended list for each year group to support this. The list is intended to ensure our children continue to experience a diverse range of high-quality text.
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Curriculum Overviews
At Great Totham Primary School we have developed our own detailed curriculum for English and Maths. Based on the National Curriculum these documents provide staff with the detail required to build on the children’s existing knowledge and experiences when planning.​
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Our foundation subject overviews, also developed from the National Curriculum, summarise how the wider curriculum is organised across year groups. Teaching staff work with Subject Teams each year to consider the balance and make adjustments to schemes of work as cohort needs change and new developments are introduced into topics.
Each term, Year Teams provide parents with an explanation of that terms topics and curriculum content.
Please contact the school office for any additional enquiries regarding our school curriculum. Your query will be directed to the relevant member of staff.
BEHAVIOUR
The school motto ‘Enjoy, Respect, Achieve’ encapsulates the values that drive the school community. Implicit within this are the following rights and these form the basis for the school behaviour policy:
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The right to be safe
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The right to fair treatment
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The right to be heard
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The right to be treated with respect
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The right to be able to learn without unnecessary interruption or disruption
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Our behaviour code is reviewed regularly with all members of the school community, children are involved with agreeing and maintaining high expectations in the school and classroom.
High standards in behaviour depend upon the examples set by all who work in the school. All members of the school community have a contribution to make and we work hard to provide a positive working environment.
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Our statement of Behaviour Principles and Behaviour and Anti-bullying Policy can be found here.
BRITISH VALUES
The DfE published guidelines in 2014 for schools to “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.” DfE, November 2014.
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At Great Totham Primary School, we meet the requirements of the Education Act 2002 (section 78) by promoting the Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development of our pupils through various means. Through SMSC provision we actively promote British Values.
Whilst our curriculum is always responsive to individual, group and cohort needs, the following points illustrate a few examples of the typical ways in which British values are promoted at Great Totham:
• Classroom Displays
• Circle Time Discussions
• Life Skills Lessons
• Age Appropriate, Topical Discussion & Debate
• Whole School, Key Stage or Class Assemblies
• School Council, including Elections
• House Captains
• Real Life Choices
• Child-Shaped Class Rules
• Consultation with Pupils on Important Documents
• Monitor Roles & Responsibilities
All schools have a duty to publish their Equality Objectives and make available quantitative equality information.
To meet the requirements and best communicate this information to our local community we have combined all elements required under the Equality Act 2010 within our Single Equality Scheme. This includes our current actions plan which covers all equality strands, including curriculum access (see policy page for full document). ​
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Disabled Access
The school disabled parking space is clearly signed and located in the school car park. Any visitors with access needs please contact the school office prior to your visit.
EQUALITY ACT
SCHOOL SPORTS
At Great Totham we offer a wide range of sporting opportunities for the children both within the curriculum and as additional activities. The many after school clubs we run play an important role in providing children with the chance to refine skills, follow specific interests and take part in competitive events.
Club participation review of 2022-2023
Action plan 2023-2024
Action plan 2024-2025
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