Curriculum
Our curriculum provides pupils with an introduction to the essential knowledge that they need to be educated people. It introduces pupils to the best that has been thought and said; and helps engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement. Our curriculum is designed to reflect local history, geography and people. Our curriculum provides a base around which teachers develop exciting and stimulating lessons to promote the development of pupils’ knowledge, understanding and skills as part of the wider school curriculum. Lessons are enhanced by visits, visitors or experiences to stimulate and engage children and provide exciting opportunities to learn and particularly to write.
We actively promote our school’s values of Aspiration, Resilience, Confidence, Teamwork, Independence and Creativity to ensure young people leave school prepared for life in modern Britain.
| Reading Curriculum Statement |
At Nunthorpe Primary pupils develop reading in all subjects to support their acquisition of knowledge. Pupils are taught to read fluently, understand extended prose (both fiction and non-fiction) and encouraged to read for pleasure. Nunthorpe Primary do everything to promote wider reading. We provide library facilities and set ambitious expectations for reading at home.
Pupils’ acquisition and command of vocabulary are key to their learning and progress across the whole curriculum. We develop vocabulary actively, building systematically on pupils’ current knowledge. We recognise that it is vital for pupils’ comprehension that they understand the meanings of words they meet in their reading across all subjects.
Planning for Progress
Decoding words, developing language and acquisition of comprehension skills are taught simultaneously. Children in early years get off to a quick start and begin to learn phonics using the Read, Write Inc. scheme. This continues into Year 1 and the intention is that all pupils are confident and competent with their phonic ability by the end of Year 1. In Reception and Year 1, children also begin to develop comprehension skills in small mixed ability groups. They work on developing vocabulary, simple retrieval skills, sequencing and inference. In Year 2 pupils’ reading is more focused on reading comprehension skills although some pupils are supported to continue to develop phonic ability.
From nursery, children share a book 1:1 at least once a week with a member of the EYFS team and a home loan scheme is in place allowing children to take a book home to share. First letters from Read, Write Inc are sent home along with CVC words when appropriate. Pupils in Reception and Year 1 read books matched to phonic ability at home and school and take home phonics linked letters, sounds and/or words as appropriate. Most pupils from Year 2 upwards read books at their individual comprehension level using the Accelerated Reader programme. Pupils take these books home and are rewarded for regular reading and accuracy. Pupils from Year 2 upwards are taught explicit comprehension skills through quality first teaching in small ability groups, whole class and small intervention groups using carefully selected extracts and whole class texts.
High Expectations for All
Pupils are taught phonics in groups based on individual ability. Reading lessons are taught in both small ability groups and whole class/ intervention groups and work is differentiated appropriately. We have high expectations for all and ensure that all pupils keep up and catch up through interventions. Continuous assessment is used to support and challenge.
A Love of Reading and Parental Engagement
Reading has high priority throughout school. Books, from a school book spine, are read to pupils by their teachers. Each class has a reading display that motivates pupils to read and includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry books (some of which have cross-curricular links). Pupils are rewarded for their reading through certificates and end of term treats. Parents write comments in reading logs in the younger years and teachers praise pupils and inform parents of progress using a parental engagement app, parent meetings and regular data captures. We take every opportunity to celebrate reading through events such as: World Book Day, Book Fairs, World Poetry Day, Bath Book Bed Day, theatre visits and Story Swaps.
In Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, parents are invited in to school during the autumn term when staff discuss the importance of early reading and what this looks like at each stage. Phonics is also covered in these sessions and staff model what we do with the children and provide the parents with a copy of the sounds and the rhymes which accompany them. After this, 1:1 coaching meetings are offered if staff believe it would appropriate for some children.
Standards and Attainment
Pupils make maximum progress in phonics and reading through a range of planned assessment opportunities. Regular ongoing assessment and more formal assessment informs teachers and leaders of pupil progress which is shared with parents and governors. Groupings are closely monitored and children move groups based on their attainment. Intervention groups are planned based on assessments.
High Quality Teaching and Learning
The English leader ensures that all staff have high quality training up to date training so that they are experts at teaching reading. Leaders, in school and across the trust, monitor and moderate to ensure high quality teaching and assessment.
| Writing Curriculum Statement |
At Nunthorpe Primary, pupils develop the stamina and skills to write at length, creatively, with accurate spelling and punctuation so that they become fluent and confident writers. From initial mark-making and simple sentences, their writing develops as they are taught the correct use of grammar and punctuation so that year on year they build on what they have been taught and expand the range of their writing and the variety of the grammar and punctuation they use. Their writing covers fiction, non-fiction and poetry and includes narratives, explanations, descriptions, comparisons, summaries and evaluations. Through their writing, children have the opportunity to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually and socially.
Planning for Progress
Children in early years get off to a quick start developing fine motor skills through a range of activities to support pencil grip, hold and control. They move from mark making, to the pre-cursive style of letter formation, to writing words and simple sentences. A Talk for Writing approach is adopted and the children learn to tell a story each half term with many experiences and activities planned to reinforce this. Speaking and listening, mark-making and early writing activities are planned on a weekly basis and opportunities to practise these are available in most of the areas of continuous provision. A structured adult-focus activity is provided each week.
Read Write Inc is the preferred phonics scheme at Nunthorpe Primary which starts in the Foundation Stage and continues into Year 1. Throughout Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, children are taught to write for audience and purpose, to identify the features of different genre, to use adventurous vocabulary and sentences types, to plan and to edit and improve their work. Teachers adopted strategies encouraged by Pie Corbett in his Talk for Writing approach. Therefore, examples of ‘Text Mapping’, ‘Boxing Up’, ‘Actions’, ‘Modelling’, ‘Shared Writing’ and ‘Magpieing’ will be evident in lesson as appropriate. In Key Stage 1, children are taught to correctly form upper and lowercase letters, leave spaces between words, use simple punctuation correctly and write a series of sentences. They are taught to use a range of conjunctions and different tenses. From Key Stage 2, children build on their writing skills and at the beginning of Key Stage 2 they are taught how to paragraph. As they progress through Key Stage 2, the children are taught to use more complex punctuation, to use a range of sentence types, use a range of devises for cohesion and use dialogue appropriately. Throughout Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, children are regularly taught grammar, spelling and handwriting.
Pupils are given a wide range of opportunities to use and develop their Speaking and Listening skills to help them with the writing process across all areas of the curriculum.
High Expectations for All
Pupils are taught as a class divided into groups based on individual ability as we recognise that in all classes there are children of differing writing ability and attainment. We have high expectations for all. Continuous assessment is used to support and challenge and work is differentiated where needed to ensure this is at the right level.
Feedback and marking is purposeful and allows children to understand their mistakes and develop their work. Time is given for children to respond to feedback. Children are also provided with the opportunity to self-assess and peer mark.
A Love of Writing and Parental Engagement
The stimuli for our school writing matrix has been carefully selected and planned to provide children with high quality texts or experiences so that they are engaged and inspired to write. Some of the stimuli used is cross-curricular linking to others areas of the curriculum which helps to give the children’s writing purpose. Writing has high priority throughout school. Each class has a display that promotes and displays high quality pupils’ writing and this is also displayed and celebrated in the hall. Pupils are often rewarded for high quality writing during weekly Star of the Week assemblies and Star Writer certificates. We take every opportunity to celebrate writing through events such as: World Book Day, World Poetry Day and theatre visits. We also provide children with the opportunity to write for pleasure through our half termly writing homework which allows the children to write in the genre of their choice based on one of a number of picture stimuli. Teachers praise pupils and inform parents of progress using a parental engagement app, parent meetings and regular data captures.
Standards and Attainment
Pupils make maximum progress in writing through a range of planned assessment opportunities. Regular ongoing assessment and more formal assessment informs teachers and leaders of pupil progress which is shared with parents and governors. Attainment is carefully monitored and intervention and support is provided to enable pupils to catch up and keep up.
High Quality Teaching and Learning
The English leader ensures that all staff have high quality training so that they are experts at teaching writing. Leaders in school monitor and moderate to ensure high quality teaching and assessment. English Leaders within the Ironstone Academy trust work together to share practice, raise attainment of all children within the Multi-Academy Trust, and ensure consistency across the schools.
Cross Curricular links
Our writing curriculum is linked to other areas of learning. Our termly or half termly topics support children to link their learning and use writing skills in variety of contexts. We plan to provide opportunities for children to write about the past, record scientific or geographical information, evidence what they have found out about significant people or places, ask questions of enquiry and express opinions. Giving children these cross curricular opportunities creates purposeful writing and enables children to deepen learning and grow in confidence with any type of writing they encounter.
Learning Environment
In our Foundation Stage, children are immersed in a language rich environment as words are naturally woven into areas of continuous provision and regularly changed to reflect current learning. Through Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, working walls are meaningful and most display a range of vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and sentences relevant to the genre being taught. They are designed to be used by the children to support them and provide them with greater independence.
| Writing Matrix |
Writing Matrix Plan Autumn Term
Writing Matrix Plan Spring Term
Writing Matrix Plan Summer Term
| Maths Curriculum Statement |
High-quality mathematics teaching provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.
Mathematics is an interconnected subject in which pupils need to be able to move fluently between representations of mathematical ideas. The programmes of study are taught in distinct domains, but planning ensures that the curriculum makes rich connections across mathematical ideas, particularly through data handling in science and other subjects. Pupils move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. In order that pupils achieve their full potential, they receive support and challenge.
Pupils become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that they:
- develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately;
- reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, investigating relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language;
- can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.
| Science Curriculum Statement |
Through science, children are taught to be curious about the world around them. Our curriculum is stimulating, engaging and challenging and ensures full coverage of the National Curriculum. It fosters a sense of wonder about natural phenomena. Children develop and use a range of scientific skills including questioning, fair-testing and drawing conclusions. Scientific vocabulary is taught and built upon as topics are revisited progressively in different year groups and across key stages.
Science is taught by Mr Salter in Years 2 to 6. This enables science to be given a high priority in the curriculum and allows time for regular practical investigation. Numeracy and Literacy skills are enhanced through science teaching. In order that pupils achieve their full potential, they receive support and challenge.
Our Science Curriculum can be viewed by selecting the button below:
Science is taught in each year group as follows:-
- EYFS – embedded in the EYFS curriculum.
- Y1 – Science lessons each week taught by the Year 1 teacher plus two cross curricular topics, lasting several weeks.
- Y2 to Y6 – Science lessons each week taught by Mr Salter.
The topics in each year group can be viewed by selecting the button below:
Medium term plans for science can be found in the ‘Curriculum’ section for each year group. For cross-curricular topics, they are embedded in the cross curricular Medium Term Plans.
| Curriculum Statement for SMSC |
At Nunthorpe Primary Academy the spiritual development of pupils is shown by their:
- ability to be reflective about their own beliefs (religious or otherwise) and perspective on life;
- knowledge of, and respect for, different people’s faiths, feelings and values;
- sense of enjoyment and fascination in learning about themselves, others and the world around them;
- use of imagination and creativity in their learning;
- willingness to reflect on their experiences.
Nunthorpe Primary has a full calendar of events and activities related to SMSC (Social, Moral, Spiritual & Cultural) aspects of learning.
| PSHE and RSE Curriculum Statement |
Our PSHE programme has an impact on both academic and non-academic outcomes for pupils, particularly the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. Pupils develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to keep themselves healthy and safe, and prepared for life and work.
We develop skills and attributes through our school values of: Aspiration, Resilience, Confidence Teamwork, Independence and Creativity.
At Nunthorpe Primary Academy we ensure that pupils are provided with an education that prepares them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life. A key part of this relates to relationships and health education which is delivered to every primary aged pupil. Sex education is also covered in an age appropriate manner.
Relationships Education is focused on giving pupils the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships. It is lifelong learning about the understanding of the importance of stable and loving relationships, respect, love and care, for family life. It involves acquiring information, developing skills and forming positive beliefs, values and attitudes. It is a key part of our Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) and Social, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) provision, and is an important aspect of preparing our children for life in Modern Britain.
| Wider Curriculum |
Select the buttons to view.
Art –
Computing –
DT –
Geography –
History –
Languages – Languages Curriculum Overview
Music –
PSHE and RSE – PSHE+RSE Curriculum Overview
RE –
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
At Nunthorpe Primary we see our youngest learners as unique individuals who join our school community with a wealth of personal experiences. We value the unique contribution each family brings to our school community and teach our learners to respect and value differences by sharing and celebrating diversity. Our intention is to ensure each child and family are enabled to feel confident to share and express themselves in a supportive, nurturing environment. Our early years curriculum has been carefully designed to facilitate an aspirational, language rich and creative learning environment rooted in respectful relationships to help our children reach their potential.
Learning experiences are carefully tailored to meet the needs of each individual, ensuring children have the right opportunities to master the core skills vital to prepare them for the Key Stage One curriculum. The setting is stimulating and continuously evolving to reflect the changing needs of our pupils. Personalised learning is shared digitally with parents so that they can help reinforce learning at home.
Children are supported to develop the emotional resilience needed to persevere when tasks are challenging. Our learning culture values effort and perseverance. Our provision is mindful that young learners need to revisit core skills many times in different ways to achieve mastery. Our children leave EYFS seeing themselves as skilled, independent and capable learners ready for the next phase of learning.
Curriculum in more detail
View the year groups below to see more detail on which parts of the curriculum are taught to each class:
Further Information
To find out more about the curriculum Click here.
