Our English Curriculum

Our English curriculum has been developed to recognise the importance of English in every aspect of daily life. We believe that a secure basis in English is the foundation of a high quality education and will give our children the tools they need to be successful and thrive in later life. 

At Denver VC Primary we:

Aim for all our children to discover a love of reading, writing, speaking and listening, to be passionate for discovery and able to explore their imaginations.

We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children value all aspects of the English curriculum, take pride in their work and aspire to be proficient readers, writers, spellers and speakers, who can transfer their English skills to other curriculum subjects.

We recognise that each child has their own starting point upon entry to every year group and progress is measured in line with these starting points to ensure every child can celebrate success.

We praise our children’s enthusiasm and motivation for reading, writing and discussion, and the progress they make in preparation for the next steps in their education.

Our curriculum closely follows the aims of the National Curriculum for English (2014) to enable all children to:

• read easily, fluently and with good understanding
• develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
• appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
• write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
• use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas are competent in the arts of speaking and listening making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate

These aims are embedded across our literacy lessons and the wider curriculum.

The teaching of English is broken down into the following areas:

• Spoken Language
• Reading (word reading and comprehension)
• Writing (transcription and composition)
• Spelling, Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation

Writing Intent

It is our aim that every child will be able to express their thoughts and ideas clearly and creatively in written form, and develop a love of writing throughout their time with us. We aim for children to develop a rich vocabulary by providing opportunities for them to use and understand ambitious word choices. We want our children to confidently apply the skills of spelling, grammar and punctuation. We set high expectations and encourage all of our children to take pride in their work and use a fluent, cursive handwriting style. We strive to create writers who can edit and improve their writing.

Writing Implementation

• We have high expectations of children’s handwriting and our displays around school reflect this.
• We have a ‘Star Handwriting’ display and one child from every class each week has their work displayed on this.
• Pen licences are awarded to encourage children to adopt a consistently high standard and take pride in their work. 
• Opportunities for extended writing are woven through the whole curriculum
• Spelling, punctuation and grammar are taught directly and pupils are expected to apply their learning in all subjects.
• Pupils are taught to understand grammatical terminology in English, using it accurately and appropriately when discussing their writing and reading.
• Children learn spellings at home each week and these are tested in school. Children who need additional support with spelling receive a variety of different interventions to address their gaps.
• Vocabulary is promoted through displays in class, all curriculum areas, enhancing and encouraging a wider use of vocabulary.
• Vocabulary mats to be used where needed and thesauruses and dictionaries which are easily accessible for pupils to use.
• As well as ongoing formative assessment, teachers assess writing half termly.
• Displays of writing, in class, shared areas and on the school website, giving a purpose and audience, to encourage pride in work and to show that work is valued

Writing Impact

Children will develop a love of writing and make good progress from their starting points. They will enjoy writing across a range of genres. They will be able to write clearly and accurately, and have a good knowledge of how to adapt their writing based on the context purpose and audience. They will acquire a wide vocabulary and be adventurous with their vocabulary choices within their writing.

Reading Intent

We believe that reading is a key skill for life and we are dedicated to fostering a life-long love of reading and books in our children. Reading lies at the very heart of our curriculum. We believe that reading unlocks children’s imagination and enriches their language and vocabulary.

Reading Implementation

• Children are encouraged to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction.
• Teachers create a positive reading culture in school.
• Promotion of reading through teachers regularly reading a class reader (a high-quality narrative text) to the whole class.
• All classes have access to higher level texts and teachers choose challenging stories to read to their classes.
• Children are encouraged to acquire the habit of reading for enjoyment and to develop the use of books in the wider learning process.
• Reading books are levelled so that we can ensure that children are reading at the best level to ensure their progress.
• A range of approaches including whole-class teaching, guided reading, shared reading, independent reading and reading aloud or listening to reading are used.
• Guided Reading takes place daily in classrooms and is based on a higher-level text.
• Author visits help develop a love of reading and an enquiring attitude towards texts.
• Parents are encouraged to read regularly with their children and a diary is provided for any comments or questions parents may have relating to their child’s progress. 
• Reading cafés take place in Class 1 to engage parents with their child’s learning.
• Children are encourage to participate in the Summer Reading Challenge each year.
• Reading is promoted through our ‘We Love Reading’ display.
• Comprehension skills are taught and developed in English lessons but also through reading opportunities offered in all other subjects across the curriculum.
• As the children progress through the school they are encouraged to read independently and a wide range of books are freely available from the school library.
• Children in EYFS and KS1 have daily phonics sessions, following Letters and Sounds. Children are taught in groups based on their need and ability. Children read fully decodable books linked to their letters and Sound phase.

Reading Impact

Children will develop a passion for reading for both for pleasure and to further their learning.  They will enjoy reading a range of genres, including poetry, and be confident in discussing what they have read. They will be able to read fluently and for meaning, using their skills to enhance their knowledge across the curriculum. They will leave our school with a life-long love of reading and a love for books.

Speaking and Listening Intent

We aim for our children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening, and effective communicators who speak with clarity and confidence. 

Speaking and Listening Implementation

• Different teaching and learning approaches encourage children to voice their ideas in small groups and whole class discussion.
• Staff model the use of higher level vocabulary to expand children’s vocabulary.
• Subject specific vocabulary is embedded across the curriculum.
• We model correct grammar in speech and encourage children to reflect this in their use of spoken and written language.
• Children are given the chance to orally rehearse ideas for writing regularly.
• Drama is used across the curriculum to explore and engage children in their learning.
• We run a weekly performance club to give children the opportunity to work towards performing in front of an audience.
• Floor books are used in RSHE and RE to help to develop our speaking and listening skills. Work is much more collaborative and children are given the time to share and discuss their ideas, before recording.

Speaking and Listening Impact

Speaking and listening give us the basic skills we need to communicate with the world around us. Our children will leave school having had access to a wide and varied range of high quality speaking and listening experiences which will help them communicate effectively as they move to the next stage of their learning journey.

Maths Intent

At Denver school the fundamental aims of the 2014 National Curriculum are at the core of learning.

The national curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.

• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language

• can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

The maths lead at Denver VC has trained as a maths specialist and the school is committed to mastery teaching of the subject.

• We Discover new learning and enthusiasm for mathematics by delivering engaging, fun lessons throughout the school that will be memorable and inspire curiosity and an eagerness to learn in the children.
• We Value the vocabulary which is a key element in their learning as they learn the new language associated with different concepts of mathematics.
• We Celebrate when children aspire to have a growth mindset and try to develop a can do attitude to their learning and can demonstrate a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts.
• We Praise the progression evident as the children make connections within the subject, drawing on their previous learning to support them to learn more and remember more.

We intend to equip the children with the skills they need to succeed in mathematics, to understand the value of its application throughout their everyday lives and to give them the confidence to attempt challenges.

We celebrate their success within the school and their efforts are praised.

Implementation

• The school uses the Power Maths scheme of work, which aligns to the National Curriculum and has built in assessments at the end of each unit to review previous learning and ensure key maths skills are embedded.  The scheme also provides Strengthening activities for those children who need additional support and Deepening Activities for those pupils who need extending.
• Homework is set to review and develop their learning.  This is weekly, linked to their learning in school.  KS2 will complete tasks on Maths Flex and KS1 will complete activities on School Jam.  The teachers are able to monitor engagement with homework.  Paper homework is provided for those unable to access the online learning platforms.
• In addition to the homework linked to their schoolwork, they can access ttrockstars and Stick and Split online activities.  Both of these programs are to support their multiplication fluency.
• The school uses resources from NCETM, Third Space Learning, White Rose, nrich and other resources alongside other the Power Maths scheme.
• Pupils are monitored and assessed regularly, and those found to be in need of additional support are given individual or group intervention on particular concepts to help on specific areas of learning.  Those who show a deep understanding of particular concepts are given more complex problem solving work.
• Concrete, pictorial representations and abstract methods are used and children are encouraged to move to the next level in all concepts only when they feel confident and ready to do so.
• Where possible, links are made with other areas of the curriculum.

Impact

The impact of our teaching of mathematics at Denver will produce pupils who:

• are engaged, challenged and confident to have a go
•  talk about their work using correct mathematical vocabulary
• can reason about their mathematics
• have a positive attitude to their learning
• can make links between the different areas in mathematics
• know what they need to do in order to improve and succeed
• understand the importance of mathematics in the wider context of their education and lives.

Intent

At Denver Primary School, we provide our pupils with a high quality science curriculum (the Primary Knowledge Curriculum) that lays the foundations to understand the world around them and to understand how science has the capacity to make positive changes to the world.

Discover: Science is about enabling our pupils to experience and observe phenomena in the natural and human-made world.  Learners are encouraged to be curious, ask questions about what they observe and are supported in developing their scientific ideas by using different types of enquiry to answer questions. We provide a stimulating curriculum with many opportunities for practical and investigative activities, thus enabling pupils to plan and use different types of scientific enquiry. We encourage the children to develop a range of skills: reasoning, critical thinking, prediction, refining ideas, using trial and improvement, thinking logically, working systematically and drawing sensible conclusions.

Value: In conjunction with the aims of the National Curriculum, we provide a rich and varied curriculum to inspire our children’s interest in this area. We value the importance that this subject has by allocating at least one hour of curriculum time to this subject in all classes.

We strive to show pupils their ideas are valued by encouraging them to share their findings and to record them in different ways. They are empowered by furthering their knowledge, in addition to increasing their understanding and application of scientific vocabulary and terminology.

We value the idea of fairness. This is fostered by regular experiences to plan and use fair testing principles. We also use the science curriculum to teach the children to care for the world, both locally and on a larger scale, developing awareness of sustainability and investigating micro-habitats. They learn to care for themselves by handling equipment safely.

Celebrate: We celebrate and enhance the opportunities for wider learning in this area through the use of our outdoor environment, visits to local habitats such as Welney Wetlands and the National Space Centre. We learn about and celebrate the achievements of famous scientists and how they have influenced the world.

Praise: We praise effort and achievement in this area, encouraging the children to pursue their own interests in the classroom and beyond. We encourage the children to recognise that the science curriculum we provide gives them the confidence and motivation to continue to further develop their skills into the next stage of their education and life experiences.

Implementation 

Teachers create a positive attitude to science learning within their classrooms and reinforce an expectation that all children are capable of achieving high standards in science. Our whole school approach to the teaching and learning of science involves the following:

• Science is taught in planned and arranged topic blocks by the class teacher, based on the PKC. This is a strategy to enable the achievement of a greater depth of knowledge. These topics are supported by knowledge organisers, class displays and key vocabulary to support the accumulative development of important knowledge.
• Through our planning, we involve problem-solving opportunities that allow children to find out for themselves. Children are encouraged to ask their own questions, use prior learning experiences to make predictions, and be given opportunities to use their scientific skills and research to discover the answers. This curiosity is celebrated within the classroom. Planning involves teachers leading engaging lessons, involving high-quality resources to aid understanding of conceptual knowledge. Teachers use precise questioning in class to test conceptual knowledge and skills, and assess children regularly to identify those children with gaps in learning, so that all children keep up.
• We build upon the learning and skill development of the previous years. As the children’s knowledge and understanding increases, and they become more proficient in selecting, using scientific equipment, collating and interpreting results, they become increasingly confident in their growing ability to come to conclusions based on real evidence.
• Opportunities to work scientifically are embedded into lessons to ensure such skills are being developed throughout the children’s school career and new vocabulary. Challenging concepts are introduced through direct teaching. This is developed through the years, as key topic strands are revisited and extended, as outlined in the subject and unit rationales of the PKC. 
• Teachers use the Primary Knowledge Curriculum CPD platform for guidance and the key assessment questions are outlined on each plan. These allow teachers to assess children's levels of understanding at various points in the lesson. They also enable opportunities to recap concepts where necessary. The sequence of lessons helps to embed scientific knowledge and skills, with each lesson building on previous learning. There is also the opportunity to regularly review and evaluate children's understanding and a quiz at the end of each unit of learning. 
• Teachers demonstrate how to use scientific equipment, and the various Working Scientifically skills in order to embed scientific understanding. Teachers find opportunities to develop children’s understanding of their surroundings by accessing outdoor learning.
• Children are offered visits, trips and visitors to complement and broaden the curriculum. These are purposeful and link with the knowledge being taught in class.
• Events, such as curriculum days allow all pupils to come off-timetable, to provide broader provision and the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills.

Impact of our Science Curriculum

At Denver V C Primary, progress is measured through a child’s ability to know more, remember more and explain more. This is measured in different ways. The use of key questions ensures opportunities are built into the lesson for ongoing assessment. Attainment and progress is measured across the school using our nine point tracking grids, these are informed by the inbuilt assessment tasks of the PKC. The learning environment across the school has science technical vocabulary displayed, which is spoken and used by all learners and evidence of the subject’s high status visible through learning displays. Pupils in the Foundation Stage are encouraged to use new vocabulary in the way they describe or predict the results of experiments.

Children who feel confident in their science knowledge and enquiry skills will be excited about science, show that they are actively curious to learn more and will see the relevance of what they learn in science lessons to real-life situations and also the importance of science in the real world. Assessment data is collected by the assessment coordinator and results in this subject reported to governors, parents, transition secondary schools and the Local Authority.

The successful approach at Denver V C Primary School, in conjunction with the PKC scheme, results in a fun, engaging, high-quality science education, that provides children with the foundations and knowledge for understanding the world. Our engagement with the local and outdoor environment, with a renewed focus on outdoor learning opportunities ensures that children learn through varied and first-hand experiences of the world around them. Through a range of workshops, trips and interactions, children learn that science has changed our lives and that it is vital to the world’s future prosperity. Children also learn the possibilities for careers in science, as a result of being inspired by our learning about key scientists and inventors and via community links such as Downham Market Library and the Cambridge Research Centre, ensuring that children have access to positive role models within the field of science from a range of backgrounds. This ensures children feel that they can achieve well. Children at Denver VC Primary enjoy science and this results in motivated learners with sound scientific understanding ready for the next stage in their education.

The PKC history curriculum has been designed to be both knowledge-rich and coherently sequenced. Knowledge, in the realm of history, means not only substantive knowledge of historical events, dates and people in the past, but also knowledge of substantive concepts in history. The PKC history curriculum allows children to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of local, British and world history. The substantive knowledge taught in the curriculum has been carefully chosen and sequenced using a largely chronological approach. Each unit of work should not be viewed as a stand-alone topic, but as a chapter in the story of the history of Britain and the wider world. In this sense, the chronological approach provides a solid framework, anchoring each unit within a wider narrative.

From year to year, unit to unit, lesson to lesson, the curriculum supports children in making connections and building upon prior substantive and disciplinary knowledge.

The PKC history curriculum is balanced to enable children to look in some depth at local, national and world history, encouraging children to explore the connection between significant events and people and how they have influenced the modern world. The content in the curriculum ensures children have a secure overview of a period, before studying aspects in more depth. While many of the units are 6 weeks long, some units are longer, ensuring children secure the complexities of the content and have more time to study the period in more detail.

Each year, the children will study at least one unit of British history, looking at significant ‘turning points’ that help children understand modern Britain. While time is spent developing a solid understanding of the political context of each period (usually first), children will then embark on studying a wide range of contexts in more depth, including the cultural, social and religious context of the time.

The curriculum aims to help children understand how the past is constructed and contested. Children begin by learning about what a historian does, looking at basic sources and simplified perspectives to develop an appreciation and understanding of what it means to be a historian. As their substantive knowledge grows, children will be able to ask perceptive questions, analyse more complex sources and begin to use their knowledge to develop perspective. Disciplinary concepts, such as continuity and change, cause and consequence and similarity, difference and significance, are explored in every unit, and children are supported to think outside of their current unit of work and apply these concepts across the curriculum. In addition to learning about British and local history, the children will also learn about the history of the wider world. Some of these units will look at the influence that Britain had on the wider world, and how the wider world has influenced Britain.

The curriculum aims to ignite children’s love for history, preparing them with essential knowledge for Key Stage 3 and beyond. All history is worth studying, but as we do not have the time to cover everything, the units have been carefully chosen to cover as wide-ranging content as possible without compromising depth.

The curriculum aims to introduce the children to a wide variety of men, women and children from the past; from the widely venerated, to the lives of the less well-known.

The Primary Knowledge Curriculum aspires to create curious and knowledgeable young people, who hold a deep understanding and appreciation of the discipline of history, and are able to sift and weigh evidence to begin to formulate their own viewpoints and perspectives of the world.

The PKC Geography curriculum is knowledge rich. This means the knowledge children will gain has been carefully specified, ordered coherently and builds over time. As children work through our geography curriculum they will know more, understand more about the world around them. A good geographical understanding relies on firm foundations of knowledge and skills. This curriculum structure helps pupils to deepen their understanding of physical and human geographical processes, fostering curiosity and fascination for the world we live in. The rigorous approach, which builds on prior learning, covering and going beyond the requirements of the National Curriculum, leaves nothing to chance; building geographical knowledge and understanding, allowing the children to make meaningful connections and gain an understanding of how our world is connected.

Children will learn about key geographical concepts such as place, space, the environment and interconnection. Over time, working through an essential process of elaboration, children will add to their conceptual understanding with many examples of geographical knowledge in context. Children will become more skilled at answering questions such as: What is it like to live in this place? What are the challenges of this environment? How have people changed this landscape over time? Children will gain an understanding of what geographers do, what they look for and what they may say about a place. Each year our geography curriculum begins with a ‘Spatial Sense’ unit that explicitly teaches geographical skills such as locating places on a map, positioning items on a map, using symbols in a key, interpreting scale, reading climate graphs, identifying locations using co-ordinates, interpreting population data, identifying elevation on relief maps and more. In Key Stage One the Spatial Sense units require children to undertake fieldwork and use observational skills to study the geography of their school and the surrounding environment. In Year 5 children will study a further unit on local geography where they undertake fieldwork to observe, record and present the human and physical features in the local area, focussing on an issue that the local area faces.

Every year children will study at least one unit of British geography. As with the rest of the geography curriculum, children’s knowledge and understanding of British geography builds incrementally from year to year. Beginning with general understanding of the countries of the UK, children then study units that focus more closely on areas of the UK. When studying these areas, children look at the defining physical and human characteristics of the regions, key topographical features such as hills, mountains, coasts and rivers, how the landscapes and environments have formed over time and how they are used today. In years two, three and four, children will study units of European geography that introduce regions of Europe, climate, trade, industry, landmarks, physical features and contrasting environments. Children will interpret a range of geographical information including maps, diagrams and climate graphs. Comparisons will be made between places in Europe and the local area.

Alongside their study of the UK and Europe, children will extend their knowledge beyond these regions to study world geography. When studying world geography, children will focus on places such as North and South America, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands. Applying their knowledge and understanding of the globe, latitude, longitude, the hemispheres and time zones, children will describe and understand physical geography of countries and continents. They will consider a range of human geographical features such as settlements, land use, trade links and natural resources. At the end of the curriculum, in the summer term of Year 6, children will study globalisation, a unit that requires children to apply knowledge from the geography curriculum they have studied throughout their primary education. Children will use data from around the world, including from Geographical Information Systems, to understand social, economic and political globalisation.

We have seen that arming children with powerful knowledge about the world around them helps them to develop a love for the subject of geography, and also recognise their own role in becoming a responsible global citizen.

Intent

At Denver VC Primary we aim to provide the highest quality music education for all of our pupils, to enable all to perform, create, analyse and discover a wide range of music

Discover

Music is an evolving art-form which is only able to develop through enquiry and curiosity. In our music sessions children are able to discover music from all over the world and in a host of varying genres. They are all able to experiment with instruments from different cultures to discover their sounds and capabilities, as well as their histories. There are opportunities for the children to discover the extent of their talents through extra-curricular activities such a ukulele lessons, performance clubs and choir concerts. All along, the children are encouraged to discover more music based on music learned in sessions. Children will also discover the many purposes of music; the reasons we make and perform music (entertainment, health, worship…).

Each day, children enter the hall for assembly to a wide array of musical pieces from jazz to pop, classical to world, to enable them to make a musical discovery every day.

Value

Children will be reminded that every piece of music has value. Even if we don’t like a piece of music, one must always strive to see the value and worth of music. Additionally, all children will be made aware that they have creativity and that their ‘voice’ has as much value as anyone else, because it is their own, unique way of expressing how they see the world.

Children will explore the value in music for others, to find out why music means so much to people in different parts of the world.

Celebrate

Music offers us all the chance to celebrate the world and our lives. We use music to help children celebrate our Christian values and important festivals (Christmas, Easter etc) within the calendar. We encourage the children to celebrate life through musical performances throughout the year within school and outside.

Praise

Music offers us a chance to praise God. As well as learning traditional hymns, children are encouraged to write their own music/lyrics for praise. We encourage children to see how music is used for praise in other faiths.

Intent

At Denver school the fundamental aims of the 2014 National Curriculum are at the core of learning. The national curriculum for art aims to ensure that all pupils:

• produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording experiences
• become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques
• evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design
• know about great artists, craft makers and designers and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms

At Denver:

• We Discover new methods of creating art and also the artists and art movements that may have used those methods.
• We Value the history of art and artists of the past and the present.
• We Celebrate the work that the children produce and with peers and throughout the school.
• We Praise the progression evident as the children make connections within art and draw on their previous skills and learning to move to the next challenge.

We intend to equip the children with the skills they need to succeed in art and design projects, to understand the value of its role throughout their everyday lives and to give them the confidence to attempt challenges.

Implementation

• The skills and knowledge that children will develop throughout each art topic are mapped across each year group and are progressive throughout the school.
• The opportunity for children to refine and develop their techniques over time is supported by effective lesson sequencing and progression between year groups.
• The emphasis on knowledge ensures that children understand the context of the artwork, as well as the artists that they are learning about and being inspired by.
• The consistent use of children's sketchbooks means that children are able to review, modify and develop their initial ideas in order to achieve high quality outcomes.
• Classroom displays reflect the children’s sense of pride in their artwork.
• Coordinated whole-school project work ensures that art is given high status in the curriculum. This includes the school’s participation in 'Art Day’ which enables further focus on children’s artistic skills.
• Where possible, links are made with other areas of the curriculum.

Impact

The impact of our teaching of Art and Design at Denver will produce pupils who:

• are engaged, challenged and confident to have a go
• can feel growing confidence in approaching their next artistic challenge
• can talk about the artists and art movements they have looked at
• can talk about their work - both its design, production and completion
• can reflect about what has been successful in their work and what has not
• can display a year on year development of skills within their sketchbooks and other work
• understand the importance of art in the wider context of their education, lives and wider world.

Intent

At Denver school the fundamental aims of the 2014 National Curriculum are at the core of learning. The national curriculum for Design & Technology aims to ensure that all pupils:

• develop the creative, technical and practical expertise to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world
• build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users
• critique, evaluate and test their ideas, products and the work of others
• understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.

At Denver:

• We Discover new product solutions by researching, designing building and testing.
• We Value the history of design and designers of the past and the present.
• We Celebrate the work that the children produce and also with their peers and throughout the school.
• We Praise the progression evident as the children make connections within Design and Technology on their previous skills and learning to move to the next challenge.

We intend to equip the children with the skills they need to succeed in Design and Technology projects, to understand the value of its role throughout their everyday lives and to give them the confidence to attempt challenges.

Implementation

The skills and knowledge that the children will develop throughout each art topic are mapped across each year group and are progressive throughout the school.

• The opportunity for children to refine and develop their techniques over time is supported by effective lesson sequencing and progression between year groups.
• The emphasis on knowledge ensures that children understand the context of design as well as the designers that are related to the area they are looking at.
• The use of sketches means that children are able to review, modify and develop their initial ideas in order to achieve high quality outcomes.
• Classroom displays reflect the children’s sense of pride in their artwork.
• Where possible, links are made with other areas of the curriculum
• KS2 children have the opportunity to join the after-school Craft Club.

Impact

The impact of our teaching of DT at Denver will produce pupils who:

• can develop creative, technical and practical expertise
• can apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in their designs
• can research, design and make high-quality prototypes for a wide range of users
• can critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others
• can talk about both the design, production and completion of their work
• can understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook
• can display a year on year development of skills within their work
•  

Intent

At Denver Primary School, we understand that modern foreign languages broaden children’s opportunities for the future and their interest in, knowledge of and tolerance for those in the wider world. In line with the National Curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages, we focus on French so that children can make substantial progress in one language.

Discover: Our curriculum provides experiences so that children can discover a love of learning a different language and about other cultures. We motivate them to be curious about and to explore spoken and written language. Our curriculum is topic-based to maintain their interest. We use songs and games to appeal to all children.

Value: Through our curriculum, we teach the children to value people from other countries through learning about them and by corresponding with them as pen pals in Upper Key Stage 2. We provide the children with knowledge and opportunities through developing speaking, listening, reading and writing skills, including for real purposes.

Celebrate: We celebrate differences and learn about them through focussing on special festivals and significant people and events in our spiral curriculum and with a biannual curriculum day across the school. We help the children to respect differences and celebrate diversity.

Praise: We praise our achievements in this area and promote this subject in laying firm foundations for learning about languages at secondary school and being good communicators in future careers.

Implementation

Where possible we encourage links to learning about other cultures, significant individuals and the wider world to other curriculum areas. Generally, we teach modern foreign languages discreetly in weekly lessons in Key Stage 2 with opportunities to use a language through ad-hoc opportunities such as daily routines and PE warm-ups. We focus on French so that the children are able to make substantial progress in a language.

In Key Stage 1 and the Early Years Foundation Stage, modern foreign languages is non-statutory but a love of learning about other languages and cultures is encouraged through topic work and with days of interest like Chinese New Year whenever practicable.

In Key Stage 2 we have a rolling programme of coverage using the Twinkl PlanIt French scheme of work to deliver French to ensure up-to-date progression in coverage, all available digitally, supplemented with resources from Espresso, Rigolo and Early Start where appropriate. The children learn through a wide range of activities such as using songs, stories, games, video clips, authentic resources and by writing to pen pals.

Enhanced Curriculum

At Denver Primary, we enrich the curriculum by having themed curriculum days, learning about festivals and by writing to pen pals.

Progression in Learning and Vocabulary

See Appendix A – rolling programme of coverage, Appendix B, B1, B2, and B3 –for Twinkl’s comprehensive overview of progression in skills and overview of coverage and Appendix C – topic summary and how other resources link to the Twinkl PlanIt Scheme.

Impact

Our approach results in a positive, enjoyable and high-quality education that equips children for the next stage in their education. It provides them with a sense of curiosity about the wider world and an understanding of the opportunities that lie beyond their locality along with an enthusiasm for learning a language at secondary school. This is evident through the work in their folders, displays of correspondence with pen pals and by discussion with the children.

The majority of assessment in the subject is formative.

The school also uses Twinkl resources for the children to self-assess at the end of every lesson and for teachers to summarise attainment at the end of each 6-week learning block.

There are no formal tests in this subject area. Teachers come to their decisions based on class discussion, question and answer exchanges, responses to learning activities and ongoing formative assessment.

A summary of the children’s progress and achievement is reported on in the end of year school report to parents.

The overall monitoring of the subject is carried out by the named subject coordinator who has an action plan to drive the subject forward, and a named governor. An annual report to governors will begin from the end of the current academic year.  Overall, we believe that our school vision and ethos, coupled with our broad and balanced curriculum, provides children with the encouragement, interest and knowledge needed for them to make the most of opportunities available to them beyond their immediate locality and to be active globally-aware citizens.

Intent

At Denver Primary School, we recognise the ever-growing importance of our children being digitally literate as the world rapidly develops. To support our children in this process, we aim to provide highly engaging and enjoyable lessons that teach the key skills highlighted in the National Curriculum. As a school, we aim to give our children plenty of opportunities to develop their computing understanding and knowledge which includes opportunities to use technology in other lessons in the curriculum. By the end of their time at Denver Primary School, we aim for all of our children to be not only be confident in their computing skills but also knowledgeable in the risks that being online can also pose and what to do to maintain their safety.

Implementation

In order to ensure learners receive high quality lessons in computing, we use the Aims and Attainment targets as detailed in the National Curriculum for Computing at Key Stages 1 and 2 to inform our planning and to drive our school’s skills progression map. To ensure that all key skills highlighted within the progression map are covered in each key stage, the school works on a rolling two year curriculum.

Lessons are predominately based within the ICT suite to ensure that children have plenty of opportunities to practice the skills being learnt in lessons. However, on the occasions where lessons are taught in the classroom, work will be completed and kept within computing folders.

Computing, like all other subjects, is focussed upon the children learning more and remembering more, therefore building a solid foundation of computing skills and knowledge to help them as they develop. This will be supported through the use of key vocabulary banks which children will build up over the school year as their knowledge of key vocabulary grows. Key vocabulary will also be displayed in the classroom during the lesson to support children in remembering new vocabulary learnt.

We build upon the learning and skill development of the previous years. As the children’s knowledge and understanding increases, and they become more competent in their computing skills and can refer back to previous years of learning to support them in any problem solving they may face.

Teaching will support the progression of skills as outlined on the progression map through planning lessons which enable recaps of key vocabulary and skills as well as having a clear flow of skill development as the children have more lessons on the topic. Teachers use Twinkl PlanIt, PlanBee and Keychain Computing for guidance in constructing engaging and knowledge packed lessons that have a sequence to build upon prior learning in the topic.

Computing is encouraged throughout the curriculum including opportunities for presenting work or research in subjects eg. English, Art and DT and Geography. Developing computing skills at other opportunities will only strengthen and reinforce skills learnt in computing lessons, further supporting the emphasis on knowing more and remembering more.

Impact

At Denver V C Primary, progress is measured through a child’s ability to know more, remember more and explain more. This is measured in different ways. The use of key questions and opportunities to demonstrate key skills ensures that there are opportunities in lessons for ongoing assessment. Attainment and progress is measured across the school using our nine point tracking grids. With the use of key vocabulary word banks, children will begin to learn and remember more key vocabulary used in lessons, all the time improving their digital literacy. Through understanding more vocabulary, coupled with consistent opportunities for children to practice key skills also, the children at Denver V C Primary School will become confident users of technology whilst also maintaining a high level of safety.

Denver V C Primary School’s positive approach to computing will result in engaging and enjoyable lessons which will supply the children with all the tools and confidence they need to enter an ever-growing digital world. Through having opportunities in other lessons to practice their computing skills, children will begin to recognise the opportunities that being digitally literate can provide and will leave the school motivated to further develop their skills and knowledge in the future.

Our Religious Education Curriculum

Intent

At Denver VC Primary, we are committed to providing an inclusive and engaging Religious Education curriculum that is taught in accordance with the Norfolk Agreed Syllabus (2019) and the Church of England Statement of Entitlement for RE (2019). We intend for children to deepen their knowledge about religions and to develop their religious literacy.

Through our Religious Education curriculum we aim for children to:

• know about and understand Christianity as a diverse global living faith that influences the lives of people worldwide and as the religion that has most shaped British Culture and heritage
• give a theologically informed and thoughtful account of Christianity as a living and diverse faith
• know about and understand other major world religions and world views, their impact on society, culture and the wider world, enabling pupils to express ideas and insights
• show a well-informed, balanced, sensitive, respectful attitude to religions and world views
• engage in meaningful and well-informed dialogue with those of other faiths and none
• explore their own spiritual, philosophical and ethical beliefs and values
• affirm each child in his/her own family tradition, religious or secular
• develop an enquiring mind

We aim for children to discover and explore key theological concepts within Christianity and in other world faiths.

We value the religious background of all members of our school community and the links that are made between home, school and faith communities. We teach children to value and respect diversity and equality.

 We celebrate the different beliefs, festivals, rituals and places of worship of both Christianity and other world faiths. We celebrate children showing Christian values through what they say and do.

We praise children for having a sensitive, respectful and positive attitude to a range of religious and non-religious beliefs and worldviews. We praise children who are reflective of their own beliefs, values and experiences.

Implementation

Our curriculum for RE is designed to ensure religious literacy lies at the heart. Through enquiry-led lessons, our RE curriculum provides the opportunity for the children to explore theology (thinking through believing), philosophy (thinking through thinking) and the human/social sciences (thinking through living).

We use The Emmanuel Project and Understanding Christianity to provide children with the opportunity to learn core knowledge of significant theological concepts within Christianity and in different world faiths.

Lessons are planned in a variety of ways ensuring that all children can access and participate in lessons. A range of teaching strategies, including the use of art, music, thinking skills, artefacts and stories, are used to encourage children to discuss their ideas and extend their understanding of difficult concepts and challenging questions. Children have opportunities to encounter local faith communities through visits to local places of worship or visits from members of local faith communities. 

Progress in RE is based on the expected outcomes outlined in the Norfolk Agreed Syllabus (2019), and in The Emmanuel Project and Understanding Christianity.

Impact

Our high-quality RE teaching provides our children with religious literacy, enabling every child to hold balanced and well-informed conversations about religion, belief and worldviews, using a wide religious vocabulary. Children will be able to articulate similarities and differences between religions and beliefs in a sensitive and respectful way. Children will leave our school as good, well-rounded citizens who are well-prepared for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.

At Denver V. C. Primary, we believe that physical education, experienced in a safe and supportive environment, is a unique and vital contributor to a pupil’s physical development and well-being. A broad and balanced physical education curriculum is intended to provide the pupils’ increasing self-confidence in their ability to manage themselves and their bodies within a variety of movement situations.

Progressive learning objectives, combined with sympathetic and varied teaching approaches, endeavour to provide stimulating, enjoyable, satisfying and appropriately challenging learning experiences for all pupils. Through the selection of suitably differentiated and logically developed tasks, it is intended that pupils, irrespective of their innate ability will enjoy success and be motivated to further develop their individual potential.

Pupils will achieve and enjoy through PE. Pupils will be given the opportunity to make a positive contribution to their learning. A balance of individual, paired and group activities, co-operative, collaborative and competitive situations aims to cater for the preferences, strengths and needs of every pupil. Such activities, experienced within a range of areas of activity, aim to produce a broad base of movement knowledge, skills and understanding. They are also desirous of developing a pupil’s ability to work independently and to respond appropriately and sympathetically to others, irrespective of their age, gender, cultural or ethnic background. The activities offered and the teaching adopted seek to provide pupils with opportunities to develop their creative and expressive abilities, through improvisation and problem-solving.

Pupils are encouraged to appreciate the importance of a healthy and fit body, and begin to understand those factors that affect health and fitness. This work is closely aligned with the criteria for achieving National Healthy Schools Status. This information and approach will help keep pupils healthy inside and out of school time and lead to an appreciation of the need to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

PE also has considerable potential to contribute to much wider areas of learning. A cross-curricular approach is adopted as it is considered important by the school that PE is integrated into the whole school’s planning for the development of pupils’ communication, RSHE, science, numeracy and ICT skills etc.

Implementation

In order to provide a rich and varied curriculum that allows the children to have opportunities to excel and learn how to be healthy we follow the Get Set for PE scheme.

Long and medium term provision map

We are guided by the goals in the School Games Mark to consistently deliver and achieve high quality PE.

Early Years Foundation Stage

In Class 1, the children have 2 hours of dedicated PE time per week where the focus of each lesson is towards the Early Learning Goals based on the Get Set For PE fundamentals.  In addition to this, the children participate in the Golden Mile and have permanent access to the outdoor learning environment which is equipped with facilities aimed at achieving the Early Learning Goals. The classroom and outdoor learning areas are arranged to ensure opportunities for the children to achieve the physical development goals as part of their free choice.

Primary years 1-6

We dedicate two hours per week minimum exclusively to PE. In our PE lessons we follow the Get Set for PE scheme for Games, Gymnastics and Dance and Athletics to ensure progression across the school. Our activity levels are supplemented by the Golden Mile, a digital, personal challenge for each child in school. We also have at least one intra-school festival per term, an annual sponsored walk, an annual sports day and an annual School Games festival.

We have a rolling 2-year programme for the provision of PE in school which can be found in the documents below. 

Children also receive lessons in advance of cluster competitions to prepare them for competitive games and their rules in a variety of sports.

Securing enrichment to our curriculum

At Denver Primary School we purchase a number of extra activities from the West Norfolk School Sports Partnership and King’s Lynn Community Football. These include the cluster school tournaments package for inter-sporting events, Active Kids for all Year 1 children, OMNES Games events for children in Year 2 and Class 3, and Young Leaders training for all Class 4 children. Young Leaders training is used to facilitate playground activities and challenges and to run intra-schools festivals.

Coaches provide after school clubs in multi-skills to children of all ages across the week. Denver Cricket club provide a club in the Summer term.

We also have close links with Premier Sports who are our providers for the Golden Mile and Wereham Dogdeball club for a breakfast club.

We welcome visitors such as Norwich City Community Football who run sessions in school to enhance sporting opportunities.

To aid implementation of our curriculum we also use the following resources:

• The School Games Mark Criteria

Impact

To ensure children are making the progress necessary to meet their goals and show their commitment to and enjoyment of PE, peer feedback and ongoing formative assessment is used in lessons, and summative assessments (with photographs) are provided by each class teacher at the end of each half term. For summative assessment we use the Get Set for PE platform.

A PE board is in our main corridor which celebrates events and successes of children in our school.

Children have a voice through representation on the school council and being trained as young leaders.

Class teachers monitor activity levels through the online Golden Mile tracking tool.

We report on and display our results in inter-schools competitions.

To ensure that our curriculum in PE is a success our PE Coordinator monitors the subject by ensuring that:

• registers are taken tracking numbers of children participating in after and before school clubs or any extra- curricular activities
• an action plan for the subject is written annually  and reviewed at least termly
• half termly assessments from each class, including pupil self-assessments are collected and analysed, tracking trends for the different cohorts
• annual pupil viewpoint surveys are carried out
• staff have access to CPD and that this is recorded
• contact is made with the SGO and SSCo by attending regular cluster meetings, cluster events and conversations regarding the School Games events and School Games Mark.
• carrying out at least one lesson observation per year
• collating information about the subject and delivering an annual report to governors which is published on the website.
• a School Games Mark folder is kept up to date tracking our progress towards achieving at least the Gold Mark
• budgets are considered and managed with HT

Intent

Discover: We recognise that we live in an exciting and rapidly changing world. At the heart of our RSHE and citizenship education is the intention to equip the children with the skills and knowledge for them to live happy, healthy lives with positive relationships, mental and physical health. We teach them how to promote their physical and mental health through understanding the importance of exercise, diet, fresh air, being with others and sleep.

Value:  We teach them what a healthy relationship is and the importance of family. They learn to have respect for themselves and to value their personal space, recognising what is comfortable and learning how to stay safe, including online.  We intend for the children to be emotionally literate. We understand the importance for children to know where to get help and support. Through our learning in this area, we teach the children of the valuable sources of support and how to raise concerns.

Celebrate: We teach the children a range of personal qualities that will help them to form positive relationships. We celebrate those who have overcome barriers showing skills of aspiration, resilience, determination, self-belief and resourcefulness. We learn and celebrate tolerance, respect, and an understanding of individual liberties and the rule of law. We encourage children to be active citizens in school, looking after one another, taking on responsibilities as they become older.

Praise: In this area we praise those who have coped with uncertainty and challenges and those who have supported the school and wider community. We teach the children to celebrate diversity, to be inclusive of and sensitive towards all others, recognising and celebrating differences in families and communities.

Our intention is for the children to be ready for the challenges they face as they move to secondary school and have strong foundations in their personal qualities to make good choices as social beings who make a positive contribution in their adult lives.

Implementation

We recognise that RSHE and citizenship, PE, Science and ICT are interlinked. Aspects of the RSHE curriculum relating to e-safety are covered through our ICT rolling programme and are specified on the curriculum carpets for each class. We use a blocked theme approach for RSHE and Citizenship and there are weekly timetabled slots for delivering the subject. We make cross-curricular links where appropriate with science, PE and ICT. We are implementing a spiral curriculum of key topic areas so that there is clear progression in skills and knowledge. For RSE, the school has purchased and will follow the Norfolk Educator Solutions scheme of work.

Teachers use resources such as Twinkl, PlanIt and Plan Bee as a starting point for teaching citizenship.

The children learn through a wide range of activities from discussion and debate, games, role play to research.

Our intended coverage reflects the fact that we have mixed-age classes. Class teachers may use their professional judgement and expertise to use resources from previous year groups where there is a need to do so in order that they have the skills, knowledge and understanding to then access the intended coverage for their classes.

Before RSHE content is taught, classes use an initial session to draft a ‘working agreement’ for these lessons, introduce their conversation cards and the idea of an ‘ask it basket’.

In the Early Years Foundation Stage the children use shared talk to discuss their experiences and feelings. They learn skills in looking after themselves and being clean. They learn to share and take turns. They learn about the importance of basic rules around school. Through topics such as ‘Ourselves’ and ‘Our families’ children learn to respect each others’ similarities and differences.

RSHE in EYFS

During EYFS, as part of health education, children will learn the characteristics of a poor diet and the role of sugar in obesity and tooth decay and on their behaviour. They will learn about personal hygiene and germs, how they spread and the importance of handwashing in prevention. They will learn the concept of basic first aid in dealing with common injuries such as cuts, bruises and head injuries.

Class 2 (Key Stage 1) Curriculum Map

Year 1 of rolling programme (2020/2021) Year 1 in RSE Solution scheme of work

Year 2 of rolling programme (2021/2022) Year 2 in RSE Solution

Class 3 (Lower Key Stage 2) Curriculum Map

Year 1 of rolling programme (2020/2021) Year 3 in RSE solution

Year 2 of rolling programme (2021/2022) Year 4 of RSE Solution

Class 4 (Upper Key Stage 2) Curriculum Map

Year 1 of rolling programme (2020/2021) Year 5 of RSE Solution

Year 2 of rolling programme (2021/2022) Year 6 of RSE Solution

Enhanced Curriculum

At Denver Primary, we enrich the curriculum by having an active School Council, including sports representatives. Each class create their own charter at the start of the academic year. We encourage visitors to the school. KGX Railway Support visit all classes annually to teach about safety on the railway. Road Safety representatives also visit the children in Key Stage 1 and Reception. When learning about democracy, Class 4 were visited by our local MP, Elizabeth Truss. The children are also invited to make suggestions in a suggestions box so that they have a voice.

Assemblies celebrate different themes throughout the year. These include ‘Going for Goals’ , ‘British Values’, ‘Making Choices’ and ‘Love, friendship and kindness’. Older children in the school also lead assemblies and each class presents an assembly to parents.

Children are able to support the local community, for example, by singing in the dementia café. Older children also run events such as stalls for the school fair. They are trained as ‘Young Leaders’ and use these skills to support the younger children as lunch helpers, playground buddies and by running intra-school sports and sports day.

As the children become older, they are encouraged to take on jobs and responsibilities in class and around the school.

In Year 6 the children attend Crucial Crew workshops at King’s Lynn fire station to further their understanding of how to keep safe and how to react in emergency situations.

Progression in Vocabulary

Impact:

Our approach results in a fun, engaging and high-quality education that equips children for the next stage in their education. This can be seen through the work in their books, by discussion with the children and by write-ups of events that have happened, many of which are published on the school website.

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, progress is measured by ongoing formative assessment and by the summary of achievements in the Early Learning Goals.

The school has purchased the Norfolk Educator Solutions resource for teaching and learning which has assessment embedded in every lesson plan. The majority of assessments are formative.

There are no formal tests in this subject area. Teachers come to their decisions based on class discussion, question and answer exchanges, responses to learning activities and ongoing formative assessment. Each class will use cards and ‘ask it baskets’ to ensure that children’s questions and misconceptions can be addressed. Pupil consultations are to be held annually so that the subject can be adapted to their needs. Floor books are also recommended for collecting small group and whole-class evidence of learning.

A summary of the children’s progress and achievement is reported on in the end of year school report to parents.

The overall monitoring of the subject is carried out by the named subject coordinator who has an action plan to drive the subject forward and a named governor. An annual report to governors will begin from the end of the current academic year. The subject has high priority on this year’s School Development and Improvement Plan.

Overall, we believe that our school vision and ethos, coupled with our broad and balanced curriculum where RSHE and Citizenship has high status, prepares children well to cope with the social and emotional  challenges they will face as they move on to secondary education.

There are daily acts of worship, which include the singing of a hymn and a prayer. The rector visits weekly to lead assembly. If a parent wishes to withdraw their child from RE or collective worship this can be discussed with the Head Teacher at an appropriate time.