Curriculum Intent
At Clearwell, it is understood that every educational setting has a set of unique factors. It is essential to recognise that all children have the potential to achieve the best possible academic outcomes and be effectively prepared for their future lives. Clearwell School draws children from a range of backgrounds and varied catchments. The intake is diverse and varies year on year due to its numbers. A small proportion of children are from deprived backgrounds, have special educational needs or English as a foreign language. It is crucial that the school’s curriculum addresses these needs throughout its content and delivery.
The school follows the EYFS Development Matters document and KS1 & KS2 National Curriculum 2014 to provide the skeleton for the knowledge, skills and milestones delivered within the school. Using this framework, the curriculum is tailored to its delivery and meets the following seven statements of intent:
The curriculum intends to promote Christian values:
Clearwell C of E Primary School is a church school that prides itself on teaching Christian values throughout its curriculum and the broader life of the school. As a church school, the children learn about Christian values, as well as those of other faiths, to prepare them as caring and considerate members of society. The values of respect, friendship and courage are nurtured and highlighted throughout all teaching and are fundamental to the children’s attitudes towards learning. They help support a growth mindset and also help build relationships and attitudes beyond the curriculum. Periods of reflection and worship support learning attitudes and the ability of children to understand how Christian Values can aid in learning new skills, acquiring new knowledge, and supporting others to do the same.
The curriculum intends to be experience-based:
It is recognised that children start school with a wide range of different experiences. The curriculum is planned to extend and enhance these experiences. An in-depth knowledge of each child allows staff to plan individual programmes and experiences to fill in any gaps in developmental progress. Staff ensure children’s learning, where possible, is based on hands-on experiences, meeting visitors who can inspire children and visiting places of interest, which ensure children have first-hand experiences.
The curriculum intends to use technology to enhance learning:
We recognise that in a society that relies so heavily on technology, we have a duty to prepare our pupils to operate effectively and safely in the modern world. We aim to provide opportunities for pupils to learn about how technology can enhance learning and awaken interest in the possibilities that exist now and those that might follow in the future.
The curriculum intends to raise self-esteem and self-confidence:
Throughout all aspects of school life, staff promote a can-do attitude and celebrate all children's successes, resilience, perseverance and progress. This is particularly apparent at Clearwell as, due to our small numbers, all children are given the opportunity to develop their self-esteem and self-confidence. Clearwell recognises the opportunities that small school teaching can provide and promotes mixed-age learning to support and challenge all pupils. The curriculum is structured to provide the children with the opportunity to experience their full entitlement in a supportive environment that celebrates perseverance and resilience to challenge. We recognise that some children may need support to maintain their well-being, and we will seek to do this in a nurturing and positive learning environment.
The curriculum focuses on the core skills of Reading, Writing and Maths:
Staff recognise that reading, writing, and maths skills are crucial for children to succeed beyond the classroom. Children start school with a range of levels of understanding and development for their age group. The school recognises that some children will need extra support to close these gaps. Staff work closely with parents and carers to help children succeed.
The curriculum has a clearly mapped-out progression of skills and knowledge:
Staff recognise that for children to learn effectively, it is essential that the taught curriculum is carefully mapped out. The rolling programme of three and four-year curriculum cycles allows children to acquire and develop these skills, revisiting them and reinforcing them continually. This ensures that long-term acquisition of skills and knowledge is embedded. Each curriculum area has been considered to ensure that the benefits of mixed-age teaching can be maximised whilst still providing adequate challenge and progression within each key phase of primary education.
The curriculum has a focus on developing Speech and Language:
Some children enter school with Speech and Language development below the expected level. As such, staff tailor the curriculum to prioritise this aspect and utilise opportunities within formal and informal learning. From the first weeks at Clearwell, children are encouraged to develop their speaking and listening skills through performance, stories, singing, rhymes and role play. The unique set up of multi-age classes means that the children have role models to imitate and learn from. The development of oracy skills is key in developing the ability to communicate inwriting.
Implementation
Structure of the Curriculum
Due to the multi-age nature of the classes, a topic-based structure best meets the needs of all children. The rationale for this is that topic teaching allows children to make links between curriculum areas. It also develops their understanding, builds new knowledge and extends their learning. This method also builds enthusiasm for an area of learning and presents numerous opportunities for cross-curricular links. However, it is also recognised that skills/knowledge must be carefully mapped out to ensure progression.
The school has mixed-age classes in EYFS/KS1 & KS2, and it is important that the curriculum allows children to build on their current understanding and not repeat previously learnt skills in the same manner. When reviewing the current curriculum, staff will ensure they plan differentiated activities in all curriculum areas, which allow children to develop their knowledge base. This will be achieved by sometimes having the same learning objective but a range of resources, success criteria and outcomes to ensure clear progression. However, in some circumstances, different learning objectives will be used as appropriate for different year groups within the same class.
The curriculum intends to teach children Christian values:
As a Church of England school, the ethos is rooted in the teaching and modelling of Christian Values. Through regular Worship, these values are reinforced, and children are taught to understand how to apply them in all aspects of their lives. Christian Values permeate every aspect of school and are integral to the design and implementation of policy, planning and delivery of lessons, and the behaviour and standards set by all stakeholders. Teachers look to identify, model, include and praise these values in all curriculum areas.
The curriculum is based on a range of experiences and opportunities for learning:
Currently, the curriculum provides a wide range of experience-based opportunities for children to draw upon in their work. These involve a range of visitors/trips and experiences in the classroom. The teachers also use the local area as a resource for learning in many topic areas.
Children may present their learning in different ways, including through performance, role-play, and drama. From Reception, they are given the opportunity to share and talk about their work in front of the school and the wider community. The school also engages in activities such as performing a Christmas Play, participating in Young Voices performances, and singing for local people at the Castle at Christmas.
The curriculum intends to use technology to enhance learning:
Computing is the basis of using technology to enhance learning, and the skills pupils develop in their computing lessons aim to allow them to seamlessly bring technology to other subjects. This can be through the use of software, such as producing written work from word-processed documents to a range of posters and leaflets to full presentations. Children are also taught to use a range of hardware, including cameras, which can be enhanced with editing software. With children gaining a wide range of knowledge, skills and understanding through their own computing curriculum, they will be able to be more creative and learn through their own discovery as they bring technology to other subjects.
The curriculum raises self-esteem and self-confidence:
The school has established a set of values that underpin all actions within the school. are promoted regularly in all areas of the school and referenced throughout all teaching. The children talk confidently about these and how they impact their learning. The school has a ‘Can-do’ attitude in all areas, and the children are encouraged to ‘give it a go’ in all aspects of their learning. The school has a culture of celebrating success and effort and has regular opportunities to publically celebrate all children’s learning with each other, within classes and with the local community. This also includes children’s achievements outside of school, which are shared in Friday assemblies.
The curriculum has a clearly mapped-out progression of skills and knowledge:
The school has mapped out skills and knowledge across all curriculum areas to ensure that children achieve full coverage of the National Curriculum and are challenged at an age-appropriate level. Knowledge is taught on a rolling cycle and skills are developed incrementally over the period spent within a learning phase. As part of the mixed age provision - children can be continuously challenged to learn and progress by utilising skills from within the key stage they are currently in; furthermore, children who find learning more difficult can be supported and work alongside others who are learning less complex skills. The teaching allows children to consolidate where necessary and aspire to achieve more wherever possible. Teachers strive to ensure that all children are working at age-related expectations.
The curriculum has a focus on developing Speech and Language:
Lessons are designed to allow children to practice and develop their speech and language skills. Regular opportunities are made for them to speak in front of an audience and discuss their work with peers. All staff model good speech, and children are expected to respond in complete sentences where appropriate.
The curriculum focusses on the core skills of Reading, Writing and Maths.
Reading
At Clearwell, there is a strong reading culture throughout the school. In EYFS and KS1, children read to adults regularly. In KS2, children are given opportunities to develop their reading skills daily, and adults hear some children on a more regular basis according to their needs and abilities. Class novel time is prioritised within the school day. Stories are read to the children daily in both classes. This includes longer texts in KS2 and picture books/shorter novels in EYFS/KS1.
View our novel map for KS2 (Willow Class) here - Reading Class Novel - KS2
Phonics learning takes place daily in EYFS/KS1 and is supported by closely matched reading books and word games, which are sent home. The school follows the Read, Write, Inc. synthetic phonics scheme.
The school works closely with parents and carers to provide a consistent and sustained approach to reading, including a reading meeting, reading diaries and an open-door policy with the English lead and class teachers.
A poetry day is celebrated every September with children working in mixed age groups to cover a variety of activities, including learning the poem by heart.
Model-guided reading sessions take place weekly in KS1 and daily in KS2. These sessions allow children to learn and apply the skills needed to interpret texts. The EEF ‘Developing Literacy in KS1/2’ guidance has informed the teaching of Guided reading.
The school has a focussed approach on the core skills of: Activating Prior Knowledge, Prediction, Clarifying, Inference and Summarising. This is underpinned by the research and guidance given by Tony Whatmuff – ‘Think aloud, read aloud’.
Writing
The school has a writing programme that covers a range of genres. The children are given the opportunity to study different high-quality texts, learn their features, and produce their own pieces. These are shown in specific writing books, topic work, and published in class writing books.
View our long term writing plans here:
Children are encouraged to use their phonic knowledge, grammatical knowledge, and wide range of vocabulary to produce writing of a high standard. They are also expected to read and edit their own work at age-appropriate levels.
In year 1, children are taught to join up their writing. From year 2 onwards, they are expected to present their writing neatly, legibly, with dates and titles underlined.
The school has a focussed approach on the core skills of: Immersion, Planning, Drafting, Editing, Sharing, Publishing. This is underpinned by the EEF ‘Developing Literacy in KS1/2’ guidance.
Maths
The school has adopted a mastery approach to teaching and follows the White Rose Maths schemes of work. This approach optimises key learning and allows children to gain a greater depth of understanding. A growth mindset continues to develop, raising expectations.
View our curriculum map for maths here - Maths Curriculum Map - Mixed ages
Daily fluency sessions allow teachers to reinforce knowledge and allow children to take part in ‘deliberate practice’. Furthermore, the school attempts to utilise same-day intervention and pre-teach strategies in order to ensure a ‘Keep up’, not ‘Catch up’ mentality. There are also daily opportunities for all pupils to engage in higher-order maths problems requiring the use of reasoning and logic. Pupils are encouraged to articulate their thinking and are supported to use sentence stems when necessary.
Children are expected to present their work in a clear, legible and logical form that they can use to check calculations.
Impact
The impact of the teaching and learning at Clearwell is that the children move on to the next stage of their learning as confident, enthusiastic and knowledgeable students. The school retains a unique character that celebrates and maximises the benefits of a small, rural, mixed-age setting with a strong Christian ethos and family feel.
Curriculum Structure
Our curriculum is designed around four key principles: Engage, Explore, Employ and Celebrate. These four principles underpin the planning process for topics in each year's group and enable staff to deliver a curriculum that matches our curriculum intent. Firstly, the Engage element is used to launch a topic. Then, the Explore and Employ elements take place during the teaching process. Finally, the Celebrate element focuses on reflection, evaluation, and sharing of outcomes, as well as celebrating success, effort, and achievement. This process varies in length according to the area of learning, with a form of celebration taking place, such as an assembly to which parents are invited.
Engage:
- Topic stimulus, trip, display, artefact, visitor
- Provide context
- Provoke thought, interest and enquiry
- Used throughout the topic to maintain interest and enthusiasm
Explore:
- Teach subject knowledge
- Model and demonstrate new skills
- Opportunities for reading, writing, speaking and listening
Employ:
- Provide creative opportunities to use newly acquired knowledge and skills
- Encourage individual, paired or group work opportunities
- Problem-solving and employment of new knowledge and skills
Celebrate:
- Plan opportunities to evaluate and reflect
- Celebrate work
- Identify the next steps for learning
We deliver the National Curriculum, which comprises of:
English, Mathematics, Science, Religious Education, History, Geography, Design and Technology, Art, Music, Physical Education, Computing and Modern Foreign Languages.
Religious Education is statutory in all schools. It is taught as a subject outside the National Curriculum but following the Gloucestershire Agreed Syllabus 2017. At Clearwell, it is particularly prominent as it underpins our vision, core values, and ethos.
The school recognises the importance of English and Maths as fundamental to all other areas of the curriculum, and therefore, a large emphasis is placed on these subjects. Cross-curricular links are made as often as possible to develop these skills in a variety of activities.
A rolling programme of topics is planned to ensure full coverage of all areas of the curriculum by all children who progress through the school. Planning takes the form of a topic-based approach, where teachers link subjects, where appropriate, to provide an engaging and inspiring curriculum.
While core subjects are taught on a regular basis, the foundation subjects may sometimes be taught as blocks of work over a matter of days or weeks.
This programme is regularly reviewed to ensure compatibility with new directives, to make necessary improvements to the existing programme of work or to ensure relevance to the children.
At Clearwell, we seek to create opportunities for children to excel in a range of activities that extend and enhance the curriculum. Children have opportunities both in and outside of the classroom, e.g., Forest School, Outdoor pursuits, Sporting events, Visiting speakers, using the local environment and facilities, and much more. After-school clubs are also provided to widen the children’s experiences.
When children leave Clearwell at the end of year 6 they should be equipped with the full range of skills that enable them to become lifelong learners. Through our Personal, Social, and Health Education, along with our Christian ethos, children are equipped with the social and emotional skills and understanding to continue being good citizens in the future.
Throughout their time at Clearwell, the children will have had the opportunity to develop our set of values and apply them to a wide variety of contexts.