Individual Subject Intent
The teaching of Maths at Clayton St John will give opportunities for all learners to develop; fluency, reasoning, problem solving, language and mastery skills.
In Maths, we have developed our own ‘Teaching Maths the Clayton Way’ Curriculum which adapts ideas from the White Rose Maths Hub to meet the needs of our children. This follows a Mastery approach of teaching children to their year group expectations whilst always having challenge available for those working at greater depth as well as support for children who may find the task challenging. The Maths curriculum encourages children to develop their mathematical skills by answering questions of different styles as well as developing their reasoning skills. A reasoning thread is built in to the curriculum to ensure that these skills are taught and revisited throughout different mathematical topics to ensure it is embedded in to children’s learning. The curriculum is designed to develop children’s independence, confidence and self-challenge to get onto the higher order questions.
How we do it:
- Pupils can use efficient strategies and do not get too ‘bogged down’ in too many steps or lose the logic of the strategy.
- Pupils carry out operations with accuracy (e.g. careful recording, knowledge of number facts, number bonds and relationships, careful double checking of results).
- Pupils are flexible and can choose an appropriate strategy for the number(s) involved (e.g. split/compensation/near doubles/formal methods) and use another method to check their results.
- Pupils can explain, justify and prove ideas showing a deepening understanding of a concept.
- Pupils use correct terminology. Key vocabulary is reinforced (by teachers, children, role/peer modelling) displayed and accessible.
Through Problem Solving:
- Children regularly experience ‘non-routine’ problems.
- Children show resilience as they actively seek solutions, explore patterns and formulate conjectures.
- Children make connections across mathematics and apply knowledge in other subject areas.
Reading is given a high priority in our curriculum as it is the ability to read and understand which opens up learning for children. We ensure a strong focus on high quality children’s literature throughout the curriculum, and specific reading lessons are taught every day as a whole class. We understand the importance of children reading to an adult and being read to by an adult – so build in regular opportunities for this.
We focus on vocabulary within the curriculum and ensure that it remains a priority in our teaching; we believe the development of children’s vocabulary is a vital tool in learning and understanding the full curriculum.
Writing is taught primarily through ‘Talk4Writing’ with the use of high quality texts, film and modelling of writing (by the teacher).
Read, Write Inc. is used to teach phonics in EYFS and KS1 and the Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar curriculum coverage is integrated into daily English lessons throughout school.
We also use the following Reading Schemes and support materials; Letters and Sounds, Bug club, Oxford Reading Tree, Rapid, Project X, Collins Big Cat, Literacy World.
How we do it:
We provide high quality first wave teaching of Reading and writing every day for all of our children.
We break down the skills of Reading and focus on the acquisition of vocabulary first, and then the comprehension skills.
We teach synthetic phonics for all of our pupils from the Early Years.
We teach Writing through the modelling of high quality writing by our teachers and the use of high quality texts. We believe that Reading and Writing should go hand in hand to provide a purpose for Writing.
We encourage our learners to practise a variety of drama / speaking and listening activities to support their Writing and understanding of texts.
At Clayton St John CE Primary School, we love learning all about the world around us through science with a sense of curiosity and wonder. We develop our investigative attitude and skills by exploring and experimenting, trying and improving, sharing and explaining. We believe future scientists, engineers, medical professionals, teachers, technicians, astronomer, botanists and a whole host more, begin their careers at primary school.
How we do it:
We provide purposeful, challenging and engaging science lessons
We teach practical skills
We teach the principles of scientific enquiry
We provide opportunities for children to work both collaboratively and independently
We encourage children to design their own experiments
We listen carefully to our children’s ideas, respond to their ideas and extend their thinking
We link our curriculum to the real world and make the most of opportunities both locally, nationally and globally.
At Clayton St John C of E Primary School, we aim for a high quality history curriculum which should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the Britain’s past and that of the wider world. Our teaching will equip pupils with knowledge about the history of Britain and how it has influenced and been influenced by the wider world; know and understand about significant aspects of the history of the wider world like ancient civilisations and empires; changes in living memory and beyond living memory; learn about the lives of significant people of the past; understand the methods of historical enquiry and be able to ask and answer questions. We want children to enjoy and love learning about history by gaining this knowledge and skills, not just through experiences in the classroom, but also with the use of fieldwork and educational visits.
How we do this:
- We aim to shape our history curriculum to ensure it is fully inclusive to every child.
- Provide a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum that encompasses the British Values throughout
- Ensure the progressive development of historical concepts, knowledge and skills; and for the children to study life in the past.
At Clayton St John C of E Primary we aim to equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.
How we do this:
The national curriculum for geography aims to ensure that all pupils:
- develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places – both terrestrial and marine – including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes
- understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time
- are competent in the geographical skills needed to:
- collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
- interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
- communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.
At Clayton St John Primary, we value Art and Design as an important part of the children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum. Art and Design provides the children with the opportunities to develop and extend skills and an opportunity to express their individual interests, thought and ideas.
Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. A high-quality art and design education should engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.
How we do this
The national curriculum for art and design aims to ensure that all pupils:
- produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their 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.
Design and Technology
At Cayton St John C of E Primary, we aim for Design and Technology to prepare children to deal with tomorrows rapidly changing world. We encourages children to become independent, creative problem solvers and thinkers as individuals and part of a team. This enables them to identify needs and opportunities and to respond to them by developing a range of ideas and by making products and systems. Through the study of Design and Technology, they combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, as well as functions and industry. This allows them to reflect on and evaluate past and present technology, it's uses and impacts.
How we do this
The national curriculum for Design and Technology aims to ensure that all pupils:
- develop the creative, technical and practical expertise need 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 and products and the work of others
- understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.
At Clayton St John C of E Primary School we make music an enjoyable learning experience. We encourage children to participate in a variety of musical experiences through which we aim to build up the confidence of all children. Our teaching focuses on developing the children’s ability to sing in tune and with other people. Through singing songs, children learn about the structure and organisation of music. We teach them to listen and to appreciate different forms of music. As children get older, we expect them to maintain their concentration for longer and to listen to more extended pieces of music. Children develop descriptive skills in music lessons when learning about how music can represent feelings and emotions. We teach them the disciplined skills of recognising pulse and pitch. Also, we teach the children how to work with others to compose music and perform for an audience.
How we do it
Charanga is a scheme of work which offers a topic-based approach to support children’s learning in music. A steady progression plan has been built into Charanga, both within each year and from one year to the next, ensuring consistent musical development. By using Charanga as the basis of a scheme of work, we can ensure that they are fulfilling the aims for musical learning stated in the National Curriculum:
Charanga includes many examples of music styles and genres from different times and places. These are explored through the language of music via active listening, performing and composing activities, which enable understanding of the context and genre.
Charanga provides a classroom-based, participatory and inclusive approach to music learning. Throughout the scheme, children are actively involved in using and developing their singing voices, using body percussion and whole body actions, and learning to handle and play classroom instruments effectively to create and express their own and others’ music. Through a range of whole class, group and individual activities, children have opportunities to explore sounds, listen actively, compose and perform.
It is our intention when teaching the PE curriculum we develop the enjoyment of physical activity and strive to improve the importance of health and wellbeing. Our intention is to give children the opportunities to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding and apply these in competitive situations, with the vision this provides them with lifelong learning skills.
We strive to ensure that all our pupils receive a well-rounded learning experience when participating in different sporting activities, learning the importance of health and wellbeing and equipping them with the necessary values and tools to achieve in our academy and beyond. It is our intention to engage pupils in the possibilities of sport to develop a passion for being active, healthy and the confidence to try new things and build resilience and determination with all they do.
How we do this
At Clayton, we recognise that in order for all pupils to progress they need to be confident across each of their yearly objectives. Our PE curriculum covers the knowledge and skills outlined in the National Curriculum and ensures all children are given opportunities to be challenged to progress their learning further. Through our teaching of PE we aim to deliver the lessons in a meaningful context, giving purpose and wherever possible curricular links are exploited, particularly links with Maths, British Values, our Values Based Learning and SMSC.