Your child will be taught the foundation subjects through topics. This cross curricular approach makes for a stimulating and varied curriculum. Children are encouraged and supported to develop their skills at different levels and they can transfer these skills to different subject areas.
Design and technology provides opportunity for the children to investigate familiar objects around them. They explore how things work, what they are used for and the needs of people who use them.
Children have the opportunity to develop a range of practical skills across both Key Stages working with different materials including fixing and joining, measuring and cutting, assembling, applying and a range of finishing techniques. Children are encouraged to design and make their own products and learn to evaluate them suggesting ways in which their work could be improved.
Design and Technology provides us with opportunities to make links with other areas of the curriculum such as science, literacy and maths.
Through our topic approach we encourage children to gain an awareness of their own environment and investigate the local area and its landscape. From this they are encouraged to extend their knowledge of societies both in this country and abroad to appreciate similarities and differences among them.
Through the studying of localities children develop their geographical skills such as recognising landscape features, following directions using maps and fieldwork techniques.
ICT will be used to support and extend geographical skills and knowledge.
Through our topic work we want our children to learn to use a variety of sources such as artefacts, photographs, websites and films to find out about the past. Through our choice of topics we want our children to develop their use of historical skills as well as learning about the people and cultures of the past.
During their time in our school children will have the opportunity to investigate British and World history.
Art will provide your child with the opportunity to develop their creativity. Children will be given the opportunity to express themselves using a variety of media which will include pastels, crayons, clay, textiles and other collage materials.
Our topic work will provide the opportunity for your child to develop their skills and work individually and collaboratively with children in our own and other schools.
The children regularly take part in singing in our school as part of collective worship. Opportunities are provided through school productions for children to sing as a group and as individuals. We want our children to develop an enjoyment of all types of music. Children are given the opportunity to learn guitar through peripatetic teachers.
We invite specialist teachers into the school to support the delivery of music where children will have the opportunity to make, compose and move to music.
The PE we provide will give your child an opportunity to participate in activities that help them develop their physical and social skills. In addition to teacher-led sessions, we are able to offer the children the opportunity to take part in a wide variety of activities including athletics, dance, gymnastics, team and co-operative games through our work with the Eden Valley Sports Partnership. These activities will be led by qualified coaches.
We enter inter-school competitions with neighbouring schools. In the Spring term all children in the school attend swimming lessons at Appleby Swimming Pool.
Through the Personal Social and Health Education and science curriculum your child will learn about their bodies, relationships and keeping healthy.
In Year 6 your child will be taught a series of lessons to link with changes they are soon to encounter in their new school as well as within their own bodies. For these lessons we link with cluster schools and use the school nurses to deliver these sessions. We use a selection of DVD’s and books to support and supplement the programme. You are informed at the start of the topic and are given the opportunity to discuss the programme if you wish. You have the right to withdraw your child from sex education.
Religious Education in our school is taught in line with the authority’s ‘Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education’. Our approach is based broadly on Christian beliefs but there will be a focus also on Buddhism, Judaism in Key Stage 1 and Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity in Key Stage 2.
In our religious education we aim to foster tolerance and respect for people’s beliefs and an awareness of customs, stories, buildings and famous people associated with world religions. We encourage our children to have an open and enquiring mind and to ask questions to further develop their knowledge and understanding.
Parents may withdraw their child from sessions where there is a specific religious element. Suitable alternative arrangements can be made in consultation with parents.
Each day in school we have an assembly. We take the themes of our assemblies from the ‘Social Emotional Aspects of Learning’ (SEAL) themes and link it to the traditions of the Christian faith through story, discussion and role play. We observe the festivals and mark the events of the Christian calendar. Sometimes the themes of our assemblies are related to topics that we teach as part of the school curriculum.
During assembly time we also learn songs and celebrate achievements of children in the school
Our close links with the local churches mean that we regularly welcome visitors to take part in and lead our assemblies.
Parents/Carers have the right to withdraw their child from Collective Worship. Suitable alternative arrangements can be made in consultation with parents.
We want our children to become active and responsible citizens in later life and provide a structured programme through the ‘SEAL’ curriculum that allows them to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to support this. To further promote this we have an enthusiastic school council who initiate and lead events which includes fundraising for charities of their choice.
Other areas of the curriculum, such as Science and PE, and opportunities that we provide both in and out of school also contribute to this area. We welcome to school the ‘Life Education’ bus where the children have the chance to work with a professional and children from other cluster schools to find out more about themselves and their bodies.
We currently provide weekly French lessons for all pupils being delivered by a specialist teacher of French. Our emphasis is on developing speaking and listening skills, to develop enthusiasm for learning different languages and to experience other cultures.