The Curriculum

The Cambo Curriculum

At Cambo First School we strive to provide our children with an excellent education through challenging, inclusive, engaging, relevant, meaningful, creative, broad and balanced learning opportunities. We want all of our children to perform to their maximum potential; academically, physically, socially, emotionally and culturally in an atmosphere where they can grow and acquire appropriate knowledge, skills, values and attitudes. We provide a caring, nurturing environment in which every child feels valued and respected. We listen to children and offer them our honest opinions in a curriculum where every child can achieve from their own starting point.

At Cambo The National Curriculum Framework 2014 is central to our curriculum and every child is taught in line with those expectations. The curriculum in our school is planned via teachers and children. It is sequenced and progressive. Where possible a variable mixture of whole school topics, mini projects and themed days are developed, motivating and capturing the interest of our children. Rigorous teaching of discreet subject specific skills and knowledge is delivered alongside opportunities to apply those skills in a cross curricular context. We feel that this helps our children to make links in their learning. We aim for our children to have: ownership of the curriculum; to be inspired by their learning, to develop enquiring minds, a sense of their own identity and respect for other cultures

Our curriculum includes learning opportunities that are designed to support our values and reflect our local community and the interests of our children. At Cambo we believe that we can best achieve our aims by working in close partnership with families. We feel that the school is at the heart of the local community and we strive to maintain and develop as many links as possible with people around us.

At Cambo we aim to bring the wider world into our small rural school and to take the school into the wider world via visitors, creatives and visits ensuring that learning is engaging, relevant and meaningful. We believe our curriculum represents the world we live in and provides the experiences, skills and knowledge our children need to function as young people and adults in the 21st Century.

OFSTED 2010 stated that the curriculum at Cambo was ‘INSPIRATIONAL’

Cambo is part of the Morpeth Partnership. This group comprises of 17 schools with children from 2-19 years. We have strong links with our neighbouring schools and actively work with them to ensure that our small school is only small in number! At Cambo we ‘think big’ when it comes to the development of each child, each child’s curriculum, personal and social development and developing cultural capital.

The Governors and staff at Cambo are firmly committed to working together to raise standards of achievement in all curriculum areas; to provide a safe, secure, happy, aspirational and worthwhile education for all.

At the present time the challenge for us is to continue to improve the attainment and quality of provision for every child and to provide a school which works in partnership with, and is accountable to, the community it serves.

The School Improvement Plan aims to help us to improve outcomes, for our children, to raise standards of achievement for all and to extend our existing outstanding practice.

The National Curriculum

The National Curriculum requires that children study the following subjects: English, Mathematics, Science, Design and Technology, Information Technology, History, Geography, Art, Music, P.S.H.E.,SRE, Physical Education. In addition each school must provide Religious Education and an act of daily worship. Within the National Curriculum, programmes of study set out the essential learning in each subject. There are national tests for children at ages 7, 11 and 14, called Standardised Assessment Tasks (S.A.T.s). At age 7 these assessments are planned as part of daily lessons. These assessments are under review-KS1 SATs will be made non-statutory, so schools will be able to choose whether to adminster them or not, from 2023. In Year 4 children also complete a mandatory multiplication assessment which will be reportable to parents from 2020.

We work closely with all of the schools in the Morpeth Partnership and our Curriculum content has been widely discussed and continues to be discussed .

Our goal as a Morpeth Partnership of schools is to provide an education that encourages and promotes a strong sense of identity and pride of place based on local heritage, culture and landscape of Morpeth and Northumberland. We have high aspirations for the children of the Morpeth Partnership by offering equality of entitlement as we have sequenced our curriculum to build pupil knowledge and skills.We are an outward-looking learning community who strive to ensure all children achieve their potential to become happy, fulfilled individuals and have the appropriate cultural capital to succeed in life.

We will provide:

A broad, balanced, stimulating curriculum that ensures clear progression of skills and knowledge in all subjects as our children move through our Partnership.
A curriculum that is planned with themes in mind, and is adapted and designed to be ambitious to meet the needs of all children.
A wide choice of enrichment activities to challenge and engage our children by bringing learning to life.

Morpeth Partnership Curriculum Themes

Equality – we develop empathy in individuals and ensure we provide equality of opportunity and freedom from discrimination.

Identity– we develop a pride and sense of social, moral, spiritual and cultural identity in order to shape and define who we are.

Future ready– we prepare our children for an exciting but unknown future with the empathy and resilience they need to succeed.

Excellence – we have high expectations in all we do and seek to enable all children to meet their potential.

Collaboration – we provide our pupils with the opportunities to develop the skills to work in teams.

At Cambo:

How interventions are managed at Cambo to support those children who need more time and input

We know our children well, we plan for children with SEND to come into school and transition through year groups
As a small school staff we talk about our children regularly and share progress and interventions
We have quality-first teaching
high staff /child ratio where possible whether staff/volunteers
early identification prior to Reception [strong links with PVI setting] and during school
PLPs in place to develop support plans and ensure we have the required two waves of intervention should we need to progress concerns.
Strong external links with relevant services e.g. Educational Psychologist, Behaviour / ASD /speech and language.
excellent highly qualified TA’s who are able to support groups and individual pupils effectively with enthusiasm.
Our TAs are able to assist children who have questions, need encouragement, or seek assistance to accomplish an assigned task
Support staff who are able to support the class teacher ably in teaching and learning
External teaching support developed with Dyslexia/Dyscalculia support
Strong CPD outlined in SEND tab
We have strong positive relationships with our families and share with them aims/objectives/actions
We listen to our children/families and act upon their worries and concerns

English
We place great emphasis on the teaching of reading as we feel this is the main building block in all areas of the curriculum and life itself.

We use Read Write Inc as our Phonics scheme from Reception. We are currently reviewing/trialling the Twinkl model of phonological development with a view to adopting this method in school for the late spring / early summer term 2022.

We believe that children must have a sound knowledge of phonics e.g. initial sounds, blends and sight vocabulary to decode/read words, tricky words and become fluent readers. Our reading scheme is carefully graded to give children broad experience at each level of their reading development. Beginner reading books reflect their phonological development. The children are also encouraged to use reference books and to read for information as well as enjoyment. We want the children to be good communicators and so we encourage them to speak with confidence using appropriate forms of speech. We also develop the capacity to listen with attention and understand the viewpoint expressed by others. We look for ways to support reading in everyday life e.g.

We read with children at least once a week and encourage parents to read with their child on a daily basis, completing any games/activities sent home with books.
Guided Reading takes place in our mixed age classes once a week for each year group.
Members of the community come into school on a voluntary basis to support reading
Interventions are put in place to support reading/phonics /sight vocabulary e.g. Read Write Inc, Precision Teaching
The County Library Bus comes to school fortnightly and the children are encouraged to choose a book to read themselves or share with a peer/adult/parent.
We host a book week and a book fayre annually.
Staff model good reading habits and share stories regularly.
We have developed Peer/Peer reading on Friday afternoons and whilst swimming.
We have a library of books in each classroom which children can use for free reading/taking home to share
We invite authors into school as part of book week
We run specific events linked to reading e.g. Read 25 books at bedtime on the run up to Christmas.
Teacher’s read to and with children daily
We celebrate reading success
Interventions Read Write Inc/Precision Teaching
Buy in re SEND interventions where pertinent and support this development via interventions with Teaching Assistants.

Our main aim in developing writing skills is to enable our children to express their ideas in a variety of ways, using accurate spelling, grammar and punctuation. We encourage our children to develop a cursive style and to show good presentation. We want our children to take pride in their work.

literacy takes place in each class daily. The lesson begins with shared text work, followed by sound, word or sentence work. Children are then given group tasks. The teacher works with one or two groups. The lesson concludes with a plenary, where children come together to share and explain learning.

Big writing takes place twice per month for all children. This allows more developed, extended writing via drafting and redrafting.
We use Read Write Inc as our spelling scheme
We use Letter join as our scheme for handwriting across the school
Children who have difficulties re writing/spelling/presentation are identified early and support/interventions are developed to support and develop confidence, progression and attainment from their starting point.

Impact

Attainment at Cambo in Reading and Writing is consistently above the National Average

All of our children attain well from their own individual starting points. Early interventions are put in place for those children who have difficulties

Our children’s attainments at end of Foundation Stage and Year One Phonics Screening Check is consistently above National Expectations.

All of our children at Cambo love sharing a story with an adult, older pupil or peer. They develop their own preferences regarding subject matter, author or illustrator.

Phonics – daily phonic session

The children take part in a daily phonic session where we begin to teach and develop their graphic knowledge. It is vital that children learn these sounds as soft sounds and not with an added ‘uh’ at the end! We use Twinkl phonics to develop phonetic knowledge and understanding

We move away from level 1 where the children have been listening to sounds in the environment, developing vocabulary, orally segmenting and blending and rhythm and rhyme as part of their Pre-school experiences and enter the world of sounds.

As children move into level 2 they are taught 19 phonemes (s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, g, o, c, k, ck, e, u, r, h, b, f ff, l, ll, ss.) During this phase the children will be introduced to reading two syllable words (it in at) and simple sentences using phonetically correct words (c,a,t) coupled with those tricky words (the) (the cat is in bed).

We begin to introduce those tricky words such as ‘the, to, go, no.’ These words are not decodable but need to be taught by sight. We also build a knowledge of decodable words to, as we introduce sounds starting with ‘a, at, as, sat’.

These words will also be sent home for you to practise in your home learning book.

We will introduce the children to Twinkl Phonics, which is a fun way to acquire phonetic knowledge. We believe that this programme caters for all learners. This is a fun session with lots of practical activities and Twinkle Phonic actions including songs.

Children progress through levels 2-4 in Reception and complete level 5 during year 1

Mathematics

Intent

At Cambo we believe that all of our children have the capacity to achieve well. We want our children to foster a love for mathematics. We also believe that our children’s chances of success are maximised if they develop a deep and lasting understanding of mathematical procedures and concepts. At Cambo we foster a ‘can do’ attitude along with the skills, confidence and curiosity to solve mathematical problems through fluency with numbers, reasoning and explaining. Problem solving opportunities are an essential element in our maths lessons, engaging children in real life mathematical problems and thus preparing them for the next stage in their schooling, the world of work and life itself.

Our children are encouraged to work independently and co-operatively to develop skills. We have a daily dedicated mathematics lesson which are structured in accordance with The 2014 National Curriculum.

At Cambo First School, we recognise that Mathematics is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment.

Implementation:

At Cambo our staff plan lessons carefully to promote depth of learning. Concepts and skills are taught in extended blocks as this allows sufficient time for children to practise, refine and ultimately master concepts and processes. Lessons are carefully sequenced so that skills and knowledge are continually revisited and applied. Lessons are carefully designed to ensure all of our children access rich, problem solving tasks. Assessment is used both within and outside of the lessons to determine strengths, misconceptions, the need for further guided/independent practice and attainment.

At Cambo we use ICT both within and outside of lessons to support, reinforce and develop children’s mathematical concepts and speed or application e.g. Times Tables Rockstars and RM Maths.

In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), we relate the mathematical aspects of the children’s work to the Development Matters statements and the Early Learning Goals (ELG), as set out in the EYFS profile document. Mathematics development involves providing our children with opportunities to practise and improve their skills in counting numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems, and describing shapes, spaces, and measures. The profile for Mathematics areas of learning are Number (ELG 11) and shape, space and measures (ELG 12). At Cambo our children are continually observed and assessed against these areas using age-related objectives,; which enables us to plan the next steps in their mathematical development through a topic-based curriculum.

Subitising is now part of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and is key to children developing a secure number sense. From the beginning of their Early Years mathematical journey the children are encouraged to develop their skills of noticing (spotting similarities and differences in objects and groups of objects) and subitising (being able to see and recognise
numbers of things without counting) through adult led opportunities and their independent learning through the learning environment. We develop the skill of instantaneously recognising the number of objects in a small group without the need to count them usually up to and including 5 objects. This is known as perceptual subitising. Recognising how many there are by combining numbers of smaller groups is called conceptual subitising: this is more advanced than perceptual subitising. This involves the children seeing numbers as combinations of other numbers and
supports the children to develop an awareness of the part-whole awareness and build familiarity with number bonds and fact families. The children in Reception develop a secure foundation in number sense which stands them in good stead for the Year 1 maths curriculum. They use 5 and 10 frames to represent numbers to 10 and use these to build up larger numbers. They are encouraged to represent maths in different ways, primarily using concrete methods (real life objects and maths resources), progressing to pictorial and abstract (recording more formally) when appropriate. Maths talk is essential and children develop maths language through their daily maths sessions and the opportunity to talk about what they see and how they see it in relation to their everyday maths. Maths is woven through their daily school life and given a real-life context. Following training and advice from Karen Wilding, an international maths consultant, staff have
developed an understanding of how children learn and how this relates to developing essential number sense.

There are opportunities for our children to encounter Maths throughout the EYFS, both within and outside of the classroom – through planned activities and the self-selection of easily accessible quality maths resources. Wherever possible, our children’s interests are incorporated into our mathematics planning and delivery.

Impact:

Our mathematics curriculum is well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression and prepare our pupils for the next steps in their learning and for transition from our school to Middle School.

Attainment in EYFS/KS1 is consistently above National Expectations.

The vast majority of children at Cambo tell us that they enjoy Maths. We want our children to have a real love for the subject and to continue to build on this in the next stages of their education and life itself.

Through the mastery approach we want our children to feel confident and resilient and to believe that it is ok to make mistakes.

Science

PSQM Gilt award in Science. Accreditation May 20

There is a strong focus on investigation and independent learning in Science. Our children have the opportunity to develop knowledge and understanding in many areas of science as dictated in the National Curriculum. Our children learn about life and living processes, materials and their properties, and physical processes through experimentation and investigation. Individual and group skills of planning, decision-making, investigating and communicating results, as well as observing, classifying, recording, making and testing hypotheses, designing experiments and drawing information from evidence are vital to science – based activities, but can also be applied to everyday life. In science we focus strongly on children developing their own learning, we encourage children to take a lead as the ‘Expert’ especially in homework e.g. using concept cartoons with their parents.

SCHOOL AIMS

Our aims in teaching science are to:

stimulate the children’s interest and curiosity in meaningful contexts
acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes to develop a greater understanding of the world about them
develop scientific strategies and skills through enquiry-based learning, exploration and investigation
enable satisfactory outcomes to be reached
develop basic scientific concepts
enable the children to work co-operatively and to communicate scientific ideas to others
develop safe use of appropriate equipment and materials

PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING AND LEARNING SCIENCE

The essential characteristics of good science activities should include:

opportunities to ask and answer purposeful questions and discuss ideas
focused exploration and investigation to acquire scientific knowledge, understanding and skills
use of the outdoors to enhance scientific experiences
first-hand experience
use of thinking skills to challenge understanding
use of simple secondary sources of information
opportunities to make decisions and choices
making cross-curricular links with learning in mathematics, design and technology and computing
use of ICT to store, retrieve and present information
correct use of scientific vocabulary

SCIENCE WITHIN THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM

Science is a core subject of the National Curriculum. The knowledge, skills and understanding covered in science in school are those laid down in the Programmes of Study. The national curriculum for science aims to ensure that all pupils:

develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics
develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them
are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future These are taught through ‘Working Scientifically’ and ‘Enquiry’ and clearly related to specific units of work from the Programme of Study.

Children in Y1, Y2, Y3 and Y4 follow the National Curriculum 2014.

Children in the Early Years follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum and the related Early Learning Goals.

In Reception there is a gradual transition between the two with approximately three quarters of the work by the end of the year being based on the National Curriculum.

Science is also taught as a block annually during Science, Technology. Engineering and Maths week (STEM) throughout the school. Each year group are set challenges that are planned to ensure progression.

LINKS WITH OTHER CURRICULAR AREAS

The teaching of literacy, numeracy and ICT is promoted strongly in science as part of this school’s drive to raise standards in English and Mathematics. Science is used to extend and enable the pupils to practise the skills of language and literacy and numeracy.

Cambo First School is a small school thus the coordination of all subjects is shared. Staff from Cambo have worked alongside colleagues across the Morpeth Partnership to ensure that we have a long-term Science plan with clear expectations for the progression of knowledge and skills from EYFS through to Year 13.

There is a clear medium term plan for each theme which outlines a sequence of lessons for each subject, carefully planning for progression

Teacher assessment is measured against the key knowledge and skills and other forms of assessment are used, Challenge questions create opportunities for pupils to apply their learning and educational visits and visiting experts are planned to enhance the learning experience.

Forest school sessions give children the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of nature processes and through different types of scientific inquiries helps them answer scientific questions about the world around them.

Morpeth Partnership Science Curriculum

Design and Technology

At Cambo we want our children to be inquisitive about the way products work; we follow a ‘Design, Make and Evaluate’, approach to the teaching of the subject as outlined in the National Curriculum Programmes of Study. Our children have the opportunity to use a range of tools and techniques both within and outside of the classroom e.g. forest school activities.

We are a a small school thus we operate a rolling program of DT , linked wherever possible to key skills, project based learning.

Our Design and Technology curriculum encourages children to think and intervene creatively to solve problems both as individuals and as members of a team.

Cambo First School is a small first school, thus the coordination of all subjects is shared. Staff from Cambo have worked alongside colleagues across the Morpeth Partnership to create a long term plan for Design and Technology. This plan shows clear progression of knowledge and skills from EYFS through to Year 13.

Partnership DT

Information Technology

At Cambo our children are encouraged to use IT equipment to communicate ideas and handle information. The use and purpose of everyday devices are also considered through controlling, coding, modelling and E Safety. IT is integrated into all areas of the curriculum where pertinent as a teaching and learning tool. Explicit skills are also taught.

We develop educational visits and visitors to school to support project/information specific based learning as this enhances learning and effectively brings learning to life.

Cambo First School is a small first school, thus the coordination of all subjects is shared. Staff from Cambo have worked alongside colleagues across the Morpeth Partnership to create a long term plan for IT. This plan shows clear progression of knowledge and skills from EYFS through to Year 13.

Morpeth Partnership Computer Scientist

Geography

Our Geography curriculum takes place over a two-year rolling program as we have mixed age classes. Lessons are key skills/project based where possible.

We develop educational visits and visitors to school to support project based learning as this enhances learning and effectively brings learning to life e.g visit to London, Newcastle, Cambo etc

Cambo First School is a small school, thus the coordination of all subjects is shared. Staff from Cambo have worked alongside colleagues in the Morpeth Partnership to create a long term subject specific plan that shows clear progression of knowledge and skills from EYFS through to Year 13.

Morpeth Partnership Geographer (1)

MFL

At Cambo we aim to develop an interest in learning french in a way that is enjoyable and stimulating. We want to support our children in developing a love of languages and to expand their horizons to other countries, cultures and people providing them with a foundation that will equip them for further language studies in middle school.

We develop educational visits and visitors to school to support project based learning as this enhances learning and effectively brings learning to life

Mrs Barron is our MFL teacher and she teaches MFL across the school for one lesson per week.

Morpeth Partnership MFL learners

History

At Cambo our History curriculum takes place over a two-year rolling program as we have mixed age classes. Lessons are key skills/project based where possible.

We develop educational visits and visitors to school to support project based learning as this enhances learning and effectively brings learning to life

Cambo First School is a small school thus the coordination of all subjects is shared. Staff from Cambo have worked alongside colleagues across the Morpeth Partnership to ensure that we have a long-term history plan with clear expectations for the progression of knowledge and skills from EYFS through to Year 13.

Morpeth Partnership Historian

Creative Arts

We are a Gold Arts Mark School and have been for over 10 years. Our last assessment was 2023

Children in Y3/4 all have Explore and Discover Art Awards

Children in Y1/2 are working on their Discover Award 23/24 – music and Art based

The Arts are used as a vehicle for curriculum development wherever possible in topic work. Children gain a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction from experiences, which provide a means of self-expression. They are given the opportunity to experience a variety of activities and use a wide range of materials. They are taught to observe and record, to use their imagination and creativity and to respond to the work of other artists. They are also given opportunities to draw, paint, design and make products and to work with textiles.

We use Charranga as a method of supporting music in the curriculum for non specialist teachers.
We employ a peripatetic teacher to work with the children individually/in groups re keyboard, guitar, violin.
We employ a music teacher to work with Class 2 on Recorder/ukulele during lunch times
We have whole class tuition of violin/music/singing across the school once a week for 1.5 hours. This session is led via a music specialist.
Children play instruments in assembly/concerts/services
Children work towards arts award Discover and Explore
We have at least 1 specialist in the arts each half term linked to children’s planning and requests for support.
We have at least one visit per term linked to the arts to support learning
We work with the children to produce a drama at christmas and in the summer for the community
We take part in events within the community/Local area e.g. working with an artist to depict and create areas of Wallington which meet mental health support-September 19. Morpeth Big Sing 2020.
We develop educational visits and visitors to school to support project based learning as this enhances learning and effectively brings learning to life e.g. visit to Laing Art Gallery, Sage, Theatre Royal etc

Morpeth Partnership Musician

Morpeth Partnership art

Physical Education

We hold a School Games Gold Award for PE and have done for several years.

We hold a Food For Life Silver Award and we are a Flagship Food For Life School

At Cambo we use specialist PE teachers/Teachers and coaches to ensure our children have access to high quality PE lessons. Our main aim is to develop the child’s knowledge and skill set through a range of whole class, group or individual activities. Teachers/coaches draw upon good examples of performance and allow children to demonstrate and model to the class. We encourage children to evaluate performance by using observations and technology e.g. Scottish Opera dance sessions.

Children are given experiences of gymnastics, dance, outdoor and adventurous activities, individual and team games and swimming

We are part of the Morpeth and Ponteland School Support

We ensure that we have specialist support inPE for each area
Teachers/TAs work with Coaches to develop their own knowledge, skills [CPD]
Festivals/Competition diary per annum for all children.
2 hours per annum as a minimum
All children take part in swimming lessons 38 weeks of the year
after school clubs at least 1 per half term
enriched with OAA / CANOEING/PADDLEBOARDING/CYCLE TRAINING-children’s requests for afterschool activities
Community events eg Wallington cycle dragon trail event and picnic in the park
Annual community sports day held after school so all can attend
We signpost clubs to develop skills further re children
We highlight the importance of a healthy lifestyle and show pupils how physical education can assist in achieving this. [links to science/technology]

PE in EYFS:

Children in Reception are in a mixed age class, therefore they have access to specialist PE alongside their year 1 peers for two hours per week. We believe that PE is a building block to supporting the development of early writing, building resilience, promoting a healthy lifestyle and supporting the development of social skills.

There are further opportunities for children to encounter PE throughout the EYFS (both inside and outside) – through both planned activities and the self-selection of easily accessible resources and play equipment.

Teachers plan activities that support children’s fine motor and gross motor movements during structured and play based sessions.

Morpeth Partnership PE

Religious Education is a core subject. At Cambo we follow Jigsaw Discover RE as a basis for our Religious Education. The program is inquiry based. It dovetail with the Northumberland Syllabus for RE. We teach about major religions in the world as outlined in our plan below. This is complemented by the exploration of similarities/differences we share

We have close links with community churches. Ministers visit half termly to conduct assemblies e.g. Cambo Church, Scots Gap Methodist Church,

We develop educational visits and visitors to school to support project based learning as this enhances learning and effectively brings learning to life e.g. Easter Trail, Newcastle Cathedral visit, St Barnabus visit to school re Godly Play/Drama.

We run a Fish Club once a month with H Middleton from the methodist church

cambo re overview

Copy of FINAL Morpeth Partnership R.E. (1)

Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

We hold an International Award

We hold Healthy Schools Status

We are a flagship Food in School’s -School. We hold an individual Silver kite mark for our work in this area
Children are rewarded for good behaviour, as well as kindness to others. They are encouraged to think about the feelings of others and to help wherever possible, in and around school and also within the community. We also encourage children to think about the needs of others within our world community and to offer support through school projects.

In Religious education, the school follows the Northumberland RE syllabus., which explores aspects of the Christian church and other world faiths. We are pleased to welcome visitors to provide us with knowledge and insight into their values and beliefs. We also ensure that visits are incorporated into our learning. We encourage children to ask questions, make comments and be tolerant of the viewpoints expressed by others. We would appreciate information about your beliefs so that we can be sensitive to children’s family experiences. Parents have the right to withdraw children from religious education and/or collective worship. Please contact the Head Teacher if you wish to discuss this matter.

We develop educational visits and visitors to school to support project based learning as this enhances learning and effectively brings learning to life e.g. citizenship visit to London, Newcastle Cathedral, Iskon Hindu Temple, local church personnel , Easter Trail visit with other schools, Brinkburn Priory, Encompass Staff, Show Racism the Red Card staff to school.

Personal, social and health education (P.S.H.E.)

RELATIONSHIP and SEX EDUCATION (S.R.E)

Children and Social Work Act 2017,age-appropriate S.R.E is now compulsory. Sex and Relationships Education is statutory in Primary schools from September 2020, [delayed because of COVID] the Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) policy including SRE is being reviewed to reflect the changes that are to come. SRE will be found within the PSHE scheme of work/ long term planning. It is also included in the science curriculum. A variety of resources will be used e.g.Jigsaw – The mindful approach to PSHE , ‘SEAL’ and ‘Lucinda and Godfrey’ etc The SRE content builds children’s self-esteem, enhances their own sense of self regard to their body image, develops caring and healthy relationships and assertiveness skills in keeping themselves valued, safe and respected. Most of the time, SRE will be delivered by the children’s class teacher within the weekly PSHE lesson. Visitors and visits will be incorporated into all learning where possible e.g. Sarah Donnison [Encompass/Endeavour initiative] visited school to work with the children on healthy relationships in 2019 and the children visited Newcastle Staying Safe Centre to develop keeping themselves and others safe through practical situations and role play.

Children and young people need the self-awareness, positive self-esteem and confidence to:

stay as healthy as possible;
keep themselves and others safe;
have worthwhile and fulfilling relationships;
respect the differences between people;
develop independence and responsibility;
play an active role as members of a democratic society; make the most of their own and other’s abilities;

Education for citizenship at key stage 1 to 4, comprises three interrelated strands.

Social and moral responsibility. Pupils learning from the very beginning self-confidence and socially and morally responsible behaviour both in and beyond the classroom, towards those in authority and towards each other.
Community involvement. Pupils learning how to become helpfully involved in the life and concerns of their neighbourhood and communities, including learning through community involvement and service.
Political literacy. Pupils learning about the institutions, issues, problems and practices of our democracy and how citizens can make themselves effective in public life, locally, regionally and nationally through skills and values as well as knowledge – this can be termed political literacy, which encompasses more than political knowledge alone.

Special curricular provision and arrangements for children with special educational needs

Children with particular learning or other special needs can benefit from specialist help. This may be because they experience particular learning difficulties or because they show exceptional ability. Special help is given in the classroom whenever possible. If a child does not make the expected progress, parents will be informed and additional arrangements will be made.

If a child continues to have problems, we will seek support from outside specialists.

Curriculum for Early Years Children
The National Curriculum is formally taught from year one onwards. When children first come to school their curriculum is organised in seven areas of learning as follows: Personal and Social and Emotional Development, Communication and language, Physical Development, Literacy, Mathematics, understanding the world and Expressive art. This curriculum is called the Foundation Stage.

Sex Education
Sex education is not taught formally in our school. However, if questions arise through science work involving animals and living things, or through other school topics, we will answer children’s question as openly and honestly as we can.