Our Curriculum

Children are taught from our Curriculum Plans which align with The National Curriculum. They have opportunities to learn in a range of ways - individually, in groups and as a while class, as appropriate. At all stages, children learn, practise and refine a wide range of skills in all their activities across the National Curriculum. These are describes as key skills as the help learners to improve their learning through their education, as well as in later life. 

The key skills are complemented by the development across the curriculum of 'thinking skills' - information processing, reasoning, enquiry, creative thinking and evaluation skills. 

We are currently developing our 'Farm to Fork' curriculum where we seek for children to have learning opportunities outdoors. Additional information will be added soon. 

The National Curriculum

Schools are required by law to teach the National Curriculum to all children of five years and over. At the centre are the 'Core' subjects of English, Maths and Science as well as Computing (IT) and Religious Education (RE). The Foundation subjects comprise of History, Geography, Art, Design Technology, Music, PE and PSHE (Personal, Social, Health & Citizenship) and MFL (Modern Foreign Language) French in KS2. 

Children in Reception (EYFS) follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. Years 1 and 2 will be working in KS1 (Key Stage 1) of the National Curriculum and those in Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 will continue through KS2 (Key Stage 2) of the National Curriculum. 

Wherever possible, we follow a thematic approach to our curriculum, to put learning into a real life context for the children. The topics taught encompass a wide range of curriculum areas, however, some subjects may be taught separately to ensure full coverage of skills for you child. 

Below you will find links to The National Curriculum but also Our Long Term Plans which are shown in a two-year cycle. 

English

English (including Phonics) in EYFS and Year 1 is taught through the Read, Write Inc. scheme. This supports the children to develop their phonics, reading and writing. With this being embedded in Willow Class the aim is to make more fluent readers with a good understanding of what they have read.

English lessons taught from Year 2 onwards are planned from a range of high quality texts, film clips, or current affairs to engage children in their learning, covering a broad range of genres and text-types. These lessons are planned to ensure the children continue to build up their skills in specific text types and promote the children writing for a variety of purposes. The children then show off their skill development when they apply their learning to longer pieces of work in their topic lessons. 

Spelling is taught through the Read, Write Inc. scheme in Year 1 and is followed on by the Read, Write Spell scheme that is taught daily from Year 2 to Year 6. The teaching of grammar and punctuation is also taught within English lessons and supported with Special Focus lessons as part of the Read, Write Spell scheme, which is closely matched to the National Curriculum. 

At Clough and Risegate Primary it is our aim that each child leaves us with a love of words. We aim to develop children who can speak fluently, read for enjoyment and meaning and can write in any genre; be it a letter of complaint or a beautiful poem. Our Accelerated Reader scheme will enable all children to read challenging, rewarding and enjoyable texts. We LOVE reading at Clough and Risegate Community Primary School. 

Numeracy

Our Long Term Plans do include our Numeracy links. For more details of coverage however, you will find yearly overviews per year group linked to the White Rose Maths scheme that we follow. Due to our mixed aged classes, these are not followed rigidly, instead are adapted to meet the needs of our children in response to teaching, learning and continuous assessments made. 

The White Rose Maths curriculum is a cumulative curriculum so that once a topic is covered, it is met many times again in other contexts. Our aim in Mathematics is that each child leaves Clough and Risegate Community Primary with the skills to meet the demands of everyday life in the modern world. We want all children to use and apply their mathematical skills confidently, use mathematical language effectively and to be fluent mathematical thinkers. We want children to enjoy being mathematicians. 

Science

Our aim in Science is to give children practical experiences of scientific processes by allowing them to experiment and find solutions to questions about the world in which they live. We encourage children to understand the relevance of Science to their present lives and how discoveries made today may impact on their futures. Children develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding of the natural world, materials and physical processes. We want children to experience the wonder of the scientific world and to be excited by what they discover for themselves. We teach Science primarily through Pearson's Science Bug scheme, however, take opportunities to make as many links as possible to other areas of the curriculum.