Years 1-6
Our Curriculum is seen as an entitlement for all children and promotes high standards and expectations.
The purposes of the curriculum are:
- to establish an entitlement for all children to develop and apply the knowledge, skills and understanding that will help them become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens – regardless of social background, culture, race, gender, differences in ability and disabilities;
- to establish standards for children’s performance that can be shared with children, parents, teachers, governors and the public;
- to promote continuity and coherence, allowing children to move smoothly between schools and phases of education and providing a foundation for lifelong learning;
- to promote public understanding, building confidence in the work of the school and in the quality of education provided at Witton-le-Wear Primary School.
In particular, our school Curriculum:
- promotes high standards, particularly in Literacy, Numeracy and Computing capability;
- provides continued entitlement from Early Years to Year Six to a coherent, broad and balanced curriculum;
- instils in children a positive attitude to learning and a commitment to learn;
- promotes and develops essential knowledge, skills and understanding valued by society to the next generation;
- is relevant to children and prepares them for the present and the future, including adult life;
- widens horizons and raises aspirations about the world of work and further and higher education;
- makes children more aware of, and engaged with, their local, national and international communities;
- helps children recognise that personal development is essential to wellbeing and success.
The National Curriculum As from September 2014, our school curriculum is based on the newly revised National Curriculum for Key Stages 1 & 2.
Religious Education (RE) is provided to all pupils on the school roll, unless withdrawn by their parents. As a maintained school, we follow the locally agreed syllabus approved by Durham Local Authority.
The National Curriculum applies to pupils of compulsory school age in maintained schools. At Witton-le-Wear Primary School it is organised on the basis of two key stages:
- Key Stage 1: Ages 5-7 (Years 1-2) • Key Stage 2: Ages 7-11 (Years 3-6)
For each subject and for each key stage, programmes of study set out what pupils should be taught, and attainment targets set out the expected standards of pupils’ performance.
Programmes of Study
The programmes of study, in relation to a key stage, are the knowledge, skills, and processes which are required to be taught to pupils of different abilities and maturities by the end of that key stage. In short, they set out what pupils should be taught in each National Curriculum subject at each key stage. Within the new National Curriculum, some elements of the Programmes of Study are statutory and some are non-statutory. The statutory elements contain the skills, knowledge and understanding that all children must be taught. Non-statutory aspects are those elements which may further enhance the curriculum or are topics/themes which schools may choose to develop themselves.
What is statutory?
Key Stage 1
The statutory subjects that all pupils must be taught at Key Stage 1 are: Art and Design, Design and Technology (D&T), Literacy/English, Geography, History, Computing, Mathematics, Music, Physical Education (PE), Science.
Key Stage 2
The statutory subjects that all pupils must be taught at Key Stage 2 are: Art and Design, Design and Technology (D&T), Literacy/English, Geography, History, Computing, Numeracy/Mathematics, Modern Foreign Language (MFL), Music, Physical Education (PE), Science.
Religious education (RE) must also be provided and the modern foreign language studied at Witton-le- Wear Primary school is French.
What is non-statutory?
A framework for PSHCE is included as a non-statutory programme of study. PSHCE is also covered across both Key Stages as we place great importance on the children’s spiritual, social, moral and cultural development as they progress throughout the school.
Please find below a detailed overview of the curriculum topics and learning experiences that are taking place in each class for the academic year 2014/15. This information will be added to at the beginning of each half term.
