What’s working well?
- Cross-curricular themes / topics
- Good range of good subject knowledge across staff to support the curriculum
- Creative / topic-based curriculum in KS1
- Willingness amongst staff to take on new initiatives e.g. Big Write and Accelerated Reader
- Theme days
- KS1 and KS2 Performances
- All staff developing strong skills in some areas, subjects and courses (e.g. CAS) shared with others
- VAK
- Children particularly love history
- Opportunity to focus on children’s curricular needs
- Less knowledge-based, more skill-based
- Ensuring Wave 1 Quality first Teaching in all sessions, with Wave 2 /3 children identified & catered for
- 1:1 tuition for children
- Teachers keen to try new things and teach different areas from breadth of study – keeps it fresh and interesting
- Teachers open to new teaching styles and trying them out
- Use of specialist coaches in PEContinuity between year groups
- KS1 child-centred
- Aiming for the creative
- Pupil talk – gives pupils ownership of their learning
- Something for everyone
- Some classes using TASC as a tool for implementing curriculum
- Creating links between different subject aeas = real life learning
- Teaching core subjects through foundation subjects as well as discretely
- Good terget-setting and use of APP and target-tracking in literacy and numeray
- Good phonics and ‘Talking’ Interventions
- Good numeracy interventions (e.g. 1:1 & Numicon)
- Using learning to learn strategies (e.g. TASC and 6Rs)
- Key Stage trips to support curriculum learning (e.g. Verulanium, Mt Fitchet etc)
- Culture of learning to learn (e.g. 6Rs and behaviour for learning)
- Children are enthusiastic about majority of subjects
Celebrations
- Enthusiasm and flexibility of teaching staff
- Breadth and depth of staff expertise
- Impact on teaching & learning of new innovations in literacy and numeracy
- Culture of learning to learn
- Children’s attitude to the curriculum
- Ofsted – the curriculum is ‘good’.
What’s working So So?
- Visitors to support learning
- Time to feed back from courses on subjects other than Literacy and Numeracy
- Other subjects ‘squeezed’ for time allocation due to focus on Literacy & Numeracy (balance)
- Mixed classes can lead to gaps in coverage
- Role of Leader has changed
- Do we have enough trips to suppor learning? (Could we coordinae with Houghton?)
- More local trips to use environment?
- Progression in Art, Music, DT and RE (and possible ICT and Science)
- Progression of skills throughout year groups
- Children who come into school due to mobility
- TASC for some classes
- Time!
- Training for parent helpers
- Personal Development afternoon
Quick wins
- Revisit the role of the curriculum leader (and identify how this has changed)
- Revisit TASC
What’s not working so well?
- Contistency of coverage and progression of key skills in foundation subjects(scheme of work)
- Assessment & record-keeping in subjects other than Literacy & Numeracy (NOT tick-sheets)
- Ensuring coverage and assessment against the National Curriculum descriptors
- Time to teach all subjects in a quality and worthwhile way
- Cost of replacing and updateing resources with current budget
- Cost to teachers for resources
- Time for foundation Subject Leaders to lead
- Not all TAs are trained in skills they need e.g. ELKLAN, Letters and Sounds and Numicon etc
- Time for topic work
Challenges
- Look for cross-curricular opportunities to promote connected learning
- Develop a new school curriculum which incorporates Time for depth and breadth of coverage of all subjects, which is both consistent and progressive