Our Curriculum is built around the 2014 National Curriculum Programmes of Study and EYFS Development Matters. It is underpinned by our learning philosophies of Pupil Voice, Growth Mindset, Learning to Learn and Fast Feedback.

We believe that children learn best when they are confident enough to ‘have a go’ and understand that they can learn from mistakes. We want children to know themselves as learners and how best they learn. We also believe that children learn well when they are engaged and excited about what they are learning and have therefore developed the Lavender Creative Curriculum.

Our curriculum ensures that meaningful links are made between subjects and pupils have a voice when considering topic choice and how to learn the skills, knowledge and understanding laid down in statutory guidance.

Schemes and Yearly Planning

To develop children’s reading and spelling skills, we teach Synthetic Phonics in Early Years and Key Stage 1. We use the resource ‘Letters and Sounds’ which has been adapted to meet the requirements of the KS1 curriculum.  We also ensure that children read every day in all classes and, in Year One, we provide ‘Daily Supported Reading’ for every child. For further details of how literacy is taught at KS1 please click on the powerpoint document link at the foot of this page.

We have devised schemes to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum for Science, English, PE and Personal Development.

‘Maths No Problem’ (linked to the national curriculum) is the starting point for all planning in KS1 and KS2 and enables children to develop mastery in maths. Early Years use the ‘Maths No Problem’ approach to support the EYFS mathematics curriculum.

The resource ‘I-languages’ is used in Years 3 to 6 to teach French. The children also receive British Sign Language lessons, at certain points in the year, from a specialist BSL teacher.

Our teachers teach children musical skills using the Music Express scheme and they have focused singing assemblies every week. All Year 5 children are taught to play the clarinet by a specialist music teacher.

Our PE lessons are delivered by sports coaches as well as by teachers. It is important that children learn a range of skills, and they therefore have lessons in dance, gymnastics, sports and games, as well as swimming in year 4. We extend the sports curriculum by offering a number of after school clubs and focus sports events.

Each Year Group creates a half termly Creative Curriculum document, which sets out which topics and skills will be taught each term.

Please visit our Creative Curriculum Overviews page for more

Assessment

Assessment lies at the heart of promoting children’s learning. It provides a framework for setting targets, planning work and for monitoring and communicating children’s progress. Our learning culture, based around Growth Mindset and Learning to Learn, plus the use of Formative Assessment and Fast Feedback strategies, enables assessment to be carried out in partnership with children and supports pupil attainment and progression.  

Progress is assessed against age-related expectations at the end of each key stage as set out in the 2014 National Curriculum for KS1 and KS2 and in the Early Years Foundation Stage assessment arrangements.