During their time at our school, children will become confident, inquiring and imaginative problem solvers, who explore without fear of failure and have a love of learning. Our school will recognise and nurture the talent in each individual child, ensuring that no child is overlooked and can learn in a safe and happy atmosphere.
We will provide a challenging, compelling and expressive environment where staff are able to be flexible to take advantage of circumstances and ensure progress of children.
Our teachers will have the passion and enthusiasm to engage with children at all levels, with time to recognise the individual needs. We will ensure that no child is overlooked – searching for their talents and encouraging confidence.
From Early Years to the end of Key Stage 2 we will focus on the key curriculum area of English and Mathematics whilst allowing continuous development of Humanities, Creative Arts and Technology to embed skills in communication, English and mathematics. Learning will be planned with integrated themes wherever possible.
We will ensure good communication with parents and are determined that our drive for outstanding results will not damage the community ethos of the school.
Achievement
- to enable better than expected progress for every child
- to ensure that all aspects of learning are valued
- to provide appropriate challenge for all children
Process
- to take full advantage of the rural community and village life
- to provide an atmosphere that is questioning, energetic, active, enthusiastic and playful
- to learn outdoors as well as inside
Healthy
- to encourage the development of positive relationships
- to develop strong personal confidence leading to positive mental health
- to ensure healthy eating
- to ensure regular and challenging physical exercise
Content
- to develop the knowledge and skills to be ready for a successful secondary education
- to understand the global community and our relationships with the world
- to be confident and competent users of ICT
Please click on the link below to access our Curriculum Documents
ART
CURRICULUM
At Christow Community Primary School, we value Art and Design as an important part of the children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum. Teachers will ensure progression of skills from Foundation Stage to KS2. The work of local, national and international artists is explored to enhance the children’s learning and to make links with Art History.We will work closely with Teign and Coombeshead Art departments and make use of their facilities and resources wherever possible.Each year we will hold an Arts week where children develop a range of work using different media on a given topic. Our visiting Artist is supported by the Helen Foundation and Daisi. This results an Art exhibition for parents and governors. Excellence in Art is celebrated at the end of each Academic year with children awarded the Helen Foundation trophy and Commendation awards. Throughout the year there are regular opportunities for children to take part in Art based competitions and to have their work displayed in local villages.
DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY
CURRICULUM
It is our intent for DT to offer children the opportunity to use creative thinking and design within our topic-based curriculum, through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils are taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in the process of designing and making. Through the study of DT pupils gain a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as Mathematics, Science, Engineering and Art.
Key Staff:
Joanna Burton
EARLY YEARS
What is our aim? (Intent)
At Christow School children in our Preschool and in our Reception Year follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum, which is designed to be a child-focused, broad and balanced curriculum. In the Early Years, we build upon the child’s own experiences, recognising that every child will have a different experience of the world when they join our preschool. Through the seven areas of learning in the curriculum we provide exciting topics which stimulate and excite children, encouraging exploration and enquiry of the world around them. We celebrate diversity looking at celebrations in different cultures and religions and help support the children develop a sense of themselves, family and community. We use the characteristics of effective learning within our continuous assessment to help us to understand how our children learn, enabling staff to extend, broaden or deepen their learning in ways which suit the individual child.
We aim to provide a supportive, nurturing environment where children can take their first steps in their education journey, feeling safe, secure and ready to learn. We recognise that every child is different and every child matters. Those with particular needs including SEND are supported appropriately to enable them to succeed.
We aim to provide a learning environment which is stimulating, facilitating learning through play, exploration and enquiry. We are advocates of outdoor learning, through our wonderful forest school and our outdoor continual provision.
How do we do this? (Implementation)
- Preschool aged children are educated exclusively in our purpose-built preschool building with continuous access to indoor and outdoor spaces which have been designed to stimulate and engage young enquiring minds. Reception aged children are taught within a key Stage 1 classroom with access to outdoor and indoor continual provision and regular visits to our preschool in the afternoons.
- Carefully planned sequences of activities, both adult- led and child-led within our continual provision, revolve around our topics and provide meaningful learning experiences for our children.
- High-quality interactions between skilled practitioners and children enable staff to extend children’s learning, address misconceptions and support their social and emotional development.
- Observations made on Tapestry of children’s learning feedback into planning to enable practitioners to inform the next steps of learning, meet children’s individual needs and enable staff to facilitate stimulating child-led learning through continual provision.
- A strong home school link is developed through home visits, parent workshops, parent meetings, regular newsletters and the online Learning Journal.
- All Early Years children are taught English through the ‘Talk for Writing’ approach, becoming familiar with carefully chosen books which the children are encouraged imitate through role-play, retelling, acting out and story maps. We also encourage a love of poetry and rhyme through our rhyme of the week activities.
- Phonics -Preschool children receive regular phase 1 phonics activities/games, delivered by skilled practitioners. Reception children receive daily Read Write Inc phonic sessions. These children are assessed every half term and groupings are adjusted accordingly.
- Maths is taught daily for reception children and regular Maths activities are planned for preschool children. Our approach to Maths is to build upon prior learning using concrete resources and real-life experiences/stories to make it real and meaningful.
- All Early Years children have a morning at Forest School every week with an experienced Forest School practitioner. Our Forest School provides a wonderful, natural learning environment where the children can take risks, develop their social skills and team work and encounter all 7 areas of learning. Christow is a rural school and we firmly believe that our children should learn to understand and respect the natural world and develop a connection with it from a young age.
- Early Years children also have regular access to the schools outdoor and indoor play areas and sports equipment which is excellent for the children’s physical development.
- Children with particular needs including SEND will receive support from our School SEN advisor or from outside agencies following referrals.
- Christow is becoming a Rights Respecting School and with this is mind children in Early Years are introduced to the Right to be Safe, the Right to Play and the Right to Learn. We also take part in school activities such as ‘Children in Need’ and ‘Make a Difference week,’ which help the children develop their understanding of themselves within the wider community.
Key Staff:
Amy Yeo / Katie Hill
FRENCH
The intention of the French curriculum at Christow is to develop an interest in learning other languages in a way that is enjoyable and stimulating throughout KS2. We encourage children’s confidence, striving to stimulate and encourage children’s curiosity about language. We aim to develop their awareness of cultural differences and similarities. We aspire to embed the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing necessary to enable children to use and apply their French learning in a variety of contexts and lay the foundations for future language learning. Children are encouraged and supported to develop their speaking and listening skills through conversational work, singing activities and games. As confidence and skill grows, children record their work through pictures, captions and sentences. All our children in KS2 will have regular language lessons delivered by their class teacher.
Key Staff:
Michael Statham
GEOGRAPHY
Geography at Christow is designed to develop children’s knowledge of the location of globally significant places – both terrestrial and maritime – with reference to their physical and human characteristics. We foster a sense of place, beginning with an understanding of the local, then developing into an understanding of the wider world. We provide children with grounding in basic geographical skills including experiencing fieldwork to collect and analyse data and improve their map skills. We use a variety of media to equip them with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources, and natural and human environments.
Key Staff:
Amy Yeo
HISTORY
History at Christow is designed to inspire children’s curiosity to enable them to have a better understanding of their community, society and the wider world. We foster an environment of enquiry which encourages children to ask as well as answer questions about their past in order to prepare them for their future.
Key Staff:
Amy Yeo
MATHS
CURRICULUM
At Christow, we believe that children need to be given an opportunity to experience real-life Maths. Mathematics is integral to all aspects of life and, with this in mind, we endeavour to ensure that children develop a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards Maths that will stay with them, adopting a clear and logical thought process. We give children the tools and confidence to tackle all types of mathematical problems. These tools – heavily inspired by Numicon throughout the school – include a fluency in arithmetic (particularly number bonds and times tables), abilities to tackle reasoning-type problems and the ability to think in abstract ways through the use of concrete and pictorial resources.
TEACHING AND LEARNING
We use the National Curriculum for Mathematics (2014) and White Rose as the basis of our coherent, small-step Mathematics programme; the school employs a variety of teaching and learning styles during every Maths lesson. Children are taught in mixed year groups and differentiated according to ability within those classes. We have passion and enthusiasm to engage with children at all levels in Maths lessons and take the time to identify individual needs. Children learn to become resilient mathematicians who persevere with their learning. In order to provide adequate time for developing Mathematics, it is taught daily and discretely. However, application of skills is sometimes linked across the curriculum, particularly with Science and some class projects.
Key Staff:
Michael Statham
Music
Our music curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils have access to high quality musical experiences and teaching, with the aim of fostering a love for music, whilst enabling pupils to develop their musical knowledge and skills.
At Christow we provide pupils with opportunities to develop their knowledge in the following ways:
· Experience the joy of creating and performing music as a group.
· Be inducted into the powerful cultural knowledge associated with music from a variety of cultures.
· Have a wide range of opportunities to learn different instruments with specialised teachers.
· Discover and develop performing skills.
· Use experimentation and improvisation to unlock creative potential and musical expression.
· Gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the music they engage with through systematic analysis and reflection.
Key Staff:
Claire Fielder
Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE)
PSHE is taught during discreet sessions, as part of our Topic work and during assembly time. Here at Christow we very much value the role that PSHE plays for the children in our care. It is a time to consider how to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy; by learning about exercise, healthy eating and mindfulness, they will achieve an understanding of the positive and negative effects we can have on our bodies. They will also study relationships within and beyond the family. They will learn how to stay safe online and will prepare for their future roles within a global community through being part of a “Rights Respecting School,” working towards our Silver accreditation.
Key Staff:
Stephen McClay
PE
CURRICULUM
At Christow Community Primary School we recognise that Physical Education is an important contributor to the all-round physical development and wellbeing of our children.
From Reception to Year 6 children follow a progressive curriculum which develops key skills and enables children to experience a variety of activities.
As part of Education South West (ESW), we are in the fortunate position of being able to draw on specialist PE teachers to enhance our provision.
In addition, as a member of the Teign Valley Learning Community, we have access to a broad programme of curricular and extra-curricular activities.
Children learn by being active and physical development takes place across all areas of learning and development. Children are encouraged to develop confidence in a variety of physical activities, and gain an understanding of the importance of being physically healthy.
We encourage children to develop confidence and control of the way they move and the way they handle tools and equipment.
In the course of their time at Christow, children have the chance to take part in individual sports and team games: dance, gym, athletics, swimming, hockey, handball, tag rugby, football, cycling and orienteering.
Key Staff:
Matt Sullivan
Phonics
READ, WRITE INC
We now follow the ‘Read Write Inc’ Phonics programme designed by Ruth Miskin.
The school is committed to ensuring that all children learn to read with accuracy and confidence.
The Read Write Inc programme will allow us to do this and also support you in developing a lifelong love of reading in your child.
At the core of the programme is the lively and rigorous teaching of synthetic phonics. Children learn the 44 common sounds in the English language and how to sound-blend words for reading (decoding) at the same time as developing handwriting skills and spelling (encoding).
As their confidence in decoding develops they are taught to understand and compose ideas for their own writing. The children have the pleasure of reading exciting storybooks perfectly matched to their level ensuring early success in reading.
In each class at Christow children follow a planned programme of reading and writing activities in small groups.
It begins in the Foundation Stage and once a child is reading at Level 2a they will have completed the programme.
Read Write Inc Link –
http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents
Key Staff:
Joanna Burton
RE
CURRICULUM
RE is taught in accordance with the Devon Agreed Syllabus and reflects the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain. RE at Christow Community Primary School is closely linked with PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education).
Our aim is to develop pupils` knowledge, understanding and awareness of Christianity and to promote their spiritual, moral and cultural development to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.
We encourage respect for those holding different religious beliefs and aim to give an insight into the other principal religions represented in Great Britain.
Key staff:
Amy Yeo
READING
CURRICULUM
Reading has a very high profile within the school and we aim to create fluent, discerning, life-long readers who love and value books.
We want parents to be actively involved in the process with their child, encouraging them to read and share books together. Where this is regular practice, all children make significant progress.
At Christow, time is set aside for regular reading and children are given the experience of reading alone and together. They are encouraged to discuss and make choices about their reading.
Children are taught to read fluently, understand extended prose, both fiction and non-fiction, and are encouraged to read for pleasure.
We have a wide range of high quality reading materials to support your child’s reading development.
In the Foundation Stage and KS1, children are taught to read through our progressive phonics scheme; Read Write Inc. In KS2, they move on to the Accelerated Reader Program, where children are taught comprehension skills through independent reading tests online.
Key Staff:
Stephen McClay
SCIENCE
We recognise the importance of Science in every aspect of daily life. Science education provides the foundations for understanding the world – from physical processes to natural occurrences. Our children love the largely practical element of the subject, which develops a spirit of enquiry by encouraging curiosity and reasoning. Science allows for children’s experiences and gives them a better understanding of the world in which they live.
Our children are encouraged to work with others to persevere and to ask questions. We carry out experiments with scientific process in mind; the children’s independence with this process is built throughout their time at Christow. This includes: considering the correct choice of apparatus; planning and predicting outcomes of scientific investigations; and beginning to use the correct language and vocabulary of science.
Science takes place once a week in all classes, and there is a termly ‘Science Day’ to celebrate our school’s love for Science learning, which includes an assembly full of experiments and a day packed with practical investigations that excite and engage our pupils with Science learning.
At KS1 children will learn how to observe, explore and ask questions about living things, materials and physical processes. They will develop their ability to work independently and collaboratively to collect evidence, which will help them to answer a range of questions and make links with simple scientific ideas. Children will also learn to evaluate the evidence they collect and consider whether tests are fair. They will be encouraged to use different materials to find out more about scientific ideas and learn to share their ideas and begin to communicate them using scientific language, drawings, charts and tables.
At KS2 children will learn about a wider range of living things, materials and physical processes by making links between ideas and explaining concepts using simple models and theories. They will be encouraged to apply their knowledge and understanding of science to familiar phenomena, everyday processes and their personal health. They will be inspired to carry out more systematic investigations, working on their own and with others. The children will also learn to communicate their findings using a wide range of scientific language, computing, diagrams, charts and graphs, as well as appreciate the importance of fair testing. Whilst the English curriculum offers us a basis for our school learning over a two-year rolling programme, we also offer plenty of opportunity at this stage to extend learning into KS3 concepts.
Key Staff:
Michael Statham
WRITING
CURRICULUM
Children learn to write by using the language they speak. We encourage children to ‘have a go’, and then with skillful teacher input and support we work through the recognised stages of development to achieve standard written English. Spelling, phonics, grammar and punctuation are developed gradually through the children’s writing.
As they develop, children are encouraged to see writing as a powerful means of self-expression and communication and to write for a range of purposes.
They develop the stamina and skills to write at length, with accurate spelling and punctuation. They are taught the correct use of grammar, in context. The writing we do includes narratives, explanations, descriptions, comparisons, summaries and evaluations: such writing supports them in rehearsing, understanding and consolidating what they have heard or read. For handwriting we use a cursive script.
Key Staff:
Stephen McClay