Curriculum Subjects

Intent

At Rothwell Schools, we aim to provide a curriculum that builds on a child’s early creative experiences whilst enabling them to express themselves in a practical and inspiring ways. Our children leave the Rothwell schools  understanding that there is no limit to creativity or where they apply it. As children become proficient in artistic skills they will grow in independence and develop their own artistic style which is harnessed by staff and built upon throughout their remaining time in our schools.

The aims of teaching Art and Design in our school are:

• To engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design.
• As pupils progress through school, they should begin to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They will know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.
• To produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences.
• To become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques
• To evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design.
• To know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.

Implementation

Throughout their time at our schools they will study the following aspects:

Key skills that the children develop throughout all of their art work include:

1. Generating ideas: Children will explore texture, tone, shape and form when generating ideas for their creations. They will create and master their skills in this area, refining aspects that they are unhappy with in order to produce the best art that they can.
2. Creation – Children will learn to explore and experiment with a range of skills and media to create desired effects which reflect their ideas, thinking and feelings. By the time they reach Year 6, they will be able to Create innovative art that has personal, historic or conceptual meaning.
3. Evaluation: Children will learn to give their opinions on art work, saying what they like and dislike. They will analyse and evaluate their work and work of others, making suggestions on how to improve next time. They will learn to adapt and refine their work, using constructive criticism from others to make their work even better.
4. Compare and contrast – Children will learn to compare their work to others. They will learn how to discuss similarities and differences between pieces of art. They will also learn to describe and discuss how different artists and cultures have used a range of visual elements in their work and to talk about the impact of their choices on the viewer.

Impact

Through learning about a wide range of Art and Crafts, we hope to not only develop the children’s passion and love of the subject but also build a respect, natural inquisitiveness, and an appreciation of art in all its forms.

Children will confidently talk about art from around the world. They will be able to explain the impact it has had on contemporary life and on different periods and cultures.

Children will be able to confidently demonstrate the elements of art studied (line, tone, texture, colour, space, shape, form)  and evaluate their work and work of others by expressing their personal feelings and opinions towards art.

Intent 

Technology is continually changing the lives of everyone.  At Rothwell Schools, we aim to prepare our learners for the future by giving them the opportunities to gain knowledge and develop skills that will allow them to be competent and independent learners in an ever-evolving digital world. We have high aspirations for all and recognise that the knowledge and understanding of Computing is of increasing importance for their future, both at home and in employment. Our intention is for our Computing curriculum to support children’s curiosity and develop their creativity, resilience, problem-solving and critical thinking skills.

Implementation

At the Rothwell schools, computing is taught in discreet computing lessons, but the use of technology is encouraged to support learning across all curriculum areas. We use The NCCE Computing Curriculum scheme of work to cover the three areas of the Computing National Curriculum: Digital literacy, Computer Science and Information Technology.

Our Computing curriculum focuses on a progression of skills in computer systems and networks, creating media, programming and data and information to ensure that children become competent in safely using, as well as understanding, technology. This ensures that skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children.

As part of Creating Media, children learn to use and express themselves and develop their ideas using a range of devices, for example writing and presenting as well as exploring art and design using multimedia.

Within Computing Systems and Networks, children develop practical skills in the safe use of technology and the ability to apply these skills to solving relevant, worthwhile problems for example understanding safe use of internet, networks and email as well as understanding about our digital footprint.

In Programming we teach children to understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation. Also, to analyse problems to computational terms, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems.

In Data and Information, we recognise how digital technology influences and impacts our lives and how it is used in our homes, our school and our community.

Online safety is covered within each Computing lesson as well as being taught throughout each year, routinely raising the children’s awareness of the importance of staying safe and their own roles and responsibilities.  We model how to show respect for all online users and become responsible digital citizens.

Impact

Children leave the Rothwell Schools being able to confidently talk about the curriculum and what they have learnt.   Children of all abilities, experience success, pride and enjoyment in celebrating and sharing this with others.  Our children leave our schools being able to recognise and understand the need for reflection and evaluation in order to support progress, development and improvement of skills.

By the end of KS2, our children are able to  transition to secondary school with a keen interest in the continued learning of this subject. They have developed the skills and knowledge to be able to stay safe online, can confidently use word processing programmes, can create programming sequences to get a desired effect, understand a variety of hardware and software and can evaluate their successfulness as well as having an up to date knowledge of online communication platforms.

The success of the curriculum itself is assessed via the analysis of yearly progress data, conducting regular pupil voice sessions, lesson observations and skills audits.

Intent

At Rothwell schools, design and technology projects are well sequenced to provide a coherent subject scheme that develops children’s designing, planning, making and evaluating skills. Each project is based around a design and technology subject focus of structures, mechanisms, cooking and nutrition or textiles.   Other elements with a design technology focus, such as electronic systems, IT monitoring and control are also taught explicitly in science projects with links between the subjects clearly highlighted.

To support children’s development, all projects follow a structure where children are introduced to key concepts and build up knowledge and skills over time, using an increasingly comprehensive range of equipment and skills such as building, cutting, joining, finishing and cooking techniques. All projects contain focused, practical tasks in the ‘Develop’ stage to help children gain the knowledge and skills needed to complete their Innovate tasks independently.

The DT curriculum at Rothwell Schools aims to ensure that all pupils:

• develop technical knowledge and vocabulary in relation to structural design, mechanical and electrical systems and the integration of technology and food production and nutrition
• develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world
• build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users
• critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others
• understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook
• develop the collaborative working skills needed for the world of work

Implementation

In KS1, children begin to learn about structures before designing and making a shelter then develop their knowledge of structures further, learning to cut, join and strengthen wood for the first time.  Knowledge of structures continues to be built on with children using triangles and braces for strength. They design and build a greenhouse, using their understanding of opacity and transparency and the needs of plants from science learning to inform their design.  In the project Architecture, they study the history of architecture and developing new ways to create structural strength and stability. They use computer-aided design and consolidate their making skills to produce scale models.   In the project Engineer, children consolidate their knowledge of structures, joining and strengthening techniques and electrical systems by completing a bridge-building challenge

Mechanisms are introduced as children learn to assemble and test wheels and axles, use sliders, levers and linkages in products. Children continue to extend their understanding of mechanisms by exploring cams and using joining and finishing techniques to make automaton toys, studying pneumatic systems and learn about the forces at play to create a prototype for a functional, pneumatic machine. In the project Tomb Builders, they build on their knowledge of mechanisms, learning about six simple machines and using their knowledge to create a lifting or moving device prototype

Children also learn about food sources, follow recipes, learn cooking skills and use simple preparation techniques to create a sandwich.  Children gain an understanding the concept of a balanced diet, food safety, preservation technologies and how to make packaging and healthy meals.  In the project Eat the Seasons, children continue to explore food and nutrition, learning about seasonal foods and the benefits of eating seasonally before moving on to processed and whole foods and creating healthy menus from unprocessed foods.

At the end of Key Stage 1 children begin to develop their understanding of textiles by learning to sew a simple running stitch, more intricate stitches, use pattern pieces and add simple embellishments based on the work on William Morris

By the end of ks2 children will have built on their experiences in ks1 and developed their creative, technical and practical expertise so that they can perform everyday tasks. They will build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills so that they can research, design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users. They will also be able to evaluate and test their ideas and products as well as understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.

Impact

Through our DT curriculum, we hope that children will leave Rothwell schools being able to use their DT knowledge and skills that they have developed to design, build and make a range of items, applying their knowledge to participate confidently and fully in an increasingly technological world.

At Rothwell School and Nursery unit we believe that every child deserves the best possible start in life. Our aim is to meet the children’s developmental needs ensuring that all children learn and develop well and keep healthy and safe in our provisions. We aim to follow the children’s interests and encourage them to be curious and fascinated learners in all 7 areas of the EYFS framework.

Working in partnership with parents and carers is vital at this stage of children’s development and we aim to build strong and respectful relationships with our families.  We recognise that encouraging parents to play, chat and read with their children helps their child to develop at school too. We ensure that we listen regularly and communicate clearly about each child’s progress.

We know that every child is unique but that each child is a powerful learner. In our settings, children learn in a variety of ways; through play in an enabling and carefully planned environment, by adults modelling through storytelling, writing and talking, through observing their peers and through direct teaching where learning is planned and guided by the teacher in small groups or larger class environments.

In our nursery and reception setting we follow the framework ‘ Development Matters’. Teachers are guided in their professional judgements on the children’s development using this framework. At the end of the reception year we use the EYFS statutory assessment of children’s development.

The 7 areas of learning

Children will access an exciting and enabling provision which will encompass all of these areas of learning in their development. There are 3 Prime areas which underpin everything in the early years and are seen as key to help children to learn.

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Communication and Language
• Physical Development

There are 4 specific areas which help children to strengthen and apply the prime areas and broaden their knowledge.

• Literacy
• Maths
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and Design

All of these areas of learning are connected together and reflect the ‘whole child’ We use the characteristics of effective teaching and learning to plan rich experiences for the children to explore and aid them to be active and curious learners. The characteristics are:

• Playing and Exploring – Children investigate things and ‘have a go’
• Active Learning – children concentrate and keep on trying even if they encounter difficulties and enjoy achieving.
• Creating and Thinking Critically – Children develop their own ideas, make links between ideas and develop strategies for doing things.

At Rothwell Schools we consider it vital to get to know and value all young children in our care. Every child can make progress given the right support. When we succeed in giving every child the best start in their Early years we give them what they need today. We also set them up with every chance of success tomorrow.

Children from Nursery, Reception, Years 1 and 2 access our Forest School site at Rothwell Infant School allowing for holistic growth and learning in a natural environment. Forest Schools is a unique and highly valuable experience for children where they learn through play, supported risk taking and exploration of the outdoors.  This innovative, outdoor approach has numerous benefits including improved confidence, self-esteem, problem solving skills, self-reflection, social skills and more. We are so lucky to have such a fantastic outdoor space at our school and two Level 3 Forest School trained teachers in Mrs Druce-Jones and Mrs Ambler, allowing children, who may not get opportunities to access the awe and wonder of nature in their everyday lives, to benefit and improve wellbeing.   

When outside the classroom, children’s curiosity increases and adventure is taken one step further through freedom of exploration. The fluidity of learning through play means that, although there may be planned activities, the nature of the environment around them means children’s self-exploration and what they achieve from the sessions can be completely open and varied. This allows for deeper learning and a more holistic development of the child.  

Forest School is a learner centred process, allowing children to learn at their own pace and focus on the process not the product. They use initiative, go with their own motivation and interests and self-reflection is encouraged. As adult led tasks are small and manageable, all children are included and have the confidence to have a go.  

In our Forest School, children learn skills that they may never get the chance to learn in their everyday life. Practical skills such as tool use, fire lighting, den building or knot tying, but also emotional and social skills are developed. Children will harness these skills through the leaders’ help, but also discover skills independently through self-explorative play. Forest School aims to aid the holistic development of the child and can have a distinct impact on the behaviour and wellbeing of the child, and these skills can be transferred back to the classroom. 

We truly believe in the positive impact Forest School sessions have on the children in our community and their families both educationally, emotionally, socially and beyond.

All children will take part in a Forest School session each week. Each term the children will access sessions in the Forest School with fully trained, experienced Forest School teachers. The Forest School is on site and we are hugely advantaged by the volume of outdoor space that we have access to at Rothwell Schools.  

Intent

At Rothwell Schools our geography curriculum inspires our children to grow with a curiosity and fascination about the world in which they live including the people around them. Our children develop skills that will allow them to be competent and independent learners and to be able to determine how humans can respect the environment and the impact they can have on sustainability. We aim to gain children’s interest and give them aspirations to become future geographers.

Geography is essentially about understanding the world in which we live so our curriculum promotes this outcome. By the time our children leave the Rothwell Schools, they will have secured a range of geography skills such as enquiry-based fieldwork and using maps, graphs and compasses. We value the use of local fieldwork studies including the Rothwell area and our wider community of Northamptonshire to build upon existing geographical knowledge.

Children will also know how to ask and answer geographical enquiry questions, know the connections between locations and understand human and physical features of these places.

As their skills further develop all of our children gain knowledge, understanding and the ability to explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.

Implement

Our whole curriculum is shaped by our school vision which aims to enable all children, regardless of background, ability, additional needs, to flourish and to achieve their very best.

Our Geography curriculum derives from Cornerstones which encourages our children to gain geographical skills through interactive learning projects. We alternate our geography and history topics ensuring that our children receive a well-rounded teaching of the humanities subjects throughout the year. At times, we take the opportunity to create links between the two subjects to help solidify the learning taking place. Key knowledge and skills of each blocked topic, are identified and mapped out across the schools, ensuring that knowledge builds progressively and that children develop skills systematically.

Rothwell schools and classroom environments encourage our children to engage, develop, innovate and express themselves through their own unique stage of development and learning. The teaching ensures that all our children gain knowledge and skills appropriate for their age and have high expectations to challenge all our children to achieve to reach their potential. Existing knowledge is checked at the start of each new topic. This ensure that teaching is informed by the children's starting points and takes account of children voice. Topic vocabulary and our knowledge organisers underpin children’s understanding of subject specific language, remind children of previous knowledge and the learning journey provides a visual and summative information on key knowledge to be learned. They support children in engaging in independent tasks.  These are placed in books at the beginning of each topic and are used with children in our lessons.

It is important that children develop the skills of a geographer by fully immersing them in all areas of the subject. The local area is fully utilised to achieve desired outcomes, with opportunities for learning outside the classroom. School trips and fieldwork are provided to give first-hand experiences, which enhance children's understanding of the world beyond their locality.

Throughout their learning journey, children will develop and build upon prior knowledge in the following areas:

1. Human features and landmarks, Settlements and land use features
2. Climate and weather, Physical processes
3. Data analysis, Fieldwork
4. Natural and man-made materials
5. Environment, Physical features, Sustainability
6. World, UK, Location, Position,  Maps
7. Identifying Significant places
8. How places change over time.

Impact

As children progress throughout the school, they develop a deep knowledge, understanding and appreciation of their local area and its place within the wider geographical context.

By the time children leave Rothwell Schools they will:

• Have an excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like.
• Have an excellent understanding of the ways in which places are interdependent and interconnected and how much human and physical environments are interrelated.
• Have an extensive base of geographical knowledge and vocabulary.
• Be fluent in complex geographical enquiry and the ability to apply questioning skills and use effective analytical and presentational techniques.
• Have the ability to reach clear conclusions and develop reasoned arguments to explain findings.
• Have significant levels of originality, imagination or creativity as shown in interpretations and representations of subject matter.
• Have highly developed and frequently utilised fieldwork and other geographical skills and techniques.
• Have a passion for and commitment to the subject, and a real sense of curiosity to find out about the world and the people who live there.
• Have the ability to express well-balanced opinions, rooted in very good knowledge and understanding about current and contemporary issues in society and the environment.

Intent

History is all around us.

The study of history ignites children’s curiosity about the past in Britain and the wider world. Through finding out about how and why the world, our country, culture and local community have developed over time, children understand how the past influences the present. History enables children to develop a context for their growing sense of identity and a chronological framework for their knowledge of significant events and people. What they learn through history can influence their decisions about personal choices, attitudes and values.

At the Rothwell Schools, we want our children to develop a curiosity and independence to find out more about Britain’s past, including that of the locality, and of the wider world. We recognise the important role that History plays in preparing our children with skills that they can use for life, raising their aspirations, understanding how to be a respectful and responsible citizen, understanding change and societal development and a context in which to understand themselves and others. This is extremely important for children at the Rothwell Schools in allowing them access to a much wider world.

Implementation

The Rothwell Schools History curriculum is based upon the 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England, which provides a broad framework and outlines the knowledge and  skills taught progressively in each Key Stage.

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in history we implement a progressive curriculum through the school. History is taught as part of a   termly overarching topic using ‘Cornerstones maestro’ to help us to design, deliver and manage our primary history curriculum through creative, exciting and engaging projects, e.g. ‘Magnificent Monarchs’ (year 2) and ‘Ground-breaking Greeks’ (year 5.)

The history projects are well sequenced to provide a coherent subject scheme that develops children’s historical knowledge, skills and subject disciplines. Key aspects and concepts, such as chronology, cause and effect, similarity and difference, significance and hierarchy, are revisited throughout all projects and are developed over time leading to increased independence. All projects also develop historical skills based on evidence and historical enquiry.

Where there are opportunities for making meaningful connections with other projects, history projects are sequenced accordingly.

Impact

By the time the children at the Rothwell Schools leave they should have developed:

• A secure knowledge and understanding of people, events and contexts from the historical periods covered.
• The ability to think critically about history and communicate confidently in styles appropriate to a range of audiences.
• The ability to consistently support, evaluate and challenge their own and others’ views using detailed, appropriate and accurate historical evidence derived from a range of sources.
• The ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past, forming and refining questions and lines of enquiry.
• A passion for history and an enthusiastic engagement in learning, which develops their sense of curiosity about the past and their understanding of how and why people interpret the past in different ways.
• A respect for historical evidence and the ability to make robust and critical use of it to support their explanations and judgements.
• A desire to embrace challenging activities, including opportunities to undertake high-quality research across a range of history topics.

 This year we have moved to a new phonics programme which we would like to introduce to you.

The programme that we have invested in to teach early reading skills is called ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised’. This change will impact the way phonics and reading are taught throughout our schools. All changes will have a positive effect on the children’s learning and we are excited to implement this scheme.

What is  

Phonics is the process in which children learn to read. It teaches children the link between letters and the sounds they represent. Children’s progression in Phonics is directly related to their reading ability.

How do we teach phonics and early reading skills?

The children are taught:
• The phonemes (letter sounds)
• The graphemes (how the sound is written)
• How to say the sounds and blend to read the word accurately.
• How to read words as part of a sentence
• How to write words using the correct graphemes.

Blending in their heads is the ultimate goal as this leads to children becoming fluent readers.

How do we make sure that your child is making the expected progress?

At Rothwell Schools, we are committed to ensuring all children leave our schools with the confidence to pick up a book that they like and read it fluently so we track the progress of each child’s journey closely.
As part of the Little Wandle programme, children are assessed every 6 weeks to ensure that they are making progress. Following these assessments, they may change groups and you may notice a change in the level of reading book that they come home with. This is because their decodable reading book, is closely matched to where they are at on their phonics and reading journey. If your child needs some extra support to learn their phonics, we will ensure they receive it straight away.

How do we practise reading?

Your child will experience 3 reading practice sessions per week focussing on the same book, matched to their phonic ability. The focus of the lessons are as follows:
• Decoding – reading words by saying the phonemes and blending them.
• Prosody – reading with rhythm, stress and intonation
• Comprehension – developing understanding of what they are reading.

Following these sessions, your child will bring the book they have been practicing in school, home.  These books are very expensive and we can not teach your child if they do not come back to school every day so please, please, please make sure they come back daily😊

At this stage, your child will be confident to read the book with 95% accuracy. They will keep the same book to read for the whole week. Please do not worry that the book being brought home is too easy for your child as research shows that with repetition and practice the children embed their reading skills, develop fluency, whilst developing confidence in their reading ability.
The children in Year 2-6 who are working beyond our new reading scheme but not quite at the level of free reader, will continue to bring home high-level Oxford Reading Tree books to read with you. The children who then progress onto free reading will bring home a book to match their ability.

Sharing books

In addition to the decodable book, your child will also bring home a second book home from our library. This book will be a high-quality text for you to share with your child. Please do not ask your child to read the sharing book as it will be beyond their level.
By sharing books with your child, they will develop a love of books, a rich vocabulary and a great imagination!

Why are some older children still learning phonics?

The English language is very complex and whilst the alphabet only has 26 letters, it has 44 phonemes (sounds) and there are approximately 250 graphemes. Whilst the Little Wandle programme equips children to learn these fluently, some children’s journey to reading may be slightly slower.
As previously mentioned, we are committed to all children leaving our schools as confident readers and therefore we offer phonic support to all children who need it until they leave our schools. Their phonics will be running as ‘rapid catch up’ sessions to ensure they have the skills, knowledge and understanding to develop as fluent readers. Children receiving rapid catch up, will also continue to participate in their normal English lessons, alongside lessons for spelling punctuation and grammar (SPAG).

For further support, please visit the website below. This gives you information about how you can support phonics at home, how the sounds are pronounced, how we will be teaching phonics and the books that will be coming home.

https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/.

We are excited about the new scheme. We know that it will have enormous benefits for the children.

Intent

The 2014 National Curriculum for maths aims to ensure that all children:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics;

• are able to reason mathematically;

• can solve problems by applying their mathematics.

At Rothwell Schools, we want all children to enjoy mathematics, to recognise the importance of it in the wider world and to experience success. We are committed to developing the children’s curiosity and resilience for maths by experiencing challenge and success in a safe environment where we embrace mistakes to move learning forward. Growth mindset is key to ensure children feel confident to take a risk, ask questions and develop further.

As a school, we are committed to ensuring that children are able to use their mathematical skills and knowledge confidently in a range of different contexts. They need to have developed a secure understanding of the number system and know how to transfer this to real life contexts.

Implementation

Pedagogy: How the Curriculum is Taught.

Within our Maths curriculum at the Rothwell Schools we have the following elements:

• Whole class teaching is in mixed attainment classes and in mixed attainment learning partners following the scheme ‘Effective Maths’.

• We work with the assumption that all pupils can achieve a high standard in mathematics. Pupil work is not differentiated by task. Instead, children who require more support are provided with additional structures to enable them to access the learning (such as working with concrete resources for longer or being provided with focused pre-teaching or same day intervention).

For children working significantly behind their peers or have larger gaps in learning, small groups are in place to provide them with the bespoke package to meet their needs using the Effective Maths additional needs programme. Children work to consolidate the foundations of maths so they can accelerate once these are embedded.

• There is a big focus on developing children’s mathematical vocabulary and language. Teachers use whole class chorusing, stem sentences and repetition of key words and sentences to ensure pupils develop fluency with using mathematical vocabulary and develop precise explanations.

• Fluency has dedicated teaching time, where the focus is on developing automaticity with number facts, and applying number facts to mental arithmetic strategies as well as formal arithmetic procedures. The focus of fluency lessons is on efficiency, accuracy and flexibility. Pupils are encouraged to notice the numbers before beginning a calculation, and to identify patterns, relationships or structures which may lead to an efficient calculation strategy.

• Children who grasp concepts quickly will be challenged to think about particular aspects more deeply and to work on more complex problems within the same curriculum content.

Impact

Assessment

We use a multi-faceted approach to assessment within maths, including:

● End of unit assessment quizzes

● Regular retrieval practice

● Assessment for learning within each lesson through skilful use of questioning and live feedback

● Mid-year and End of year assessments

● Regular low-stakes times tables tests

Subitising and Number sense

Starting in Nursery and Reception, children learn to Subitise. This is the ability to instantly recognise a number of objects, for example the number of dots on a die without counting. Children learn to instantly recognise small amounts and use this knowledge to then recognise six dots, as they break this down into two groups of three, which when combined gives us six. Subitising is an essential part of developing number sense, which is relating numbers to actual items or groups of items. Through play and structured activities, children will learn to match a numeral to an amount so they develop an understanding of the meaning of number.

*Please note from September 2024 – Reception will also be using Effective Maths.

Times Tables

Being fluent with times tables facts is extremely important if children are to be successful mathematicians. As children continue with their learning into KS2, a lot of the rich, interesting maths is based on the multiplicative relationships and these are hard to fully grasp without the fluent recall of the tables.

The national expectation is that children should know all the times tables facts to 12×12 by the end of Year 4.

Multiplication tables are practised regularly so children develop mental recall and become fluent.

Year 1 - Children should be able to count forwards and backwards in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s by the end of the year.

Year 2 - 2, 3, 5 and 10 multiplication tables

Year 3 – 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10 multiplication tables

Year 4 – children should be able to recall multiplication tables up to 12 x 12.

All Year 4 children will have to sit a Multiplication Tables Check from 2021. This check consists of 25 questions, up to 12×12. The children get 6 seconds from the time the question appears to input their answer on a computer. This means that children must be able to read, recall and enter their response within the given time. In the check, there is a focus on questions from the 6, 7, 8, 9- and 12-times tables.

French

Intent

‘A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing.’ (National Curriculum 2014 – Appendix A)

At Rothwell School, we use Language Angels scheme and resources to ensure we offer a relevant, broad, vibrant and ambitious foreign languages curriculum that will inspire and excite our pupils using a wide variety of topics and themes.

All children are expected to achieve their full potential by encouraging high expectations and excellent standards in their foreign language learning - the ultimate aim being that children will feel willing and able to continue studying languages beyond key stage 2. 

Through delivering this rigourous curriculum, pupils will develop a genuine interest and become curious about foreign languages, finding them enjoyable and stimulating. Through learning a second language, we hope that children will develop a deeper understanding of other cultures and the world in which they live, with a better awareness of themselves, others and cultural differences. The intention is that they will be working towards becoming life-long language learners. 

Implementation

We teach French across Key Stage 2. The school uses the "Language Angels" scheme of work to support the teaching and learning of French. This provides clear progression for the development of speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Our French sessions are taught through regular, engaging lessons across Key Stage Two.  Children acquire, use, apply and revisit a growing bank of vocabulary and stem sentences organised around topics.  Lessons provide opportunities for speaking and listening, with writing and some reading.

Practical lessons include conversation, storytelling, games, poems and rhymes to support learning:

Games – in order to develop vocabulary through repetition and to foster a love of language learning.

Role-play – related to the situations the children may find themselves in the future.

Action songs and rhymes – to develop phonetic skills, memory skills and to improve vocabulary.

All of these approaches help to equip our children with the skills to be confident global citizens, inspiring a passion and acquiring a love of language. 

Topics that children will cover throughout their time at the Rothwell Schools include:

Impact

Through the high quality first teaching of French taking place at our school, we will see the impact of the subject in the following ways:

• Children will become better at making grammatical connections with their first language and French.
• Children will develop their language and communication through making clear progress with the four key skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing.
• Children will enrich their language learning by developing an understanding of the French culture.

Children will become more independent learners and develop greater confidence in the foreign language.

• Children will transfer to KS3 effectively and successfully and will be well prepared to continue and develop their language skills.

Intent

Throughout our Rothwell schools, our music curriculum aligns with our core values. It intends to inspire curiosity, independence, respect, creativity, self-expression and encourages our children on their musical journeys as well as giving them opportunities to connect with others. We hope to foster a lifelong love of music by exposing them to diverse musical experiences and ignite a passion for music. By listening to different musical styles, finding their voices as singers and performers and as composers, it will enable them to become confident and reflective musicians.

‘Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity’ (The National Curriculum)

Skills

The aims of our Music Curriculum are to develop pupils who:

• Can sing and use their voices, individually and in a group
• Create and compose music on their own and with others
• Use technology appropriately when composing
• Have opportunities to learn a musical instrument
• Understand how music is created, produced and communicated
• Listen to, review, evaluate the work of great composers and musicians from a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions
• Enjoy and appreciate a range of distinctive musical styles including, Classical, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Pop, Rock, Rap
• Use and understand musical language and include features in their work.
• Make judgements about the quality of music
• Have opportunities to play a variety of musical instruments
• Have different opportunities to take part in performances.

Implementation

At the Rothwell Schools, our music curriculum is delivered using the Charanga scheme of learning. This allows all pupils to access a wide range of music from across all genre’s and time periods.

Charanga’s Primary scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets outlined in the National Curriculum and the aims of the scheme align with those in the National Curriculum.

Charanga’s Primary music scheme allows teachers to take a holistic approach to music in which the following strands; performing, listening, composing, the history of music and the inter-related dimensions of music are woven together to create engaging and enriching learning experiences. Children are taught to sing fluently and expressively, listen, play, and evaluate music. This is embedded in classroom activities, various performances and the learning of instruments.

They will begin to recognise and name the inter related dimensions of music – pitch, duration, tempo and timbre and use these in their improvisations and compositions. Composing or performing using body percussion, vocal sounds, and technology form part of the curriculum, which develops understanding of musical elements without the added complexity of an instrument.

Impact

The integral nature of music creates an enormously rich palette from which a child may access fundamental abilities such as: achievement, self-confidence, interactions with and awareness of others, and self-reflection.  Music also develops an understanding of culture and history, both in relation to the pupils individually, as well as different ethnicities form across the world.

Whilst in school, the children will have experienced music from a range of different musical styles and started to explore their own musical journey. They will have developed their own areas of strength, and will have identified any areas they might like to improve upon.

Children will leave our schools, being able to enjoy music in as many ways as they choose, be it as a listener, creator, or performer. They will be able to  discuss music and comprehend its parts, they will be able to sing, feel a pulse, add rhythms, and create melodies within a group.

Here at the Rothwell schools, we recognise that children must be given the same opportunity to develop their physical skills as well as their academic abilities.  We offer a wide range of experiences both within and outside of the normal school day. For PE lessons we use Real PE and The Cambridge Scheme to give all children a strong fundamental skill base allowing them to thrive in other areas within our curriculum such as gymnastics, athletics, dance, team games, outdoor and adventurous activities, and swimming.

Implementation

There are lots of opportunities for children across KS1 and KS2 to enter intra and inter school competitions through the Kettering School Sports Partnership and our own Pathfinder trust. This also includes being able to offer competitions and specialist equipment for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. As well as our exciting curriculum we offer an extensive range of extra-curricular clubs for both KS1 and KS2 children to continue to enjoy developing their confidence and abilities or perhaps learn something new.

Children who are identified as having sporting talents are given the support and encouragement to develop these skills further and all children are encouraged to join local community-based clubs to help meet the 60 minutes of recommended physical activity a day through visits, taster sessions and sign posting to local groups such as Aztec FC, Rothwell Cricket Club, Corinthians FC, Desborough Archery Club and Northants County Cricket.

Whole school timetables show all classes are allocated two, one-hour slots within each week. One is an outside slot and the other indoor. Teachers, therefore, plan and deliver the statutory two hours of Physical Education required each week. Each one-hour slot will be used for a different unit of work and all pupils are taught the importance of physical activity and being healthy.

As a school, we provide swimming provision for the whole of Key Stage Two. We travel to Montsaye Community Sports Centre, and the swimming is taught by both swimming coaches and members of staff from our school.  We also offer the chance for the children to take part in Bikeability at year 5 & 6, which enables them to learn how to ride their bikes safely on the roads. We very much feel that these are important life skills.

Impact

Progress is monitored through use of informal assessments, including observations and questioning.  Pupil voice also plays a critical role in measuring the impact of PE at The Rothwell Schools.

Progress and achievement in swimming is tracked and assessed at the end of each KS2 swimming block and again at Year 6, recording percentages of pupils swimming the required 25m distance using a range of different strokes and being able to perform a safe self-rescue.

Impact is also measured through participation numbers at our extra-curricular clubs and achievements within competitions across the trust and district, reaching finals in multiple sports and achieving at county level.

Academic year 2022/23

• Development gymnastics district winners at year 3 & 4 and 5 & 6
• Development gymnastics year 5 & 6 county bronze medal
• Cross country year 3 – 6
• 40 competed at district – 8 went on to dual district – 3 went on to county – 1 went all the way to nationals!
• Tennis year 3 & 4 second place at district and county school games qualifiers.
• Finalist year 4/5 Pathfinder futsal competition

Young Leaders

We have a group of Year 5 pupils that are our young leaders. They have attended training through our leadership programme and are now equipped with the skills to promote sport and physical activity at the Rothwell Schools. They help with various events and activities throughout the year such as the KS1 Dodgeball festival, KS1 Cross country competition and the KS1 & 2 Athletics event as well as running level 1 competitions for the whole school on the playground at lunchtimes.

Intent 

The children of Rothwell Schools, leave in Year 6 with the knowledge, understanding and emotions to be able to play an active, positive and successful role in today’s diverse society. They have high aspirations, a belief in themselves and realise that anything is possible if they put their mind to it. In an ever–changing world, it is important that they are aware, to an appropriate level, of different factors which will affect their world and that they learn how to deal with these so that they have good mental health and well-being.

Our PSHE curriculum results in the acquisition of knowledge and skills which will enable children to access the wider curriculum and prepare them to be a global citizen now and in their future roles within a global community. It promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils, preparing them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences for later life. Our Relationships and Sex Education enables our children to learn how to be safe, and to understand and develop healthy relationships, both now and in their future lives.

Implementation       

EYFS -  In the Foundation Stage, PSHE and citizenship is taught as an integral part of topic work and is embedded throughout the curriculum. The objectives taught are the Personal, Social and Emotional Development statements from ‘Development Matters in the EYFS’ and the PSED Early Learning Goals. Reception also uses the Jigsaw Scheme of Work materials. (see below)

Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 - At Key Stage 1 and 2, PSHE is taught through a clear and comprehensive scheme of work in line with the National Curriculum. We ensure we cover the Health and Well-Being, Relationships and Living in the Wider World Learning Opportunities set out in the PSHE Association’s Programme of Study, which comprehensively cover the statutory Health Education and Relationships Education guidance. 

Pupils are taught PSHE using ‘Jigsaw’ which is a spiral, progressive scheme of work, which 'aims to prepare children for life, helping them to know and value who they are and understand how they relate to other people in this ever-changing world’. There is a strong emphasis on emotional Literacy, building resilience and nurturing mental and physical health. It includes mindfulness to allow children to advance their emotional awareness, concentration and focus.

At Rothwell, in addition to Relationships Education, we also teach aspects of Sex Education through our Science Curriculum. We teach about different kinds of relationships, including same sex relationships, and gender identity because it is important that our children should understand the full diversity of the world they live in and be prepared for life in modern Britain.

PSHE is taught through Jigsaw’s six half termly themes with each year group studying the same unit at the same time (at their own level):

It also identifies links to British Values, and SMSC and is taught in such a way as to reflect the overall aims, values, and ethos of the school.

Wider Curriculum  

• We believe that focusing on developing a 'Growth Mindset' in our children will help them to build resilience, independence and confidence; embrace challenge; foster a love of learning; and increase their level of happiness. We do this through the language we use in class, praising children for their efforts, and using language to encourage children to change their way of thinking. This supports both our school and PSHE aims and values, and we focus on Growth Mindsets in all aspects of school life.
• PSHE, including Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural and British Values, is an integral part of the whole school curriculum, and is therefore often taught within another subject area.
• Visitors such as emergency services and the school nurse complement our PSHE curriculum to offer additional learning.          
• We encourage our pupils to develop their sense of self-worth by playing a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community. We challenge all of our pupils to look for opportunities to show the school values.
• Assemblies are linked to PSHE, British Values and SMSC and cover any additional sessions that would benefit the whole school.                                                        
• PSHE, BV and SMSC displays throughout school reinforce the PSHE curriculum enabling children to make links.

Impact

By the time our children leave our school they will:

• be able to approach a range of real-life situations and apply their skills and attributes to help navigate themselves through modern life
• be on their way to becoming healthy, open minded, respectful, socially and morally responsible, active members of society
• appreciate difference and diversity
• recognise and apply the British Values of Democracy, Tolerance, Mutual respect, Rule of law and Liberty
• be  able to understand and manage their emotions
• be able to look after their mental health and well-being
• be able to develop positive, healthy relationship with their peers both now and in the future.
• understand the physical aspects involved in RSHE at an age appropriate level
• have respect for themselves and others.
• have a positive self esteem

PSHE Documents

Intent:

At Rothwell Schools, we believe that Religious Education has a significant role for the expansion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. It promotes respect, open-mindedness and empathy towards others with different beliefs, religious or otherwise and encourages pupils to develop an understanding and appreciation, through self—awareness and reflection.

The principle aim of Religious Education is to engage pupils in an enquiry-based model where the children are able to develop their critical thinking skills, increase their motivation to learn and develop enhanced knowledge and understanding of the beliefs, cultural practices and influence of principle religions and world views in the local, national and wider global community. This learning approach is about children asking questions and being curious. This approach takes very seriously the philosophy that children are free to make independent choices and decisions concerning religion and belief.

Implementation:

As a school, we have adopted the Discovery RE Scheme of Work, which meets the requirements of the Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education in Northamptonshire.

Our RE curriculum ensures our children benefit from a 4-step, enquiry-based approach for implementation. Every unit (enquiry) is based around a key question. In order to respond to the key question, children need to use their subject knowledge and their own personal response to reach a conclusion. This personal response is threaded through the curriculum to ensure that children develop an understanding of a range of beliefs whilst being able to make their own decisions about what they believe themselves.

Discovery RE focuses on critical thinking skills, on personal reflection into the child’s own thoughts and feelings, on growing subject knowledge and nurturing spiritual development.

For Key Stages 1 and 2, the children at Rothwell Schools study Christianity plus one other religion in each year group. Both religions have multiple enquiries (or 6-week units) per year. This ensures that the children revisit prior learning for both religions throughout the year to build on the previous enquiries.  Christmas and Easter enquiries are built on year-on-year throughout the child’s primary school journey.

Impact:

Religious Education does not try to persuade, but rather informs and develops the skills with which evaluation can take place. Children will leave Rothwell Schools with the respect, tolerance, values and high aspirations needed for life in modern Britain.

Reading is at the heart of our curriculum. We recognise that it is crucial for children to be able to decode and blend sounds to read and understand what they have read to be able to access all learning in school and to become successful in their adult lives.  As children learn to read, they can discover new facts and learn to ask questions to find out more. They develop their imagination and foster a love of language and literacy.

We are committed to every child having the opportunity to becoming fluent, confident readers who can comprehend the high- quality texts they have experienced, drawing on their own personal experiences to understand the world in which they love.

At Rothwell Schools, we start teaching phonics in Reception and follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school. As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read.

At Rothwell Schools, we also model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects.

At Rothwell Schools, we value reading as a crucial life skill. By the time children leave us, they read confidently for meaning and regularly enjoy reading for pleasure. Our readers are equipped with the tools to tackle unfamiliar vocabulary. We encourage our children to see themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose.

Intent

At Rothwell Schools our overarching aim is to provide all pupils with knowledge and understanding of all kinds of relationships in order for them to establish their own positive, tolerant and healthy relationships. Our objective is to prepare pupils for the physical and emotional challenges of growing up by teaching them about respect for themselves and others.  

Implementation

Rothwell Schools deliver Personal, Social, Health Education (PSHE), which includes Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RHSE) and Health Education.  Rothwell Schools use the ‘Jigsaw’ scheme - a mindful approach to PSHE. 

Our PSHE curriculum runs parallel to our online safety curriculum and Protective Behaviours scheme of work.    The Protective Behaviours scheme of work focuses on developing the skills of: keeping ourselves safe, empowerment, communication, self-esteem, resilience, social skills and other life skills to prevent abuse, reduce violence and promote life-enriching rather than life-depleting experiences. It encourages students to assert their right to feel safe.  All sessions build on children’s prior knowledge and skills.

At Rothwell Schools we define the area of RSHE as follows:

Sex education is defined as preparing boys and girls for the changes that adolescence brings and the scientific process of how a baby is conceived and born. At Rothwell Schools we have opted to teach Sex Education alongside the National Science Curriculum and in more detail in Upper KS2. The school teaches protective behaviours which incorporates the correct terminology for body parts as well as how to build safe relationships (This is taught from Yr R – 6). Consent is explicitly taught to children so that they understand that their body belongs to them and they have the right to say ‘no’.

In addition, we cover effective drug and alcohol education to enable young people to make informed and responsible choices about their health and wellbeing.

At Rothwell Schools, we place a strong importance of the holistic health and wellbeing of a child. Across both schools, mindfulness is taught and practised as part of the children’s weekly Jigsaw lesson. In school, children learn that physical and mental health are linked, and are of equal importance. The children learn ways to self-manage and self-regulate their emotions, as well as recognise the emotion they feel in themselves and can observe in others.   

To support our teaching of RSHE, we engage outside agencies such as NSPCC, Cyberwise and the Life Education bus to enhance the teaching of specific areas for each year group.

Key Vocabulary taught

Language covered in Protective Behaviours and RHSE

All Year groups use the language for correct body parts these include

• Penis and anus for boys
• Vulva, vagina and anus for girls
• From Yr 2 breasts are introduced for girls

It is explained in such a way that these are parts covered by swimming costumes. Mouth is also discussed as a private body part.

Language covered in Upper KS2 RHSE 

Reproduction, Uterus, Penis, Vagina, Vulva, Testicles, Nipples, Breasts, Friendship, Positive and negative relationship, Touching - sexual touching, Consent, Sexual intercourse, Pregnancy, Sperm, Egg, Fertilized, Puberty, Menstruation, Wet dream, Pubic hair, Erection

Intent

At Rothwell Schools, we provide a high-quality Science education that gives children the foundations needed to recognise the importance of Science in every aspect of daily life. It is our intent to nurture a love of science, encouraging children to ask questions, be inquisitive and innately curious about our world.

Rothwell Schools Science curriculum ensures our children are taught age appropriate, scientific skills alongside subject knowledge as laid out by the EYFS Curriculum and National Curriculum. Key skills and knowledge are progressive and mapped out for each year group.

When children leave our school, they will be curious individuals who seek to understand the world in which they live. They will be able to ask questions, predict, experiment, observe and evaluate, making conclusions and giving their views as to why things happen.

They will be confident in the 5 enquiry areas:

Implementation

Teachers follow the National Curriculum for Science.

Teachers ensure all children are exposed to high quality teaching and learning experiences. These will hook the children’s interest, enabling them to develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. Children are taught how science can be used to explain what is occurring, make predictions and analyse causes. The curriculum provides opportunities for the evaluation of evidence and rational explanation of scientific phenomena as well as opportunity to apply their mathematical knowledge to their understanding of science, including collecting, presenting and analysing data. Children will be immersed in key scientific vocabulary. Our aim is for our children to develop a wide range of scientific skills which they can apply across varied situations.

Impact

The successful approach to the teaching of Science at Rothwell School will result in a fun, engaging, high quality Science education, that provides children with the foundations for understanding the world that they can take with them once they complete their primary education.

Assessment at Rothwell Schools is based on teacher assessment. Assessment for learning takes place within each lesson and teachers use questioning, stem sentences, quizzes and marking to support their judgements. Pupil voice forms an important part of our ongoing monitoring of Science.

Formative assessment is used as the main tool for assessing the impact of Science, as it allows for misconceptions and gaps to be addressed more immediately rather than building on insecure scientific foundations.

The intent and impact of our science curriculum will ensure the following impact on the children’s learning during their science lessons:

• Prepare our children for life in a scientific and technological world.
• Help our children acquire a growing understanding of nature, processes and methods of scientific ideas.
• Help develop and extend our children’s scientific concept of their world.
• Build on our children’s curiosity and approach to problems.
• Encourage open-mindedness, self-assessment, perseverance and develop the skills of investigation.
• Develop the use of scientific language, recording and techniques.
• Make links between science and other subjects.

This page contains informative, downloadable documents.

Intent:

Our Writing curriculum is designed to develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion and prepare our learners for life as successful, valuable and socially responsible citizens.

We nurture a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly, imaginatively and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of audiences and purposes.

We inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and to use discussion to communicate and further their learning in all areas of the curriculum.

We believe that children need to develop a secure knowledgebase in English, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum.

Implementation:

We whole-heartedly ‘promote high standards of English by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.' (National Curriculum 2014).

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides opportunities for emergent writing in all learning areas so that children have a purpose for writing. Children have opportunities to develop writing in both the inside and outside learning areas to embed their learning.

For children to be successful writers, they need to be physically ready too and within the environment there are many opportunities to develop core strength, gross motor skills and fine motor skills. We use a programme called ‘Squiggle whilst you wiggle’ to support these skills.

As a school, we use the Talk for Writing approach from Nursery to Year 6. We have a carefully sequenced, broad and balanced curriculum, underpinned by inclusive practice which aims to provide our children with the opportunity to build on their experiences in order to achieve their goals. We use model texts to form the bedrock of our pupil’s experience in this subject discipline and to foster a love for studying English.

The underpinning Talk for Writing process moving from imitation through innovation into independent application can be applied to any type of writing. The imitation stage is centred around getting the children to learn a story orally which enables children to internalise a pattern so that it is added to their linguistic repertoire. This creates a memorable, meaningful version of the text type being taught building in the structure and age-appropriate language features.

Impact:

The intent and impact of our writing curriculum will ensure that children develop a secure knowledgebase in Literacy, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum.

A high-quality education in English will develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion and prepare our learners for life.

Our carefully sequenced, broad and balanced curriculum, underpinned by inclusive practice, aims to provide our children with the opportunity to build on their experiences in order to achieve their goals.

The secure basis in literacy skills is crucial to a high-quality education across the curriculum will promote high standards of literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word.

Writing Curriculum Support Files