Long Bennington Church of England Academy Curriculum Overview

We bring kindness, joy and integrity to all that we do.

Intent

We are very proud of the exciting and ambitious curriculum we provide at Long Bennington Church of England Academy.  We want all children in our school to achieve their full academic potential whilst developing a life long love of learning.

We recognise that we are all blessed with many talents and strive to ensure that through a varied curriculum all children have the opportunity to shine and use their God given talents to the full.  Our curriculum is enriched by our Vision to make learning fun and relevant in order to create happy, enquiring and independent children.   

When we consider our curriculum as a whole it is essentially about ‘People’.

• Human influence and impact on the world around us.
• The impact of humans on each other.
• How can we be truly global citizens who have a positive impact on our communities and the world around us?

Underpinning all that we do is high quality relationships.  The staff at Long Bennington Academy prioritise getting to know all of the children, adapting teaching to suit their needs.  This time building positive relationships ensures high standards of behaviour for learning across the school.

Implementation

We follow the National Curriculum which we have personalised so that we ensure we always meet the needs of the children in our school. 

Each subject is planned for individually and sequentially so that concepts and vocabulary are built upon to extend learning and develop deep knowledge.  Procedural knowledge is developed and revisited within year groups, across subjects and throughout a child’s time at school.  We value the acquisition of basic skills as we see these as the scaffolding for all learning. These skills are vital for enabling all pupils to access the whole curriculum and to enhance future wellbeing.

Retrieval practice is at the heart of our curriculum as research shows that this helps transfer knowledge into the long-term memory.

Reading is a priority at Long Bennington Academy and we have invested heavily in resources to allow the acquisition of Early Reading skills using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds to be as successful as it can be.  We all acknowledge the power of reading in unlocking the wider curriculum along with our children developing a life-long love of reading. Maths teaching follows a mastery approach using White Rose, where there are high expectations of all children, regardless of attainment. English and Maths are interwoven through foundation subjects where possible.

Most foundation subjects are taught discretely, however where meaningful links can be made these are used to deepen the children’s knowledge and understanding.  One example of this is the close links made between the teaching of history and writing in the Autumn and Summer terms where the children will write about what they have been learning about in history lessons.  Where a project-based approach is used they are based around a key enquiry question which challenges the children to think deeper about their learning.  In order to develop multi-layered projects which continually challenge the thinking of our children, we build in key concepts so that the project can evolve as the learning takes place.

Subject plans clearly detail the skills and knowledge children are required to know and remember in order to be successful in the next stage of their school journey.  Each subject has a subject leader who will support colleagues and carefully monitor their subject area. 

As we have some mixed year classes, we work on a two-year cycle in Key Stage One, a two-year cycle in Lower Key Stage Two and a two-year cycle in Upper Key Stage Two so that there is no chance pupils will repeat a project. 

Starting with pupils in our Reception classes, we follow the EYFS curriculum which sees our pupils learning through planned and purposeful play and through a mix of activities that are led by adults or initiated by the child themselves.

From Year 1 onwards, we follow the current National Curriculum in accordance with legal requirements. This is a nationally set programme in which pupils are formally assessed in the core subjects at the ages of 7 and 11.

The core National Curriculum subjects are:

• English
• Maths
• Science

Alongside these core subjects, we teach the foundation subjects:

• Design & Technology
• History 
• Geography
• Computing
• Art
• Music
• Physical Education
• MFL - French

Our curriculum also encompasses Religious Education and Personal, Social and Health Education.

The children’s learning is enriched with fantastic visits and visitors.  These may range from a visit within easy walking distance, a day visit further afield or an extended residential stay. Such visits provide first-hand experiences and great pleasure which in turn motivates and stimulates the educational learning process in many areas of the curriculum. 

Residential visits take place in Year 4, 5 and Year 6 giving children a whole range of different skills and experiences.

Year 4 - PGL – Children spend 3 days at PGL, Caythorpe Court.

Year 5 – London - Children spend 3 days in London experiencing a wide range of cultural experiences.

Year 6 - Derbyshire – Children spend a week in Derbyshire experiencing a range of activities alongside their peers.  

Assessment and Reporting

This includes: On-going assessment by the class teacher throughout each lesson, through questioning, observation and dialogue to inform next steps in teaching. Children knowing what they are being asked to learn and more importantly why.

Prior assessment to establish existing knowledge is then built upon over the unit of work with regular opportunities provided for children to revisit their learning.

Work is assessed both by verbal and written feedback (pupil, peer and teacher).

In addition to the above, we will have three 'formal' assessment points in the year. We will use NFER tests for reading, SPAG and mathematics, as these will provide us with a standardised score to tell us how much progress children are making and if they are on track to meet National Curriculum expectations for their age range. Furthermore, tests will also allow teachers to identify next steps in learning. Teacher assessment is used for writing across the school.

All assessment is based on the key knowledge that children need to know and remember which is highlighted on the long-term plans.

Impact

The impact of our curriculum is much more than the data which can be recorded on our assessment system.  Whilst this is vitally important and we have high expectations for all children.  We also want to ensure that, our children will have developed their character, confidence and curiosity. Through encouragement they will have built knowledge, skills and Christian values which will enable them to get ahead in education and life using their God given talents to the full.  Our children will know more, remember more, do more and most importantly seek out joy in all that they do.

They will have hope for themselves and others and ‘live life to its fullest’ making a positive difference to the world around them.

If you would like to learn more about our school curriculum, please contact the school office on: 01400282353