At Beam, the teaching staff consider :

  1. What they want the children to learn?
  2. Why they are teaching it?
  3. How to teach and assess it.

The right context focusing on skills, enquiry, research and knowledge, making use of a variety of approaches including using drama, film, computing, real-life experiences and outdoor learning to name a few, all contribute to providing opportunities to achieve outstanding learning, achievement and significant growth in pupils’ knowledge. We aim to focus on promoting vocabulary and excellent attitudes to learning.

The methods and strategies used to teach these skills are left to the discretion of the year group to ensure that learning and teaching remains fresh, focused and inspiring.

The curriculum is a living thing.  It needs to change and be responsive.

Curriculum Design Statement: intent, implementation, impact

Our vision : Creating a lifelong love of learning. 

Our values 

  • Striving 

  • Inspiration 

  • Community 

Curriculum intent summary:

Intent:  

The breadth of our curriculum is designed to fulfil our vision, values and virtues as follows:  

  1. To provide a coherent, structured academic and non-academic curriculum that leads to sustained mastery for all and the opportunity to achieve a greater depth of understanding where possible- (Life- long learning and life enriching aspiration, so that pupils strive and are inspired)  
  2. To provide a rich ‘cultural capital’ (Life- long learning and love of learning)  
  3. To give pupils appropriate experiences to develop as confident, respectful and responsible citizens (Lifelong love of learning of self and others – achieving together by working as part of a team. Understanding that we all have to do our fair share and get along with different people).  
  4. In this, globally and digitally interconnected world, all learners, need new skills and knowledge to succeed. If we want to prepare our children for success in school, work, and life, opportunities to learn 21st-century and interpersonal skills are essential. 

Our curriculum drivers are simply our virtues which underpin all we do in school across the whole of our curriculum.  

Our school rules of Be Ready; Be Respectful; Be Safe support our pupils in living out our vision and upholding our values and virtues; our curriculum content including our academic and non- academic provision, extra- curricular opportunities and assembly times all have their own part to play in the fulfilment of our vision as detailed below:

Implementation: 

Our curriculum is structured by three core pillars: 

  1. Curriculum breadth:  the key knowledge, vocabulary, skills and standards whilst providing cultural capital  
  2. Threshold concepts: the key aspects of each subject chosen to build conceptual understanding within subjects and are repeated many times  
  3. Progression of learning: the stages of understanding from basic, advancing and deep. 
1 Curriculum breadth for EYFS.   Securing identified skills & knowledge for year groups and consolidating learning to date Curriculum breadth for Years 1 & 2 Securing identified skills & knowledge for Key Stage 1 recapping and building on EYFS as required. Curriculum breadth for Years 3 & 4 Securing identified skills & knowledge for year groups, consolidating KS1 material Curriculum breadth for Years 5 & 6 Securing identified skills & knowledge for year groups and consolidating learning to date.
2

Threshold Concepts
3 The focus is on securing mastery of concepts within long term learning for application across a range of contexts. All pupils are afforded the same opportunities to reach this stage but may require different scaffolding to achieve the same outcome and some may take longer to secure their learning. Equally, for some children, mastery will be more quickly attained and opportunities to take their learning to a deeper level are sought. We want to answer the questions: ‘How well are pupils coping with the curriculum’ & ‘How well are they retaining previously taught content?’

At Beam we deliver aim to deliver a high quality mastery curriculum. This means that our curriculum design is a progressive model where pupils build on previous learning through their knowledge and application of clear and concise composite goals. Pupils know more and remember more through rehearsal, which leads to a deep and secure knowledge of the key components.

The curriculum intent is designed to meet the needs of this disadvantaged community. The intent and implementation of the curriculum are clearly embedded through a clear pedagogical approach, structure and sequence. All staff understand the school’s curriculum intent and what it means for their practice. All work given to pupils matches the curriculums aims and composite goals and shows sequence in how knowledge and skills build for future learning.

Pupil outcomes are consistently of a high quality, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with EAL and SEND. Pupils build on previous learning, practise and rehearse to build automaticity. This is supported through the use of our Lowest 20% Toolkit. The curriculum is ambitious and ensures there is strong challenge for all groups of pupils. The curriculum goes beyond the academic to build cultural capital through music, the arts, sports, languages and international links. Teachers have strong subject knowledge and leaders are providing bespoke professional development.

Our whole school approach to the curriculum is to teach knowledge and key vocabulary first to allow the development of concepts and skills. As we use a spiral curriculum for subjects with a heavy knowledge content, with increasing complexity we revisit topics or concepts. We consolidate learning by transferring knowledge to long term memory through regular low stakes testing. 

The content of our curriculum is founded on the principle that knowledge and experience comes first (depending on the topic and age of the pupil). It focuses on the acquisition of key facts, concepts and vocabulary in every subject, and we recognise that a knowledge-led curriculum which is accessible to all has the power to reverse inequalities and narrow gaps between learners.

Transferrable knowledge 

 Research shows that knowledge, more so than skills, can be transferable between different areas of the curriculum. It is, therefore, vital that teachers in every subject establish a robust knowledge base which will allow students to develop the core skills that they require to be successful. This is only possible when teachers strive continually to enhance their own subject knowledge so that they are experts within the classroom. 

Spiral curriculum and low stakes testing 

We believe that the delivery of knowledge and concepts should be sequential and chronological, allowing students to regularly revisit and consolidate their learning. This can be viewed as a ‘spiral curriculum’, where students engage with the same topics or concepts throughout their school lives and each encounter increases in complexity whilst reinforcing previous learning. Regular ‘low stakes’ testing enables students to secure the knowledge that they acquire and this approach has been shown to support the transference of knowledge from working to long-term memory. 

Please see Intent, Implementation and Impact for each subject. 

Impact 

The impact of our curriculum is that at each key transition point in pupils learning, the vast majority of them will have sustained mastery of the content (they remember it and are fluent in it);; some pupils will have a greater depth of understanding. The vast majority of pupils will be able to demonstrate how our vision has positively impacted on their relationships, aspirations and understanding of community and will be ready to embrace the next step of life- long learning. 

Intent: What we aim

We believe that reading is an essential life skill and is key for academic success. Therefore, we are committed to enabling our children to become discerning, lifelong readers. We aim to build a community of engaged readers who turn to reading for meaning and pleasure by engaging with parents and incorporating into our school: visits to the our school library, regular DEAR time and opportunities to access a range of literature. At the heart of our strategy is our drive to foster a love of reading by enriching children’s learning through imaginative stories and thought-provoking texts, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, picture books and film.

Furthermore, we look to develop and provide a consistent whole-school approach to the teaching of reading with the intention of closing any gaps and targeting the highest number of children to attain Expected standard or beyond. We recognise that reading is a transferable skill that enables children to develop their learning across the wider curriculum and lays the foundations for success in future lines of study and employment. At Beam, we provide plenty of opportunities for children to read for pleasure within the school day.

Implementation: How do we achieve our aims?

In EYFS and KS1, we use a systematic synthetic phonics programme called ‘Little Wandle’ which is supported by a comprehensive scheme of reading books provided by Collins Big Cat Letters & Sounds. All children have daily phonics or spelling sessions where they participate in speaking, listening and reading activities that are matched to their current attainment. In EYFS and KS1, all children read daily during Phonics, Whole Class Reading (Year 2) and in other curriculum areas. In addition, the lowest 20% read at least once more a week with teachers or Learning Support Assistants.

Where phonics is a primary focus in EYFS and KS1, in KS2 the focus is primarily on comprehension, as the expectation is that children will read with an appropriate level of fluency by the end of Year 2. Children in KS2 read daily across the curriculum and three times a week during Whole Class Reading sessions. Those who are less fluent receive regular intervention and are heard read one to one multiple times per week. We recognise the importance of reading at home to practise and embed reading skills. In EYFS and KS1, banded titles are closely matched to children’s phonic abilities, which are then used within reading groups and for home reading to ensure children take home a ‘fluency’ book that is right for their level of reading. In KS2, books are banded by age-appropriateness and text difficulty. Children are benchmarked using PM Benchmarking to an appropriate reading level and freely select a book within the band of their choice. Teachers monitor choices to ensure texts are appropriate for reading ability and are appropriately challenging. Pupils in both key stages also take a ‘home share’ book of their choice for pleasure and to share with parents.

Teachers draw upon observations and continuous assessment to ensure children are challenged, and they identify those who may need additional support. Children requiring phonics intervention are carefully planned for by assessing individual gaps and using Little Wandle Keep Up planning to support. We recognise that systematic high, quality phonics teaching is essential, but additional skills and opportunities are required for children to become accomplished readers. In Reception and Year 1, the children take part in group reading sessions with the focus on developing fluency, comprehension and phonics skills and in Years 2-6, we deliver Whole Class Reading sessions three times a week based on building knowledge, comprehension skills and vocabulary development. Whole Class Reading lessons in Years 2-6 are structured to allow children to develop as competent readers who can discuss and record their level of understanding around texts read. In order to achieve this, pupils are explicitly taught comprehension strategies: prediction, questioning, clarifying, summarising and activating prior knowledge. Pupils are supported through dialogic interactions, in which they verbalise the reading processes as signposts in their thinking.

During EYFS/KS1 group reading sessions, the adult conducting the session will formatively assess pupils’ progress and keep tracking records for each pupil based on their decoding, prosody and comprehension. Throughout KS2, pupils record responses to texts within their Whole Class Reading book. Assessment for Learning opportunities are carried out throughout the lesson where pupils share and discuss the thoughts and observations they have made. Teachers also make use of assessment tools such as Rasinski’s fluency rubric and half-termly Rising Star comprehension assessments in order to build a ‘reading picture’ around each child.

Across the school, children are exposed to high-quality books that reflect the diversity of our modern world. Our classrooms all have book corners and the central reading area and library are well-stocked. Teachers are able to take out termly loans with our borough library service to ensure they have a plethora of quality texts to aid with teaching upcoming topics across the curriculum. Within the Literacy Curriculum, Doug Lemov’s ‘Five Plagues of the Developing Reader’ have been a basis for developing a strong spine of texts containing: archaic language, non-linear time sequences, a complex narrative, figurative/symbolic references, resistance in meaning. We are also keen to expose our pupils to modern texts which represent the diverse nature of the world around us. In particular, the themes of ‘Race & Social Justice’ and ‘Gender Identity’ are prominent throughout our Literacy and Whole Class Reading Curriculum enabling a progression in text and thematic complexity. High quality texts and passages are chosen to give children a breadth of exposure.

Vocabulary is explored and developed with teachers providing opportunities to explore definitions of new words and to make links between these words and known words. Across the curriculum, pupils develop their use of tier 2 language and knowledge of tier 3 language in order to enhance their knowledge across the curriculum. Coordinators have met to ensure that vocabulary develops systematically across the school. Teachers provide opportunities to read a range of texts in different subject areas, either to further their understanding of a topic, or to develop their emotional literacy.

Impact: How will we know we have achieved our aims?

Children will display enthusiasm for reading and choose to read for pleasure and meaning. Children will choose books for pleasure, entering a wide range of worlds that reading opens up and immersing themselves in topics of interest during lessons and beyond. As we believe reading is key to all learning, the  impact of our reading curriculum goes beyond the result of our statutory assessments, and essential skills allow children to transition confidently to secondary school and beyond. Children read in other subject areas and as a result, their reading skills are enhanced and  understanding of the world increased. Staff enthusiastically share texts and show themselves as readers. Parents enthusiastically support us. We have a process of  monitoring to ensure standards are maintained and these include; observations, performance management, targeted CPD sessions and learning walks. A high number of children achieve the expected standard of higher. Through targeted  intervention, those who find reading challenging are helped to catch up. By the time children leave Beam County Primary School, they are fluent, confident and able readers, who can access a range of texts for pleasure and enjoyment, as well as using their reading skills to unlock and enhance their knowledge and understanding of all subjects on the curriculum.

Intent: What we aim

We deliver daily phonics through a high-quality phonics programme and consistently implement it to equip children with the skills they need to decode and become fluent readers. Teachers provide children with books that are closely matched to their phonic abilities to ensure they can experience success when practising. Children are supported in catching up quickly with teachers making ongoing assessments and targeting interventions. It is our duty to ensure the highest number of children possible pass the phonics screening check, with expectations that are aspirational yet achievable.

Implementation: How do we achieve our aims?

In EYFS and KS1, we use a DFE validated phonics programme called ‘Little Wandle Letters & Sounds’. This systematic and synthetic programme lays out clear expectations term-by-term from the beginning of Reception to the end of Year 1 which enables our children to develop a strong awareness of phonics and effective blending and decoding skills. As a school, we have purchased the Collins Big Cat books which perfectly align to Little Wandle progression. This ensures that children read a book which matches their current phonics knowledge. Teachers identify this through their own formative assessment and also half-termly summative assessments which help identify knowledge/gaps and contain guidance to help match children to the correct book.

Embedded into the programme are half-termly assessments for Reception and Year 1 pupils. This enables teachers to identify any children who may need extra support. Assessments also contain detailed guidance which helps teachers pinpoint the gaps in learning and subsequently allocate the appropriate targeted intervention to address the need. Teachers draw upon observations and continuous assessment to ensure children are challenged, and they identify those who may need additional support. We recognise that some children may benefit from further instruction beyond Year 1 and will ensure that high quality phonics provision is in place for:

  • Children who did not pass the Phonics Screening Check in Year 1.
  • Children in KS2 who have not progressed beyond Phase 5 books.
  • Children with SEND who are struggling to decode.

For children in years 2-6 still working within phonic levels, they embark on the 7+ Rapid Catch Up programme which aims to accelerate progress for underachieving readers.

In Nursery phase 1 phonics lesson, you will see:

  • Children learning in a language rich environment.
  • Children having access to high quality adult interactions.
  • Engaging and accessible free choice activities available daily. These encourage children to develop their speaking and listening skills.
  • Children have the opportunity to engage in challenging adult-led tasks to consolidate their learning.
  • Children have access to a range of high-quality books and mark making resources.

Throughout Reception & Year 1 phonics lessons, you will see:

  • Phonics taught daily in a regular slot on all class timetables.
  • Streamed whole class phonics lessons led by the teacher who explicitly models strategies and skills.
  • All teachers follow and use Little Wandle planning and resources.
  • All lessons follow a consistent lesson structure with embedded Little Wandle routines.
  • The same visual representations and mnemonics are used by all teachers.
  • Each class has an engaging phonics area, where displays are referred to, and this is where lessons are taught from.
  • Teachers ensure that all children make progress through quality first teaching or, if needed, targeted intervention.
  • Children are encouraged to apply their phonics knowledge throughout the day in other curriculum areas.

Impact: How will we know we have achieved our aims?

Children will be able to decode, segment and blend in line with the Little Wandle programme. By the end of Year 1, children will be ready to move from ‘Learning to Read’ to ‘Reading to Learn’. Children feel successful in reading and are more willing to read because books are well-matched to their needs. By implementing high quality intervention effectively and promptly, the majority of our children will become fluent readers by the end of KS1 with a high number of children passing the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1.

Intent: What we aim

We aim to deliver an engaging, exciting and diverse curriculum which helps develop a love of writing and inspires children to want to write around a range of genre and different purposes. We want to encourage children to be imaginative and to bring this to their writing. Teachers look to support children to express their thoughts and ideas clearly and creatively through their written word. Children are provided with essential skills in grammar, punctuation, spelling and composition that will be life-long. At Beam, we seek to develop children into writers with an understanding of the writing process, including planning, drafting, proof reading and editing to enhance their work. Furthermore, we will support children to be articulate and confident communicators who express themselves and enhance their learning when engaging in discussions. Overall, we aim to create a culture where children ‘read as a writer’ and ‘write as a reader’.

Implementation: How do we achieve our aims?

We use the ’Essentials Curriculum’ approach whereby long-term objectives of writing run throughout the curriculum from Year 1 to 6. These ideas are broken down into smaller, assessable ‘milestones’ at a word, sentence and text level which permeate throughout each phase group and are repeatedly built upon through a spaced repetition approach. Each term, teachers assess pupil application of these statements within their writing outcomes. Moderation is carried out termly across the school to strengthen accuracy of teacher judgements.

To ensure consistency throughout the teaching of writing, teachers deliver a writing unit through a three phased teaching approach. Phase One consists of immersing pupils into the text/topic and providing them with the contextual knowledge to be able to write on a deep level. Phase Two surrounds teaching grammar in context to the text. Grammar lessons are purposeful and involve writing tasks which aim to build writing stamina and grammatical application as opposed to stand-alone tasks. At the end of phase two, a WAGOLL (What A Good One Looks Like) is deconstructed using all of the skills which the pupils have learnt within the unit. Phase Three consists of the writing process: planning, drafting, editing, reviewing, publishing. Teachers model how to plan and draft in order to set high expectations and routines to the children.

From the outset at Beam, children are taught to see themselves as authors and that there is an audience and purpose to their writing. The purposes of writing are repeated across the key stages through a range of writing outcomes to solidify understanding of text types and to enhance skills in grammar, punctuation and sentence construction. These purposes are: to inform, to persuade, to entertain, to discuss, to describe, to perform, to instruct and to explain.

Within the Literacy Curriculum, Doug Lemov’s ‘Five Plagues of the Developing Reader’ have been a basis for developing a strong spine of texts containing: archaic language, non-linear time sequences, a complex narrative, figurative/symbolic references, resistance in meaning. We are also keen to expose our pupils to modern texts which represent the diverse nature of the world around us. Texts are used throughout each year group as stimuli to provoke discussion, explore language and produce writing outcomes.

During a written unit, pupils will explore WAGOLLs to examine and measure the impact of grammatical choices made. Teachers will also model the authorial decision making process and will highlight important grammatical choices throughout. Pupils will have opportunities to experiment with applying grammatical features with support from the teacher during the shared writing process. In KS1, for children to become fluent, creative writers, they are encouraged to express ideas through speaking & listening opportunities including partner talk, roleplay and hot-seating. In KS2, drama techniques like the aforementioned and additionally conscience alleys, role on the wall and playing ’devil’s advocate’ are explored and repeated to enhance children’s spoken language, presentation skills and to use as a stimuli pre or post-writing.

In addition, there are opportunities across the curriculum for children to enhance their vocabulary through exploring tier 2 and 3 vocabulary and carrying out formal presentations, taking part in class performances and engaging in debates. Children explore a range of poetry types in KS1 and KS2 with a focus on solidifying understanding of poetic techniques, enhancing skills at crafting poetry and practising performing poems. In KS1, pupils focus on appreciating rhythmic structure, the recitation of this and also receiving an introduction into narrative poetry. This is built upon in KS2 with pupils studying poems with more complex meanings whilst continuing to perform and craft works of their own.

In Year 1, children are taught how to make simple edits and additions to their writing so that they are able to do so more independently in Year 2. In KS2, post-writing, teachers model and encourage children to proof-read and edit their work with the use of a green pen. Teachers make it clear that writing has an audience and purpose to highlight the importance of the publishing part of the writing process. We encourage children to publish their works through artistic means (E.G. the use of double page spreads), ICT (E.G. the use of word, publisher and powerpoint to present information) and through different forms of media (E.G. radio station for performing compositions).

In EYFS and Year 1, the Little Wandle phonics scheme is used to teach spelling. In Year 2 onwards, pupils embark on Beam’s research-led spelling scheme which aims to combine the key aspects of spelling such as investigating rules; exploring the etymology of words; identifying sounds and syllables within words; and morphology. Each week, pupils begin by aiming to prove or disprove a spelling hypothesis. Following this lesson study, pupils continue to explore related words in a variety of ways throughout the week before a progress check occurs to culminate the unit. A spaced repetition approach is used whereby children recap key learning intermittently to help attribute spelling to long-term memory.

Correct letter formation is taught from EYFS and is practised daily. Once Year 1 are confident with printing letters, they are introduced to cursive handwriting which is further developed in Year 2 and beyond. Handwriting is taught regularly through the Nelson Handwriting scheme and is reinforced through teacher modelling.

Impact: How will we know we have achieved our aims?

Children will be engaged and thoughtful in writing lessons. They will take pride in in their work by making choices in language and presentation to appeal to the reader. Children will have strong writing skills that allow them to access the whole curriculum and transition to secondary school with confidence. Pupils know and remember more and have the skills which equip them to progress from their starting points. Writing will be developed from good ideas and is imaginative in use of ambitious vocabulary and figurative language. In addition, Writing will be high quality and well-presented in a range of ways. Children’s understanding of the writing process will help them make good progress, with a high percentage achieving age-related expectations or beyond. Communication skills will be strengthened and children articulate themselves effectively.

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ICT is taught as a discrete subject, as well as being used to support cross-curricular learning. Pupils are taught a range of knowledge, skills, and understanding through four areas of learning: finding things out; developing ideas and making things happen; exchanging and sharing information; reviewing, modifying and evaluating work as it progresses. They use word-processing, multimedia, graphics, data handling, and modelling software. Children have good access to PCs and iPads. Digital Leaders are a group of Gifted pupils that provide iPad training to staff and pupils alike.

We have adopted the new Barking & Dagenham Scheme of work. This is an exciting scheme that incorporates current technologies and challenges the children to excel within the subject. The school has a programme of investment in ICT to ensure that children have access to resources that reflects the constantly changing technology that they encounter in the wider world.

Intent 

At Beam County Primary School our vision is to instil a life-long love of learning in all of our children, As a virtue, ee recognise the importance of creativity.  

The breadth of the history curriculum is designed to fulfil Beam’s vision, values and virtues as follows: 

  1. Striving: 

The curriculum is designed to enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets in the national curriculum and the aims also align with those in the national curriculum. Kapow Primary is an Artsmark partner and is able to support schools on their Artsmark journey, inspiring children and young people to create, experience, and participate in great arts and culture. With the development of TV studios in Dagenham we feel that DT will provide them with the foundation skills needed within the media industry.  

 2.Inspiring:  

Our DT curriculum aims to inspire pupils to be innovative and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through ideation, creation, and evaluation.  

We want pupils to develop the confidence to take risks, through drafting design concepts, modelling, and testing and to be reflective learners who evaluate their work and the work of others.  

3. Community: 

Through our scheme of work, we aim to build an awareness of the impact of design and technology on our lives and encourage pupils to become resourceful, enterprising citizens who will have the skills to contribute to future design advancements. 

Implementation  

The Design and technology national curriculum outline the three main stages of the design process: design, make and evaluate. Each stage of the design process is underpinned by technical knowledge which encompasses the contextual, historical, and technical understanding required for each strand.  

Our Threshold concepts align with the National curriculum attainment targets under five strands:   

  1. Design 
  2. Make  
  3. Evaluate  
  4. Technical knowledge  
  5. Cooking and nutrition 

Within each strand there is clear progression of skills and knowledge across each year group. . Our Progression of skills shows the skills that are taught within each year group and how these skills develop to ensure that attainment targets are securely met by the end of each key stage. Through our DT scheme, pupils respond to design briefs and scenarios that require consideration of the needs of others, developing their skills in six key areas: 

  1. Mechanisms
  2. Structures
  3. Textiles
  4. Cooking and nutrition (Food) 
  5. Electrical systems (KS2) and  
  6. Digital world (KS2)  

Each of the key areas follows the design process (design, make and evaluate) and has a particular theme and focus from the technical knowledge or cooking and nutrition section of the curriculum.  

The spiral curriculum ensures that key areas revisited repeatedly with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revisit and build on their previous learning. Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work including practical hands-on, computer-based, and inventive tasks. This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles.  

Differentiated guidance is available for every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.  

Strong subject knowledge is vital for staff to be able to deliver a highly effective and robust Design and technology curriculum.  

Design and technology is blocked so that pupils can focus and absorb in their task so they can delve deeper into their understanding within this subject. 

Pupils attend DT workshops and secondary schools to broaden and deepen their knowledge and skills.  

Impact  

The impact of the pupils’ understanding is constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Each lesson includes guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives. Furthermore, each unit has a unit quiz and knowledge catcher which is used at the start and/ or end of the unit.  

Pupils should leave school equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education and be innovative and resourceful members of society.  

Children should be able to: 

  • Understand the functional and aesthetic properties of a range of materials and resources.  
  • Understand how to use and combine tools to carry out different processes for shaping, decorating, and manufacturing products.  
  • Build and apply a repertoire of skills, knowledge and understanding to produce high quality, innovative outcomes, including models, prototypes, CAD, and products to fulfil the needs of users, clients, and scenarios.  Understand and apply the principles of healthy eating, diets, and recipes, including key processes, food groups and cooking equipment.  
  • Have an appreciation for key individuals, inventions, and events in history and of today that impact our world.  
  • Recognise where our decisions can impact the wider world in terms of community, social and environmental issues.  
  • Self-evaluate and reflect on learning at various stages and identify areas to improve.  
  • Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Design and technology.  
  • Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Computing. 

Intent

At Beam County Primary School, we believe teaching Geography is an essential part of developing children’s curiosity and understanding of the world we live in. We recognise the importance of providing pupils with real world skills that are progressive and easily transferable to other areas of the curriculum. Our geography lessons are taught so that children:

  • Have extensive knowledge of where different places are located and what they are like
  • Develop an understanding of how places are interconnected through space and time and how key human and physical processes contribute to the Earth’s landscape
  • Adopt an investigative lense through geographical enquiry.
  • Deepen their geographical knowledge and vocabulary
  • Ask relevant questions about different concepts and use effective analytical tools to enhance learning

Think critically and draw conclusions to present findings using primary, secondary data and research

  • Obtain to a wide range of geographical skills and techniques through fieldwork
  • Produce well-balanced opinions about contemporary social, economic and environmental issues.

Implementation

Geography at Beam County is taught in blocks throughout each half term by making cross curricular links across subjects such as English, History and Science. At the start of each unit, children are encouraged to convey what they already know about a specific topic using a stimulus to draw ideas. Our carefully sequenced lessons are mapped out and implemented so that children can develop their geographical knowledge, investigative skills, concepts and vocabulary at a high level. We are fortunate to have vast grounds and use our outdoor environment as a key learning tool to understand our local area and its people. At KS2, pupils have further opportunities to learn about environmental issues by comparing and contrasting areas around Britain and the wider world.

Impact

Through our continued CPD, monitoring , support for teachers, pupil voice and rigorous assessments, our rich curriculum will ensure teachers build on their skills and knowledge, and in turn, are well equipped to deliver lessons. At Beam County, we offer children many opportunities to expand their knowledge and understanding of the world, its environment, places near and far, as well as the processes that change and affect them. Pupils therefore will become confident geographers as they progress their learning into KS3.

 

Intent
At Beam County Primary School our vision is to instil a life-long love of history in all of our children; our historians. We recognise that learning history is vital for our pupils; as Marcus Garvey states, “A people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”

The breadth of the history curriculum is designed to fulfil Beam’s vision, values and virtues as follows:

  1. Striving:

The curriculum is designed to build secure and rich substantive knowledge across a wide range of time periods. As pupils move through the phases, they will begin to engage with disciplinary knowledge. By studying specific historical context in detail and building their knowledge in overview, children can strive to achieve greater depth understanding in this subject.

  1. Inspiring:

Children are provided with a rich cultural capital by learning about events, people and ideas of significant historical interest within their local area. Historical visits are arranged in each year group as learning beyond the classroom can inspire pupils and their love for the subject can flourish.

  1. Community:

Pupils have the opportunity to develop an appreciation of people, events and contexts from a range of historical periods and contexts. Understanding the complexity of people’s lives and the process of change, allows the pupils to respect the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups. Their understanding of self and others and their place in the community helps develop their sense of identity.

Implementation

The history curriculum reflects the school’s structure of the three core pillars:

  1. Curriculum breath:

History is delivered through subject specific teaching, organised into carefully sequenced themes. Meaningful cross-curricular links are made with other subjects to strengthen connections and understanding for pupils while exploring historical contexts.

The spiral curriculum allows pupils to revisit key content and secure it in long-term memory. Core learning for each topic is outlined for teachers in the overviews. Prior knowledge is consistently revisited and secured through teacher exposition and questioning.

  1. Threshold concepts:

Build an overview of world history: For pupils to engage meaningfully with the past, they need a rich knowledge of the period/place/society they are studying.

Understanding chronology: Pupils need a secure overview of major developments and periods to contextualise new knowledge. In KS2 they should be learning secure narrative across and within  periods.

Communicate historically: Pupils develop knowledge of substantive concepts such as: empire; civilisation; parliament; peasantry. These important substantive concepts are readily transferable to new context and greatly aid pupils in developing new historical knowledge.

Investigate and interpret the past: Pupils need to know how historians use sources of evidence to construct knowledge about the past. Though to make historical judgments, pupils must have sufficient substantive knowledge to draw valid conclusions.

  1. Progression of learning:

At Beam, we recognise that children make progress in history by knowing and remembering more history content. Great emphasis is placed on pupils developing their substantive knowledge of the past: people, events, ideas. Topic knowledge; chronological knowledge; and knowledge of substantive concepts are mapped and embedded across the history curriculum to ensure progression.

Pupils become knowledgeable about British history by studying the Stone Age to the present day. Through the study of ancient civilisations of Egypt, Rome, Greece and Benin, pupils are able to draw comparisons and make connections between time periods and their own lives.

Careful consideration has been given to how children develop disciplinary knowledge –  how historians use sources of evidence to construct knowledge about the past. The history curriculum allows pupils to build knowledge about the discipline over time. In the early years, pupils will observe chronological concepts such as ‘the past’ or substantive concepts such as ‘the king’ through reading fictional stories. In KS1, pupils progress to studying specific events from the past by reading texts based on real historical settings. At KS2 pupils will use second-order concepts such as causation, change and continuity, similarity and difference, and historical significance to develop disciplinary knowledge. By the end of this phase, pupils will have some knowledge of the kinds of questions and methods which historians bring to their study of the past, in order to prepare them for study at KS3.

Impact

Beam County provides a motivating history curriculum that leads pupils to be enthusiastic history learners. Through the monitoring of teaching, pupils’ work, rigorous assessments, pupil voice and continued CPD, children are able to develop a strong foundation on which they can build their historical knowledge at each phase.  The vast majority will have sustained mastery of the history content; some pupils will have a greater depth understanding.

By fostering a love of learning for history, we hope pupils have no limits to their ambitions, and strive to achieve careers related to this subject such as: archivists; museum curators; archaeologists; research analysts.

Intent

At Beam County Primary School, we considered which language would have the best long term learning implications for our children. When researching Latin, we found that:

Latin studies help improve children’s overall school performance because it …

  • Lifts academic outcomes in other subjects
  • Assists understanding of mathematical concepts
  • Strengthens English literacy knowledge
  • Facilitates learning another language
  • Provides exposure to ancient history and cosmology
  • Prepares pupils for scientific, legal or medical careers
  • Equips a child for coding and computer programming

We learnt that Latin threaded through modern-day English as a significant proportion of English vocabulary is derived from Latin.

Implementation

Latin lessons at Beam County Primary School build on prior learning and teachers support children to learn and remember more through:

  • Carefully planned and tailored lessons to build on pupils’ ability and prior knowledge
  • Use and adaptation of Maximum Classics and Minimus Latin courses
  • Support from “Classics for All” and “The Primary Latin Project”.
  • A focus on key knowledge that children develop and progress with as they move through Key Stage 2
  • A cycle of lessons for each topic, which carefully plan for progression and depth
  • Elaborative questioning to challenge pupils to apply their learning in a range of ways
  • Focus on vocabulary, grammar and phonics that will allow pupils to manipulate the language for themselves.

Latin is taught weekly in Key Stage 2 and from the Summer term in Year 2.

Impact

After the implementation of Latin, pupils should leave Beam County Primary School equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education. Latin prepares children to learn modern foreign languages, and has enormous cross-curricular potential, drawing in literacy, history, geography, art, drama and philosophy, as well as helping children with maths and science vocabulary,

The expected impact is that children will have:

  • developed understanding of Latin including phonics, grammar and vocabulary
  • secure understanding of the key techniques and methods for each key area of the languages curriculum: speaking and listening, reading and writing.
  • a progression of understanding, with appropriate vocabulary which supports and extends understanding.
  • confidence in discussing their own work and identifying their own strengths and areas for development.
  • A secure understanding of how knowledge gained in Latin lessons develops learning across the curriculum including reading and spelling.

 

Maths is taught through a daily numeracy lesson which follows the principles of the Primary Numeracy Strategy. This ensures a broad and through coverage of the main aspects of numeracy: number, shape space and measure, data handling and using and applying mathematics. There is also a strong emphasis on mental arithmetic and children are set regular tasks to develop this skill.

We use the Busy Ants Scheme of work for the planning of Maths. We realise the importance of number (the four operations) as well as reasoning in Maths. As such, teachers constantly apply the knowledge learnt in Maths to reasoning challenges. As a dialogic school, we encourage oracy and debate within reasoning challenges. Teachers assess continually throughout the year including the utilisation of formal assessments as stipulated by the National curriculum.

Music Intent, Implementation and Impact Statements

Intent

In Beam County Primary School, Music is taught first and foremost to help children feel that they are musical, and to develop a life-long love of learning. We focus on:

  • Developing the skills, knowledge and understanding that our children need in order to become confident performers, composers and listeners.
  • Our curriculum introduces children to music from all around the world and across generations, teaching children to respect and appreciate the music of all traditions and communities.

Implementation

Music at Beam County Primary School takes a holistic approach to music, in which the individual strands below are woven together to create engaging and enriching learning experiences:

  • Performing
  • Listening
  • Composing
  • The history of music
  • The inter-related dimensions of music

Throughout their time at Beam County Primary School, children will be taught how to sing fluently and expressively, and play tuned and untuned instruments accurately with control. They will learn to recognise and name the interrelated dimensions of music – pitch, duration, tempo, timbre, structure, texture and dynamics – and use these expressively in their own improvisations and compositions.

Our spiral model also follows the same learning sequence to ensure all interrelated elements of music are covered and implemented. Within the EYFS setting, music is an integral part of children’s learning journey. Rhyme and rhythm are utilised throughout the learning of phonics, handwriting and mathematics. Children learn a wide range of songs and rhymes and develop skills for performing together. Singing and music making opportunities are used frequently to embed learning, develop musical awareness and to demonstrate how music can be used to express feelings.

Music is taught through the use and adaptation of the Kapow Music course and specialist teaching provided by specialist music teaching, Logan Brothers. These lessons allow children the opportunity to learn to play an instrument as part of an ensemble and to engender a love of music learning. Throughout the sessions the interrelated elements of music are developed.

Performance is at the heart of musical teaching and learning at Beam and pupils participate in a range of performances during their school ‘career’. These include Christmas concerts, mid year musical performances, and a Leavers performance (Year 6). Pupils also take part in Harvest assemblies and singing assemblies. Pupils who are confident are encouraged to perform in solo performances. Parents are invited and welcomed to watch all of these performances whether at school or outside of school.

Impact

After the implementation of music, pupils should leave Beam County Primary School equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education and to be able to enjoy and appreciate music through their lives.

The expected impact is that children will:

  • Be confident performers, composers and listeners and will be able to express themselves musically at and beyond school.
  • Show an appreciation and respect for a wide range of musical styles from around the world and will understand how music is influenced by the wider cultural, social and historical contexts in which it is developed.
  • Understand the ways in which music can be written down to support performing and composing activities.
  • Demonstrate and articulate an enthusiasm for music and be able to identify their own personal musical preferences.

Across all subjects, learning outside of the classroom is an essential part of finding out about our world around us. Beam County Primary School is particularly fortunate to have a vast outdoor area including a pond, a garden and a nature trail which all children have access to during their time at school.

Personal and Social Education encourages children to take responsibility for their own health and well-being. PSHE will enable children to develop important life skills, such as how to react in difficult situations and to learn about rights and responsibilities for themselves and others. In doing this, it is anticipated that self-confidence and esteem will be promoted.

Intent
Beam County Primary School recognises the value of Physical Education (P.E). We fully adhere to the aims of the national curriculum for physical education to ensure that all children:

  • develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities
  • are physically active for sustained periods of time
  • engage in competitive sports and activities
  • lead healthy, active lives

Implementation
P.E. is taught at Beam County Primary School as an area of learning in its own right as well as integrated where possible with other curriculum areas. It is taught for two sessions per week.

We teach lessons so that children:

  • Have fun and experience success in sport
  • Have the opportunity to participate in P.E at their own level of development
  • Secure and build on a range of skills
  • Develop good sporting attitudes
  • Understand basic rules
  • Experience positive competition
  • Learn in a safe environment
  • Have a foundation for lifelong physical activity, leaving primary school as physically active.

Impact
P.E is taught as a basis for lifelong learning, where the children have access to a wide range of activities in the belief that if taught well and the children are allowed to succeed, then they will continue to have a physically active life. A high-quality physical education curriculum inspires all children to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities.

At Beam County, we provide opportunities for children to become physically confident in a way that supports their health and fitness. Opportunities to compete in sport and other activities build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect.

The school participates in many local competitions and has enjoyed great success over the years.

PE curriculum map 2017 – 2018

As part of Religious Education, children learn about Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism.  It is our aim that children will recognise and value all people with their diversity of gifts, cultures, and faiths and develop consideration for others, learning to work together with a sense of social responsibility and compassion.

Teaching British Values

“to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.” (DfE)

The government set out its definition of British values in the, and these values have been reiterated by the Prime Minister this year.  At Beam County Primary School the 2011 Prevent Strategy values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

Democracy:

Democracy is rife within the school. Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our Pupil Council and Pupil questionnaires. Our school behaviour policy involves rewards.

The Rule of Law:

The importance of Laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days, as well as when dealing with behaviour and through school assemblies. Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. Visits from authorities such as the Police; Fire Service; etc. are regular parts of our calendar and help reinforce this message.

Individual Liberty:

Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we educate and provide boundaries for young pupils to make choices safely, through of provision of a safe environment and empowering education.  Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and advise how to exercise these safely, for example through our E-Safety and PSHE lessons. Whether it be through choice of challenge, of how they record, of participation in our numerous extra-curricular clubs and opportunities, pupils are given the freedom to make choices.

Mutual Respect:

Part of our school ethos and behaviour policy has revolved around Core Values such as ‘Respect’, and pupils have been part of discussions and assemblies related to what this means and how it is shown. Posters around the school promote respect for others and this is reiterated through our classroom and learning rules, as well as our behaviour policy.

Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs:

This is achieved through enhancing pupils understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity. Assemblies and discussions promote tolerance as we play music from different cultures. Assemblies and discussion involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying have been followed and supported by learning in RE and PSHE. The school has a high-profile ‘Language of the Term’ subject that runs throughout the year, linking to languages spoken by our EAL pupils. Members of different faiths or religions are encouraged to share their knowledge to enhance learning within classes and the school. Our School Council in particular show that this has been successful.

Science at Beam gives children the opportunity to be inquisitive, to explore and find out about the world around them.  As they progress through the school, the children carry out practical investigations with greater independence and have the opportunity to research information, use a variety of equipment and resources.  We are particularly fortunate to have our own wildlife area which we use to ensure that our pupils gain firsthand experience. In their work children develop a variety of strategies to analyse what they have found out and are encouraged to record their findings accordingly. The Science units can also be linked to other areas of the curriculum such as ICT, Maths and Art, Outdoor Learning and topics covered include Light and Sound, Changing Materials, Forces In Action, Life Cycles, habitats, and Healthy Living.  In years 5 and 6, our pupils receive a unit of lessons at our feeder Secondary Schools.