About our Curriculum

Kidgate’s Project-Based Learning Curriculum is designed, planned and delivered with the intention of providing all children with rich and significant learning experiences. Our school values, aims and expectations underpin our curriculum, through which we strive to shape lives and build futures. We aim to ensure that there are constant opportunities for children to acquire, develop and share their knowledge, whilst ensuring that this is supported in all subject areas by a strong foundation of skills and understanding.  

Children of all ages are exposed to a variety of experiences designed to pique their interest, generate enthusiasm, challenge thinking and inspire and motivate them to want to ask questions and learn more. Throughout school, we provide opportunities to use Meta-cognition (sometimes known as ‘learning to learn’) and self-regulation approaches which help learners think about their own learning more explicitly, whilst monitoring and evaluating their own academic development.

Whilst being aware of the need for progress and achievement in the core subjects which underpin and form the foundation for many areas of learning, we provide all children with the opportunity to develop in all areas of the curriculum.  Our aim is to develop well-rounded, happy and engaged children with a thirst for learning and ensure that they are ready and prepared for the next steps in life and learning when they leave us in Year 6.

When developing and building our project-based curriculum, we have considered the following as our key considerations to develop, embed and enhance across the whole school.

• We consider children’s own interests and their sense of discovery and ensure they are fully engaged as a result
• We deliver a rigorous learning of knowledge and new skills whilst giving children the opportunity to build upon, develop and apply what they already know to a range of different contexts.
• We are ambitious to see children achieve and surpass their potential in as many subject/curriculum areas as possible.
• A curriculum which is carefully, logically and coherently structured and planned out
• A curriculum which meets the needs of all learners, regardless of age, race, religion, gender, educational need
• To ensure there are strong links and meaningful connections between and across subjects, where the children discover answers to ‘Key Questions’ and explore ‘Big Issues’ to ensure depth of learning within projects.
• Immerse children in opportunities linked to the real world that surrounds them, both locally and in wider contexts to help them understand their place within the world.
• To develop resilient and emotionally intelligent learners who can work both collaboratively and independently.
• Encourage children to be problem solvers and be able to overcome barriers and challenges that present on a daily basis

Early Years Foundation Stage

All children in EYFS have their own individual online learning journal in which key aspects of their learning are recorded. All parents have access to their child’s online journal and we actively encourage parents and carers to add observations and comments to their child’s journal. We love to hear about learning and WOW moments from home.

English

At Kidgate Primary Academy we are passionate about ensuring every child will be able to speak confidently, read fluently with understanding and be able to express their ideas clearly in a variety of written forms. It is vital that children have good speaking skills, as oracy underpins all literacy/English skills. As such, we have a whole school focus on developing vocabulary and use numerous approaches to encourage high quality conversations.

Our preferred approach to delivering the objectives in Reading and Writing is through an approach called, ‘Talk 4 Writing’. This develops into a ‘Reading Through to Writing’ approach higher up the school, using books as the initial stimulus. We cover progression in genres, and strive, where possible, to link our books to reflect cross curricular links to other subject areas of the curriculum delivered through our carefully structured projects.

Reading, Phonics into Spelling

At Kidgate Primary Academy, we are committed to making ‘Every Child a Reader’ and developing a love of reading for all by exposing children to a range of reading approaches and text types. We firmly believe that reading does not only happen at school and actively encourage our children to share books with parents and carers at home; evidence shows that children who read regularly outside of school make more rapid progress.

Phonics

We teach reading through the Ruth Miskin synthetic phonics programme called Read, Write, Inc. which is used by 7 out of the 12 schools in the HMI Ofsted report 'Reading by Six: How the best schools do it'.  This programme teaches children to say the sounds for individual letters and then blend them together to read words. By having daily dedicated lessons, we aim to have all children reading by the end of Reception and by the end of Year 1 to read fluently with a developing understanding of different texts. From Year 2, our children are then free to concentrate on improving their comprehension for a variety of purposes.

Spelling

Our Spelling starts in earnest, once children have completed the phonics programme-usually by the end of Year 1. From phonics, children move on to Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 Spelling Pathways which involve teaching spelling strategies taken from a combination of Support for Spelling and Spelling Bank.  In addition to this, children are expected to learn individual spellings and spelling and grammar rules that have been identified by teachers during observations of children’s work.

Handwriting

Handwriting is a key literacy component that needs to be taught actively and we believe legible and neat handwriting is essential. Our aim is for all children to develop a fluent, confident handwriting style. To achieve this, teachers model handwriting formation during discreet sessions, whole class shared writing opportunities, small guided groups and on a one-to-one basis. 

Children's gross and fine motor skills develop at different rates and they will learn to form letters in a consistent way at their own speed. Once they have learned how to form the individual letters correctly and consistently, they then learn to join the letters and develop a cursive handwriting style. At all stages, children are expected to take pride in the presentation of their work.

Writing

We recognise that the effective teaching and development of oracy and phonics underpins the development of successful writers. From the first days in Reception, children are encouraged to mark-make daily in a variety of ways and as soon as they learn their sounds, practise writing their letters. By the end of the first year of school, we aim to have the children writing simple sentences to express their ideas. As they progress through the year groups, children are challenged to write more complex sentences in different genres, with a strong emphasis on correct grammar and spelling. Children are given a weekly opportunity to write independently at length and not just in their dedicated Literacy lessons but through project sessions as well. There are many aspects to writing successfully and we aim to give equal measure to each constituent.

Mathematics

At Kidgate Primary Academy, we want every child to develop a ‘love of mathematics’ in order that they be competent mathematicians. To do this, we teach a comprehensive mastery mathematics curriculum, following the Power Maths scheme. 

The Philosophy behind Power Maths is that being succesful in maths is not just about rote-learning procedures and methods, but is instead about problem solving, thinking and discussing. Power Maths includes practice questions to help children develop fluent recall and develop their conceptual understanding. It uses growth mindset characters to prompt, encourage and question children. They spark curiosity, engage reasoning, secure understanding and deepen learning for all. Power Maths is based on a 'small-steps' approach. 

Each lesson has a progression, with a central flow that draws the main learning into focus. There are different elements, informed by research into best practice in maths teaching, that bring the lessons to life:
 

Discover - each lesson begins with a problem to solve, often a real-life example, sometimes a puzzle or a game. These are engaging and fun, and designed to get all childen thinking.

Share - the class shares their ideas and compares different ways to solve the problem, explaining their reasonning with hands=on resources and drawings to make their ideas clear. Children are able to develop their understanding of the concept with input from the teaching team.

Think together - the next part of the lesson is a journey through the concept, digging deeper and deeper so that each child builds on secure foundations while being challenged to apply their understanding in different ways and with increasing independence.

Practice - children practice individually or in small groups, rehearsing and developig their skills to build fluency, understanding of the concept and confidence.

Reflect - finally, children are prompted to reflect on and record their learning from each session and show how they have grasped the concept explored in the lesson.

In years 1 to 6, further fluency is challenged and supported through White Rose maths resources, aligned with the Power Maths sequence of learning.