Subjects

Early Years

 

English

Handwriting ProgressionPrinciples for English WritingReading on a PageReading Spine Progression Writing Composition on a Page

Mathematics

 Maths Subject Overview

Maths Roadmap

White Rose Maths Calculation Policy - All Year Groups

Science

 

Intent

 

At Whitfield Aspen Primary School we believe that teaching and learning in Science should stimulate and excite children’s curiosity about the world around them.  It provides first-hand experiences and support for children to develop enquiring minds, learning how to question and discuss science through collaboration.  Starting from the views already held, children are given the opportunity to have their views challenged, to change their views, and ultimately improve their understanding.  A planned range of practical work in meaningful contexts helps to develop a range of investigative skills and allows children to take risks and learn from their mistakes, developing them into independent learners.

We aim to:-  

• build on the children’s natural curiosity.  

• teach the children scientific knowledge.  

• teach the children scientific skills.  

• stimulate them to investigate, question, and develop attitudes toward science.  

• teach them to communicate ideas using appropriate scientific language.  

• teach them how to evaluate their findings and suggest explanations 

 Implementation

 Science is taught in every Pathway. The different aspects to Science teaching at Whitfield Aspen are:   

• ‘Working Scientifically’ - Throughout each unit, the emphasis is on the children learning by doing. The units of work encourage the teachers to provide activities that will enable the children to test their previously held ideas. In doing so, they will also be encouraged to develop a bank of skills and an understanding of the processes required to be able to carry out a successful science enquiry.   

• Scientific vocabulary - Each unit of work contains a section outlining the most appropriate scientific vocabulary to be used when studying that particular area of science. This will help children become familiar with, and use, technical terminology accurately and precisely. At the beginning of each unit, a Vocabulary Planner is included in the children’s books with relevant vocabulary they will come across throughout the unit.   

• Resources–We have an extensive list of resources that are available to teachers to support the learning that occurs in lessons and across each unit of work.   

• Engagement - Within every unit of work there are many suggestions as to strategies that teachers can use to ensure that children are interested and engaged in the content from the very beginning.   

• Scientists - Every unit of work lists some of the scientists who are working, or have worked, in that particular area of science. Teachers can use these to extend the children’s understanding of different scientific discoveries.  

•  A range of learning strategies - As well as the full range of practical scientific enquiries outlined, there are plenty of other strategies provided to engage the children in their science learning; drama, deep thinking time, problem-solving in various contexts, videos from web pages, etc.   

  For pupils whow are working at a non subject specific level of development, they access the curriculum by using The Engagement model. This has 5 areas of engagement, which are exploration, realization, anticipation, persistence and initiation.  

• The role of ICT in supporting pupils learning in science is recognised   

• The emphasis of this being placed on enabling each pupil to progress and demonstrate achievements in contexts appropriate to their age   

• Pupils learn in a variety of styles e.g. individually, in pairs, small groups or as classes   

• Pupils participate in a variety of practical activities using a range of equipment appropriate to their individual needs   

• The units can be delivered to the pupils via a wide range of sensory experiences; therefore science has its value for PMLD pupils.    

 Within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Special Provision, Science is developed through purposeful play-based experiences which are represented in a variety of indoor and outdoor environments. The Long-term plan focuses on the expectations from Development Matters / Early Years Outcomes and our own bespoke Pathway curriculum.   

 Children are encouraged to record their scientific thinking and the expectation of formal recording increases during the year. Photographic evidence and discussions with the children are a main aspect of Science learning in EYFS and Special Provision. The Forest School is also used on a weekly basis to give the children the opportunity to explore and discover the world they live in.  

 Impact

 Most children will achieve age-related expectations in Science at the end of their cohort year.   

• Children will retain knowledge, relevant to Science with a real-life context.    

• Children will be able to question ideas and reflect on knowledge.    

• Children will work collaboratively and practically to investigate and experiment.    

• Children will be able to explain the process they have taken and be able to reason scientifically  

• Pathway 1: Pupils begin to communicate intentionally. They show anticipation in response to familiar people, routines, activities and actions and respond appropriately to them. They explore or manipulate objects, toys, artefacts or other equipment. 

  Monitoring and Evaluation 

 The Science curriculum is implemented through the planning, teaching and assessment of the subject as a specific discipline in each milestone group. The teaching of Science is designed to make purposeful links between subjects where possible.

 Class teachers assess children that are working towards the expected standard in each unit. Children are assessed against their knowledge and also their ability to work scientifically. During each teaching sequence or ‘unit’ of science, teachers collect evidence and make summative assessments of each child’s progress and attainment against the defined milestones. Subject Leaders and teachers share an overview of children not meeting pathway/milestone group expectation. This ensures that any children not meeting expectations are identified and support can be put in place if necessary.  

 Teachers at Whitfield Aspen Primary School build on prior learning. The Reception class and Special Provision deliver Science content through the ‘Understanding of the World’ strand of the EYFS curriculum and Pathway 2. This involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment. They are assessed according to the Development Matters attainment targets.  

 Partnerships with parents 

 Shared experiences with parents are highly valued at Whitfield Aspen School. We endeavour to share our science learning experiences through the Class Pages on our websites and when events take place at school, where possible, parents will be invited to attend or view these. 
We welcome any parents who wish to support the teaching and learning of Science at school. 

Religious Education

 RE Subject Overview.

Progression in RE

RE Long Term Plan EYFS to Year 6

RE Pathways

RE Pathway 1 RoadmapPathway 1 Long Term Plan

RE Pathway 2 Roadmap Pathway 2 Long Term Plan

RE Pathway 3 RoadmapRE Pathway 3 Long Term Plan

RE Pathway 4 Roadmap

Art

 Art and Design Curriculum Overview

Art Information and Roadmap

Computing

 

Computing Overview

 

Intent: Subject Vision and how this link to the national Curriculum

At Whitfield Aspen School, we want to enable young people to gain the computing knowledge and skills that will help them make sense of, and contribute to, the society and world they live in.

We encourage computing to be hands on, breed resilience and develop children’s problem solving skills.

Our computing curriculum will support children to link subject knowledge to the four key areas within Computing:

1. Communicate

2. Collect

3. Connect

4. Code

Using these areas staff will give opportunities for pupils to apply their knowledge creatively within other subjects to help our pupils become skilful computer scientists.

 

Implementation: How your subject is delivered across the whole school

Using the four keys areas of Computing, we encourage staff to teach specific computing lessons and try and embed computing across the whole curriculum to engage, enthuse and cause a real spark in students. We want our pupils to be fluent with a range of tools and hope by upper key stage 2, children have the independence and confidence to choose the best tool to fulfil tasks and challenges set by teachers.

 

Impact: The skills you expect pupils to have achieved by the time they leave our school

We are becoming ever more reliant on technology in every aspect of our lives so it is imperative that children leave primary school with a good grounding of computational thinking and problem solving so they are prepared for opportunities in the future.

As an educator, there is nothing better to see than the face of a student light up when they have solved a big problem, be it fixing a bug in their code, managing to get a robot to follow a line around the floor, or making a sprite in their game do exactly as they wanted. The feeling of success after solving a problem that perhaps they would have given up on months or years earlier is one which often remains with that child.

 

Monitoring and Evaluation

Through explicit teaching of Computing and creative projects, both teachers and the pupils assess their learning continuously throughout lessons and projects. Our assessment systems enable teachers to make informed judgements about the depth of children’s learning and the progress they have made over time.

 

Partnerships with parents

Through the use of special events, Internet Safety Day and Coding week, we hope to provide parents with support in the safe use of technology at home to support their children’s future with technology. The use of our school website supports parents in the understanding of Computing taught in our school and gives ideas and activities to deepen both their child’s knowledge and engage parents in learning alongside their child through problem solving and computational thinking tasks.

 

 

Design and Technology

Design & Technology RoadmapDesign & Technology Subject Overview  

French

 

MFL Overview

Intent:

At Whitfield Aspen we view learning French as a liberation from insularity and the beginning of a child’s engagement with neighbouring cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster children’s curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. Our teaching should enable children to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries The teaching of MFL at Whitfield Aspen Primary School will be based on the new National Curriculum and underpinning these aims are the School’s core values of Learning Together with Aspiration, Imagination and Determination. We also ensure that we revisit learning and cover a depth of learning in conjunction with Chris Quigley.

Implementation:

Learning Objectives Lesson objectives are based on the new National Curriculum and will develop the children’s linguistic abilities in Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing whilst developing their awareness of the patterns, phonics and basic grammar of the French language.

Timetabling

Each class in Key Stage 2 will receive 30 minutes of discreet language learning a week from their class teacher. Further opportunities to include French in other subjects will be made at the class teacher’s discretion. An annual Language Awareness Day provides an intercultural experience for children to learn together. There will also be opportunities to exchange pen-pal letters and receive occasional visits from children at our link school in France. Whitfield Aspen intends to use the Language Angels scheme of work 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 pupils will be expected to achieve their full potential by encouraging high expectations and excellent standards in their foreign language learning - the ultimate aim being that pupils will feel willing and able to continue studying languages beyond key stage 2. The intent is that all content will be continuously updated and reviewed annually, creating a dynamic programme of study that will be clearly outlined in both long-term and short-term planning. This will ensure that the foreign language knowledge of our pupils progresses within each academic year and is extended year upon year throughout the primary phase and, in so doing, will always be relevant and in line with meeting or exceeding national DfE requirements.

The four key language learning skills; listening, speaking, reading and writing will be taught and all necessary grammar will be covered in an age-appropriate way across the primary phase. This will enable pupils to use and apply their learning in a variety of contexts, laying down solid foundations for future language learning and also helping the children improve overall attainment in other subject areas. In addition, the children will be taught how to look up and research language they are unsure of and they will have a bank of reference materials to help them with their spoken and written tasks going forward. This bank of reference materials will develop into a reference library to help pupils recall and build on previous knowledge throughout their primary school language learning journey.

Inclusion 

• Learning a modern foreign language helps all pupils develop their interest and curiosity in the similarities and differences between themselves and others. This includes learning about countries, cultures, people and communities.
• Any programmes of study or teaching materials in use may be modified to give all pupils relevant and appropriately challenging work.

Gifted and Talented

Pupils who clearly show they have a particular aptitude for languages will be given the opportunity to work at a higher level during lessons and can be assessed against the Languages Ladder ‘Preliminary’ criteria. This is in line with our personalised learning ethos.

Transition

To support the transition of our pupils to secondary school, all children will leave Whitfield Aspen School with a comprehensive folder of the work they have undertaken in French from Year 3 through to Year 6.

Impact:

The skills we expect our children to achieve by the time they leave school will include, but not be limited to: 

• develop awareness that languages other than English exist
• become increasingly familiar with the sounds and written form of a Modern Foreign Language
• learn simple vocabulary and structures which can be used in a variety of contexts • develop language skills and language-learning skills
• understand and communicate in a new language
• make comparisons between the foreign language and English or another language 
• increase their cultural awareness by learning about different countries and their people, and working with materials from those countries and communities
• foster positive attitudes towards foreign language learning
• become aware of aspects of mother tongue by encountering other languages
• become aware of some aspects of home culture by encountering other cultures and raising awareness of citizenship issues
• use their knowledge and growing confidence and competence to understand what they hear and read, and to express themselves in speech and writing
• form a sound basis for further study at Key Stage 3 and beyond
• to have fun and enjoy their learning

Monitoring and Evaluation

Children will be assessed formatively during each lesson, which will inform subsequent planning. Towards the end of the academic year, children will be more formally assessed and their performance will be graded according the Asset Languages Ladder ‘Breakthrough’ criteria. Yearly reports are made to parents on MFL in Key Stage 2.

Partnerships with parents

All information regarding the children’s curriculum will be shared with parents along with their French folders and opportunities to engage with language Awareness Day once a year

Geography

Geography Subject Overview

Geography Overview

Geography Road Map

 

History

 

Intent

At Whitfield Aspen Primary School, our intent is to deliver a high-quality history curriculum that will inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It will equip children with:

• An excellent knowledge and understanding of people, events, and contexts from a range of historical periods and of historical concepts and processes. 
• The ability to think critically about history and communicate ideas very 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, formulating and refining questions and lines of enquiry.
• To inspire in learners 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, using a variety of sources.
• To develop a resilience and determination in children to become better historians and to have a deeper knowledge and understanding of the wider world.
• An aspiration to become better historians through a mutual respect for historical evidence and cultures, and the ability to make robust and critical use of it to support their explanations and judgments.
• A desire to embrace challenging activities, including opportunities to undertake high-quality research across a range of history topics.
• To use their imagination to consider how people lived their lives in the past.

Implementation

In order to achieve these aims we have a curriculum that is coherently planned to fulfil the requirements set out in the National Curriculum. We have developed a history schema that organises historical knowledge in a meaningful way; allowing the children a deep understanding in the way they are connected. The history schema has been developed using “threshold concepts” which underpin the main historical ideas, which are then broken down into facets of knowledge to help deepen children’s knowledge and understanding.

 

The Threshold Concepts in History are:

1. Investigate and interpret the past – This concept involves recognising that our understanding of the past comes from an interpretation of the available evidence.

2. Build an overview of world history – This concept involves an appreciation of the characteristic features of the past and that these features are similar and different across time periods, and an understanding that life is different for different sections of society.

3. Understand chronology – This concept involves an understanding of how to chart the passing of time and how some aspects of history happened at similar times in different places.

4. Communicate historically – This concept involves using historical vocabulary and techniques to convey information about the past.

The Knowledge Categories in History are:

Sequencing The history curriculum for history is designed to help children meet the attainment goals of key milestones.

The milestones describe attainment at the end of a two-year period.

The knowledge categories help children to meet these goals.

Years 1 and 2: Milestone 1 Years 3 and 4: Milestone 2 Years 5 and 6: Milestone 3 EYFS – address the threshold concepts through the Understanding the World ELG to provide exposure to skills developed throughout KS1 and 2.

Although the history curriculum is not taught chronologically, the threshold concept to “Understand Chronology” ensures that by the end of Year 6 children will have a chronological understanding of British history from the Stone Age to the present day. They will be able to draw comparisons and make connections between different time periods and their own lives The History Long Term Plan sets outs the intended sequencing of the curriculum History Implementation The intended History curriculum is implemented through the planning, teaching and assessment of the subject as a specific discipline in each year group. The teaching of History is taught in tandem with or alternated with Geography and has been designed to make purposeful links between subjects where possible.

The detailed Long-Term Plan (see link above) sets out when, within the curriculum’s design, each concept is taught, revisited and assessed. All learning will start by revisiting prior knowledge. This will be scaffolded to support children to recall previous learning and make connections. Staff will model explicitly the subject-specific vocabulary, knowledge and skills relevant to the learning to allow them to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts. Learning will be supported through the use of knowledge organisers that provide children with scaffolding that supports them to retain new facts and vocabulary in their long-term memory. Knowledge organisers are used for pre-teaching and also as a part of daily review. Cross curricular links in history are made and planned for when appropriate, to enable further contextual learning. Where the topic allows, the local area may be utilised to achieve the desired outcomes, with opportunities for learning outside the classroom embedded in practice.

Planning is informed by and aligned with the national curriculum using the schemas provided by Chris Quigley History Companion. History assessment is ongoing throughout the relevant cross-curricular topics to inform teachers with planning lesson activities and differentiation. Summative assessment is completed at the end of each topic where history objectives have been covered; and a foundation assessment will be completed. Consideration is given to how mastery will be taught, learnt and demonstrated within each lesson, as well as how learners will be supported in line with the school’s commitment to inclusion. The foundation assessments inform leaders of school improvements or skills that need to be further enhanced and progress can be tracked throughout school. EYFS record their observations and evidence on Evidence for Learning, this allows judgements to be made regarding whether a child has achieved the Early Learning Goal, in this case Understanding the World.

History Impact Outcomes in children’s books, evidence a broad and balanced history curriculum and demonstrate their acquisition of identified key knowledge and skills. Pupils work demonstrates that history is taught at an age appropriate standard across each year group and that children working at all levels are considered and planned for effectively. This includes recording work in a variety of ways and the use of technology to aid SEN learners. Senior leaders, subject leads and teachers are able to use the evidence collected alongside the assessment information to monitor and track the implementation of the subject’s curriculum to ensure that our intentions are achieved.

The impact of the history curriculum is evaluated and reviewed through annual reports that are created and shared with governors by the subject lead. The purpose of these reports is to highlight the impact of the implemented curriculum, its strengths and areas for review.

Partnership with parents

• Dressing up days
• Significant days celebrated in school
• School’s website
• Communicated from classes
• Open days
• Jigsaws
• Parent interviews

Music

 

Music Overview

“Music is all around us. It is the soundtrack to our lives. Music connects us through people and places in our ever-changing world. It is creative, collaborative, celebratory and challenging. In our schools, music can bring communities together through the shared endeavour of whole-school singing, ensemble playing, experimenting with the creative process and, through the love of listening to friends and fellow pupils, performing. The sheer joy of music making can feed the soul of a school community, enriching each student while strengthening the shared bonds of support and trust which make a great school.”   DFE Music Curriculum

Intent:

The aim of music teaching at Whitfield Aspen is to ensure that music is accessible to all, and promotes inclusion and emotional wellbeing. The children should have regular opportunities to show what they have learnt through performance. This builds children’s confidence and is key for motivation. Children should gain a wide-ranging knowledge of composers and genres of music, having listened to a variety of different types of music, including the opportunity for ‘cultural capital.’ The children should be confident discussing and analysing this music using the correct musical terminology. The children should have opportunities to create their own music, drawing on the skills that they have gained through listening and appraising music. Perhaps most importantly, the children should gain a lifelong love of music, and be able to state and explain their preferences. Throughout their music lessons, children will learn to work collaboratively, to defend their own views whilst listening and respecting others, to develop their leadership skills and to think creatively. These are important skills that the children can use not only across their whole curriculum, but that they can take into the wider world beyond their school life.

 

 

In order to achieve this, we will ensure that all pupils:

• Have the opportunity to take part in music activities, inside and outside the classroom
• Understand the language of music and be able to use this language to analyse pieces of music that they hear
• Are exposed to a range of different genres of music, including key cultural pieces

 

Implementation:

Currently, the music curriculum is in a period of transition as we shape a new curriculum around the new Model Music Curriculum produced by the DFE. The long-term plan and progression documents have been updated to reflect this and to ensure that no learning is missed and that it enriches learning which is already taking place in the classroom. The different strands of music: listening, theory, performing and composing will be taught together so that the children understand that they are intertwined very closely. The long-term plan will allow for repetition across the year groups, building on previous learning. This means that by the end of year 6, the children should be confident using musical language to appraise a piece of music and should know the musical building blocks to be able to perform and compose. Children will therefore be able to confidently transition to a Year 7 curriculum. Where possible, there will be cross-curricular links with other disciplines in order to help the children to make links with other subjects and therefore understand more fully how music is a part of everything around us. The long-term plan includes progression though the year groups and the pathway curriculum.

 

Impact:

Throughout their time at Whitfield Aspen, the children will gain a knowledge and appreciation for different genres of music. They will be able to discuss these confidently and fluently, using key musical vocabulary. They will have the confidence to perform solo, in a small or large group in front of an audience. It is our aim that the children will leave at the end of year 6 enthused about a variety of music, and eager to experience more.

 

Monitoring and Evaluation

Pupil Voice

Informally assess at the end of each unit, through teacher assessment against the progression of skills document.

 

Partnerships with parents

Concerts and other performances throughout the year enable pupils from both the mainstream and SRP to come together to share their musical achievements to parents and the wider community, such as local care homes, Whitfield Summer Fete and the choir Christmas Concert. 

PE 

 Pysical Education Subject Overview

Physical Education Roadmap

  

PSHE

 

Forest School

 

 

Confidance

  

Confidance are an inclusive dance organisation creating high quality dance opportunities for and with learning disabled people. Based in East Kent, Confidance have been working for over 15 years in schools, community and professional dance settings.

 Confidance’s education work focuses primarily on deep engagement with partner schools. Through long-term engagement, the team can share practice with a wide range of staff and students, allowing for mutually beneficial relationships to develop.

 Confidance began working with Whitfield Aspen School began with the ‘Listen Up!’ project in 2015 which saw students from six schools in the Samphire Learning Hub, including students with PMLD, working together towards a performance at The Gulbenkian. The project also aimed to develop the non-learning disabled students’ ability to communicate through Touch Cue and Makaton, with the ambition that they go on to become inclusivity ambassadors in their own schools.

 Confidance began a new residency with Whitfield Aspen in 2020 and are now in their fourth year of partnership. Over the four years, Confidance have worked with over 650 students from across both school sites. Projects have included: a two-year person-centred residency with Bluebirds class; whole year engagement with Year 3s and 5s, responding to curriculum learning; performances from ConfiCo, our professional company of LD dancers; a flash mob dance event, engaging over 350 students in the Folkestone Triennial.

 Our website: https://www.confidance.org.uk/

 To find out more about the partnership with Confidance, click below to read reports and watch our dance films:

 2021 Residency: 

 Flashmob Dance Day - classes from across the school creating choreography inspired by ConfiCo and the Folkestone Triennial: 

 https://vimeo.com/600300808?share=copy 

 Confidance & Whitfield Aspen Connect Project: 

 https://vimeo.com/648556995?share=copy

 Bluebird's class residency films: 

 https://vimeo.com/821721876?share=copy