Art and Design

Art and Design Subject Leader: Liam Keith

At Wilbarston, Art & Design is a valued subject which we believe is an integral part of our pupil’s education. It engages and challenges all our pupils and embodies some of the highest forms of human creativity. We believe that it unlocks our pupil’s potential, allows them to express their creativity and supports their mental health, which is key to our school ethos. We believe that Art & Design gives our pupils their own voice, a sense of escapism and provides them with the opportunity to see the world around them in a different light. To tap into our pupil’s creativity and truly unlock their potential, we strive to provide outstanding opportunities and to reflect our schools culture and community through the artists we choose.

British Values

Our School is very supportive of the ethos of promoting British Values, and preparing our pupils for success in a modern Britain.

A heavy reliance is placed upon broadening horizons for each and every child and this includes developing the core skills of tolerance, respect, teamwork, resilience and building self-esteem. These are all values and qualities that we feel are relevant in order to play a full and meaningful role in society, and are promoted via our extensive house systems that lends themselves to cultural and sporting competition, democratic principles, social mixing, the development of greater pastoral care and enhanced PSHE. British Values are defined as:

• democracy
• rule of law
• individual liberty
• mutual respect
• tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

These values are taught explicitly through Personal, Social, Health and Emotional (PSHE), and Religious Education (RE). We also teach the British Values through planning and delivering a broad and balanced curriculum, and the way we run our school (embodying respect, democracy and tolerance of all).

For further information about the curriculum please contact us.

Computing

Computing Subject Leader: Ellie O'Brien

Computing plays a central role within the curriculum at Wilbarston and is fundamental to our wider trust mission of creating aspirational and knowledge-rich pupils. Pupils will secure an understanding of the use of technology as well as staying safe and making the correct choices.

The Computing curriculum is sequenced coherently so useful knowledge builds through three distinct strands; Digital Literacy, Information Technology and Computer Science. As a result, pupils will accumulate the essential knowledge, cultural capital and computational thinking.

• Computer Science: algorithms and programming, data and systems
• Information Technology: digital artefacts and computing contexts
• Digital Literacy: Mechanics, searching for and selecting information and E-Safety

These disciplines are substantial and provide a secure foundation that enables pupils to succeed in the next stage of their education. By the end of the Computing curriculum at Wilbarston, children will know how to better understand the tools that software and algorithms can use to implement strategic problem solving in their lives.

Design Technology

DT Subject Leader: Liam Keith

Design & Technology (DT) plays an important role within the curriculum at Wilbarston and is one of many subjects that help to fulfil our wider trust mission of creating aspirational and knowledge-rich pupils.  Pupils have planned opportunities to use their creativity and imagination, to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts. The DT Curriculum includes links to designs and designers throughout history, enabling pupils to critically reflect upon and evaluate their own designs.  We aim to, wherever possible, link work to other disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art. This gives the learning purpose and relevance to the pupils.

The Wilbarston DT curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils:

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

Early Years Foundation Stage

EYFS Leader: Vicky Burgess (*plus additional trust leadership capacity) 

Intent

Our Early Years curriculum is based on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Framework(2023) and Development Matters 2021. These documents set expectations for children to achieve by the end of the reception year. Children joining Wilbarston CofE Primary School come from a range of settings with varied experiences;  we aim to plan and deliver a carefully considered curriculum which meets the needs of all children. Our curriculum is ambitious, progressive and designed to give children, particularly the most disadvantaged, the knowledge, self-belief and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. It builds on what children know and can do, towards increasing knowledge and skills for their future learning.

At Wilbarston there is a sharp focus on language and vocabulary development, increasing opportunities for conversations and ensuring that all children can communicate effectively. We provide children with a secure knowledge of phonics, which gives them the foundations for future learning and prepares them to become confident and fluent readers. Our school’s approach to Early Reading and Synthetic Phonics is Systematic and we use the RWI programme. This ensures that children learn to read words and simple sentences accurately by the end of Reception.

We provide an enriching, purposeful and stimulating learning environment both indoors and outdoors which promotes exploration and curiosity. Play is an incredibly important part in the learning process; this paired with adult-led tasks and group/class sessions ensures we provide a balanced curriculum with the same academic ambitions for all children. For children with particular needs, such as EAL, those with SEN and/or disabilities, the curriculum is adapted and individualised to meet all of their needs.

Implementation

At Wilbarston our children benefit from meaningful learning across the curriculum, ensuring that the children are immersed in a ‘language rich’ environment through a variety of stories, non-fiction texts, songs, and nursery rhymes. New vocabulary is introduced regularly linking to our curriculum topic of learning, through whole class and group circle times, as well as in child-initiated play through high quality interactions with the children. New vocabulary is modelled and extended effectively by adults supporting the play provision which encourages the sharing of ideas and curiosity of the world around them. The Pathfinders Trust and our School have an ambitious curriculum for all. This is progressive model curriculum that begins as children start school and continues into Year 6. This gives our children a sense of what is to come and a taste of the rich curriculum ahead in KS1. However, our purpose in EYFS is not wholly about school readiness but about harnessing children’s interests across the 7 Areas of Learning and developing children’s skills and knowledge through their unique interests in a playful and meaningful manner. This is how we build authentic engagement, thinking skills and motivation to learn within all our children.

We have flexibility in how we teach and provide a good balance of child and adult initiated learning. In the delivery of our curriculum, we provide ample opportunities for our children to apply new skills and knowledge in a range of purposeful ways both taught and from their own fascinations. We know that a key indicator for success is motivation to learn and a desire to come and take part in time together with adults. Together with our children we discover new concepts and ideas during adult directed learning and in provision. Our staff are adept at planning across the 7 areas of learning creating planning which is based on children’s key motivations and interests.

All staff are trained in delivering high quality Systematic Synthetic Phonics, using the scheme; ‘Read Write Inc.’ This ensures that children practise their reading both at home and in school using books that match their individual phonic knowledge. Our staff present information clearly to children, promoting appropriate discussion about what they are being taught.

We are active communicators to secure children’s understanding, identify misconceptions and provide clear explanations to improve their learning. In so doing, we respond and adapt our teaching as necessary to ensure that all children make the best possible progress. Staff in the Early Years promote a love of reading by carefully planning adult-led Literacy lessons using the Talk for Writing and Wilbarston agreed texts. These sessions are based around a breadth of stories or books of interest which link to the topic of learning, reflect British values and cultures, children’s interests,  support  or key model text.

Children explore traditional, number and modern-day poetry and rhyme including ring games and as they leave Reception they have a vast repertoire of rhymes, poems and songs.

Our staff are knowledgeable about the teaching of Early Mathematics. We provide adult led Mastery Maths lessons where children can gain a greater understanding of a range of mathematical concepts. Following these sessions, the children are encouraged to apply their knowledge in their play; through the high-quality provision and enriched activities provided. We ensure that children have sufficient practice to be confident in using and understanding numbers as well as delivering activities that provide a strong basis for more complex learning later on.

Across EYFS, the teaching is designed to help children remember long term what they have been taught and learnt to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts by revisiting and recalling past learning by reviewing their unique learning through online and book learning journals and by ensuring that children get to embed and rehearse and extend their knowledge during provision times in an enabling environment.

In EYFS, our resources are chosen to meet the children’s needs and promote learning. Our curriculum is taught through a wide range of topics chosen by the school and the children and their own interests. It focuses on teaching a balance of skills and knowledge through play and is based on the needs of the current cohort.

Regular assessments are carried out through observations, class/group work and 1-1 sessions. The knowledge of the children is then used to inform future planning and to support any interventions that need to be put in place. Our curriculum and care practices promote and support children’s emotional security and development of their character; giving clear messages to children about why it’s important to eat, drink, rest, exercise, upkeep body and oral hygiene as well as being kind to one another.

Characteristics of Effective Learning are an integral part of the Early Years and are important when carefully considering the learning environment and the opportunities that will be available. They include ‘finding out and exploring’, ‘being willing to have a go’, ‘being involved and concentrating’ and being a ‘creative and critical thinker’. We want all our children to develop a love and joy of learning, be engaged, have critical thinking skills and a deep motivation that will drive them to become lifelong learners

Our learning environment is carefully planned with the Characteristics of Effective Learning in mind and are constantly adapted to meet the needs and interests of our children. As a team, we value the impact that provision can have and therefore have a range of opportunities for children to develop their skills. These skills can be developed both indoors and outdoors and can be targeted through engaging activities and challenges that encourage curiosity and exploration.

In EYFS, we strive to develop strong and positive relationships with our families. Communicating effectively with parents is vital in ensuring good progress for our children. We communicate and provide information for parents about their child’s progress regularly through informal and formal routes and the use of an online learning journal. Our parents are well informed about supporting their child’s learning at home, including how to help their child learn to read in line with our Read Write Inc. Phonics scheme. Parents also get the opportunity to share information, about their child during 1-1 parent consultations, this helps us plan a bespoke curriculum focussed on the needs and interests of every child.

Impact

The impact of our curriculum on what children know, can remember and do is strong. Our children demonstrate this through being deeply engaged and sustaining high levels of concentration. Alongside this, our continuous assessment ensures that our children make good progress towards their milestones and the Early Learning Goals and reach a ‘good level of development’ by the end of the Reception year. It also ensures that children are ‘Year 1 ready’ and can continue to make good progress as they move on to the next steps in their journey.

By the end of reception our children use their knowledge of phonics to read accurately with increasing speed and fluency. They have the personal, physical and social skills they need to succeed in the next stage of their education and present as highly motivated individuals. They share and cooperate well, demonstrating high levels of self-control and respect for others. Our children consistently keep on trying hard, particularly if they encounter difficulties and have a very good understanding of our school ethos and expectations.

Most children achieve the Early Learning Goals, particularly in the prime areas and mathematics and literacy.  Our children demonstrate their positive attitudes to learning through high levels of curiosity, concentration and enjoyment.

In EYFS, we use our forest school experiences, as a means to build independence and self -esteem in children. Topics are cross-curriculum including the natural environment. Personal skills of teamwork and problem solving are developed through working with children of different ages across the school. The outdoor environment becomes an additional classroom and can be used to learn about more abstract concepts such as mathematics and communication.

 EYFS Curriculum Documents

Geography

Geography Subject Leader: Maria Hawkes

Geography plays a central role within the curriculum at Wilbarston and is fundamental to our wider Trust mission of creating aspirational and knowledge-rich pupils. Our knowledge-rich geography curriculum, which follows the National Curriculum, is finely sequenced, cohesive and progressive which ensures that knowledge builds on knowledge. Pupils will secure a range of geography skills such as enquiry-based fieldwork and using maps, graphs and compasses.  Our geography curriculum ensures that pupils learn how to ask and answer geographical enquiry questions, know the connections between locations and understand human and physical features of these places.

Throughout the school, pupil’s learning includes curiosity provoking ideas such as how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time. This understanding of the world in a physical sense, in combination with an awareness of societies, cultures and environmental issues around the world, enables pupils at Wilbarston to become true global citizens. These different strands of geography are in constant interplay and are synthesised together within geography lessons. Pupils present their knowledge through geographical enquiry, interpretation and communication.

As a result of the accumulation of rich knowledge, which connects pupils’ substantive knowledge and geographical disciplinary skills, pupils secure an unwavering foundation that will enable them to succeed in the next stage of their education.

History

History Subject Leader: Maria Hawkes

History plays a central role within the curriculum at Wilbarston Primary School and is fundamental to our wider Trust mission of creating aspirational and knowledge-rich pupils. Our knowledge-rich history curriculum, which follows the National Curriculum, is finely sequenced, cohesive and progressive which ensures knowledge builds on knowledge. Pupils will secure a significant historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts and understand connections between local, regional, national and international history. It ensures that pupils learn how to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. As a result, they also begin to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.

As a result of the accumulation of rich knowledge, which connects pupils’ substantive knowledge and historical disciplinary concepts, pupils secure an unwavering foundation that will enable them to succeed in the next stage of their education.

Mathematics

Maths Subject Leader: Ellie O'Brien (*plus additional trust leadership capacity) 

Maths plays a central role within the curriculum at Wilbarston and is fundamental to our wider trust mission of creating an aspirational, knowledge-rich curriculum for our pupils. We aim to provide a high-quality mathematics education which will provide a foundation for understanding the world, to develop an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject. Maths at Wilbarston is underpinned by methodical, coherent, curriculum design created by White Rose and supported by carefully crafted lessons and resources to foster deep conceptual understanding and procedural knowledge. The curriculum design enables children to build on their previous learning in each new step in their learning journey. As a result of the of the accumulation of essential knowledge and skills our pupils will leave our school as confident, resilient mathematicians, demonstrating conceptual and procedural fluency, with the ability to reason mathematically and efficiently solve problems. Effective Maths is delivered weekly in order to support children’s fluency with number. In KS1 the NCETM Mastering Number program is delivered to encourage children to gain a deeper understanding of place value and number bonds.

Modern Foreign Languages

French Subject Leader: Lucy Park

Learning languages plays a vital role within the curriculum at Wilbarston and is one of many subject areas that will help to fulfil our wider trust mission of creating a curriculum that is broadening the horizons of young people within our school. Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity, provides an opening to other cultures and also provides a deeper understanding of the English language through etymology and study of grammar.

Our language curriculum promotes pupils’ curiosity and deepens their understanding of the world around them both now and in the past. It will enable pupils to express their thoughts and ideas in another language and communicate these in both speech and in writing. We strive to embed the skills of listening, speaking and reading skills necessary to enable children to use and apply their learning in a variety of contexts and lay the foundations for future language learning. Our Foreign Language curriculum is designed to progressively develop children’s skills in languages. We have chosen to teach French.

Our French scheme of work aims to instil a love of language learning and an awareness of other cultures. We want pupils to develop the confidence to communicate in French for practical purposes, using both written and spoken French. Through our scheme of work, we aim to give pupils a foundation for language learning that encourages and enables them to apply their skills to learning further languages, developing a strong understanding of the English language, facilitating future study and opening opportunities to study and work in other countries in the future. The French scheme of work supports pupils to meet the National curriculum end of Key stage 2 attainment targets (there are no Key stage 1 attainment targets for Languages).

Music

Music Subject Leader: Maria Hawkes

Music plays a central role within the curriculum at Wilbarston Primary School. Pupils will perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians. Pupils will also learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and progress to the next level of musical excellence. Furthermore, pupils with understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the interrelated dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notation.

The curriculum is underpinned by three key pillars (technical development, constructive development and expressive development) which focuses on developing pupils’ tacit, procedural and declarative knowledge.

Physical Education

PE Subject Leader: Ellie O'Brien

Physical Education and sport play an important role within the curriculum. The subject is one of the main areas that helps us to fulfil the wider Trust mission of encouraging pupils to succeed and excel. Our extensive PE and school sport curriculum provides opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their mental and physical well-being. Pupils of all sporting abilities have the opportunity to compete in a wide range of activities, which helps them to build their characters and resilience, along with embedding values such as fairness and respect. We have a competitive enrichment programme which provides the pupils with a wide range of opportunities to explore activities which are accessible to all. At Wilbarston we take pride in healthy eating during break and lunchtime whilst providing playground activities, led by our sports leaders during lunchtimes to keep all children energised and active. In addition, we also promote positive mental wellbeing through our dedicated tutor times.

Our skills rich curriculum, which follows the National Curriculum via Kapow, is finely sequenced, cohesive and progressive which ensures knowledge builds on knowledge.

Our PE curriculum ensures that all children:

• Develop competencies to excel in a broad range of physical activities.
• Are physically active for sustained periods of time.
• Engage in competitive sports and learn the values of teamwork, resilience and how to cope with failure and success.
• Lead healthy, active lives.

Personal, Social and Health Education 

PSHE Subject Leader: Vicky Burgess (*plus additional trust leadership capacity) 

At Wilbarston, we value PSHE as one way to support children’s development as human beings, to enable them to understand and respect who they are, to empower them with a voice and to equip them for life and learning. We teach Personal, Social, Health Education as a whole-school approach to underpin children’s development as people and because we believe that this also supports their learning capacity.

The Jigsaw Programme forms the foundation of our PSHE curriculum. This offers us a comprehensive, carefully thought through Scheme of Work which brings consistency and progression to our children’s learning in this vital curriculum area. Relationships Education at Wilbarston covers ‘Families and people who care for me’, ‘Caring friendships’, ‘Respectful relationships’, ‘Online relationships’, and ‘Being safe’. Health Education covers ‘Mental wellbeing’, ‘Internet safety and harms’, Physical health and fitness’, Healthy eating’, ‘Drugs, alcohol and tobacco’, ‘Health and prevention’, ‘Basic First Aid’, ‘Changing adolescent body’. Sex education at Wilbarston ensures that both boys and girls are prepared for the changes that adolescence brings and drawing on knowledge of the human life cycle set out in the national curriculum for science - how a baby is conceived and born.

Jigsaw also supports the “Personal Development” and “Behaviour and Attitude” aspects required under the Ofsted Inspection Framework, as well as significantly contributing to the school’s Safeguarding and Equality Duties, the Government’s British Values agenda and the SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social, Cultural) development opportunities provided for our children.

Further information and documents

Jigsaw and the PSHE Association’s Programme of Study:

Jigsaw-mapping-to-the-PSHE-Association-Programme-of-Study-2020

Jigsaw and the Equalities Act’s Protected Characteristics:

protected-characteristics-ofsted-and-jigsaw.pdf (jigsawpshe.com)

Jigsaw and British Values:

UK-British-Values-in-Jigsaw-by-Lesson.pdf (jigsawpshe.com)

Jigsaw and SMSC:

uk-3-11-smsc-and-emotional-literacy-mapping-document.pdf (primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com) 

Jigsaw and complinance with DfE RSE curriculum:

uk-3-11-and-statutory-relationships-and-health-education-map.pdf (primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com)

For Parents

Jigsaw have produced some helpful guidance leaflets for parents. These might be helpful for parents who might wish to read in their own time, as opposed to asking questions of the class teacher or other school team members:

Jigsaw leaflet for parents:

Jigsaw-information-leaflet-for-parents-and-carers-2021

Jigsaw and RSE- Relationships, Sex and Health Education:

RSHE-A-Guide-for-Parents-and-Carers-leaflet-2020

Relationships- LGBTQ:

LGBTQ-Parent-Leaflet-A4-2021

This page contains downloadable documents that you can find at the foot of the page. Click here to go there now.

Religious Education

Religious Education Subject Leader: Maria Hawkes

The purpose of RE is to develop religious literacy and “to enable pupils to hold balanced and informed conversations about religion and belief”. The essential outcomes for RE are therefore related to the knowledge and understanding of religion and worldviews and are rooted in a multi-disciplinary understanding of the subject. We want our children at Wilbarston to know about and understand Christianity as a diverse global living faith through the exploration of core beliefs, using an approach that critically engages with biblical text; gain knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and worldviews, appreciating diversity, continuity and change within the religions and worldviews being studied; engage with challenging questions of meaning and purpose raised by human existence and experience; recognise the concept of religion and its continuing influence on Britain’s cultural heritage and in the lives of individuals and societies in different times, cultures and places; and explore their own religious, spiritual and philosophical ways of living, believing and thinking.  The above aims of Religious Education in Church Schools are taken from the “Church of England Statement of Entitlement 2019”.

Appropriate to their age at the end of their education in Church schools, the expectation is that all pupils are religiously literate and, as a minimum, pupils are able to: give a theologically informed and thoughtful account of Christianity as a living and diverse faith; show an informed and respectful attitude to religions and non-religious worldviews in their search for God and meaning; engage in meaningful and informed dialogue with those of other faiths and none and reflect critically and responsibly on their own spiritual, philosophical and ethical convictions.

Collective Worship

At Wilbarston CE Primary School we enjoy a daily act of collective worship. In line with our Christian denomination worship is traditionally Anglican. We do make links to concepts and ideas/festivals from other faiths but mainly share Christian concepts, beliefs and values in our worship. Our worship is central to our ethos and derived from our vision: Jesus said, "I have come that you may have life, life in all its' fullness."  Through  worship children learn more about our world, school and wider community and each other. They consider spiritual and moral questions and develop a sense of awe about our world.

Religious Education Downloads

Reading and Phonics

Reading Subject Leader: Vicky Burgess (*plus additional trust leadership capacity) 

Read Write Inc., developed by Ruth Miskin, provides a structured and systematic approach to teaching literacy. It is used by more than a quarter of the UK's primary schools and is designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers.

Each Read Write Inc. programme meets the higher expectations of the new curriculum and uses effective assessment to accelerate every child's progress.

Read Write Inc - Our Phonics Scheme

The Government strongly recommend the use of synthetic phonics when teaching early literacy skills to children. Synthetic phonics is simply the ability to convert a letter or letter group into sounds that are then blended together into a word.

Here at the Wilbarston , we are using the Read Write Inc (RWI) programme to get children off to a flying start with their English. RWI is a method of learning based upon letter sounds and phonics, and we use it to aid children in their reading and writing.

Reading opens the door to learning. A child who reads a lot will become a good reader. A good reader will be able to read more challenging material. A child who can read more challenging material is a child who will learn. The more a child learns, the more he or she will want to find out.

The children are assessed regularly and grouped according to their ability. They will work with a RWI trained teacher or teaching assistant.

Reading

When using RWI to read the children will:

• Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple prompts
• Learn to read words using sound blending (Fred talk)
• Read lively stories featuring words they have learnt to sound out
• Show that they comprehend the stories by answering 'Find It' and 'Prove It'

Writing

When using RWI to write the children will:

• Learn to write the letter/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds
• Learn to write words by saying the sounds and graphemes (Fred fingers)

Talking

When using RWI the children will also work in pairs:

• To answer questions
• To take turns talking and listening to each other
• To give positive praise to each other

Blending

Help your child learn to read words by sounding-blending (Fred talk) eg. c-a-t = cat, sh-o-p = shop. Children learn to read words by blending the letter-sounds that are in the Speed Sounds set (shown further down the page).

Help your child to say the pure sounds ('m' not 'muh', 's' not 'suh' etc.) as quickly as they can, and then blend the sounds together to say the whole word.

Reading Books Sent Home

Children in Reception who are learning the first 44 letter sounds and are not blending fluently will bring home sound sheets, picture books and a library book for you to read with them.

Once children can blend fluently and know the first 44 sounds they will bring home a RWI paper book, a RWI book bag book and a library book .

Read Write Inc Books

Please encourage your child to read though the speed sounds page first, then the green and red words page and then check your child understands the meaning of words on the vocabulary check page, before they start reading the book. Your child will have read this book at least three times before they bring it home. They should be able to read this book with fluency and expression by the time they bring it home and they should have a good comprehension of what the book is about. At the back of the book are find it/prove it questions for you to do with your child.

Finally, don't worry if your child is struggling at first with their sounds and words, they will get there in their own time. If you have time (we know it is very precious!), we would urge you to try and read stories to your child before they go to bed. This will help develop a wider vocabulary which makes a vast difference to their quality of writing but it will also encourage them to enjoy a good story.

Take a look at how to help your child with RWI at home:

 Parent guide to Read Write Inc. Phonics - Oxford Owl

Reading Guidance for Parents:

Science

Science Subject Leader: Liam Keith

Science plays a central role within the curriculum at Wilbarston and is fundamental to our wider trust mission of creating aspirational and knowledge-rich pupils. Pupils are encouraged to be curious, ask questions about what they observe and will be helped to understand scientific ideas and phenomena by using different types of enquiries to answer their own questions.  Our Science Curriculum is ambitious and sequenced coherently so the interplay between substantive knowledge and disciplinary skills builds through the three discrete distinct disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. As a result of the accumulation of essential knowledge and skills pupils’ science capital and scientific understanding will be substantial and provide a secure foundation that will enable them to succeed in the next stage of their education. The Wilbarston Science curriculum aims to ensure that all Pupils develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. It also allows them to understand the nature process and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them. In addition, the pupils are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science today and for the future.

Writing

Writing Subject Leader: Liam Keith

We believe at Wilbarston that knowledge, understanding and the successful application of the English language is a fundamental life skill; it develops children’s ability to communicate their experiences, desires and knowledge effectively and successfully. Throughout our school, we aim to nurture and develop independent writers through purposeful, engaging and developmental lessons which link to our rich and stimulating creative curriculum work. During our Talk for Writing lessons, we support our children to express themselves creatively and imaginatively, as they become enthusiastic and critical readers of stories, poetry and drama; as well as non-fiction and media texts. Our children also gain an understanding of how language works by looking at its patterns, structures and origins and use their knowledge, skills and understanding across a range of different situations. The daily talk for writing lessons are linked to the current national curriculum objectives. The units of work begin with a cold write which is an independent piece of writing to assess previous understanding and knowledge. The children then repeat this task at the end of the unit as a hot write. This showcases the progress and learning that have taken place across the unit. Wilbarston also follows the Read Write Inc spelling programme to ensure that our children become competent and confident spellers building on prior knowledge of spelling rules. We also encourage and teach cursive handwriting.