Our Curriculum

Year 2 & 3 : Who were the Victorians and what did they invent?

The Curriculum at Finchingfield

The curriculum is everything that we intend children to learn at Finchingfield. This has been carefully mapped out so that children experience a coherent, well-sequenced  curriculum that builds on what they have been taught, know and can do.

It has been designed to equip children with the knowledge, attitudes and dispositions they need to acquire key skills and conceptual understanding in a range of subjects. 

The school curriculum is split into three Key Stages and has been designed in a way that new learning always builds on what has already been taught in a previous year group or Key Stage. The three stages are Early Years (Nursery and Reception), Key Stage 1 (Year 1 and Year 2) and Key Stage 2 ( Years 3,4,5 and 6)

Children are taught the knowledge they need to know through inquiry, direct instruction, discussion and carefully sequence activities and experiences planned by the class teacher. All the subjects we teach at this school are planned and delivered in a similar way to ensure that learning is cumulative and builds on what children have already been taught.

Early Years Foundation Stage

Our Early Years curriculum is designed for our nursery and Reception children and is crafted to support children's learning and development so that they are well-prepared for school and have a strong foundation for future success. The curriculum aligns with our school vision for learning that encourages children to lead happy, healthy lifestyles, and fosters both a loving heart and an inquisitive mind.

This provides the golden thread that links the Early Years curriculum with our school curriculum and is further facilitated by our Reception and Year 1 children being taught together based on a curriculum centred around 5 strands that seamlessly link the early years framework with the national curriculum. 

You will also notice that both our nursery and Reception/Year 1 classrooms are modelled on a similar layout and design to support a smooth transition and reflects the 5 strands identified below that underpin the curriculum. 


Practical Life



Sensorial Development


Language



Mathematics



Cultural studies



In addition to our Nursery practitioners and Reception Class practitioners liaising when the children transition between the two clasrooms, we carry out national baseline assessments. This helps us determine the starting points for each child so that we can tailor the curriculum to their needs.

During the Reception year, children are assessed against the 17 Early Learning Goals outlined in the national Early Years Framework.  This helps parents understand how their child is performing relative to national milestones and helps us determine if a child needs a little extra support in a particular area of the curriculum.

Key Stage 1

Our Reception Curriculum is ambitious and designed so that children have every opportunity to be  ready for the Key Stage 1 curriculum. Key Stage 1 is the first key stage of primary school, a phase of education for 5-7-year-old children in England. 

To ensure a smooth transition from nursery, Reception through to Year 1, the classroom environment and the school curriculum is delivered through the same 5 areas of learning. These are practical life, sensorial development, language, maths and cultural studies. Cultural studies in this context refers to national curriculum Science and the foundation subjects.

We have devised our curriculum on a two year cycle concept led basis. In this way it seamlessly overlaps with the programmes of study in Key Stage 2 because of our mixed Year 2/3 class. 

Key Stage 2

When children complete Key Stage 1, they embark on the Key Stage 2 curriculum (Years 3-6). We have devised our curriculum based on concepts thus enabling Year 2 and Year 3 children who are in different key stages to be taught together. Children in this class follow a two year cycle - Cycle A and B to ensure progression and full coverage of the national curriculum programmes of study. 

In a similar way, Year 4, 5 and 6 are taught together as one class and follow a three year cycle.

The National Curriculum


Our school curriculum includes the programmes of study outlined in the National Curriculum and forms part of our wider school curriculum. 


The National Curriculum specifies what children will learn from Year 1 onwards in the following subjects:


- Literacy

- Mathematics 

- Science

- Art

- Design and technology 

- Computing

- Music

- History

- Geography

- Physical Education

- A Modern Foreign Language

We use an accredited Systematic Synthetic Phonics Programme to teach early reading. The programme we use at this school is Twinkl.

The School Curriculum


In addition to the National Curriculum, character development is part of our curriculum. This is because we believe it is important that our children learn to be curious, confident, self-directed learners. This underpins our vision to help children to grow healthy bodies, loving hearts and inquisitive minds.


Our Personal Development curriculum includes  social, moral, spiritual and cultural education primarily through our Relationships, Sex and Health Education Programme and Religious Education. Further details on this aspect of the curriculum can be found in the Personal Development section of our website.


We also have a comprehensive Religious Education Curriculum that teaches children a range of faiths through the lenses of theology, philosophy and human social sciences . At least half of the RE curriculum id devoted to Christianity.


Our Curricular Plans


We have adapted a consistent approach to curricular planning across the school to ensure all learning is cumulative and builds on prior learning. We have included a number of links below so that you can see our curriculum and understand what children will learn as they progress through the school.


The following term by term overviews provide a summary of the content taught across the year in each subject. We are currently on Cycle B of a three year cycle.


We have also included links to show curricular progression. These are grouped into subjects that have progression through key inquiry questions and those through knowledge progression statements.


Teachers have access to the detailed knowledge children are expected to learn in subjects that have key inquiry questions. 

 

Nursery Curriculum

Our nursery curriculum meets the requirements of Early Years Framework published by the Department of Education and the latest Development Matters Guidance on expectations around expected outcomes for 3 and 4 year old children. This ensures that our nursery curriculum dovetails seamlessly with our Reception curriculum enabling our children to be well placed to meet and exceed the early learning goals at the end of Reception.

Using themes or topics  capture children's interest and curiosity, making learning more engaging and enjoyable. Thematic learning also promotes vocabulary growth and language skills as children discuss and explore new concepts related to the theme. Our skilled practitioners carefully select the topics or themes throughout the year to engage learners based on their developmental needs and interests.

Nursery Curriculum at Finchingfield St John the Baptist Primary Academy.pdf
Nursery themes and topics (1).pdf

Term by Term Overviews

Reception & Year 1

Part B Sequencing Year R & 1 AUTUMN (Cycle B 2023-24).pdf

Class 1 Autumn

Year 2 & 3

Part B Sequencing Year 2 & 3 Autumn (Cycle B 2023-24).docx.pdf

Class 2 Autumn

Year 4, 5 & 6

Part B Sequencing Year 4,5 & 6 Autumn (Cycle B 2023-24).pdf

Class 3 Autumn

Reception & Year 1

Part B Sequencing Year R & 1 SPRING (Cycle B 2023-24).pdf

Class 1 Spring

Year 2 & 3

Part B Sequencing Year 2 & 3 Spring (Cycle B 2023-24).docx.pdf

Class 2 Spring

Year 4, 5 & 6

Part B Sequencing Year 4,5 & 6 Spring (Cycle B 2023-24).pdf

Class 3 Spring

Reception & Year 1

Part B Sequencing Year R & 1 SUMMER (Cycle B 2023-24).pdf

Class 1 Summer

Year 2 & 3

Part B Sequencing Year 2 & 3 Summer (Cycle B 2023-24).docx.pdf

Class 2 Summer

Year 4, 5 & 6

Part B Sequencing Year 4,5 & 6 Summer (Cycle B 2023-24).pdf

Class 3 Summer

Subject Progression through Key Inquiry Questions

Science

Science overview.pdf

Religious Education

Religious Education Overview.pdf

Relationships Education

Relationships Education.pdf

Geography 

Geography.pdf

History 

History.pdf

Computing

Computing Overview.pdf

Art

Art Overview.pdf

Design and Technology

Design and Technology Overview.pdf

Music

Music Overview.pdf

Subject Progression through knowledge progression statements

Reading

Reading Curriculum Knowledge Progression .pptx.pdf

Writing

Writing Curriculum Knowledge Progression .pptx.pdf

Mathematics (Early Years)

Reception curriculum mapping.pdf

Mathematics (Year 1 - 6)

Maths Progression Ready to Progress.pdf

Spoken English

Spoken language (oracy) Overview.pdf

Modern Foreign Language

German-KS2-SoW-outline-yrs-3-61.docx.pdf

Physical Education

Physical Education Overview.pdf

Knowledge Blocks

We have developed detailed knowledge for each subject that outlines what children should know as they progress through the school. There are different form of knowledge within our curriculum. Procedural knowledge encompasses the skills and know-how necessary for children to effectively perform tasks or activities. Much like following a recipe, this knowledge requires careful sequencing and application in the correct order. Knowledge can also be categorised into substantive and disciplinary knowledge. Substantive knowledge refers to concrete, factual information presented as established truths. For instance, understanding that tornadoes predominantly occur in the Great Plains of North America is substantive knowledge. However, in isolation, this information may lack significance, prompting further inquiries such as the nature of tornadoes, their causes, and the geographical features of the Great Plains.


To truly grasp the significance of substantive knowledge, it must be contextualised within a broader framework, necessitating additional information or prior knowledge. For instance, understanding why tornadoes are prevalent in the Great Plains of North America requires a deeper understanding of meteorological phenomena and geographical patterns.


Disciplinary knowledge, on the other hand, pertains to understanding how to approach and acquire substantive knowledge within a specific discipline. For example, in history, children must grasp the methodology of utilizing and analyzing evidence to construct interpretations of the past. They must recognise the importance of historical inquiry, such as evaluating whether Henry VIII deserves the accolade of a great king.


Below you will see two examples of how we break down knowledge children are expected to learn.


Example Knowledge Block for Science

Knowledge Block Example Science.pdf

Example Knowledge Block for RE

RE Knowledge Block.pdf

Knowledge Block for Science

Science Knowledge block Reception.pdf

Example Knowledge Block for RE

RE Knowledge block Reception (1).pdf

Phonics

Phonics is a method of teaching children early reading by correlating sounds with alphabetic symbols. The teaching programme we use is Twinkl. This is an accredited Systematic Synthetic Phonic teaching approach approved by the Department of Education.

Our phonics programme begins in our nursery setting where children engage in indirect learning that equips children with auditory and visual discrimination skills needed to recognise subtle differences in sounds and letter shapes.


Children learn the skill of segmentation. This means separating a whole word into corresponding units of sound called phonemes. This programme begins in the Reception and continues through to the end of Year 2. Children who have not reached the expected standard continue with the programme in Year 3 and beyond.

Reception (Level 1-4)

twinkl-phonics-overview.pdf

Year 1 and Year 2 (Level 5 - 6)

twinkl-phonics-overview.pdf

Relationships, Sex and Health Education

Relationships, Sex and Health Education is interconnected and closely related to children’s Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural development (SMSC). With this in mind, our RSHE curriculum from Reception to Year 6 reflects and incorporates social, moral, spiritual and cultural development to form part of the curriculum we call personal or character development.

 

We feel having all these areas under one umbrella illustrates a joined up holistic approach to children’s personal development.

 

Personal or character development is an important part of our curriculum which also reflects our religious character and recognises the importance of the whole child.

 

‘So God created humankind in his image. In the image of God, He created them’.  (Genesis I:27, NRSV)

 

The Church of England has set out a bold Vision for Education that is deeply Christian, serving the common good. This is set out in several strands.These strands include Hope, Aspiration and Courageous Advocacy (Strand 3), Community and Living Well Together (Strand 4) and Dignity and Respect (Strand 5) and all have been built into our RSHE curriculum.

 

We recognise that character building and character virtues underpin positive relationships and as such, ‘character’ is not exclusively developed solely through curricular opportunities, but also through interactions with other human beings.

 

This means all adults who work in our school are in the privileged position of shaping our children’s thoughts, values, virtues and attitudes by their own interactions.

Personal and Character Development

Contributing to personal and character development is a lifelong journey, marked by a myriad of experiences that shape who we are and who we aspire to become. These experiences come in various forms, from triumphs to challenges, from moments of joy to instances of adversity. Each encounter leaves an indelible mark on our character, fostering growth, resilience, and self-awareness.

One significant aspect of personal and character development lies in embracing new opportunities and stepping out of one's comfort zone. Whether it's taking up a new hobby, pursuing further education, or venturing into unfamiliar territory, every leap into the unknown presents a chance for learning and self-discovery. You can see further details using the following link :

https://www.finchingfield.academy/learning/personal-development

Alternatively, our curricular map for Personal and Character Development can been downloaded using the link below:

Personal Development Curricular Map FIN.pdf