Curriculum
Our Curriculum
We teach Maths and English discretely based on the National Curriculum. We use a range of materials to teach Maths including White Rose Maths. The teaching of English is through quality texts.
We use Letters and Sounds to teach phonics and teach reading by using a range of books from published reading schemes including Oxford Reading Tree, Rigby Stars and Bug Box.
As soon as pupils are ready, we provide 'banded books' to ensure quality levelled reading opportunities. Once pupils reach a competent reading age they move to reading a broad and balanced range of real fiction as their home readers.
Foundation subjects are taught thematically in a two year cycle to ensure that all pupils in our split age classes access appropriate learning. The detail of each subject is mapped according to age band. We have developed bespoke schemes of work for our curriculum which is detailed below.
Curriculum Knowledge, Skills and Vocabulary (KSV Charts)
At Radcliffe Hall we pride ourselves on the fact that our curriculum focuses on a blend of knowledge (key concepts, principles and information), skills (practical application) and enhancing vocabulary, in order to be inclusive and to meet the diverse needs of our community.
We want children to acquire knowledge each year in the subjects within the National Curriculum, alongside the systematic development of a range of skills that may be used across subject areas.
Infusing a curriculum with words (about 400 a year) where children understand the meaning and use them widely in a range of contexts increases their learning skills and confidence.
Lots of topics have planned KSV charts to identify the core knowledge, skills and vocabulary that will be covered. A sample is shown below:
Knowledge, Skills & Vocabulary Chart (KSV) |
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Phase: Key Stage One Subject: Science Theme: Plants |
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Knowledge |
Skills |
Vocabulary (Top 20) |
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bud |
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bulb |
carbon dioxide |
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deciduous |
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diagram |
evergreen |
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flower |
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leaf |
living |
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oxygen |
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photosynthesis |
plant |
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respire |
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root |
seed |
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spring |
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stem |
tree |
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trunk |
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Knowledge, Skills & Vocabulary Chart (KSV) |
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Phase: Lower Key Stage Two Subject: Geography Theme: Iceland |
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Knowledge |
Skills |
Vocabulary (Top 20) |
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ancient |
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Atlantic |
Aurora Borealis |
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Blue Lagoon |
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climate |
colonies |
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geothermal |
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geyser |
glacier / glacial |
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hemisphere |
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hot springs |
ice cap |
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lava fields |
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Nordic |
Northern lights |
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phenomena |
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sparse |
tectonic plates |
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volcanoes |
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