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)
Phase: Key Stage One Subject: Science Theme: Plants
*Knowledge*	*Skills*	*Vocabulary (Top 20)*
Observe and describe how seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants Find out and describe how plants need water, light and a suitable temperature to grow and stay healthy	Asking simple questions and recognising that they can be answered in different ways Observing closely, using simple equipment Performing simple tests Identifying and classifying Using their observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions Gathering and recording data to help in answering questions		bud
		bulb		carbon dioxide
			deciduous
		diagram		evergreen
			flower
		leaf		living
			oxygen
		photosynthesis		plant
			respire
		root		seed
			spring
		stem		tree
			trunk

Knowledge, Skills & Vocabulary Chart (KSV)
Phase: Lower Key Stage Two Subject: Geography Theme: Iceland
*Knowledge*	*Skills*	*Vocabulary (Top 20)*
Develop knowledge and understanding beyond their local area including the UK and Europe. Locate the country using maps concentrating on their environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics, countries, and major cities Understand geographical similarities and differences between Iceland, home and other locations to build a wider picture	Identify the position and significance of latitude, longitude, Equator, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circle, the Prime/Greenwich Meridian and time zones (including day and night) Use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied		ancient
		Atlantic		Aurora Borealis
			Blue Lagoon
		climate		colonies
			geothermal
		geyser		glacier / glacial
			hemisphere
		hot springs		ice cap
			lava fields
		Nordic		Northern lights
			phenomena
		sparse		tectonic plates
			volcanoes

Curriculum

Curriculum Overview: please find below a summary of our overarching curriculum intentions

Making Progress in the Wider Curriculum

Curriculum Supporting Documents