Each Valued, Each Talented, Each Unique

Our Curriculum

Rationale

At Ashton CEVC Primary School we have designed our curriculum to reflect our school.  Our school was set up to serve the local area and is a central part of a very small community.  Over the years we have gained a reputation for providing excellent support for children with SEN and additional needs and this means that we attract some children from the surrounding villages.  As our school is so small, it has a distinct family feel and enables a personalised approach for every child allowing them to flourish both academically and socially.  This family-feel is commented on by stakeholders and visitors alike.  The nurture and values-led approach to our environment permeates through our work and makes us distinctly different from the larger schools nearby. 

We have three core strands that run through what we teach in school.  These are knowledge, skills and values. 

Intent

Knowledge

We follow the National Curriculum closely to deliver lessons to our children.  We are a unique setting with mixed age classes, high SEN and small class sizes.  We collaborate closely with Cosgrove Village Primary School to share ideas, experiences and expertise.  We are also part of the Rural Schools Partnership which is a large group of rural small schools with shared goals and challenges.  As our curriculum has evolved we are mindful that children build on their prior learning and have the opportunity to re-visit and progress their knowledge and skills as they move through the school.  Our rolling programme has been planned to enable this building of knowledge.  

Values

As a Church of England School we teach the Christian Values to our children, both in assemblies and throughout the school day in our actions and expectations of the children.  It is a firm belief of our team that teaching and instilling these values at an early age will help the children to develop strength of character and a clear understanding of right and wrong and the correct way to treat each other as we go through life.  The values that the school focus on are:

Reverence, Thankfulness, Peace, Love, Perseverance, Trust, Honesty, Friendship, Wisdom, Forgiveness, Humility, Hope

Implementation

Knowledge

We deliver our curriculum in two classes – Infants (EYFS and KS1) and Juniors (KS2) and use our support staff to help support appropriately with mixed age classes.  We operate rolling programmes to ensure coverage from the National Curriculum and have progression documents which demonstrate the expectations for the different age groups to ensure that children are challenged in an age and ability appropriate way.  Where possible links are made between subjects, but only when these are natural links.  This enables application of skills. 

Teachers have good subject knowledge, ensuring they are well prepared to teach the wide range of subjects.  They use a range of approaches to deliver sessions to give variety and accomodate children's different learning styles.  

Teachers use assessment in reading, writing and maths to accurately identify what the children can do and what they need to work on to inform future planning.  In other subject areas staff are confident in identifying what children have done well and what they need to develop further.  Our core assessment system is not burdensome for staff, with collection of data 3 times per year and progressive documents which teachers update regularly. 

 Impact

Knowledge

• Results over time are improving with children making at least expected progress from their starting points, with many making better than expected.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced. Pupils are engaged in their learning and enjoy learning about interesting topics. In the different subject areas pupils are working towards an end point to give them real focus and purpose in their learning.
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEN access all areas of the curriculum with targeted support in the areas they need additional support.

Values

• Incidents of poor behaviour at playtime and lunchtime are very rare. 
• Visitors comment on their children’s attitudes and the atmosphere of the school.
• One child reported “we all got a lot nicer when we learnt the values!”

Curriculum Documents