Phone
01604 863189

Roade Hill, Ashton,
Northampton,
NN7 2JH

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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 personalized 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 have collaborated closely with the Forest CE Federation Schools who are schools in very similar settings with mixed age classes.  As part of this collaboration we are developing our foundation subject curriculum into a 3 and 4 year rolling programme to suit our setting.  We meet to share ideas and resources at the start of the term to enable collegiate support and challenge.  This network is invaluable in our small schools where staff can feel isolated and over-burdened without this distributed workload and opportunity to share ideas. 

Skills

Our intent is to teach pupils the skills they need to be successful in life.  The knowledge element of our curriculum is delivered in a variety of ways which encourage the development of key skills.  These skills are set out in Guy Claxton’s Learning Powers and are:

  • Collaboration
  • Communication
  • Craftsmanship
  • Independence
  • Resilience
  • Reflection
  • Responsibility

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 which also support our skill based learning.

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. 

Subject Area

Approach

Reading

Letters and Sounds has been implemented from September 2020.

Guided Reading Sessions are taught daily in the Junior Class.

Writing

Talk for Writing – implemented from September 2017.

Maths

White Rose Maths Hub is used as a guide – teachers follow the National Curriculum and use a variety of mastery approaches.

Science

Either discrete teaching of concepts or linked in with our topic depending on if the links

French

Catherine Cheater Scheme

Music

We have First Access Project in the Junior Class each year where children are given the opportunity to learn an instrument. 

Following National Curriculum and using Charanga as a resource.

RE

We follow the Northamptonshire RE Syllabus

This is on a rolling programme and includes units from both Understanding Christianity and The Peterborough Diocese RE Syllabus

History, Geography, Art and DT

These are taught in our topic based work through links.  Topics chosen are engaging and varied and offer progression of skills as set out in our progression documents. 

The staff at Ashton and Cosgrove Primary schools link up to share planning ideas and expertise to benefit all children.

PE

We use the REAL PE Scheme to deliver our sessions.  These are taken by the class teacher.

We follow a varied curriculum although indoor PE such as gymnastics is challenging due to our setting. 

We take our Junior Class swimming for a 10 week block each year. 

Computing

We use the Rising Stars programme to teach concepts and skills in ICT. 

PSHE

We use the Coram Life Education SCARF scheme to teach about PSHE which includes developments on Relationships Education. 

 

Skills

Whilst introducing the key skills that form part of our curriculum, we have introduced a skill at a time with the idea that the skills build up over the course of the year and become embedded as part of our curriculum.  This skill is referred to in learning and opportunities to rehearse and develop the skills are planned and encouraged.  This is an area on our school improvement plan which we are developing this year. 

Values

Each half term we have a focus value which is displayed on a board in the school hall.  It is also displayed in each class with a bible quote and image.  The focus value also goes on the weekly newsletter.  The assembly rota has a focused values assembly each term.  We also have focused Bible stories based on the values.

Impact

Strong outcomes are achieved as a result of our curriculum intent and implementation with our pupils building upon the specific areas listed below. 

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.

Skills

  • Children are able to work more effectively both independently and in groups, developing skills they will need in life.
  • The whole school approach means that children develop these skills progressively over time.

Values

  • Incidents of poor behaviour at playtime and lunchtime have significantly reduced.
  • 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!”