You are the light of the whole world
Curriculum Intent
At Sundridge & Brasted CE Primary School, we believe that each of us is made in the image of God. God loves every one of us. We value every member of our community, and support them to shine! "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden."(Matthew 5 verse 14, New International Version)
The curriculum at Sundridge & Brasted is designed to meet the needs of our children and to foster a love of learning with a true passion for reading at its core. In order for our pupils to shine we place a great deal of value on creating a curriculum that builds resilience, fosters independence and helps each child follow their passion and find their voice.
Our school values of: Kindness, Responsibility, Honesty, Respect, Forgiveness and Love are woven into the content of our curriculum in order to ensure that all children leave us with the life skills they need to flourish in the modern world.
Curriculum Implementation
Daily Basics
Each day begins with a familiar routine of “daily basics” where we consolidate and improve key learning such as number bonds, tables, mental maths agility, spelling patterns, punctuation, grammar and handwriting. This enables children to have a calm beginning to the day, and ensures that these important skills develop to high levels.
Phonics
Children in the Infants are taught all of the sounds in the English language and how to write them (phonics). Each child is shown how to apply these to their reading and writing so that independence in these skills develops rapidly. There is a high level of emphasis on developing speaking and listening, including the introduction of new and rich vocabulary. At Sundridge & Brasted we follow Read Write inc.
Accelerated Reader
All pupils in Year 2 and up have access to Accelerated Reader, which has over 29,000 books categorised to allow children to choose books suitable for them. The beauty of the programme is that when children have read a book, they complete an online quiz which tests their comprehension. The children earn points if they answer questions correctly and this in turn helps build their reading skills.
Parents and children can find books of suitable levels by using the following website; http://www.arbookfind.co.uk/usertype.aspx.
Literacy Tree
Literacy Tree is a complete, book-based platform for primary schools that covers all requirements of the Primary English curriculum. It can be used a a complete scheme of work or adopted and adapted to suit the needs of your school, academy or trust.
The books we choose help children to grow ideas and expand their minds. We only choose significant and important children's literature to create our book-based resources.
It starts at the roots. We provide book-based planning sequences, Writing Roots, which embed complete curriculum coverage and engage children to write with clear audience and purpose. Our Teach Through a Text pedagogy is the backbone of each sequence.
We sow a seed with Spelling Seeds. We provide a sequence for teaching spelling and vocabulary in context, through investigation and at the point of application. Spelling Seeds complement Writing Roots and use the same texts to provide further short writing opportunities.
We grow literary knowledge through Literary Leaves. We provide a range of sequenced activities that take children through whole books to teach reading comprehension and create critical readers. Literary Leaves use novels, poetry collections and high-quality, non-fiction books that connect to the Writing Roots through Literary Themes.
We branch out to homes through Home Learning Branches which can also be used for homework, and Learning Log videos, which schools use for CPD.
We also provide other supporting resources, Whole School and Catch-up Writing Roots, and we share examples of learning with Work Samples, available for every resource.
Literary Themes are the tree canopy; providing an overarching structure that allows children to make deeper connections through subjects and themes. These appear on the Curriculum Maps for each year group as well as mixed-age years.
Handwriting
All pupils at Sundridge & Brasted receive daily handwriting lessons. These lessons may be in different formats depending on the needs of the child.
In Reception, pupils develop a non cursive writing style. Our priority for Reception children is that they develop a love of independent writing alongside developing the fine and gross motor skills required for legible handwriting.
During Year One, pupils are taught how to lead in and out of letters ensuring that a cursive writing style is being adopted by the end of Year One.
From the beginning of Year Two through to the end of Year 6 a cursive writing style is taught.
For more information about the National Curriculum for English please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study
Maths
When planning maths lessons, teaching staff at Sundridge & Brasted use the White Rose Maths programme to ensure their learning sequences are planned effectively, offer appropriate challenge and are differentiated to meet the needs of all learners.
For more information regarding White Rose Maths, please follow the link: https://whiterosemaths.com/advice-and-guidance/faqs
The National Curriculum
We adhere to the National Curriculum Programmes of Study and these can be read by subject in more depth via the government website: The National Curriculum
Should you wish to learn more about our curriculum, please feel free to email us at office@sundridge.kent.sch.uk