Curriculum

Our Curriculum Vision

To achieve our mission, Brixington's curriculum is designed to celebrate the school's local context and compliment our children's home experiences. A rich and varied diet of activities enrich schemes of learning that build pupils' knowledge and skills, sequentially. 

Good citizens are people who show friendship, respect, honesty, endeavour and sportsmanship. These are our chosen values and our basis for praise and reward. 

Learners who achieve their very best enjoy reading and have very secure understanding of English and maths, but are also knowledgeable about other key areas and have skills that are transferable and well-developed.  

In addition, our community have a particular enthusiasm to encourage learners to really contribute to their local community and to celebrate everything that is special about where we live: seafront, countryside and a busy town!  

 Please see Year Group Planning documents below, showing the subject content for this year. Should you require any further information about your child's learning and the curriculum they will be taught, please do not hesitate to contact their class teacher, Unit Leader or the Head of Teaching and Learning.

Early Fears Foundation Stage

Our youngest learners follow the EYFS curriculum. Teachers and support staff plan exciting and stimulating environments that allow pupils to develop, through games and play, the seven areas of learning and development and to achieve Early Learning Goals by the end of the stage. Foundation Stage is also when our pupils' journey to numeracy and literacy begins. Reading underpins our learning in the stage. Books are used to engage and excite children and often form the theme for other learning. Reading books are chosen that help develop children's love of reading as well as their understanding of phonics, and these are taken home by parents, who receive guidance through parent information evenings.  The Letters and Sounds scheme is used to deliver phonics, and this is supported by regular reading in small groups and individually, with teaching and voluntary staff. 

Evidence of pupils' independent and guided learning is collected in books, and is shown through examples of work, photographs and other observations. Books are shared regularly with parents and 'Wow' moments and classroom walls examples of a number of ways that pupils can take pride in their own learning. 

More information about the EYFS stage can be found here:  https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/files/2014/08/EYFS_Parents_Guide-amended.pdf

In our Foundation Unit, Casper Cat, Olivia Owl and Tommy Tortoise represent aspects from the ‘Characteristics of Learning’ from the Early Years Framework. Beatrice Bee represents aspects of Personal, Social and Emotional Development. Each week, four certificates (one for each character) are presented to four different children in each class who have displayed the special characteristics of learning or special behaviour.

English and Maths

We follow the National Curriculum objectives for English and maths, and carefully monitor children's progress against yearly objectives through our Target Tracker programme. We are committed to providing rich and diverse English opportunities that develop pupils' essential skills in reading fluency, authorship, spelling and grammar, and handwriting. 

The Letters and Sounds scheme is used to deliver phonics, and this is supported by comprehension teaching and activities as well as guided and whole-class reading times. In KS1, Bug Club reading scheme is used to ensure children can further develop their phonics ability through reading, and also to engage and interest them in books. Parents access Bug Club at home through books and technology, and are supported through parents information evenings and meetings with teachers. In KS2, Accelerated Reader has been introduced in September 2017, and this has increased student engagement reading even further, allowing children and parents to identify books of an appropriate level and offering comprehension quizzes for comprehension and to earn rewards. 

Writing is a true strength of our school and every child displays their own writing progress on their classroom Writing Wall. Teachers plan together, using books, historical or geographical topics, school trips and visitors to inspire creative writing. The school understands the importance of fluency in maths, and skills with number are taught and rehearsed with great frequency in order to allow pupils to apply their skills to reasoning and problem-solving. Learning opportunities in maths are planned as year group and key stage teams, making use of a range of innovative support materials, including White Rose and The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics.