Curriculum

    
Roseberry Pupils Soar

At Roseberry Primary School, we aim to deliver a curriculum which fulfils the requirements of the National Curriculum and of each individual pupil. In line with our vision, we believe that our children should not be defined by their socio-economic circumstances, ethnicity or gender status. We expect them to achieve the very best that they are capable of in readiness for their future lives, where they will be given the opportunity to become well-rounded, responsible and ambitious individuals. Our curriculum is designed to negate any disadvantages or poor experiences that pupils may have experienced, either at home or in a previous setting.

In addition to the above, our intent includes the following aspects:-

Our curriculum will:

  • Inspire, challenging and be creative allowing for all learning styles and engaging for all pupils so that they can aim high and build the skills that they need
  • Develop the whole child and promotes independent learning
  • Engage and provides opportunities for learning beyond those of the children’s every day experiences
  • Give a continuity of educational experience in which progression is carefully planned and delivered and supported by on-going monitoring and assessment of children’s progress
  • Enable children to develop an awareness of self and sensitivity to others through moral, spiritual, cultural and social development
  • Continually looking to the future ensuring that new technologies are used effectively and children are equipped to be citizens of the future

Curriculum Implementations

Our values system is based on 6 avatars which underpin the ethos and expectations of Roseberry Primary School. The characteristics of the avatars shape and inspire children to develop the skills needed to access our wide ranging and robust curriculum. Information about our Avatars and our school vision and ethos can be found on our Vision Page. 

English and Mathematics

Our English curriculum is heavily geared to exposing children to high quality and wide ranging texts, a language rich environment and highly effective teaching. There is an agreed process for supporting our children’s acquisition and development of vocabulary through the use of a tier word approach. Children are exposed to different types of words through their topics as well as through English and mathematics.  Tier one words are those used in every day life and often link to year group common exception words.   Tier two words are more specific and can be used in a number of contexts for example the word ‘census’ could refer to the Roman census or in modern day life to a census carried out in school.  Tier three words are subject specific and can only be used in one context.  As a consequence of this high focus on language children gain not only the vocabulary but the skills and strategies required to communicate confidently and appropriately in a range of circumstances.

Phonics teaching follows Ruth Miskin’s Read, Write Inc. program. For more information, see our Reading and Phonics Brochure by following the link above. 

Mathematics is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. At Roseberry, we follow the White Rose Maths Frameowrk. This is based on a secure development of the building blocks of learning (fluency) which pupils can apply in a range of situations.  This then provides a foundation for children to understand the world, to confidently explain (reason mathematically), to have an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics and to uphold a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.

At Roseberry, we aim to:

  • Develop a positive attitude to maths as an interesting and attractive subject in which all children gain some success and pleasure.
  • Develop mathematical understanding through systematic direct teaching of appropriate learning objectives.
  • Encourage the effective use of maths as a tool in a wide range of activities within school and, subsequently, adult life.
  • Develop children’s ability to express themselves fluently, to talk about the subject with assurance, using correct mathematical language and vocabulary.
  • Develop an appreciation of relationships within maths.
  • Develop ability to think clearly and logically with independence of thought and flexibility of mind.
  • Develop an appreciation of creative aspects of maths and awareness of its aesthetic appeal.
  • Develop mathematical skills and knowledge and quick recall of basic facts in line with recommendations.

Topic/Theme

Topic headers set the context for our ever evolving wider curriculum that also includes links to British Values, rights and global goals. The taught skills in English and maths are threaded through other topics with transferable vocabulary rigorously applied.

See our Long Term Maps for further information (bottom of this page). 

Innovative activities and experiences.

Our core and topic based curriculum is enhanced through:

  • Visits, visitors and topic enrichment 
  • Our Rights Respecting ethos and to an awareness of global issues and the need to campaign for global goals for eg raising awareness of gender equality.
  • Eco and International Schools encourage children’s wider interests. Children have the opportunity to be part of a group and to have a voice in aspects of sustainability.
  • Outdoor learning –  all year groups having access to the outdoor classroom, fire pit and pond/wild life areas.
  • Aspiration/career opportunities. As well as exposing the children to what academic achievement could look like the activities chosen support families re the different types of things they could do with their children.
  • Focus days are based on the acquisition of language and how we communicate in everyday life. Whole school diary dates are planned out over the course of each year to ensure that the opportunities and experiences afforded children are varied thereby maintaining interest while developing different types of language and introducing specific types of vocabulary.
  • Homework is an integral part of the curriculum both in terms of basic skills and the wider curriculum. Whilst children are provided with a pencil case and equipment to complete school work at home they can choose to complete it in school with adult support. 
  • PE/Sport is delivered by class teachers across all year groups and supports healthy lifestyles. Working within the wider sports partnership facilitated by the local secondary school means children have the opportunity to take part in competitions within the immediate locality, the Stockton area and the Tees Valley area as well as within school. Children are therefore exposed to a wide range of competitive team and individual events.
  • Music including specialist provision is supported via TVMS (Tees Valley Music Service). In recent years this has included singing, cello and various workshops like Snappy Christmas. 
  • In art, children are developing portfolios of work which will be used to support their achievement of an art award. The work they are completing involves studying and artist and reflecting on how their work has developed.
  • Enterprise work is a key area within school. Opportunities to gain entrepreneurial skills are available during school fayres – children are given starter funds to develop their products. The class who make the most profit are rewarded.   

Extra-curricular

After school clubs are organised in blocks of 5 weeks each half term in order to provide children the opportunity to attend a range of different activities. Clubs vary and are offered to all year groups at some point over the course of the year.  Club have included:

  • Dodgeball
  • Dancing
  • Football
  • Digital leaders/campaigning
  • Game of Actual Life
  • Minecraft
  • Quiz club
  • Cheerleading
  • Lego
  • Art and Crafts

The Early Years Curriculum

We were ‘early adoptors’ of the government’s new Early Learning Goals for Reception – statements that children are working towards at the end of their Reception year.  This gave us the opportunity to trial a new curriculum for our children before the new Early Learning Goals became statutory in September 2021.  There are seven areas of learning which children are assessed against and these are:

  • Communication and Language
  • Personal, Social and Emotional Development
  • Physical Development (Gross and Fine Motor)
  • Literacy (Reading and Writing)
  • Maths
  • Understanding the World
  • Expressive Arts and Design

We aim to support children’s development in all areas of learning through following children’s interests, encouraging play and exploration, promoting creativity, providing stimulating and engaging areas set up both inside and outside of the classroom and through child and adult led activities. We will monitor children’s progress across the year and make a final judgement in the Summer Term; children will be judged to be ‘on track’ or ‘not on track’ for their age against each area of learning. 

For ideas about how to help your child please have a look at the What to Expect and When Document or speak to your child’s teacher.

Curriculum Impact

Children understand what the characters mean and are aspiring to be like them.

When asked, the children said:
“The characters show us how to behave – what not to do and what to do.” child in Year 4
“Steely helps me to remember to never give up and try until I succeed.” child in Year 5
“Pop Pop tells me to wear my uniform with pride and I do!” child in Year 5
“Eager helps me to know that if I’m nice to others, they will be nice to me.” child in Year 4
“When I was struggling, thinking about Eager reminded me that I can ask for help and challenge myself.” child in Year 6
“They explain how we should behave. Like Eager, we work hard; like Steely, we learn to be resilient; and like Pop Pop, we explore and enjoy our own passions!” child in Year 6

Our curriculum has been well designed to enable a wide range of engagement both within and beyond the classroom to allow the children to develop as learners and encourage independence. A key aim of our curriculum is to encourage children to develop aspirations – this is supported through our value avatars.  Visits and visitors are carefully selected to widen horizons and see beyond the immediate community.
As well as being planned, we respond to events that happen enabling “in the moment” activities and spontaneous learning. 

How we assess the impact of our teaching and curriculum

Regular assessments as well as accurate next steps marking and verbal feed-back helps individual pupils know where they are, what progress they have made and what they need to do next. The middle leaders and senior leaders have a robust timetable of monitoring and assessment, which provides a clear picture of what is happening in school; what the strengths and what needs to improve.  Detailed pupil progress meetings are held termly to discuss individual and groups of pupils.  Following these discussions and in conjunction with individual teachers intervention programmes are scheduled in addition to quality first teaching.

Parents are kept up to date with the progress of their children via parents evenings, SEN meetings and reports. In addition, meet and greet on a daily basis provides opportunities for parents to ask questions and voice any concerns.

If you would like to view our long term maps for individual year groups, then access these from the links, below:
Nursery Long Term Map 2023-2024

Reception Long Term Map 2023-24

Year 1 Long Term Map 2023-2024

Year 2 Long Term Map 2023-2024

Year 3 Long Term Map 2023-2024

Year 4 Long Term Map 2023-2024

Year 5 Long Term Map 2023-2024

Year 6 Long Term Map 2023 – 2024

If you would like to view our subject specific curriculum polices, use the ‘Curriculum Framework’ link at the top of this page.

If you require any further information about our curriculum, please email our school administrator, Mrs Maddison at Roseberry@roseberryprimary.org.uk