Our School Vision  

At Heasandford Primary School we aspire to unlock the potential in every child so that they are happy, healthy and will achieve their very best to be fully prepared for the next stage of their journey. 

Our Curriculum Statement  Our curriculum is designed to allow ALL our children to ‘dream, believe and achieve’. It is an inspiring curriculum which is enriched by wider experiences, enabling our children to have high aspirations in everything they do. Our curriculum ensures our children are nurtured, encouraged and challenged within a happy and safe environment. It is designed to help them grow as an individual and have the selfbelief to prepare them for their future. Heasandford’s broad and balanced curriculum is delivered through the highest quality teaching, using first class resources to enable ALL children to learn without limits and be successful lifelong learners. 

Our School Values

Our school values are at the core of everything we do.  

Through their seven year journey at Heasandford, our children will learn to become Independent, Confident, Responsible, Resilient, Enthusiastic, Adventurous and Aspirational Individuals.

These are the CORE values of our school, upon which we have based our curriculum:

In our Early Years Foundation Stage the curriculum fulfils all the learning and development requirements of the ‘Statutory Framework for the Early Years’. Our youngest children work towards meeting ‘The Early Learning Goals’ which cover the seven areas of development including:

• Communication and language
• Personal, social and emotional development
• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Physical development
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and design

Throughout Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, children follow the National Curriculum.  The full breadth of subjects taught are – English, Mathematics, Science, Computing, Religious Education, History, Geography, Art and Design, Physical Education, Music, French, Design and Technology and Personal Social and Health Education (which includes the new statutory subjects of Health Education and Relationships Education).

Reading is at the very heart of Heasandford’s curriculum. From the start of the children’s education, we work relentlessly to promote a joy of reading and to encourage reading for pleasure.  

The children are taught how to use phonics to aid both their reading and their spelling. The Read Write Inc. Phonics programme is used, which sets out a detailed and systematic programme for teaching phonic skills. The children learn how to recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes, identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make- such as ‘sh’ or ‘oo’; and learn how to blend these sounds together from left to right to read a word. This also helps the children to spell well so that they become fully fluent readers and spellers. Read Write Inc. assessment of phonics skills is on-going every six weeks to ensure progress is closely monitored. Formal screening of children in Years 1 and 2 also takes place.

All children across school are taught a wide breadth of reading skills through whole class or group Read Write Inc. sessions as appropriate. The teachers, along with the Learning Support Assistants, engage the children in their reading by using a wide variety of text types, including reading texts on screen. A daily ‘Story Time’ session is timetabled in each class throughout school to enrich children’s vocabulary and exposure to a range of text types. A wealth of books is available for children to read in school including: Read Write Inc. books to support home reading; focus texts which support the learning within a topic or unit of work, and a wide selection of supplementary texts used to develop reading across the curriculum. We also have a large selection of books available for all children in our vibrant and inspiring school library.

Heasandford strives to provide our children with a wide breadth of reading opportunities throughout their education. In the Early Years Foundation Stage and in KS1 the focus for reading is phonic based so children read books from the Read Write Inc. Scheme. In the early stages of reading, our books are organised according to the phonemes and graphemes that the children are learning at any particular time. Once children demonstrate security in using the phonic strategies at Read Write Inc. Set 3, they are encouraged to select from a wider variety of other high quality reading schemes and publishers. This allows children to develop their skills by accessing a breadth of text types and styles.

Where children meet difficulties with the purely phonic approach, and specialist advice is sought, then books that focus on using the High Frequency Words can be accessed also. These books are the Storyworld Books by Pearson and the P.M. books by Scholastic. A ‘paired reading’ approach using library books of the child’s choice is also a strategy used. Should a child require further practice of the early reading skills as they move to KS2, they will continue to access the Read Write Inc. Scheme and be either taught in a group or offered 1:1 tutoring.

The staff at Heasandford ensure that the curriculum is accessible for ALL our pupils. We provide support for children who have English as an additional language and for those who may require specific physical or learning support.  A copy of our Special Educational Needs Policy along with further information on the teaching of pupils with Special Educational Needs is available on this web site or from the school office.

Where appropriate, the subjects taught in school are linked together in the form of year group topics. This helps children to make connections in their learning, whilst practising a wide range of skills within a common theme.  The topics in school are designed around the interests of our pupils, who are regularly involved in the generation of new topic ideas and the review of topics covered. They are also planned to provide a wide variety of learning experiences – some examples of topics covered are “A bear called Paddington”, “Year-one-asuarus”, “What a wonderful world”, “Dare Devils” “Extreme Earth”, “The Circus” and “Rainforests”. Teachers ensure the themes are motivating and creative, and constantly review their teaching and the topics. All topics include a ‘Wow!’ event to enthuse the children. These take a variety of forms and are planned to stir curiosity, to inspire, to excite - and always to engage! Classes are well resourced and enrichment opportunities such as school trips/visitors or ‘in class’ experiences are used within every topic to extend the child’s learning even further – making the whole learning experience a fun and exciting one. 

As an inclusive school, we ensure that our curriculum meets the needs of all learners. Throughout school, children with SEND have access to a full curriculum and we use a range of strategies to adapt our provision where necessary. Examples of these may be: 

• Adaptation to the curriculum to ensure all pupils are able to access it, e.g. by grouping, 1:1 work, teaching style, content of the lesson.
• Adaptation to teaching style/ strategy, e.g. giving longer processing times, pre-teaching of key vocabulary, reading instructions aloud, opportunities for repetition and over learning, more time given to complete a task or split tasks into smaller, more manageable parts, give movement or sensory breaks where needed.
•  Adaptation of teaching materials and resources, e.g. laptops, coloured overlays, visual timetables, larger font, etc.Children may use resources such as organisers for key concepts etc., explicit links are made with past learning or how to transfer skills, enlarge/shrink materials, use overlays/acetate on text pages, highlight or colour code (directions, key words, topic sentences), cover parts of text, limit the amount of information on a page, use high contrast colours.
• Adaptation of recording, e.g.  dictate responses to a scribe, record responses (talking tin, iPad etc.), draw responses, use the computer.
   

Adaptation of / innovative use of support e.g. planned and focused LSA support, peer support, encourage children with special needs to assist younger students in their learning in order to consolidate learning and build confidence.

Each half term, parents receive a ‘Curriculum Overview’ which shows what learning will take place in each curriculum subject. It also provides some suggestions for activities that parents can do to support their child’s learning at home. Workshops are held in school, to further explain how particular subjects are taught. We actively encourage parents to engage with the learning that is taking place in school – and all teachers at Heasandford work hard to build positive partnerships with our families.

All aspects of children's learning are regularly assessed in school, to ensure they are making appropriate progress for their age and ability.  Assessment is generally informal and on-going, and teachers use the results to help them plan what support individual pupils need next. In line with current Government requirements, at the end of each Key Stage, pupils are formally assessed. In Years 2 and 6 the pupils also complete Statutory Assessment Tests (SATs). 

Homework is set so that children can practise the skills they have been learning in school.  In EYFS and Key Stage 1, an activity mat is sent home each half term with a variety of activities that are linked to the current topic. These are supported by reading practice, spellings, mathematical tasks, and topic based activities that are completed in the child’s ‘Learning Journal’. From Year 3 onwards, a variety of weekly homework tasks are provided, most of them with clear links to the skills and knowledge being taught in class.

Should you wish to find out more about the curriculum at Heasandford, please feel free to make an appointment to see your child’s teacher – or come along to our informative workshop sessions and get involved in the learning for yourself.