Our Principles for Teaching and Learning
We base our principles on the following statement made by Rita Pearson:
“Every child deserves a champion-an adult who will never give up on them. Who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.”
Curriculum Introduction
Intent
The aim of J H Godwin Primary School is to provide opportunities for children to develop as independent, confident, successful learners with high aspirations who know how to make a positive contribution to their community and the wider society. We use the Early Learning Goals and the National Curriculum as milestones throughout school. There is a high focus on developing children’s knowledge in all subjects in progressive steps. Alongside this, there is a focus on moral, spiritual, social and cultural understanding.
We aim for all learners to enjoy their education and to make very good progress in all areas of learning. We will help all children retain new knowledge and make links in their learning. Those who are most able are challenged and supported through appropriate extension activities. Those who struggle, including children with additional special needs, are given targeted support to embed knowledge and skills and to learn in a style that best suits their individual needs. We are a trauma-informed school, with staff fully aware of the power of relationships. The need to know each child and their needs, as well as building strong links with their families.
The school’s focus on curriculum development has been carefully designed to ensure coverage and progression with frequent opportunities to embed prior learning. It provides pupils with memorable experiences, in addition to diverse and rich opportunities from which children can learn and develop a range of transferable skills. The children’s own community is frequently used as a starting point for engaging interest. A primary focus of our curriculum is to raise aspirations, through a growth mind-set, create a sense of personal pride in positive characteristics and achievement, and provide a purpose and relevance for learning. As the school serves a community where there is a high percentage of disadvantaged pupils, we provide activities that children may not otherwise experience.
The development of communication and language and increasing children’s vocabulary is high priority. We have a full-time speech and language teaching assistant who focuses on specific speech and language intervention to ensure the children make good progress. Children with SEND access the same curriculum as their classmates through carefully planned teaching. ’We recognise that all children need both a sense of valuing themselves, and developing aspirations for their future and for their community.
Implementation
Subject leaders play an important part in the success of the curriculum by leading a regular programme of monitoring, evaluation and review. They regularly hold pupil interviews in order to check on knowledge and skill acquisition and retention. Subject leaders are provided with regular opportunities to further improve their own subject knowledge through CPD opportunities and attending local cluster group meetings. The Kapow scheme of work has been utilised for a number of subjects because of the excellent CPD staff can access as both a teacher and subject leader.
Subjects are planned to ensure progression of knowledge and skills throughout their primary education. Key vocabulary is taught progressively and re-visited at regular intervals. The curriculum design ensures that the needs of individual and small groups of children can be met within the environment of high quality first wave teaching, supported by targeted, proven interventions where appropriate. In this way, it can be seen to impact in a very positive way on pupil outcomes. We use our minibuses to give our children real life and capital culture experiences.
Shared reading and Word Aware is encouraged through all subject areas as a great way to teach key knowledge and introduce new vocabulary. Enjoyment of the curriculum promotes achievement, confidence and good behaviour. Creatively produced topic books and displays give children a sense of pride in the presentation of their work. Our school minibuses enable us to enrich learning through real experiences by high quality visits to places and doing activities. In addition to this, visitors enhance the curriculum and make learning memorable.
Our own knowledge organisers, linked to our planning, along with regular quizzes help
the children to retain new knowledge and recall previous learning.
Assessment, linked to planning is used regularly to gauge knowledge retention and understanding. This helps us to prioritise future teaching or intervention.
To promote physical health and wellbeing, a range of extra-curricular clubs gives learners an opportunity to access a variety of sports clubs after school hours. Our PSHE/RSE scheme (Kapow) provides children with opportunities to discuss and learn about family, friendships, respectful relationships (including anti-bullying work), change and loss, health and prevention, physical health and wellbeing, personal health, mental wellbeing, being safe (including online), drugs, alcohol and tobacco, citizenship and economic wellbeing. At the start of every school year the children are reminded of how our brain works. This knowledge in combination with a Zones of Regulation ethos supports good mental health and regulation, essential foundations to allowing all children to learn more effectively. Philosophy for Children (P4C) is embedded into the school curriculum and offers our children the chance to raise questions, discuss important issues, learn to listen to others views and share their own thoughts.
Our diversity work, enhanced through ‘No Outsiders’ themed work, helps children to realise that everyone is special and unique and we should celebrate differences and different kinds of families. In recognising the development of the whole child, the pastoral support given to children so they can access the curriculum is very strong. Various programmes of support are provided for children where a need has been identified such as self-esteem, anger management and bereavement. Our school pastoral lead, Mrs Brookfield supports both our children and their families effectively and provides early help.
Class teachers provide opportunities for regular feedback are provided to children through live marking and pupil conference. This enables children to discuss their learning and what they need to do to make further progress.
Impact
The impact of our curriculum is seen in the progress that the children make from their starting
points to the time they leave J H Godwin.
In 2022 Ofsted said;
‘The high-quality care, guidance and support that staff provide is a feature of every school day. Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. They try hard in lessons and do their best to live up to leaders’ high expectations of their work and their behaviour.’
‘They ensure that pupils study the full range of subjects. They provide opportunities for pupils to participate in a wide range of physical activities, through after-school clubs and residential visits.’
‘They have created an ambitious curriculum for pupils. In most subjects, leaders have identified the key knowledge that pupils need to know and understand. Leaders have also sequenced learning carefully so that pupils build their knowledge on what they have previously learned and achieve highly.’
In Early Years Ofsted said:
‘Children get off to a good start in the early years class. They settle in well to school routines and respond extremely well to the high expectations that staff have for Inspection report: J H Godwin Primary School 24 and 25 May 2022 3 them. Leaders ensure that the early years lays the foundation for learning in key stage 1.’
In Key Stage 1 & 2 Ofsted stated::
‘From an early age, pupils have the opportunity to take on additional responsibilities such as class leaders and reading buddies. Pupils can also learn to play musical instruments and are given the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of sports, such as golf and tennis. Pupils leave the school as well-rounded individuals who reflect the school’s core values’.
Pupils with SEND Ofsted reported:
‘Pupils with SEND are fully included in all aspects of school life. Leaders have developed effective systems to identify and support these pupils. Staff work closely with parents of pupils with SEND and keep them informed about their progress. Carefully planned teaching helps to ensure that pupils with SEND are able to access the same curriculum as their classmates.’