The Curriculum at Guillemont Junior School:
At Guillemont Every Child Matters through our curriculum which has been designed to ensure that children can:
Enjoy and achieve
- Stay safe
- Be healthy
- Make a positive contribution to school life
- Are aiming for economic wellbeing
The National Curriculum is the name of the continuous curriculum for children between the ages of 5 years – 16 years.
The National Curriculum for primary schools currently consists of the core subjects:
- Writing including English Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (EGPS)
There are also additional foundation subjects:
- Religious Education (RE)
- Physical Education
- Modern Foreign Language (French)
The Government provides schools with Programmes of Study (PoS). Schemes of Work (SoW) have been written at Guillemont for all these subjects. These state what pupils of different ages and abilities can be expected to know and understand. They ensure that pupils have equal access to all curriculum areas and that there is no discrimination due to age or gender.
Personal, Development Learning and Citizenship Education is also taught through a skills-based approach and linked with relevant school and social experiences.
At Guillemont we make the curriculum come alive for children with much practical and first hand work. Children are involved in their learning and where it makes sense, we organise themes or units of work in a cross-curricular way. Children study topics each term and then bring their work home for parents to share. We ask teachers, children and parents to evaluate this work, celebrate what has been achieved and set targets for the future.
Our computing provision is first class and creative work is considered to be very important. The name of the award the school holds is ‘NAACE Mark’ for our ICT Work.
A timetable and annual calendar is organised for every class to ensure appropriate curriculum experience.
End of Key Stage Assessments will be reported to parents when children reach the ages of:
Although the subjects are listed separately in the National Curriculum, at Guillemont we feel it is more appropriate to teach some of these in a cross-curricular, inter-disciplinary approach. Project Work at Guillemont uses an integrated method of ‘subject teaching’ and much National Curriculum work will continue to be taught in this way.
The Core Subjects
English: English includes reading,writing, English grammar, punctuation and spelling (EGPS) as well as speaking and listening skills.
Reading: It is our wish to celebrate reading in such a way that we can instil a love and respect for books so that reading has every chance of becoming a treasured skill. In essence our task is to equip children with not only the skill but also with the desire to read. We shall teach them to read accurately, with comprehension and to make efficient use of reference books, libraries and the internet.
Parents’ and teachers’ attitudes towards books are without doubt a key factor and we aim to work in partnership with parents to help to promote positive attitudes towards reading.
Guillemont has received the NAACE Mark in recognition for the excellent quality of its work in ICT. This is a highly praised National Award and the school is proud of its excellence in this subject especially as a tool used to promote high levels of achievement and independence.
Mathematics: Our mathematics curriculum offers a broad foundation of mathematical experience designed to provide children with the understanding, skills and knowledge needed to deal with every day situations. Mathematics is planned and delivered within the framework of the National Curriculum and our policies for Teaching and Learning Assessment, Special Needs and Equal Opportunities.
We ensure children learn mathematics by:
providing balanced coverage of processes and content across the attainment targets
providing an interesting and stimulating environment that encourages children to think mathematically
helping them to know how and when to use different mathematical tools, evaluating different ways of recording so that they learn to choose when apparatus is appropriate to the task
providing tasks which foster systematic work and thinking skills
providing opportunities to use ICT resources, to develop their mathematical skills, understanding and motivation
providing tasks which enable them to develop their understanding of mathematical language
Mathematics is timetabled for at least 5 hours each week. Teaching follows the National Curriculum and a curriculum map to ensure all areas are covered. Each lesson begins with a whole class focus. Children are then taught according to ability when completing activities to ensure all children are being challenged to reach their potential. Assessment takes place throughout the year, to inform planning and set targets.
At Guillemont we believe that mathematics is not only important in producing children who are numerate, but it also enables logical thinking and reasoning, provides useful tools for problem solving and is a creative activity to be enjoyed.
Science: To learn with understanding, the primary aged child requires work of a practical nature. Science at Guillemont is concerned with children asking questions about their real world and finding answers by some kind of firsthand experience alongside knowledge and teaching supplied by the teacher. Most science work will be planned through Project Work where scientific skills, knowledge and understanding will be taught through experimentation and investigation.
Communication with others plays an important part in the learning process. Children’s learning will be supported through discussion with peers and adults. Through talk and informal writing they are able to make their ideas clearer to themselves, as well as making them available for reflection, discussion and checking.
The 'For Parents' pages of our website gives more specificinformation about our curriculum. There are links to what children need to know to achieve ARE (Age Related Expectation) for the Core Subjects of English, Mathematics and Science. The English is further sectioned to Speaking and Listening, Reading skills, Writing skills and English Grammar Punctuation and Spelling (EGPS). There are also links to our Curriculum Maps; these are overviews to what the children study each term. Click here to access this information.