Curriculum

Mathematics

At St. Luke’s we use Abacus Maths as our core scheme but teachers adapt this to make it personalised to the children in each class and embed problem solving and reasoning. Abacus is founded on a unique and robust approach to creating inspired and confident young mathematicians. It inspires a love of maths and ensure understanding and progression for every child.

In our School Development Plan 2015/2016 we are working on developing pupil’s conceptual understanding in Mathematics and pupils confidence in problem solving and mathematical reasoning.

Assertive Mentoring

We have also introduced Assertive Mentoring in Mathematics for Y2 to Y6. Assertive Mentoring places the child at the centre of their learning. Children are regularly assessed in maths using weekly basic skills tests.  Any resulting gaps in their skills and knowledge will become your child’s targets and will be addressed over the following half term by their teacher.

A copy of our calculation policy is available which shows year by year expectations for Mathematics.

English

St. Luke’s uses Wordsmith as it’s core scheme for English but teachers adapt this to make it personlised to children in their class and extend writing opportunities.

Based on four core pedagogical principles that perfectly complement each of the separate UK curricula – Wordsmith is also packed with support for the harder grammar requirements of the new Primary curriculum in England.

 

   

 

Big Write

Children complete a big write at least once every 2 weeks. The teacher goes through VCOP (Vocabulary, Connectives, Openers, Punctuation) which is made up of fast-paced games and activities. The success criteria for the piece of writing is then shared with the pupils. Pupils then write independently for up to 45 minutes, in silence, with calming music playing in the background. The teacher then marks this work in depth and the pupils are given an opportunity to read their feedback. This makes them aware of how they need to improve for next time.

The Learning Challenge Curriculum

At St. Luke’s CE Primary School we have worked with education consultants at Focus Education to introduce the ‘Learning Challenge Curriculum’. It captures the interests of the children and makes learning relevant to them, whilst meeting the National Curriculum requirements.

The Learning Challenge concept is built around the principle of greater learner involvement in their work resulting in a meaningful curriculum which promotes high standards. (Focus Education)

The Learning Challenge Curriculum requires teachers to actively think what their curriculum needs to include in order to meet the needs of the children at this school – leading to high standards in all areas of the curriculum. The approach allows teachers to focus on the best way to present their lessons rather than what they need to teach. At St. Luke’s we use it to deliver Science, Geography, History, Science, Art, DT and RE.

Music, French, Computing and PE

We have a specialist teachers in Music and French. French is taught from Y3 upwards.

Switch on Computing is used to deliver the new computing curriculum. It draws on deep and extensive knowledge of computing including programming and computational thinking. It embeds e-Safety to ensure safe and responsible use of technology.