Curriculum Overview & Curriculum Maps
Curriculum Overview
Here at Eton Porny C of E First School we teach an ambitious, concept-driven and knowledge-rich curriculum which is delivered through Cornerstones, a nationally recognised approach for delivering outstanding learning opportunities for children.
What is the Cornerstones Curriculum? The Cornerstones Curriculum is built on a sequenced knowledge and skills framework, the curriculum is informed by the latest findings from cognitive science about how children learn best. We adapt the curriculum to meet the unique needs of children in our school.
The essential knowledge and skills of the curriculum are set out to build on the previous, so that children’s understanding of concepts and aspects develop over time. The organisation of the knowledge and skills also allows for planned retrieval.
Our curriculum is delivered through knowledge-rich projects (KRP) in Years 1-4. Each term, the main project is driven by history or geography with mini projects that are taught alongside focussing on other subject areas. In EYFS the curriculum is taught through a driver and a mini project each half term. Each of these projects provides opportunities to meet all areas of the Early Year Framework.
How it Works? Children will progress through four stages of learning in each KRP – Engage, Develop, Innovate and Express. To find out more about these stages please see our Curriculum Policy
For more information about our school curriculum please see the detailed information below featuring our Curriculum Maps and Subject Specific information.
Curriculum Maps
Curriculum by Subject
- English
- Mathematics
- PE
- Religious Education
- Personal, Social, Relationships and Health Education (PSRHE)
English
PHONICS
We use the Read Write Inc phonics programme to teach children how to read. Children in Reception and Year 1 are taught explicitly each day in class. They also learn new sounds and develop fluency in reading by accessing ditty books matched to the sound taught in class. Ditty books, matched to their phonic ability, are brought home for the children to practise their decoding skills. Regular screenings provide the opportunity to track progress and interventions are put in place where necessary. Information about this scheme is shared with parents through workshops and information about the sounds the children are learning is sent home regularly.
To find our more about the Read Write Inc Phonics programme including tutorial videos follow this link
For Reception and Year One children you may find the following video helpful as it provides information about how to use ditty books with your child at home.
READING AT HOME
Children have the opportunity to share other books at home with their parents. These include additional reading progression books, library books and also access to the online learning platform Reading Eggs.
READING AND WRITING
At Eton Porny, we feel that it is important for pupils to have enjoyment of and engagement with a variety of texts. We use The Power of Reading initiative to teach reading and writing which promotes using high quality children’s literature and proven creative teaching approaches to engage teachers and children in the literacy curriculum. This supports us to nurture a whole school love of reading and writing.
Children are taught comprehension skills, which help children to infer, summarise, question, clarify, predict and argue a point of view. The children are also taught to make connections between texts and their own experiences, and are encouraged to take their own meaning from each text, becoming independent and critical thinkers.
Writing opportunities are linked closely with wider curriculum areas – this aims to support children’s understanding, develop vocabulary and engage them in the subject matter through meaningful experiences. All children write regularly for a variety of purposes and audiences, using poetry, fiction and non-fiction texts as a starting point.
SPELLING, PUNCTUATION, GRAMMAR AND HANDWRITING
Spelling, punctuation and grammar are taught explicitly, as well as in the context of the children’s individual work. Children are taught how to proof-read and edit their work to improve it.
In Reception and Year 1, children receive spellings that are linked to the sounds that they are learning in class. This is in line with the Read Write Inc Phonics scheme. From Year 2 children are taught spelling patterns each week which correlates to the expected standard for their year group. These are then taken home to be practised and they also practise these spellings regularly at school. Children are then tested on this pattern the following week.
Children are taught to use a cursive, joined script with lead-ins for all letters.
Mathematics
At Eton Porny School, our aim is to help every child to understand, enjoy and succeed in maths. We do this by developing understanding, and in understanding each maths concept and mastering learning one step at a time, everyone CAN do maths!
We use the ‘White Rose Maths’ curriculum to ensure that children have the opportunities to develop their ability to calculate fluently, problem solve and reason mathematically. We use the small steps of progression and concrete and visual resources, to ensure a deeper understanding of concepts for all children. We use the Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract (CPA) approach, which enables pupils to spend time fully exploring a topic, reinforcing it with practise, before moving onto the next one. All ideas are built on previous knowledge and pupils have opportunities to develop relationships between topics, which is crucial in developing their understanding.
As part of our wider curriculum children are also provided with a variety of opportunities for applying their mathematical skills in other contexts. We aim to develop children’s confidence and resilience and for them to feel safe to make and learn from mistakes.
Fluency
We believe it is important to develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall knowledge through varied and frequent practice. From Year 1, children take part in a daily mental maths session with a range of activities to help children become confidently numerate as they progress through school. Children learn key number and multiplication facts in a progressive structure which enables them to fully embed key skills and facts. We also provide opportunities for children to apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
Times Table Rockstars (TTRS)
Every child from Year 1 to Year 4 has a login for TTRS. This is a carefully sequenced online programme of times tables practice. It is designed to be used little and often at school and at home. Children enjoy taking part in a range of games to earn coins which they can spend on their avatar.
https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student
Year 4 Multiplication tables check (MTC) information for parents
The purpose of the MTC is to determine whether pupils can recall their times tables fluently, which is essential for future success in mathematics. It will help schools to identify pupils who have not yet mastered their times tables, so that additional support can be provided.
Supporting your child with Maths
- Try not to hurry through the curriculum. Remember that understanding each small step is the path to your child’s success: rushing ahead simply doesn’t work!
- If your child is struggling with particular topics, try looking instead at work on the same topics from earlier in the year or a previous year. This will help to plug any learning gaps and make sure your child understands the topic more clearly.
- Is your child finding maths easy? Why not have a go at some problem solving activities or bar modelling problems? These are great exercises for stretching young minds and building new skills and insights!
Please find a link to free White Rose resources and home learning opportunities: White Rose Home Learning
End of Year Expectations
This progression document details each of the areas of maths and the end of year expectations for mathematical knowledge and understanding.
Maths Games:
- White Rose Maths ‘1 minute maths’ https://whiterosemaths.com/1-minute-maths
- Help with learning tables – multiplication.com
- Variety of KS1 and KS2 games – top marks.com
- Maths Frame - https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/category/22/most-popular
- Crickweb (Free online games) - http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks2numeracy.html
- Maths Zone - https://mathszone.co.uk/
PE
Our aim is to ensure that every child has access to
- two hours of PE per week and that they are physically active for sustained periods of time
- a broad and varied PE curriculum where they will find opportunities to develop and improve fundamental skills
- activities that build confidence and inspire the desire to succeed
- opportunities in every lesson that enable them to evaluate and recognise their own success
- compete against others and their own personal best
- lead in Sports, in KS2, and share their talents with others
- to work as team and, very importantly, to build their problem solving and strategy skills on the field
Most importantly we want to ensure that all the children enjoy Physical Education.
Working with the Windsor Sports Schools Partnership (WSSP) ensures that teaching staff have a continually evolving skill set and that the children have opportunities in PE that take them beyond the traditional. Additionally all classes receive up to 12 weeks expert coaching in physical activities as varied as dance, gymnastics, tennis and key skills.
Each year our work with WSSP also provides opportunities for inter-school competition, and also the instruction of our Key Stage 2 children in Playground Leadership.
For information about the schools Sports Premium allocations please follow this link
Religious Education
At Eton Porny we follow the Discovery RE scheme of work for our RE curriculum, in conjunction with Understanding Christianity resources, as part of our work with the Oxford Diocese.
Discovery RE is a comprehensive enquiry-based, teaching programme for Religious Education for all year groups. Understanding Christianity is a Church of England Education Office project. The key purpose of the materials are to help all teachers support pupils in developing their own thinking and their understanding of Christianity, as a contribution to their understanding of the world and their own experience within it.
For more information on these resources please click on the links below.
Discovery RE - Information for Parents
Our RE Policy and Collective Worship Policy can both be found on our school policies page
Personal, Social, Relationships and Health Education (PSRHE)
At Eton Porny Personal, Social, Relationships and Health Education (PSRHE) is taught through our curriculum, school vision and values. PSRHE is taught every week using the Jigsaw scheme which nurtures children to be confident and successful whilst increasing their capacity to learn and prepare for the challenges of the modern world. It focuses on six themes which are repeated each academic year with appropriate progression to ensure that all statutory content is delivered as well as providing children with opportunities to develop their emotional intelligence and life skills. The teaching of this subject became compulsory in September 2020 with the introduction of statutory Health and Relationships Education at key stages 1 and 2.
Pupil Leadership
School Council
In our school everybody is part of the School Council. This helps all pupils to have a voice and to have a say on the important issues facing the whole school. Children learn how to become active, democratic citizens and develop key skills around oracy, confidence and leadership.
We have elected a number of pupils in year 2, 3 and 4 to take a lead role in supporting and encouraging everyone to get involved. They keep everyone up to date, lead action teams and help other children to make a contribution to improving the school.
Mrs Harris assists the School Council to provide all our children with the opportunity to make a change.
Eco Team
Eton Porny is part of the Eco-Schools initiative, which aims to engage young people in environmental education and action.
We have an elected group of pupils, our Eco-Team, who aim to drive change and improve environmental awareness in their school, local community and beyond.
The Eco-Team meet regularly to come up with new ideas to help the school, and teach other pupils the importance of looking after our world. We are pleased to have achieved our Bronze and Silver Eco-School awards as well as achieving the Green Flag award in July 2021 which recognises, rewards and celebrates the environmental achievements of young people.
House & Vice Captains
At Eton Porny we have four house teams – red, green, yellow and blue - children are allocated a house team when they join the school (siblings are put into the same house).
Each term we appoint a captain and a vice captain to lead each of the houses. It is a prestigious role that aligns with our school vision statement and Christian values including; aspiration, community, respect and perseverance. Children in Year 4 have the opportunity to stand for a house captain position and children in Year 2 have the opportunity to stand for a vice captain position.
The children need to express an interest in the role and explain why they believe they would be good at the role. This is then reviewed by all the staff and successful applicants are appointed.
House and vice captains then lead their house in various inter-house competitions that take place throughout the year, for example; poetry writing, creative arts, maths, science and computing, singing and sports. They are also chosen to represent the school at formal occasions and significant events.
Other Leadership Opportunities
To immerse children into school life and provide them with opportunities to develop their aspirations and leadership skills we encourage them to take on additional roles and responsibilities.
Our current roles include: library monitors, reading buddies, sports leaders and well-being champions.
Children will also have the opportunity to take on various responsibilities within their classroom and the to lead elements of collective worship including writing and delivering the prayer during our collective worship.