Upperthong Junior and Infant School

At Upperthong Junior and Infant School, Holmfirth our mission statement is:

Engaging children and staff through a creative and lively curriculum promoting the desire to succeed and achieve, in partnership with parents and the wider community.

Through our curriculum, we strive to ensure we achieve the following: 

At Upperthong we are proud to learn, achieve and belong

We aim to promote an enthusiasm for learning by:-

•  Providing a creative and engaging curriculum
•  Ensuring learning is enriched and inclusive
•  Committing to life long learning
• We aim to:
• Achieve the highest possible standards
• Celebrate success in all areas
• Take pride in our achievements

We aim to develop an awareness of place in the community by:

• Providing a safe, caring and happy environment
• Building strong community partnerships
• Fostering a sense of pride in belonging to the school and wider community

In KS1 and KS2 we follow the National Curriculum 2014 programmes of study. These can be viewed in the document section of this tab. In Reception we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum. Informtaion on waht is covered in each year group can be found by clicking the links below.

Reception          Year 1            Year 2               Year 3           Year 4              Year 5              Year 6

Our curriculum has been developed to include the statutory requirements of the subjects within this curriculum. These are: English, Maths, Science, RE, History, Geography, Computing, PE, Art & Design, Design Technology, Modern Foreign Language (MFL) and Music. Children’s learning is enhanced and broadened with additional opportunities and experiences that make up the wider school curriculum.

Children are taught to read through daily differentiated synthetic phonics activities using the ‘Letters and Sounds ‘Scheme and Fast Phonics First. We teach reading using a wide range of reading materials, matched to children’s ability and interest and drawn from a range of authors and a variety of themes.

We aim to make learning exciting and meaningful for children. Where links exist between subjects and aspects of learning teachers will use a cross curricular approach. Where this is not applicable, subjects will be taught discretely. The acquisition of basic skills in maths and English underpins the whole of our curriculum.

We teach French to children in KS2 and this is delivered through stories, games and other activities.

Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship (PSHCE) is taught alongside the statutory curriculum as we believe it is important that children have the opportunity to develop strong social and moral values and to have a deep understanding of self and their role in society. British Values form a key part of the PSHCE curriculum.

Religious Education (RE) is taught using the Kirklees and Calderdale agreed syllabus which is reviewed and revised every 5 years.

We are fortunate to have a very talented and experienced teaching staff and this allows us to respond children’s individual needs. We also have a range of experienced support staff who are able to extend and support teaching and learning opportunities across the school.

Please see below for our long term planning overviews and the end of year expectations for each area of the curriculum.

Each term we send out a curriculum newsletter which details what each year group will be learning during that term.

Why and How We Teach Reading

The study of English develops children’s ability to listen, speak, read and write for a range of purposes using language to learn and to communicate ideas, views and feelings. It enables children to express themselves creatively and imaginatively, as they become enthusiastic and critical readers of stories, poetry, drama non fiction and media texts. Children gain an understanding of how text works by looking at its patterns, structures and origins. Children use their knowledge, skills and understanding in speaking, listening, reading and writing across a broad range of opportunities.

When we teach reading, our principal aim is to develop children’s knowledge, skills, understanding, love and appreciation of different genres. Children have the opportunity to use a wide range of texts and a range of resources such as dictionaries, thesaurus, phonics and SPAG (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation) materials and activities to:

• Support their learning
• Develop confident, independent readers across a range of texts
• Become enthusiastic and reflective readers

Our long term overviews show the key learning focuses in English for each year group. We are flexible and creative in our planning and teaching, using a wide range of interactive resources on the whiteboard and a range of texts. We use strategies taken from approaches such as ‘Talk for Writing’ and ‘Power of Reading’ to develop a love of story telling and writing and endeavour to give the children opportunities for writing for a real purpose.

We use ‘Letters and Sounds’ and ‘Fast Phonics First’ to introduce and teach synthetic phonics moving on to independent and guided reading to build the children’s reading confidence. Children read with adults to build up their reading confidence. The adults use skilful questioning to ensure a child’s understanding of the text, their ability to retrieve information and then later to develop the higher order skills of inference, deduction and authorial intent. In Y2 and across KS2 the children are taught comprehension skills; how to form written answers to questions based on a text they have read and how they can use the text to support their answers.

We have well resourced reading areas in classrooms and the books in these areas are changed frequently during the year so that the children have access to a broad range of reading materials. These books are banded and the children chose books from an appropriate band to read in school and to take home. They have weekly access to the school library where they have free choice of the fiction and non fiction books it houses. Children in Y4 and above have the opportunity to join the after school book group which gives them the opportunity to further discuss books and unravel the deeper meanings of a text.

Your child will benefit from the opportunity to share their reading with you whether it be stories, poems, information books or a favourite comic. Above all, reading should be successful and have a level of difficulty which allows your child to be fluent and successful.

You can view the end of year group expectations for reading in our document list.

Writing

In both KS1 and KS2 children have the opportunity to write in a range of different genre: stories, poems, diaries, newspaper articles, explanation texts, recounts, reviews, non-chronological reports, persuasive texts, lists. In the main, the stimuli for these pieces come from texts which the children have read or had read to them. In this way, the children can see how important reading is to writing. The children have the opportunity to draw on their own experiences and to use their imagination and knowledge to support their writing. Teachers are very creative with their planning and often use film/ video clips or pictures to support and stimulate children’s writing ideas. We make good use of the following published strategies to support our teaching of writing: ’Talk for Writing’, ‘Power of Reading’ and ‘The Write Stuff.’

We teach Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling both alongside our teaching of writing and as discrete units. Children are expected to use taught spelling patterns and grammar and punctuation for their year group accurately within their writing. Each year group has a bank of words which the children are expected to be able to spell and these are sent home at the beginning of the year. You can support your child by encouraging them to learn these spelling and use them in their writing. We also use a scheme called ‘Spelling Bee’ which again has spelling s for the children to learn.

From reception through to year 6 we teach a cursive handwriting script. In reception and year 1 this is a pre cursive script in preparation for joining letters from Y2 onwards. By the end of Y6, in order to achieve the end of year expectations, the children must be using a joined cursive script in all pieces of writing. Children write in pencil in KS1 and pens are introduced in KS2 when it is felt that the children are ready.

You can view the end of year group expectations for writing in our document list.

Maths

At Upperthong we enjoy maths! From Reception we promote a ‘Can Do’ attitude and use positive and growth mindset techniques to promote this. Across the school we use a Maths Mastery approach and this is supported through our work with the White Rose Maths Hub. In reception maths is taught as one of the ‘specific’ areas of the EYFS curriculum. This provides the children with the opportunity to develop and understand the skills of counting, using and understanding numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems and describe shape, space and measures using ‘hands on’ activities. In KS1 and KS2 maths follows the National Curriculum and is based on 7 strands:

• Using  & Applying Maths
• Counting and Understanding Number
• Knowing and Using Number Facts
• Calculating
• Understanding Shape
• Measuring and
• Handling Data

At Upperthong our teaching is lively and engaging and follows the scheme of work developed by the White Rose Maths Hub. From reception we make strong use of concrete apparatus and pictorial images in order to securely embed mathematical understanding before moving on to abstract representations. Although the adults provide strong support in order to build learning resilience we promote independence in learning requiring children to ‘have a go’ and not be afraid to make mistakes as they are our steps to learning. The pitch and pace of the work is sensitive to the needs of the children whilst ensuring that expectations are very high so that progress is made by all children.  Strong mental skills are promoted through regular practice of times tables and number bonds. Parents can support this learning at home by encouraging children to use the Times Table Rock Stars online programme (Y2-6) and by practising the rapid recall of number bonds to 20 with children from reception to Y3. Fluency is promoted in all areas of maths but we quickly move the children on to applying this fluency in problem solving and reasoning activities.

You can view the end of year group expectations for maths in our document list.

Science

Science is taught for 1-2 hours each week in KS1 and KS2 and each year group’s lessons include topics from the 3 areas of science: Physics, Chemistry and Biology. In reception science is predominately explored through the ‘Knowledge and Understanding of the World’ strand, which encourages the children to explore, problem solve, think, predict, observe, make decisions and talk about the world around them. In lessons there is an emphasis on ‘hand’ on’ investigations to promote knowledge and learning, promote independent thinking skills and encourage the belief that science is fun. The practical nature of science gives the children the opportunity to collaborate and cooperate on planning investigations. We utilise a wide range of scientific resources and equipment and these are updated regularly.  Much of the planning for science comes from the Hamilton Trust however, staff are encouraged to modify and adapt these to meet their strengths and the needs of the children. Cross curricular science work is encouraged and staff take the opportunity to link science with a range of areas eg  art, maths, DT, Computing and Geography.

You can view the end of year group expectations for science in our document list.

RE

We follow the Kirklees and Calderdale agreed syllabus for RE which is mainly based on Christianity and Islam in KS1 with the addition of Sikhism in KS2. We introduce other faiths to enhance the RE curriculum and particularly focus on other festivals and celebrations. Parents have a right to withdraw their child from RE and any requests to do this should be made in writing to the headteacher. Children withdrawing from RE will have supervised private study. Assemblies take place in some form each day. The current pattern is as follows:

Monday-Class based assembly

Tuesday-Whole School hymn practice

Wednesday-Whole School assembly

Thursday-Class based assembly

Friday-Whole School assembly

Parents also have the right to withdraw their child from assemblies and should make requests in the same way as requests to withdraw from RE.

History

History is taught through school and involves many exciting topics covering many years of History. As part of their development in Knowledge and Understanding of the World children in reception learn about a variety of topical issues throughout the year. Through practical and fun activities the children learn about historical events such as bonfire night and Remembrance Day. In KS1 children begin to develop an understanding of time as they learn about Seaside Holidays, Victorians, The Great Fire of London and The Plague. They also begin to learn about famous historical figures such as Samuel Pepys. As children progress through school they develop an understanding of important periods in history: The Stone Age, The Aztecs, The Ancient Greeks, The Romans , The Vikings and World War 2. Local history is explored along with historical topics commemorated throughout the year eg Remembrance Day.

You can view the end of year group expectations for History in our document list.

Geography

Learning in Geography begins in reception and is part of the Knowledge and Understanding of the World aspect of the EYFS curriculum. The children learn about transport and our environment and use Daniella, the class bear, to learn about different places she is taken to. These aspects help the children develop an understanding of where they fit into the world. In KS1 the children further develop their knowledge of the world as they learn about contrasting locations including Italy, India and Mexico and develop their understanding of the world by identifying where known cities and countries are on a map. They children gain a deeper understanding of the local area and how it can be made safer. In KS2 the children extend their knowledge and understanding of different world environments including Biomes, Mountains, Rainforests and Rivers along with extending their knowledge of where places are in the world through further mapwork.

We endeavour to link both History and Geography with other areas of the curriculum in order to create opportunities for skills to be applied.

You can view the end of year group expectations for Geography in our document list.

Computing

Computing is concerned with how computing and computer systems work, how they are designed and programmed. It is taught discretely as well as in a cross curricular manner. In reception children have access to a wide range of technology eg beebots, computers, ipads, remote control vehicles and microphones. Teachers across the school use interactive whiteboards to stimulate learning. In KS1 and KS2 the Rising Stars Computing scheme is used and teachers develop units of work from this. Units such as ‘We are Games Testers’ and ‘We are Bug Busters’ introduce children to the world of coding. They do not play games but design and develop them using programmes such as Scratch. Children in KS1 learn how to open documents and save them to folders along with essential typing skills; all fundamental if they are to succeed in the computing era. Online safety is at the heart of this curriculum and consolidated in assemblies and circle time.

You can view the end of year group expectations for Computing in our document list.

The Arts

At Upperthong we give the children a range of opportunities both within the curriculum and as extra curricular activities to experience a broad range of art forms. These include :

• Art
• Design
• Technology
• Music
• Drama
• Dance

The curriculum at Upperthong reflects the importance we place on the arts and this can be seen in classroom learning, displays across school, performances, assemblies and extra curricular clubs.

Art and Design

The class teachers plan rich and varied art experiences all based on developing the key skills described in the National Curriculum. In reception children’s learning opportunities are developed from the Expressive Art and Design aspect of the EYFS curriculum. The children explore and produce artwork using a range of media: pencil, crayon, paint, clay, playdough, textiles, paper, ICT and junk materials as well as studying the work of well known artists. This prepares them for the requirements of the National Curriculum in KS1 and 2 where their skills are further developed using the above media along with others such as charcoal, water colours, printing and sculpture material. Each termly theme allows art and design to be developed as part of a cross curricular theme.

You can view the end of year group expectations for Art in our document list.

Design and Technology

Design and Technology is probably more closely linked to science and computing; put simpler it comprises designing and making something for somebody for a given purpose. In reception children’s learning opportunities are developed from the Expressive Art and Design aspect of the EYFS curriculum and the children experience designing and making using junk, wood, lego and similar resources. The National Curriculum for KS1 and 2 is based on the principles of Design, Make, Evaluate and Improve allowing children to develop their Technical Knowledge  and their knowledge of Cooking and Nutrition.

In KS1 and 2 the children explore design and develop their own annotated designs which they then use to make pieces using wood, plastic, textiles, electronics and other materials incorporating mechanisms such as gears, cams, pulleys and levers. DT projects will be developed within termly cross curricular themes.

Across the school we look at the principles of a varied and healthy diet. In KS1 we look at where food comes from and in KS2 we look at seasonality and how ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed. Children are involved in cooking dishes and using utensils.

You can view the end of year group expectations for Design and Technology in our document list.

Music

At Upperthong Music is taught weekly from reception to Y6 using the Music Express Scheme. Children are encouraged to sing and to learn about rhythm and melody using tuned and untuned percussion. They listen to and evaluate a broad range of music pieces from classical to modern popular music both as part of their classroom lessons and during daily assemblies. Composition is a part component of the music curriculum and the children use musical instruments, voice and computer programmes to compose their own music. In Y3 the children have the opportunity to learn the Ukulele. The class teacher leads a weekly whole class session where the children not only learn the rudiments of the instrument but also use it to compose their own music. In Y4 children have the opportunity to join an extra curricular handbells group led by an ex member of staff.

Singing is very strong at Upperthong. The children have a weekly whole school singing practice and singing is incorporated not only into music lessons but also into other aspects of the curriculum eg History, French and English. We have a choir who meet weekly after school and represent the school in a variety of singing events eg Community Carol services and the local scarecrow festival. Each year we take a group of children to sing at the Kirklees Primary Music Festival and we attend the Young Voices Concert. We are currently working towards achieving the Silver Sing Up Award.

Kirklees Musica give children the opportunity to learn a musical instrument: piano, keyboard, guitar, percussion, strings, brass and woodwind. Staff are in school on a weekly basis to teach individual and group lessons. These can be arranged by completing a form available from the school office or by calling Musica on 01484 426426 (www.musicakirklees.org/) .

You can view the end of year group expectations for music in our document list.

Modern Foreign Languages (MFL)

At Upperthong we teach French from Y3-6 . We follow the Holmfirth High School developed scheme of work in order that children are able to make a smooth progression into Y7. This is supported by additional resources eg ilanguages. In Y3 and Y4 French is taught by part time members of staff who have experience teaching the language. In Y5 and Y6 French is taught by the Y6 teacher who is a language specialist. All lessons focus on the 4 aspects of language: Listening, speaking ,reading and writing. We want the children to enjoy these lessons and ensure that they are fun and lively making good use of ICT and music to support the teaching. In Y1-2 the children can join an after school French club where they play games and learn basic conversational French. In KS2 the children have the opportunity to join a Spanish club and learn rudimentary Spanish.

You can view the end of year group expectations for MFL in our document list.

PE (Physical Education)

Through a balance of individual and team, competitive, cooperative and creative activities we aim to extend and develop our children’s abilities and opportunities.

In reception PE comes under Physical Development, one of the ‘Prime Areas’ of the EYFS curriculum. PE lessons and learning in the outdoor provision is well utilised to develop the children’s gross motor skills. Children have the opportunity to run, jump, hop and skip and to ride on bikes and scooters in their outdoor classroom whilst in their weekly PE lesson they learn to climb and dismount the apparatus safely, navigate the spaces in the hall, jump in and out of apparatus and play team games.

In KS1 and 2 children have 2 hours of timetabled PE each week; 1 lesson of indoor gym or dance and 1 lesson of outdoor sport.

Gymnastics focuses on control and coordination using the apparatus and PE mats to develop individual and group sequences of growing complexity as they move through KS1 and 2.

Dance gives the children the opportunity to listen to and move to music using taught steps and patterns and choreographing their own interpretations to the music.

Through games such as badminton, tennis, cricket, football, rugby, netball and volleyball the children learn the key skills of striking, fielding, catching, throwing, passing and team work. They learn the rules, skills and tactics required to play games and being part of a team. In all our sporting activities, we instil in children a sense of fair play, sporting behaviour, a positive attitude to sport and competition and above all a sense of fun and enjoyment.

In Athletics, the children learn to run, sprint, throw, hit a target and jump using appropriate athletic equipment. The focus is on skill development and on developing stamina.

Children in Y4 take part in swimming lessons throughout the year. Each summer, we enter a swimming team in the Holme Valley Schools’ Swimming Gala. In Y6, the children have the opportunity to take part in a residential visit to Robinwood outdoor centre in Todmorden where they cover the Outdoor and Adventurous aspect of the National Curriculum.

Upperthong is a member of the Pennine Sports Partnership and, through this, our children have a wide range of sporting opportunities open to them. We have sports coaches in school weekly, teaching PE lessons and developing the skills of our class teachers and the partnership plans and runs a wide variety of competitive and non- competitive sporting events throughout the year catering for all abilities and interests.

We use the Government Sports Premium grant to ensure all PE lessons give all children the opportunity to strengthen and develop PE skills and that PE teaching is strong. We fund sports coaches at lunchtime to further develop children’s skills and to encourage children to stay active at lunchtime. Finally, we use the funding to bring additional sporting experts into school to inspire children and to ensure children have access to high quality PE resources and equipment. (further information on the sports premium can be found under the relevant tab on this website)

You can view the end of year group expectations for PE in our document list.

PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education)

Currently at Upperthong we have a PSHE scheme of work developed from the Kirklees Toolkit and SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning). In reception PSED (Personal, Social and Emotional Development) is one of the Prime Areas of Learning and underpins all that we do. Learning focuses on 4 main areas: Myself and Others, Families and Relationships, Body Awareness and Hygiene. Learning in KS1 and 2 focuses on 3 key areas: Health and Well being (this includes age appropriate Drugs Education using the SPECED programme in Y6) , Relationships (this includes age appropriate sex education) and Living in the Wider World (this includes Economic Well Being, Being a Responsible Citizen and incorporates British Values)

Although PSHE is not part of the statutory curriculum at Upperthong we believe that a strong PSHE curriculum is important for ensuring our children develop:

• strong personal and social awareness and values
• emotional strength and
• key ‘soft skills’ essential for success in the wider world: grit, resilience, perseverance, self-mastery and communication.

It is for this reason that we teach PSHCE weekly as a discrete subject, as part of the science/RE/English curriculm and through assemblies. With the DFE’s new requirement that schools publish their PSHE curriculum we have decided to conduct an overhaul of what we teach and from September our PSHE scheme of work will be based on Jigsaw: a mindful approach to PSHE (https://www.jigsawpshe.com). This will become a whole school (R-Y6 ) approach and each half term will have a whole school themes: Being Me in My World, Celebrating Differences, Dreams and Goals, Healthy Me, Relationships, Changing Me. Further information will be available once we have had whole staff training.

Learning philosophy

We expect our children to work very hard during every lesson, to listen intently, to question, to reason, to reflect and to respond appropriately. It is through this strong interaction that excellent learning takes place. There will be times when children struggle with aspects of learning, times when they make mistakes and these struggles and mistakes are celebrated as essential steps to deep learning and to mastery. We want children to experience failure, to experience difficulties and to develop the skills and tools to ‘dig themselves’ out and to enjoy that feeling of success through their own endeavours. We want our children to be independent, resilient learners who do not give up at the first hurdle and who do not expect that someone else will always give them the strategies required. We want them to develop the skills to work out for themselves what they have to do or at least try to do this before seeking help. As parents you can help your child to do this by encouraging this attitude in all that they do at home and outside school.

Homework

We understand that once our school day ends our children and families have busy lives and we firmly believe that a well-rounded child with a well-balanced life is very important to future success. We believe that it is important that any additional work from school does not prevent children from attending extra curricular activities and out of school pursuits; widening their interests through music, sport, dance and drama. However, regular additional work at home, through short, regular bursts of practice, usually with an adult, can help to reinforce and embed the work covered in school. Homework takes the following forms allowing parents to fit things in to their already very busy lives:

• Spelling and Phonics- words and sounds appropriate to the year group to practice reading, writing and using.
• Reading-Listening to your child read is a wonderful experience enjoyed by many parents. It does not always feel like homework, but it is essential for all age groups to be listened to/ read to and this can be supplemented with questions about the text.
• Basic maths skills-Number bonds and tables to learn and ensure rapid recall. This can be done orally or using the Times Table Rock Stars programme (https://ttrockstars.com/login)
• Core subject work- Teachers may set Maths, Grammar &Punctuation or Reading Comprehension work. Parents are asked to mark it with their child and to go through errors, as instant feedback is important for a child’s learning and progress. We are grateful for this as it is a valuable way to support your child’s learning. Teachers will use this feedback to plan appropriate work to ensure these misunderstandings are addressed.
• Learning Log work: There will be times when teachers set a task or extended project which allows children to take their learning in a direction of their choice. It may be some research or it may be a representation or follow on of the learning done in school. This allows children to give a s much or as little time to a project as their out of school schedule allows.

We want homework to be meaningful and appropriate and feel that the list above gives parents a clear idea as to how they can support children’s learning at home.