Wainstalls School

Our Curriculum

At Wainstalls School, we develop a love of learning in our children and deliver a ‘spiral curriculum’, where skills and knowledge are revisited in order to deepen and embed learning. Our curriculum is broad, balanced and ambitious, combining high expectations with a fun, vibrant and enriching curriculum, where all are included and valued and where learning environments are accessible to all.

We are very proud of the strong, positive relationships we have with our children, their families and the local community and we encourage a sense of pride, purpose and a positive approach to learning, where everyone works together with enthusiasm, confidence and mutual respect. We all understand the purpose and value of learning and see its relevance to our past, present and future.  We are a fully inclusive learning community, recognising everyone as a unique individual, having differing abilities and educational needs. We embrace and celebrate these differences, by supporting each child to realise and reach their potential so that they thrive, feel valued and are happy at school and are fully prepared for their next stage of learning. Linked with our school motto ‘Together We Can,’ we build resilience in our children, teaching them to persevere when faced with challenges and be aware of how having a positive growth mindset helps us all to achieve our potential.

We know that for our children to flourish and become confident learners we must provide them with real life experiences; Wainstalls’ pupils are provided with a range of enrichment and extra-curricular activities supported by our fantastic staff team and wonderful parents. We teach our children to be aspirational and provide them with strong foundations to achieve their dreams.  Our curriculum aims to provide all pupils with the knowledge and skills needed to live fulfilled, responsible, happy and successful lives during their primary school years and beyond.

In order to enhance our detailed, sequential thematic planning, there are two integral key drivers that permeate throughout all our themes and curriculum subject areas – high quality texts and active learning. Within this, we also consistently embed our four School Aims of being Positive, Inclusive, Active and Creative.

As a Calderdale Active Schools Trailblazer School and now Active Schools Champion for the Calder Valley area, we are committed as a school to continuously deliver a range of active opportunities in all areas of our curriculum for the benefit of all pupils at Wainstalls. Our active learning approach ensures that our children are fully engaged and motivated in their learning, in addition to effectively supporting their general physical health and fitness and improved mental health and well-being.

Being a reader at Wainstalls, means that our pupils will be exposed and guided to carefully selected high quality books. The promotion of reading for pleasure is embedded within the thematic curriculum, allowing our children to find new things, new information, new ways to solve a problem or new ways to achieve a goal. We believe the world belongs to those who read.

Within our themes, appropriate, logical links are made between national curriculum subjects and the explicit teaching of vocabulary features across all curriculum areas. Teachers plan and teach subjects within the Class Theme, which may span several subjects, although some subjects may be taught discretely at various points in the curriculum. PSHE and SMSC opportunities thread through our entire curriculum and help our children to understand themselves as life-long learners.

Our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum – Reception Class

Our aim within the EYFS is to provide a happy, safe and stimulating environment which allows all children to feel supported, secure and valued so that they are ready and eager to learn and can flourish and progress at their own pace and in their own individual way. Our role is to stimulate and encourage their development and enjoyment of learning through a variety of learning opportunities, both adult directed and child initiated in secure indoor and outdoor provision.

All children deserve an education rich in memorable experiences that allows children’s natural creativity and curiosity to flourish, alongside the purposeful acquisition of skills and knowledge. Our aim is to nurture this natural curiosity, joyfulness and intrinsic creativity as powerful motivator across all areas of learning and development, whilst providing opportunities for risk and challenge in order for our children to develop critical thinking, resilience and perseverance.

We recognise that the environment plays a significant role in supporting children’s learning and development so our indoor and outdoor spaces are designed to promote high levels of involvement.  Well-planned, high quality continuous provision provides familiar and consistent areas and resources that are open-ended and flexible, promoting all aspects of learning and development. Our daily routines are embedded but also flexible in their design in order to provide sufficient time for children to become engrossed in self-initiated activities.

Skilful and sensitive adult-led interactions focus on extending thinking, broadening communication and introducing challenge. Positive, nurturing relationships between staff, the children and their families, are a priority. We use observation assessment and purposeful planning effectively and consistently to be responsive to the children’s needs and interests, ensuring that all children make good progress from their starting points. Our adults implement a range of strategies along with a judicious balance of direct whole-class teaching, small group teaching, partner work and play to ensure that the teaching is developmentally appropriate, varied and stimulating, with all staff recognising the importance of modelling skills, learning behaviours and high expectations.

Children in our Reception Class follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum which consists of seven areas of learning. We teach children by planning for challenging, purposeful opportunities across both the prime and specific areas of learning. We recognise that all children develop and learn at different rates and so our EYFS curriculum is designed flexibly to meet the needs of all individuals.

Our curriculum is planned and implemented using a cross curricular thematic approach driven by high quality books and active learning. We include as many ‘real life’ opportunities as possible and where we can, we provide hands on, experiential learning. Child initiated learning is high priority and we respond to the children’s interests where possible. The curriculum in early years is the foundation for Key Stage 1 and key knowledge is carefully planned to ensure that this builds sequentially and progressively from Reception through to Year 6.

From the moment children enter the Reception Year at Wainstalls, they access a range of stimulating and exciting learning environments and experiences. We continuously strive to provide our children with secure foundations so that they become resilient, happy and successful individuals and continue to enjoy lifelong learning during their time at Wainstalls and beyond.

Our Key Stage 1 (Years 1-2) and Key Stage 2 (Years 3-6) Curriculum

In Key Stages 1 and 2, the 2014 National Curriculum subjects are taught through a thematic approach, within which lie our core curriculum principles:

• Quality texts are used to inspire and enhance thematic learning.
• Active lessons are used to teach across the themes, incorporated within a range of subjects.
• Cross-curricular and discrete subject units are taught as appropriate.
• A curriculum that is fundamentally based on the development of knowledge and skills and the deep understanding of the concepts within the National Curriculum that enable children to make sense of what they have learnt and what they are learning.
• Oracy is a key element, linked with our active agenda, providing pupils with valuable opportunities to participate verbally, with children given space and time to reflect upon and discuss complex ideas.
• Reading and writing is developed throughout the theme and there is a strong emphasis on opportunities to read and write with purpose.
• Mathematical fluency is developed in as many areas of the curriculum as possible.
• Visits, residentials, visitors, use of the school grounds and the local area are fundamental aspects of our curriculum.
• The content of the curriculum can be accessed by all children.
• A curriculum that is broad and balanced and ambitious for all, incorporating pupil voice to give time for child-initiated learning interests wherever possible.
• Learning is inspiring and fun, incorporating challenge in all subjects at all levels.
• Opportunities for SMSC learning and PSHE development are embedded throughout.
• Sequential and progressive planned learning opportunities effectively building upon and further developing previous knowledge and skills.

In addition, throughout Learning 4 Life Days, we aim to further broaden and expand our children’s life skills to further equip them to live successfully in wider society.

Parents, pupils and local community involvement in curriculum planning and delivery

Our school values the input of its pupils, parents and local community with regards to the planning and delivery of the curriculum. We believe pupils receive a well-rounded education if all stakeholders are involved in shaping it. Termly Curriculum Overviews are shared with parents in every year group, providing parents with valuable information about the theme and content of the curriculum so they can effectively support their child’s learning. We also invite every family to a termly ‘Coffee & Catch Up’, where they can visit the classroom setting, view their child’s work and discuss with their child what they are enjoying and learning that term.

We engage with the wider community by ensuring that there are opportunities to participate in a range of community projects. These include bulb planting, supported by the Halifax Rotary Club, inviting local visitors into school, such as artists, authors and religious figures, and hosting workshops and participating in activities run by various organisations such as West Yorkshire Police and the NSPCC, and local environmental groups such as Treesponsibility and Slow the Flow.

Learning beyond the classroom

We provide a wide variety of extra-curricular activities for pupils to enhance their learning experiences. The activities range from after-school clubs to educational trips and visits/visitors. Our extra-curricular activities are designed to further enhance pupils’ learning experiences, form personal connections between pupils and teach skills essential for life.