Pool-in-Wharfedale CE Primary School

Believe and Achieve

Learning  »  Curriculum

Recovery Curriculum & School Development Focus – Sept 2021 onwards

In addition to the launch of our involvement in the ‘Skills Builder’ programme which uses a universal framework to build essential skills (Listening, Speaking, Problem Solving, Creativity, Staying Positive, Aiming High, Leadership and Teamwork), and our commitment to ‘Becoming a Trauma-informed School’ through work with the Church of England and the Foundation for Educational Leadership, our foci for school development over the next few years will involve work on the following:


Reading:

  1. New long-term plans developed with investment to support a ‘text-rich’ curriculum for foundation subjects and Science
  2. Implementing a new Phonics scheme in line with new DfE recommendations
  1. Building on the improvements to the KS2 Library, we aim to invest further in providing a breadth of reading books for KS1 and KS2 pupils, with early reading books specifically supporting phonic development

 

Writing:

  1. investment in the ‘The Write Stuff’ Jane Considine approach. Key aspects of ‘The Write Stuff’ system include:
  • Building pupils’ confidence with sentence structure
  • Widening the repertoire of writing options for pupils
  • Pupils gain an understanding of the ‘whole’ piece they are writing
  • Pupils’ organisation of their ideas and cohesion between them is strengthened

Key benefits of training include:

  • Support for teachers so that they have a deeper and more flexible knowledge of sentence structure
  • Supporting pupils in understanding how to apply sentence scaffolds to their independent writing as they develop their expertise
  • Standards improve because many worded examples are provided over the year that extend understanding through a wide range of genres and non-fiction text-types
  • Children have a clear view of what high quality writing looks like and their learning is structured clearly and misconceptions dealt with
  • Pupils know how to improve their writing and make it more focused and actionable feedback is provided to guide their learning
  • Children have a concept of how to build, plan and complete a piece of writing due to narrative maps and non-fiction shapes
  • Teachers have clear pathways of how to guide pupils in weak areas such as cohesion and paragraphs
  1. Continued intervention work in KS2 classes using Edge Hill ‘First Class at Writing’ resources and Numicon for children identified by class teachers and senior leaders using internal and FFT data.

 

Maths

  1. Involvement in the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching Mathematics (NCETM) ‘Mastering Number’ programme. The project aims to secure firm foundations in the development of good number sense for all children from Reception through to Y1 and Y2. The aim, over time, is that children will leave KS1 with fluency in calculation and a confidence and flexibility with number. Attention will be given to key knowledge and understanding needed in Reception classes, and progression through KS1 to support success in the future. Involvement in the programme provides teachers with high quality CPD and Maths resources for our school.
2. Involvement in the NCETM 'Primary Mastery Readiness' programme for KS2 pupils. This programme is for schools who have a commitment to developing a teaching for mastery approach long term. Each Work Group will be led by one of the Maths Hub’s Mastery Readiness Leads and involve up to eight primary schools. During the year, they will work closely together to develop subject and pedagogical knowledge as well as supporting teaching, learning and leadership of maths across the school by looking at the Five Big Ideas of Mastery Readiness to lay the foundations to developing teaching for mastery in an effective and sustainable manner. The Work Group activity will include:

  • Each school identifying two teachers to lead developments within their school, one of whom should be the maths lead

  • The two teachers working together with the Mastery Readiness Lead and teachers from the other Work Group schools in regular workshops.

  • Each school receiving regular support visits from the Mastery Readiness Lead to support the participants and leaders to develop and work on an action plan for the school

  • The headteacher working with the Mastery Readiness Lead and other members of the Maths Hub leadership to develop whole school policies and structures to support teaching for mastery

  • The lead teachers, supported by the headteacher, working with colleagues to lay foundations for developing teaching for mastery approaches in the classroom, supported by collaborative professional development activity

  • Following the first year, the schools are expected to then continue being part of the Teaching for Mastery Work Group led by a Mastery Specialist. Beyond that year, there will be opportunities to continue embedding and sustain a teaching for mastery approach with the support of a specialist and other schools.

3. Kate Lowe (one of our Reception teachers) will be delivering an Early Years Maths Specialist Knowledge Teaching Mathematics work group for the West Yorkshire Maths Hub. She will be supporting Early Years Teachers (including the staff in Pool Preschool) in developing specialist knowledge for teaching mathematics, to enable them to understand, teach and support pupils’ Maths in the classroom.

4. This year, we’re switching to the White Rose Calculation Policy. It will run much more effectively with WR maths scheme of work, planning and lessons.

5. Continued intervention work in KS2 classes using Edge Hill ‘First Class at Number’ resources and Numicon for children identified by class teachers and senior leaders using internal and FFT data.

6. Continuing work in daily lessons with Classroom Secrets and TT Rockstars, which have enabled improved times tables recall and systematic number work.


Implementing the new EYFS Framework

Our EYFS Teachers attended twilight network meetings and then met as a staff team in the summer term to discuss the updates and to ensure everyone working in Reception is clear about the requirements of the new framework.


Supporting Social & Emotional Development

This year, the DfE will award ‘Recovery Premium’ funding to eligible schools, providing additional funding of £145 for each eligible pupil (no less than £2000 per school) in the 2021-22 academic year. Building on the pupil premium, the aim of the funding is to help schools to deliver evidence-based approaches for supporting disadvantaged pupils.

One of the criteria for funding use is:

  • Deal with non-academic barriers to success in school, such as attendance, behaviour and social and emotional support

And schools can:

  • Direct recovery premium spending where they think the need is greatest

The current Y1 cohort has a high proportion of pupils who present gaps in their social and emotional development, caused by a disrupted Reception year and inconsistent routines. As recommended by the DfE, we will refer to the Education Endowment Foundation’s pupil premium guide to ensure this premium is spent on evidence-based approaches or activities to support this particular cohort of pupils.
 

Monitoring
Using our new online monitoring system, Nautilus, all teaching staff and SLT will be involved in timetabled, termly monitoring to assess the impact of the above, including Learning Walks, lesson observations with a specific focus, Book Studies, etc.

Monitoring over time using this system will highlight ‘trends’, enabling us to keep a tight focus on areas for development and the impact of work on all the above.

2014 National Curriculum

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Pool-in-Wharfedale CE Primary School Arthington Lane, Pool-in-Wharfedale, Otley, LS21 1LG