“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint’, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” Vincent Van Gogh (Artist)

Intent:

At Foxhole Learning Academy, the Art curriculum is designed to facilitate engaging, question-based enquiry whilst developing skills progression across the school. This should allow the children to consolidate and build upon key skills and knowledge from previous years. A range of exciting topics are crafted by the staff and children to ensure all children are completely immersed in their learning. Leading to our pupils being enthusiastic learners. A high quality art education should encourage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils move through Foxhole Learning Academy they should be able to think critically and develop a rigorous understanding of art and design. They should know how art and design both reflect and shape our history. 

Implementation: 

• Teaching art regularly. The children will cover an art topic at least once every other term and will also have additional opportunities to engage with art and design activities throughout the school year.

• Teaching a predominantly skills-based curriculum, which covers drawing, painting,
  sculpture, textiles and printing. Full details of our art curriculum can be found in our Curriculum Plan.

• Building upon skills throughout the children’s time in school. Skills are revisited and honed in a spiral curriculum, which progresses in terms of depth and challenge, to build on the
  children’s previous learning.

• Ensuring that each child develops their skills and techniques in a way appropriate to them,
  through clear differentiation and support, active and purposeful experiences, and using a
  variety of art materials and teaching strategies.

• Fostering an enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts and a knowledge of artists,
  craftspeople and designers; using our focus “Artist of the Week” to introduce pupils to a wide range of contemporary and historical artists and craftspeople.

• Introducing children to artists and art movements directly linked to the skills or topics they are covering.

• Utilising a sketchbook approach, so that children feel safe to experiment and take risks, without the fear of doing something “wrong”.

• Openly promoting art and design as a possible further study or career choice.

• Encouraging each child to evaluate their art and design work and that of others, both with
  peers and adults.

• Celebrating effort, progress and achievement in art through displays, exhibitions and
  enrichment activities, such as trips out and competitions.

Impact:

By the end of their time in school, we want pupils to have learned, improved and embedded a range of artistic skills to allow them to become creative and self-expressive adults. An awareness of a broad range of artists and craftspeople, will enhance their learning, whilst being able to consider and discuss the artworks they come across. We want our pupils to be confident to explore, experiment and take risks, placing value on the process and journey that they take, not just on the finished product. Most importantly, we want children to have found and enjoyed a creative outlet – a means of self-expression and enjoyment. 

PRIMARY national curriculum - Art and design

 

“Whether you want to uncover the secrets of the universe, or you just want to pursue a career in the 21st century, basic computer programming is an essential skill to learn” - Stephen Hawking (Theoretical physicist) 

Intent 

The team at Foxhole Learning Academy understand the immense value technology plays in supporting the computing and whole school curriculum, day-to-day life of our school and also the increasing role it plays in our pupils’ lives as they grow older. We believe that technology can provide: enhanced collaborative learning opportunities; better engagement of pupils; easier access to rich content; support conceptual understanding of new concepts and can support the needs of all our pupils.

 

 

“Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it’s decoration.” Jeffrey Zeldman (entrepreneur, web designer)

Intent:

At Foxhole Learning Academy, the Design Technology curriculum is designed to facilitate engaging, question-based enquiry whilst developing skills progression across the school. This should allow the children to consolidate and build upon key skills and knowledge from previous years. A range of exciting topics are crafted by the staff and children to ensure all children are completely immersed in their learning. Leading to our pupils being enthusiastic learners. A high quality DT education should encourage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils move through Foxhole Learning Academy they should be able to think critically and develop a rigorous understanding of art and design. They should know how art and design both reflect and shape our history.

Implementation:

• Clear and comprehensive scheme of work in line with the National Curriculum. The Design Technology National Curriculum and EYFS is planned for and covered in full within the EYFS, KS1 and KS2 school curriculum. Whilst the EYFS and National Curriculum forms the foundation of our curriculum, we make sure that children learn additional skills, knowledge and understanding and enhance our curriculum as and when necessary.
• Delivery of design and technology projects with a clear structure. Each year group will undertake a construction topic, a textile topic and a food/drink topic.
• Delivery showing clear following of the design process where each project follows: research, design, make and evaluate.
• A range of skills will be taught ensuring that children are aware of health and safety issues related to the tasks undertaken
• Clear and appropriate cross curricular links to underpin learning in multi areas across the curriculum giving the children opportunities to learn life skills and apply skills to ‘hands on’ situations in a purposeful context.
• Children will undertake design tasks and use skills from across the curriculum to fully explore the design process evaluating work ensuring that it is of the highest possible quality. Children are also asked to self-evaluate their work.
• Independent learning: in design technology children may well be asked to solve problems and develop their learning independently. This allows the children to have ownership over their curriculum and lead their own learning in Design Technology.
• Collaborative learning: in design and technology children may well be asked to work as part of a team learning to support and help one another towards a challenging, yet rewarding goal.

Impact:

By the end of their time in school, we want pupils to have learned, improved and embedded a range of DT skills to allow them to become confident adults that calculate, and take, risks. Children will have clear enjoyment and confidence in design and technology that they will then apply to other areas of the curriculum. Children will ultimately know more, remember more and understand more about Design Technology, demonstrating this knowledge when using tools or skills in other areas of the curriculum and in opportunities out of school. As designers, children will develop skills and attributes they can use beyond school and into adulthood.

NATIONAL CURRICULUM_-_DESIGN_AND_TECHNOLOGY
 

"The study of geography is about more than just memorising places on a map. It's about understanding the complexity of our world, appreciating the diversity of cultures that exists across continents. And in the end, it's about using all that knowledge to help bridge divides and bring people together."  Barack Obama (44th President of the United States)

Intent

At Foxhole Learning Academy, we understand the importance of having a well-rounded knowledge of the world. To do this, we have developed a progressive and ambitious curriculum which is rich in knowledge and geographical skills.

Our lessons are enquiry led, with an aim of providing children with a deeper understanding of physical and human geography around the world.

Our Geography curriculum aims to:

• Develop children who are curious about the world and the people who live in it.
• Introduce our pupils to a diverse range of places, people, resources and natural and human environments.
• Develop a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.
• Make sure our pupils are aware of the issues that shape the world, whilst also equipping them with the skills and attitudes to make a positive contribution.

Implementation

 During Key Stage 1 we challenge and support our children to carry out a number geographical investigations, which enable them to use and apply basic and appropriate subject vocabulary, subject tools (including maps, aerial photographs and graphical data and fieldwork skills) to recognise, identify, describe, observe, reason and begin to explain in simple terms the interaction of people with their environments.

 Through Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4) in geography, learning and teaching builds on the knowledge and understanding, skills and attitudes outcomes at Key Stage 1 and the pupils make progress through being provided with opportunities to reach explanations (which means that their understanding is based on the clear use of evidence e.g. from data they have collected and presented in a graph) and reach conclusions about topics, places and issues they have studied. Another important aspect is that our pupils begin to be able to see the world through the perspective of different stakeholders i.e. people and things that have an interest in or are connected to an issue or place. To this end, we challenge and support our children to undertake geographical investigations, which enable them to use and apply appropriate and increasingly specialised subject vocabulary, subject tools (such as satellite imagery and GIS) and fieldwork skills to recognise, identify, describe, observe, reason, explain and reach basic conclusions about the interaction of people with their environments.

 In Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5 and 6), pupils focus on topics and big questions that extend their subject skills so that they are able to make judgements about things they learn both from their own personal perspective and through empathising with the position of others. In addition, opportunities are provided for the children to evaluate what they have learned and how they have learned it and to come up with their own questions to investigate. Higher outcomes in geography also involve children being able to apply what they have learned in one context to another and to understand concepts as well more discrete areas of knowledge which they learned and understood e.g. being aware of the fact that a seaside beach is only one example of how the land meets the sea and that ‘coast’ (a concept or generalised set of information) refers to anywhere where the land meets the sea which may be a beach but also could well be a cliff, port, estuary, mud flat or marsh. To achieve this during Key Stage 2 (Years 5 and 6), our pupils undertake investigations which enable them to use and apply specialised subject vocabulary, subject tools (such as GIS) and fieldwork skills to recognise, identify, describe, observe, reason, explain, reach conclusions and make judgements, evaluate, apply and hypothesise about the interaction of people with their environments.

Impact

Through our inspiring, enquiry-led geography curriculum, children will;

• Draw upon a progressively deeper understanding of knowledge and vocabulary so they can regard themselves as ‘Geographers’.
• Be able to use a range of sources such as maps, atlases and the internet to build a knowledge of where places are and their geographical features.
• Be curious to find out about the world and the people who live there.
• Be confident to critically discuss world issues and identify how we can make a difference.

 

National curriculum - Geography
 

 

"The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future." Theodore Roosevelt (26th President of the United States)

Intent

 At Foxhole Learning Academy, we are passionate that our history curriculum provides the children with the subject specific skills and cross curricular skills needed in order to move into the next year group and beyond; by turning the children into historians during lessons, they take ownership of their role, giving children the opportunity to understand how our world has developed. During history we encourage all of our children to be curious and inquisitive learners, and use enquiry led lessons to engage the childrens' sense of curiosity. 

• Understand the past and how it will affect their future, creating a cultural identity
• Represent a diversity of cultures
• Give children the opportunities and skills to think critically
• Develop knowledge of how people’s lives and events have shaped this nation and how Britain has influences and been influenced by the wider world
• Making connections and links: local, regional, national and international history; cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; short and long-term time-scales.
• Develop historical enquiry skills across year groups

 

National curriculum - history
 

 

"Some things will drop out of the public eye and will go away, but there will always be science, engineering, and technology. And there will always, always be mathematics.” Katherine Johnson (NASA Mathematician)

Intent: 

At Foxhole Learning Academy, we want to develop a positive culture of deep understanding, confidence and competence in mathematics.  We use mathematics as part of everyday life on a daily basis.  It is important therefore that mathematics forms an integral part of the curriculum, being taught through daily specific mathematics lessons and used and applied as part of teaching and learning in other subjects.  We want to ensure that children develop an enthusiasm and enjoyment for mathematics which will empower them in future life.  We believe that mathematical fluency is an essential life skill for all learners and is a pre-requisite to being able to reason and problem solve mathematically. 

Implementation: 

Our Maths curriculum meets the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum and is supported by the White Rose Maths progression and schemes of learning. White Rose Maths is influenced, inspired and informed by the work of leading mathematics researchers and practitioners across the world.  Their mantra is ‘everyone can do maths: everyone can’ and has proven to develop confident and resilient mathematicians who enjoy the challenge of maths.  Within our curriculum, mathematical concepts are broken down into small steps to ensure that all children can develop mastery.  Children use the concrete, pictorial, abstract approach to deepen their knowledge and understanding. 

At Foxhole Learning Academy we strive to ensure that all of our pupils are able to recall key number facts including their times tables.  We have daily allocated time for children to do this. In KS1, children participate in a number sense lesson which develops their subitising and number understanding of number. In KS2, children practise their times tables daily.

 Every maths lesson at Foxhole Learning Academy starts with a Flashback 4 activity. This retrieval practice gives children an opportunity to embed their arithmetic skills daily and helps to inform teacher assessment of which concepts have been mastered to automaticity. After completing their Flashback 4 children are then introduced to the new learning content of that day. Each maths lesson will include a fluency, reasoning, and problem-solving task to develop all aspects of Maths learning: declarative, procedural and conditional. To deepen understanding, further challenges will be provided within maths lessons as required so that all children can achieve to the best of their ability within Mathematics lessons.

 Medium term planning is given to all staff which has been developed by mathematical specialists nationally. This is then edited and adapted to meet the needs of our pupils. All pupils have daily mathematics lessons.  Visitors such as bankers and workers from money sense complement our Maths curriculum to offer additional learning and add context to learning.

What are KIRFs?

To develop your child’s fluency and mental maths skills, we are introducing KIRFs (Key Instant Recall Facts) throughout Foxhole Learning Academy. Instant recall of facts without thinking, known as automaticity, helps enormously with mental agility in Maths lessons. Number facts are important as they form the building blocks for higher level Maths skills. ‘I know my 3 times table facts, so I can calculate 479 x 3 with speed and confidence.’

Each half term, children will focus on a specific set of Key Instant Recall Facts (KIRFs) to practise and learn at home. The KIRF sheets include practical ideas to assist your child in grasping the key facts and contain helpful suggestions of ways in which you could make this learning interesting and relevant. They are not designed to be time-consuming tasks and can be practised anywhere, such as in the car or walking to school. Regular practice will help children to retain these facts and keep their skills sharp. ‘Little and often’ is the key!

 Throughout the half term, the KIRFs will also be practised in school and your child’s teacher will assess whether they have been retained at the end of the period. At Foxhole Learning Academy, we believe that if KIRFs are developed fully, then children will be more confident with number work, understand its relevance and be able to access curriculum work more easily. They will be able to apply what they have learnt to a wide range of problems that confront us regularly.

Times Tables Rock Stars

We use the online Times Tables Rock Stars programme, where children are able to compete against their own score and friends to improve their multiplication knowledge. When it comes to times tables, speed AND accuracy are important – the more facts children remember, the easier it is for them to do harder calculations. Times Table Rock Stars is a fun and challenging programme designed to help master the times tables! To be a Times Table Rock Star you need to answer any multiplication fact up to 12×12 in less than 3 seconds!

Impact: 

The impact of our mathematics curriculum will be that all children are confident mathematicians who can talk about their learning and the links between different areas of mathematics.  This will be seen through children using and applying mathematical language, knowledge and skills both in mathematics lessons and across the curriculum.   The success of our mathematics curriculum will be seen through standards achieved and our children will leave us at the end of year 6 ready to succeed in the expectations of the KS3 Maths curriculum.

 

 

"One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way." Frank Smith (Psycholinguist) 

Intent:

At Foxhole Learning Academy we use the Language Angels scheme of work and resources to ensure we offer a relevant, broad, vibrant and ambitious foreign languages curriculum that will inspire and excite our pupils using a wide variety of topics and themes. All pupils will be expected to achieve their full potential by encouraging high expectations and excellent standards in their foreign language learning - the ultimate aim being that pupils will feel willing and able to continue studying languages beyond key stage 2. At Foxhole Learning Academy our chosen modern foreign language is Spanish.

The intent is that all content will be continuously updated and reviewed annually, creating a dynamic programme of study that will be clearly outlined in both long-term and short-term planning. This will ensure that the foreign language knowledge of our pupils progresses within each academic year and is extended year upon year throughout the primary phase and, in so doing, will always be relevant and in line with meeting or exceeding national DfE requirements.The four key language learning skills; listening, speaking, reading and writing will be taught and all necessary grammar will be covered in an age-appropriate way across the Key Stage 2. This will enable pupils to use and apply their learning in a variety of contexts, laying down solid foundations for future language learning and also helping the children improve overall attainment in other subject areas.

Implementation:

All KS2 classes will have access to a very high-quality foreign languages curriculum using the Language Angels scheme of work and resources. This will progressively develop pupil skills in foreign languages through regularly taught and well-planned weekly lessons in Years 3-6 which will be taught by class teachers or language specialists.

Children will progressively acquire, use and apply a growing bank of vocabulary, language skills and grammatical knowledge organised around age-appropriate topics and themes - building blocks of language into more complex, fluent and authentic language.

All teachers will know where every child is at any point in their foreign language learning journey.

The planning of different levels of challenge and which units to teach at each stage of the academic year will be addressed dynamically and will be reviewed in detail annually as units are updated and added to the scheme. Lessons offering appropriate levels of challenge and stretch will be taught at all times to ensure pupils learn effectively, continuously building their knowledge of and enthusiasm for the language they are learning.

Impact: 

As well as each subsequent lesson within a unit being progressive, the teaching type organisation of Language Angels units also directs, drives and guarantees progressive learning and challenge. Units increase in level of challenge, stretch and linguistic and grammatical complexity as pupils move from Early Learning units through Intermediate units and into the most challenging Progressive units. Units in each subsequent level of the teaching type categories require more knowledge and application of skills than the Primary Foreign Languages - Intent, Implementation & Impact Policy Page 5 of 6 previous teaching type. Activities contain progressively more text (both in English and the foreign language being studied) and lessons will have more content as the children become more confident and ambitious with the foreign language they are learning.

 

 

“If children are not introduced to music at an early age, I believe something fundamental is actually being taken away from them.” Pavarotti (Operatic Tenor) 

Intent:

At Foxhole Learning Academy, we want music to be an enjoyable experience for all participants, both children and teachers.  Our music curriculum intends to inspire creativity and self-expression.  Our aim is to foster a life-long love of music by giving the children the opportunities to experience a diverse range of musical styles and to become confident and reflective musicians.

Implementation:

We use the Charanga Musical School Scheme.  This has clear progression and is a practical, exploratory child-led approach to musical learning.   The interrelated dimensions of music are woven throughout the scheme so that all children can develop their musical skills.  Children have the opportunity to listen and appraise, partake in a variety of musical activities (including singing, playing tuned and untuned percussion instruments, improvising, composing) and perform.

There are also other opportunities for music across the curriculum.  Areas of learning, such as times tables in maths, vocabulary in languages and movement in dance can all incorporate different elements of music. A weekly singing assembly allows the children opportunities to develop their singing skills. Events such as the Christmas Nativity, Carol Service, end of year show etc demonstrate that music is important to the life of the school.

Music

“If children are not introduced to music at an early age, I believe something fundamental is actually being taken away from them.”

 

 

 

“No significant learning can occur without a significant relationship.” Dr. James Comer (Professor of Child Psychiatry)

Intent:

 At Foxhole Learning academy it is our intention that all children leave our school as confident happy citizens who are prepared for the next stafe of their education both academically, socially and emotionally. Our PSHE education and Relationships and Health education intends to provides a framework though which key skills, attributes and knowledge can be developed and applied. This promotes positive behaviour, good mental health and wellbeing, resilience and achievement, helping children to stay safe online, develop healthy and safe relationships, making sense of media messages, challenging extreme views and having the skills and attributes to negotiate and assert themselves now and in the future.

 Our curriculum intends to:

 Give pupils the knowledge and develop the self-esteem, confidence and self-awareness to make informed choices and decisions;

• Encourage and support the development of social skills and social awareness;
• Enable pupils to make sense of their own personal and social experiences;
• Promote responsible attitudes towards the maintenance of good physical and mental health, supported by a safe and healthy lifestyle;
• Enable effective interpersonal relationships and develop a caring attitude towards others;
• Encourage a caring attitude towards and responsibility for the environment;
• Help our pupils understand and manage their feelings, build resilience and be independent, curious problem solvers;
• Understand how society works and the laws, rights and responsibilities involved.
• Support our whole school values – ‘The Foxhole Five’ of relationships, wellbeing, kindness, curiosity and creativity.

Implementation

At Foxhole Learning Academy, we use SCARF as a foundation for our PSHE curriculum. We have carefully chosen this as it reflects our school ethos and values and offers a comprehensive scheme of work for PSHE and Wellbeing education.

We follow the six suggested half termly units and adapt the scheme of work where necessary to meet the local circumstances of our school, for example, we may use our local environment as the starting point for aspects of our work. The school council are also consulted as part of our planning, to ensure pupil voice in considered and fed into the planned programme.

The PSHE curriculum works alongside and not in isolation to our whole school ethos and trauma informed approach and can be felt in all aspect of our school life.

Impact

Our curriculum is carefully sequenced to build upon children’s prior learning so that children are increasingly and appropriately challenged as they move up through the school. The impact of this is that children experience a curriculum that reflects their needs, provides them with a voice and equips them with a sound understanding of risk and with the knowledge and skills necessary to make safe and informed decisions. Children leave Foxhole Learning Academy as confident, happy citizens with many happy memories built on strong relationships and a rich and engaging curriculum.

 

 

 

 

 

“Sport teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose - it teaches you about life.” Billie Jean King (Former world No.1 tennis player)

Intent:

Physical Education is an integral part of our curriculum and we strive to create a culture which aims to inspire an active generation to enjoy PE, encourage each other and achieve. We provide a safe and supportive environment for children to flourish in a range of different physical activities which is essential in supporting their physical, emotional, spiritual, social and moral development. We aspire for children to adopt a positive Growth Mindset and believe that anything can be achieved with determination and resilience. At Foxhole Learning Academy we offer a dynamic and varied program of activity to ensure that all children progress physically through a unique and fully inclusive PE curriculum. Our curriculum aims to improve the well-being and fitness of all children, not only through the sporting skills taught, but through the underpinning values and disciplines PE promotes. 

Implementation:

• PE at Foxhole Learning Academy provides challenging and enjoyable learning through a range of sporting activities including; invasion games, net & wall games, strike and field games, gymnastics, dance, swimming and outdoor & adventure.
• The long term plan sets out the PE units which are to be taught throughout the year and ensures that the requirements of the National Curriculum are fully met.
• Pupils participate in two high quality PE lessons each week, covering two sporting disciplines every half term. In addition, children are encouraged to participate in the varied range of extracurricular activities.
• Children are invited to attend competitive sporting events within the local area. This is an inclusive approach which endeavours to encourage not only physical development but also mental well-being. These events also develop teamwork and leadership skills and are very much enjoyed by the children.
• Children in upper KS2 also have the opportunity to learn sailing in partnership with a local sailing club, thus promoting a range of skills and opportunities for our community.
• Each year a small group of Year 6 children are invited to become Sports Leaders for the school. They develop into sporting role models for the younger children, assisting with lunch-time clubs, our annual Sports day and any other Sporting activities.
• Children participate in workshops covering a variety of sports throughout the year. For example archery, outdoor and adventure, boxing and skipping, again providing the children with an opportunity to develop, improve their fitness and to try something new.
• All children have the opportunity to learn to swim, this supportive measure will develop children to pass the 25m length swim before they leave primary school.  
• We are investigating the viability of a “Daily Mile”, to help meet the government target of all children being active for at least 60 minutes a day.

Impact:

We help motivate children to participate in a variety of sports through quality teaching that is engaging and fun. From our lessons, our children learn to take responsibility for their own health and fitness, many of whom also enjoy the success of competitive sports. We equip our children with the necessary skills and a love for sport. They will hopefully grow up to live happy and healthy lives utilising the skills and knowledge acquired through PE.

Sailing

As part of our unique environment and making the most of our local area children take sailing as part of our curriculum. A sequence of lessons leads to children potentially gaining RYA accredited qualifications. Some pupils can leave primary school with an RYA level 2.

We’re grateful to Roseland Youth Sailing Trust for funding sailing lessons every year for our children at Polkerris Beach. The Trust’s support is vital in helping our children achieve RYA sailing and windsurfing qualifications.

This year the Trust secured additional funding from Superyacht Charities – and awarded it all to us. Dina Wheatcroft, chair of Roseland Youth Sailing Trust explains why: “Foxhole Learning Academy has consistently shown its commitment to children’s sailing, so it’s right you should benefit from the very generous donation we received from Superyacht Charities this year.”

Superyacht Charities harnesses the energies and generosity of the companies and individuals working in the superyacht industry to generate funding for charitable causes – also natural disaster relief in third world countries related to the sailing industry. Their award will enable our 20 Ospreys to take to the water this year.

Chairman Derek Munro said: “Learning to sail is exciting and fun. It also teaches attitudes and skills of real value to children in their learning and in their growth into confident young people. And who knows – with so many Cornish people working in the superyacht industry - getting RYA qualifications may one day help the children into quality jobs.”

A huge thank you to Superyacht Charities from all at Foxhole.

 

 

 

 

Early Reading and Phonics

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”    Dr Seus (Author)

Intent 

We are passionate about reading; when our teachers and support staff are passionate and talking about a text this creates a buzz around it and this inspires the children.

Being able to read well matters. It can significantly impact on success in school and beyond. It takes them into imagined worlds far beyond their own experience, and make possible endless opportunities to explore new areas of learning, thinking and ideas. The power of reading is immense, and we want children to be able to take full advantage of the benefits, pleasure and enjoyment that it has to offer. We aim to develop positive attitudes towards reading so every child thinks of themselves as a reader and has fostered a love of the written word in all its various forms. We wish to create a community of readers that share, enjoy and promote reading as a skill and desirable past time.

Implementation 

We teach reading using a whole class shared reading approach once children have successfully completed the Read Write Inc phonics programme. Furthermore, all classes have a wide range of texts from a variety of authors: we have recently reassessed our reading curriculum to ensure that the books feature characters, and are written by authors, from a range of backgrounds, particularly those with SEND and those from ethnic minorities-children need to see themselves and their friends in the books that they read.  These are read to them throughout the year; this helps to promote reading as a desirable past time and something that should be valued and treasured.

Our goal is to motivate children to want to read so they will practice reading independently and, thus, become fluent readers. That happens when children enjoy reading.  At the end of every school day, the class teachers will read and share high quality texts to your children at a level which is beyond their reading age. This ensures that we continue to develop their vocabulary and understanding of characters and plot far beyond their reading level. It also gives them access to worlds and experiences different to their own.

Impact

The impact of our English curriculum can be clearly seen across the school through children talking about their love of reading, the quality of texts the children are reading, the quality of teaching across the school.

At Foxhole Learning Academy, we use the ‘Read Write Inc’ phonics programme designed by Ruth Miskin to teach early reading. The structured programme helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling. At the core of the programme is the lively and vigorous teaching of synthetic phonics. Children learn the 44 common sounds in the English language and how to sound-blend words for reading (decoding) at the same time as developing handwriting skills and spelling (encoding).

We have found that by using the Read Write Inc. programme, children experience success from the very beginning of their reading journey. Lively phonic books are then closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and as children re-read stories their fluency increases. The stories include prompts to support thinking out loud and discussions, helping children develop the skills they need to be successful storytellers.

Read Write Inc. lessons are fun and engaging and all staff who deliver the reading sessions are fully trained. The lessons are taught daily and pupils are regularly assessed and grouped to enable appropriate challenge and pace throughout the programme.

 

"The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking." Albert Einstein (Physicist)

Intent:

At Foxhole Learning Academy our children are SCIENTISTS! Our intent is to give every child a broad and balanced science curriculum which enables them to confidently explore and discover what is around them, so that they have a deeper understanding of the world we live in. We want our children to love science. We want them to have no limits to what their ambitions are and grow up wanting to be astronauts, forensic scientists, toxicologists or microbiologists. We want our children to remember their science lessons in our school, to cherish these memories and embrace the scientific opportunities they are presented with! To achieve this, it involves exciting, practical hands-on experiences that encourage curiosity and questioning. Our aim is that these stimulating and challenging experiences help every child secure and extend their scientific knowledge and vocabulary, as well as promoting a love and thirst for learning. At Foxhole Learning Academy, we have a coherently planned and sequenced curriculum which has been carefully designed and developed with the needs of every child at the centre of what we do. We want to equip our children with not only the minimum statutory requirements of the science National Curriculum but to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. 

Implementation

• All pupils have weekly science lessons.
• Medium term planning is completed by all staff which has been specifically developed for our school.
• All year groups access at least 6 topics per year which focus on giving them the skills and knowledge to become scientists
• Effective use of education visits and visitors are planned, to enrich and enhance the pupil’s learning experiences within the Science curriculum.
• Assemblies are planned to cover any additional sessions that would benefit the whole school.
• Topics are blocked to allow children to focus on developing their knowledge and skills, studying each topic in depth.
• Every year group will build upon the learning from prior year groups therefore developing depth of understanding and progression of skills.
• Teachers promote enjoyment and foster interest in science through their lessons.
• Children explore, question, predict, plan, carry out investigations and observations as well as conclude their findings.
• Children present their findings and learning using science specific language, observations and diagrams.
• In order to support children in their ability to ‘know more and remember more’ there are regular opportunities to review the learning taken place in previous topics as well as previous lessons.
• At the start of each topic children will review previous learning and will have the opportunity to share what they already know about a current topic.
• Children are given a knowledge organiser at the start of each topic which details some key Science Curriculum Statement information, dates and vocabulary. This is not used as part of an assessment, but to support children with their acquisition of knowledge and is used as a reference document.
•  Effective CPD and standardisation opportunities are available to staff to ensure high levels of confidence and knowledge are maintained.
• Teachers use highly effective assessment for learning in each lesson to ensure misconceptions are highlighted and addressed.
• Effective modelling by teachers ensures that children are able to achieve their learning intention, with misconceptions addressed within it.
• Through using a range of assessment tools, differentiation is facilitated by teachers, to ensure that each pupil can access the Science curriculum.

Impact:

The impact of this curriculum design will lead to outstanding progress over time, across key stages, relative to a child’s individual starting point and their progression of skills. Children will therefore be expected to leave Foxhole Learning Academy reaching at least age related expectations for Science. Through various workshops, trips and interactions with experts our Science curriculum will lead pupils to be enthusiastic Science learners and understand that science has changed our lives and that it is vital to the world’s future prosperity. We want to empower our children, so they understand they have the capability to change the world. This is evidenced in a range of ways, including pupil voice, their work and their overwhelming enjoyment for science. We aspire to encourage children to always question and wonder why. So much of science lends itself to outdoor learning, and so we provide children with opportunities to experience this. Pupil voice is used to further develop the Science curriculum, through questioning of pupils’ views and attitudes towards Science, to assess the children’s enjoyment of science, and to motivate learners.

National Curriculum - Science

 

“You can make anything by writing.”  C.S. Lewis (Writer)

Intent 

At Foxhole Learning Academy, we aim to develop children who are clear, effective communicators who respond to their audience and the context appropriately, and in doing so have the opportunity to write in a widening variety of forms for different purposes using appropriate grammar forms. Additionally, we develop their ability to spell correctly, using the Spelling Shed scheme, and to write in a cursive style of handwriting, supporting children of all abilities through appropriate modelling and scaffolding to enable them to express themselves through writing.

 We currently use the Literary Curriculum for writing from Yr. 1/2 up, this immerses children in a literary world, therefore creating strong levels of engagement to provide meaningful and authentic contexts for primary English.

Children become critical readers and acquire an authorial style as they encounter a wide-range of significant authors and a variety of fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

Implementation

Each class in the school has daily writing sessions as it is integral in all other areas of the curriculum. The Foundation Stage follows curriculum guidance for literacy and children have the opportunity to write on a daily basis through own choice and structured adult led tasks throughout the environment. We encourage the children to write independently from an early age. All children who complete RWI lessons have daily opportunities to use and apply the skills taught within the scheme. In EYFS, we also use Greg Bottrill's Drawing Club as a stimulus for writing.

 Writing units generally follow the following structure:

Children are fully immersed in the genre that they are learning and skills are taught explicitly. This may include:

• Text analysis of the writing purpose
• Reading and identifying text and structural features of the purpose/genre. From this a writing toolkit is made by the teacher and/or children to use when they are writing.
• Discrete, explicit teaching of grammar/ punctuation features needed for the writing purpose.
• Teacher modelled, group or individual planning of the text to be written
• Modelled Teaching of skills on a class text:
• Teacher instructed modelling of text including sentence structure to show how the grammar/punctuation objectives can be embedded into the text.

 

Independent Write:

Independent writing from the children incorporating all skills learnt. No teacher input is given at this stage: all work is completely independent of adult intervention.

 Progress Write:

Children then complete their final draft in their Progress books and work is marked using the Babcock assessment grids for their year group.

 Whole School Write:

Once a term, the children in all year groups are given a single prompt, it could be a picture or a video from the Literacy Shed and they all produce a piece of writing based on that. The writing is then displayed so that a clear progression of skills can be seen across the school. There is always much excitement when the display goes up, and the children love to stop and read all the pieces.