How we teach
We believe that children learn best when they feel safe, challenged and loved.
We believe that by defining ourselves as a “Loving School” and by identifying how we live this out in our daily life in school we are supporting the Church of England’s vision for education of:
- Educating for Wisdom Knowledge and Skills
- Educating for Hope and Aspiration
- Educating for Community and Living Well Together
- Educating for Dignity and Respect
For greater detail on the Church of England’s vision for Education visit the full statement here:
https://www.churchofengland.org/more/education-and-schools/vision-education
As a school we have studied the work of Carole Dweck and her thinking and research around the importance of developing a growth mind-set.
https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve
We have shared this with parents and pupils and staff regularly revisit growth mind-set language and approaches. We believe that we cannot all be the best but we can all be our best. Rather than say “I can’t do it” we encourage children to say “I can’t do it yet.” This is a subtle but powerful difference and it is starting to make a positive difference to the resilience and performance of pupils.
To support this thinking we are also inspired by the work of Brene Brown and her research around vulnerability and asking for help. Recognising ourselves as “worth the effort.”
https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability
We are also influenced by the thinking of educationalists such as Rita Pearson:
https://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion
and Sir Ken Robinson:
https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity
https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution#t-265375
As a result of this work we have developed our “Loving School” value which underpins all that we do in school. As a church of England school we believe that everyone is unique and miraculous creation of a loving God. No two people are the same and we recognise this in our approach. Every child is a moment in history, a new learning experience for our staff. Difference and diversity is celebrated through our weekly VIP programme that acknowledges who we are and who we aspire to be. We support children through the use of Emotional Literacy support assistants as well as subscribing to the “Thrive” approach to resilience and behaviour management.
Our vision statement is: “Growing in the Forest”
This describes several forms of “growth”
- Physical growth
- Growing in wisdom and knowledge
- Spiritual growth
- Growing community
By using our guidance for outstanding provision, our loving school ethos and the national curriculum we aspire to create the most effective curriculum to meet the needs of our children. We do this by rigorously planning, reviewing and reflecting on what we teach and how we teach it. We want our pupils to know how to learn and to present their learning in exciting and innovative ways and we want them to take their learning home and extend it through use of their cloud based Google Drive and home learning projects with parents. We aim to keep parents fully informed and help them to understand how they can work in partnership with us to bring about the best outcomes for each pupil. This is what we are here for and it serves everyone well if pupils succeed and move on to secondary school as confident, resilient, articulate learners who are well balanced and rounded people with a sense of social and moral responsibility.
And so we finish where we began. This is what we want our pupils to be when they leave us:
Much of the learning at Bransgore Primary School is based upon our new enquiry based curriculum which we are developing in response to changes in the national curriculum. To develop our revised curriculum, we asked ourselves, what does a child need to be able to do and what qualities should they display if they are to be successful as they move to secondary school and further on into the world of work? As a staff, parents, governors and pupils we came up with the following ideas which we have represented as a Wordle. The larger the word, the more often it was used.
We next asked ourselves, if these are the qualities we want our pupils to possess as learners, how can we provide a curriculum which helps them to develop these attributes? From this discussion has emerged our Bransgore Curriculum. This curriculum is based upon our view of what makes outstanding provision. We have a new 2 year rolling programme of enquiry based learning which will evolve term by term, improving and refining as we go. Our document outlining the elements we feel contribute to outstanding provision is here:
Home - Learning Projects
An important new development are our home learning projects. As well as basic re-inforcement and consolidation work at home, we would like children to get creative with our half-termly home learning projects. Pupils can choose to present their learning about a theme in a dynamic way. The hope is that parents, extended family or friends might get involved too. Build a model, make a poster, create a powerpoint, write a poem or booklet or even bake a cake!
Parents — how you can be involved
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Look at parent’s information letter from phase leaders
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Supply resources from home and support home learning projects
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Respond to requests for help
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Talk to the children about their work
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Remember that children should enjoy learning
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Celebrate the exit point with your child at the end of each unit. Invitations will be sent offering the opportunity to visit the classroom
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Here are some links to really useful resources provided by Rising Stars called a Parent's Giude to the New Curriculum:
The Complete Guide to the New Curriculum | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6
What we teach
At Bransgore we teach our thematic learning using a two year rolling programme:
Theme Overview - Year A
Year Group |
Autumn 1 |
Autumn 2 |
Spring 1 |
Spring 2 |
Summer 1 |
Summer 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Foundation |
Who am I
|
Lets Party
|
Once Upon a Time
|
Is It Magic?
|
Vroom!
|
All At Sea
|
Years 1&2 |
Back in the day |
Weather Experts
|
Emergency |
Senses
|
How we grow |
Food chains
|
Years 3&4 |
Local environment study |
Egyptians
|
Fashion |
Farm to fork
|
The Anglo Saxons |
Vikings
|
Years 5&6 |
The Mayan Civilisation | Evolution and Adaptation | Fairgrounds and theme parks | They see the world like this. | Life Cycles | |
Theme Overview - Year B
Year Group |
Autumn 1 |
Autumn 2 |
Spring 1 |
Spring 2 |
Summer 1 |
Summer 2 |
Foundation |
Who am I
|
Lets Party
|
Once Upon a Time
|
Is It Magic?
|
Vroom!
|
All At Sea
|
Years 1&2 |
Autumn Watch |
Great Fire of London
|
Toys |
Structures
|
Seaside |
Voagers
|
Years 3&4 |
Local geography study |
Stone Age |
Volcanoes & Earthquakes |
Romans
|
Rainforests |
Habitats
|
Years 5&6 |
Mountains and Rivers | Tudor Times | Evacuee- Life in Britain WWII | The UK- Investigating who we are | Ancient Greece | Summer Watch |
To view how specific topics are taught you can scroll down the page:
National Curriculum coverage by Year Group:
Source: Michael Tidd 2013
National Curriculum coverage by Topic:
English
Our curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:
ReadWriteInc is our literacy programme for teaching children how to read and write as well as develop their speaking and listening, comprehension, grammar, punctuation and spelling skills. It is introduced to children in Foundation and continues into Key Stage 1. The majority of children will have completed this programme by the end of the autumn term in Year 2. Click here to find advice for parents | Phonics Handbook |
Maths
Our curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:
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Science
At Bransgore Primary School we teach Science through our topic based curriculum which allows the children to make links between Science and the other subjects they are studying. Science is taught by using an enquiry approach and the children are encouraged to develop and investigate their own scientific questions.In the Early Years we use our big ‘Why’ book and ask the children what they want to find out then give them the resources to try and find out the answers through exploration and investigation.In Key Stage 1 the topics are used to generate scientific questions and investigation. The children are encourages to answer these in different ways by:
In Key Stage 2 the children’s scientific knowledge of the world is broadened further by exploring, talking about, testing and developing ideas about everyday phenomena and the relationships between living things and familiar environments. They also start conducting scientific enquiries by observing changes over time, noticing patterns, grouping and classifying things and carrying out simple comparative and fair tests. |
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Computing
Our curriculum for computing aims to ensure that all pupils:
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Religious EducationR.E. is taught using an enquiry-based approach to teaching and learning. We use 'Understanding Christianity' as our main scheme of work accompanied by the 'Discovery R.E.' scheme. ‘Understanding Christianity’ and 'Discovery R.E.' syllabuses. We make use of cross-curricular links and learning, such as with ICT, PSHCE, P4C, drama, art and music to enhance teaching. More information can be found here - Religious Education Policy | Loving Schools Document | Long Term Plan | |
Geography
We teach Geography through our theme based curriculum which allows the children to make links between geography and the other subjects they are studying. Children will be taught:
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Art & DesignWe teach Art and Design through our topic based curriculum (link to overview) which allows the children to make links between art and design and the other subjects they are studying.
Children will be taught:
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Design & Technology
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Modern Foreign LanguagesFrench is taught to all children in Key Stage 2 using the Language Angels programme. |
Music
Music is taught using the Music Express programme. We also offer ukulele lessons, choir and offer clarinet, flute and saxophone lessons.
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Physical Education & SportSport and Physical Education are very important at Bransgore and we pride ourselves on the range of activities we can offer both within and beyond the curriculum. Physical Education develops the children’s knowledge, skills and understanding, so that they can perform with increasing competence and confidence in a range of physical activities. These include athletics, dance, games, gymnastics, outdoor and adventurous activities, swimming and water safety. We encourage active playtimes and our older pupils are trained as play leaders supporting the younger children. P.E promotes an understanding in children of their bodies in action. It involves thinking, selecting and applying skills and promotes positive attitudes towards a healthy lifestyle whilst at the same time building self- confidence. Through this approach we aim to help pupils make informed and positive choices about physical activity throughout their lives. We have used our P.E./Sports Premium Funding to employ a qualified dance teacher and gym coach. These areas of the P.E. curriculum have significantly improved as a result of this excellent provision. Competitive Sport supported by a positive and enabling ethos is encouraged throughout the school. Children are given the opportunity within lessons to compete against each other in a variety of different games. Intra school competitions take place regularly as well as inter school competitions where the children compete against other schools. We have recently introduced new “house teams” so that we are more easily able to organise pupils for small intra school tournaments during our golden times. This year Sports Leaders from Ringwood Secondary School supported our sports days and half termly bench ball and football interhouse tournaments. We aim to use the forthcoming World cup to fire pupils’ interest in sport. Here at Bransgore we endeavour to motivate and encourage as many of our children to participate in a range of sporting activities as they can beyond the curriculum. We aim to do this by fostering links with local sports clubs, coaches and our feeder secondary schools. We aim to expose pupils to the widest possible range of physical activity so they may find something they excel at or enjoy and which may become a lifelong passion or pastime. We aim to light the spark and then, if necessary, help pupils who show exceptional skills or talent to make contact with clubs and coaches who can help take their development to the highest possible level. In recognition of our commitment to School Sport we have signed up to the Sainsbury’s School Games award and website where we shall register and record our sporting endeavours. |
History
We teach Design and Technology through our topic based curriculum (link to overview) which allows the children to make links between design and technology and the other subjects they are studying. When designing and making children are taught to:
