Our Curriculum: Reach for the Stars

Our curriculum is designed specifically for our children – giving them what they need to strive and achieve their best.

At Ditton Lodge, we have considered what should drive our curriculum, drawing upon what our children need most in order to become educated citizens.

Our curriculum aims to support children who attend our school by:

• Increase the exposure the children have towards high level VOCABULARY and give opportunities to practise using these words to improve oracy.
• A curriculum that improves KNOWLEDGE of the world, building upon what the children know to create new links.
• Improve the RELATIONSHIPS that the children have with each other, building skills and abilities to work together.
• Underneath our main curriculum drivers are our learning behaviours that we focus on each week. We use words such as Word Hard, Concentrate and Push Yourself.

Long-term plans have been created so that subject coverage is planned sequentially and with a clear rationale for making connections with prior learning, therefore learning is blended and refined.

Curriculum Content

In Early Years, learning experiences are planned for children using direct teaching and a continuous provision model. This model encourages learning through play both indoors and out. Pupils enjoy their learning, whilst being supported and challenged by our Early Years staff when exploring through play and with adult led activities. Literacy, phonics and mathematics opportunities are specifically planned for throughout the day and taught as a whole class.

In Reception we teach adult-directed foundational knowledge daily and CUSP Structured Storytime. Children are given chance to rehearse learning gained here through skilfully planned continuous provision provocations and enhancements.

We use SoundsWrite as our phonics programme in Reception and Key Stage 1. This very highly structured, multi-sensory, incremental and code-oriented, instructional approach to teaching children to read and spell.

We put a great deal of focus on making sure that children quickly develop the skills and knowledge that they need to be able to read fluently and confidently by the end of year 1. We make sure that children’s reading books match the phonics they are taught. Reading is taught through whole class reading lessons in Years 1 to 6. Children are also heard read individually in order to carefully assess and challenge them as well as supporting them to read widely and often.

Across all classes at the school, the mastery approach towards mathematics is followed. Reception to Year 6 follow the White Rose programme. The programme’s principles include high expectations for every child, ‘depth before breadth’, and a focus on problem-solving and conceptual understanding.

Curriculum for Unity Schools Partnership (CUSP)

The Curriculum for Unity School’s Partnership (CUSP) is used for English, science, history, computing, music, French, art, DT and geography. This is an ambitious, evidence-based curriculum with a focus on vocabulary. End points are identified and carefully planned for, building on previous knowledge. Long term plans comprehensively map out what is taught across the school in all subjects See the attached documents for the content of our different subjects within the school’s curriculum. Subjects are taught individually but links are made across different subjects where appropriate.

In other curriculum areas, a coherent subject-specific, knowledge based curriculum has been developed with carefully planned sequences of learning that reflect the 2014 National Curriculum. This includes using Get Set PE and Jigsaw RE.

Parents have the right to withdraw their children from RE lessons. If this is something you would like to do, please contact the school office.

PSHE (which includes RSE) is high profile and taught weekly using SCARF. Our long term plans carefully map out what children will be taught each term so children developing knowledge and skills in the following areas:

• Valuing different family structures
• Developing safe and respectful relationships
• Promoting good health and carrying out first aid
• Operating safely in a digital world
• Creating and maintaining positive friendships
• Understanding the changes that take place during puberty
• Learning to make independent choices and not be influenced by others

For further information about our curriculum, please contact the school office.