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National Curriculum Subjects

Please find some more information about our curriculum below.

Maths

How our Maths contributes to our whole school curriculum intent.

Intention one: Our learners will achieve excellent and sustained academic progress.

Manley Park is fully committed to mastery teaching within mathematics. Our Maths curriculum is built on a concrete-pictorial-abstract approach to teaching Maths that values exploration over instruction and is underpinned by reasoning.

Intention two: Our learners will develop effective lifelong learning behaviours.

The Master section of lessons allows children to develop an understanding of a concept together, building on ideas in the MNP textbook. Guided practice sees children employ the new skill under the guidance of peers and teachers. Workbooks are opportunities to see what the children can do themselves. 

Intention three: Our learners will be supported to think critically and creatively.  

Journal entries keep mathematical reasoning central to our curriculum and allow the children to express their reasoning in four different contexts (investigative, descriptive, creative and evaluative) and for personal refection.

Intention four: Our learners will become well-informed and responsible citizens.

Our lessons begin with a word problem, set in a variety of worldwide contexts and shared by children from many diverse backgrounds. Our Maths study allows children to learn about the world around them and the people they will come into contact with in society.

 

Why we want excellent Maths at Manley Park Primary School.

 

How we will achieve it and how we will know we are being successful?

Intent

  • Manley Park is fully committed to mastery teaching within mathematics. We are using a mastery approach across the whole school and have been doing so for a number of years. 
  • Much of the success for our pupils can be attributed to following a Maths curriculum built on a concrete-pictorial-abstract approach to teaching Maths that values exploration and  instruction and is underpinned by reasoning. 
  • Visitors to our school could expect to see exploration of problems, peer collaboration, personal reflection, guided practice and independent practice within our Maths lessons.

 

Implementation 

How leaders monitor and implement expectations for mathematics:
  • Maths CPD
  • Maths workshop
  • Teaching staff attend maths no problem training
  • Book looks
  • R.I.
  • National curriculum as a starting point.
  • Spiral curriculum 
  • The subject is taught for five hours per week
  • Key subject specific vocabulary is established for each unit of work 
  • Subject monitoring completed each term inc. pupil voice, book looks and learning walk
  • Bespoke support provided to staff 

 

Impact 
  • Data
  • Staff voice (subject knowledge/resourcing)
  • Accreditation from MNP
  • External visits from North West Maths Hub
  • Pupils will be ready for their stage of education within and across year groups
  • Pupil voice, learning walks and book looks will be used to evaluate and enhance curriculum impact 
  • Pupils will be assessed individually using the well developed component skills and knowledge during each unit of work (where children have not reached component parts, ind support will be provided)
  • Childrens examples will be provided for each year group to support moderation and understanding of the expected standard.
  • Early Learning Goals and Ready to Progress Criteria form our assessment programme

 

Our Rationale - why we do what we do and why we have chosen this

 

EYFS

Our Reception approach matches KS1 and KS2 with a concrete-pictorial-abstract approach, mastering early number, Maths No Problem workbooks and the beginnings of journaling. MNP acts as a mastery curriculum that allows children to achieve the Early Learning Goals and bridge into KS1. Our Nursery curriculum is built from the Development Matters framework and the MNP strands for EYFS, laying the groundwork for the concepts of the Reception year and following a similar structure in terms of content.

 

KS1 and KS2

Our mastery approach continues from EYFS and through the school. Outside of EYFS, we continue to use a concrete-pictorial-abstract approach where exploration is valued even with our eldest pupils. This exploration is coupled with a continuation of direct instruction and independent work. Adaptations include the use of manipulatives and again these are used with our eldest pupils as well as our youngest. 

At KS1, Mastering Early Number enables our youngest children to develop their number facts and parent maths programmes aid their development at home as well as in school. The KS2 Mastering Number programme takes this further, introducing times tables fluency and formal methods coupled with problem-solving and reasoning in a variety of contexts. Throughout both key stages, the maths no problem textbooks allow our teachers to focus on the how of learning and tackling misconceptions whilst providing challenge for all.

The journaling first introduced in EYFS is developed through four journal types, beginning in Y1 with investigative before all four are introduced alongside independent journals for assessment.

 

How we teach Maths at Manley Park Primary School.

 

All lessons begin with a problem, giving a proper context to children’s mathematical learning.

The Master section of lessons allows children to develop an understanding of a concept together, building on ideas in the MNP textbook.

Guided practice sees children employ the new skill under the guidance of peers and teachers.

Workbooks are opportunities to see what the children can do themselves. At Manley Park, the first question in the workbook is a hinge question designed to show this understanding.

MNP allows children to journey into depth looking at concepts, acting as a mastery curriculum.

Journal entries keep mathematical reasoning central to our curriculum and allow the children to express their reasoning in four different contexts (investigative, descriptive, creative and evaluative) and for personal reflection.

Some maths lessons or group of lessons will end in an EXIT question, again allowing children to show their independent levels of understanding.

A new way of thinking and teaching

Whole class moves through content at the same pace

When teaching maths for mastery, the whole class moves through topics at broadly the same pace. Each topic is studied in depth and the teacher does not move to the next stage until all children demonstrate that they have a secure understanding of mathematical concepts.

Time to think deeply about the maths

Students are given time to think deeply about the maths and really understand concepts at a relational level rather than as a set of rules or procedures. This slower pace leads to greater progress because it ensures that students are secure in their understanding and teachers don’t need to revisit topics once they’ve been covered in depth.

Builds self-confidence in learners

In a traditional primary school maths lesson, children are put in different groups and given different content based on their anticipated ability. This means that from an early age children are classed as those who can and can’t “do maths”. Teaching maths for mastery is different because it offers all pupils access to the full maths curriculum. This inclusive approach, and its emphasis on promoting multiple methods of solving a problem, builds self-confidence and resilience in pupils.

Adjusts through depth rather than acceleration

Though the whole class goes through the same content at the same pace, there is still plenty of opportunity for adjustment and adaptation. Unlike the old model, where advanced learners are accelerated through new content, those pupils who grasp concepts quickly are challenged with rich and sophisticated problems within the topic. Those children who are not sufficiently fluent are provided additional support to consolidate their understanding before moving on.

Basis for the 2014 National Curriculum For Maths

Teaching maths for mastery is a key plank of the Government’s education reforms and is reflected in the 2014 English national curriculum for mathematics. The NCETM, Department for Education and OFSTED have all endorsed this evidence-based approach which is a key part of the work within the Maths Hubs Programme.

International research

Singapore Maths is a mastery approach to teaching which has produced a world-class level of achievement for many years. Singapore students scored first in the past three Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS). These studies are conducted by the International Association for Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Singapore’s 4th and 8th grade students scored top place for Mathematics in 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007.

UK adoption

The Department for Education, the National Centre for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics (NCETM), the National Curriculum Review Committee and OFSTED have all emphasised the pedagogy and heuristics developed in Singapore. Today, maths textbooks based on the Singapore Maths approach are being used in thousands of schools across the UK and have been widely adopted by the Department for Education’s Maths Hub.

 

 

 

 

 

English

How our English Curriculum contributes to our whole school curriculum intent.

 

Intention one: Our learners will achieve excellent and sustained academic progress.

 

Our tightly constructed curriculum documents ensure the National Curriculum is covered in a carefully sequenced and progressive manner. Linking to our whole school approach to mastery and our spiral curriculum, three week English units provide an immersive, creative and collaborative environment in which children learn to read and write. The low-floor, high-ceiling nature of the units supports and engages all levels of learners. We have carefully mapped out genres and texts so that our children have a broad range of knowledge and skills which provide a secure foundation for future progress.  Beyond an English unit, we provide additional opportunities for English learning. These include our Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Phonics programme, spelling lessons, class readers, handwriting and systems for reading for pleasure at school and at home. Rigorous assessment and our suite of English interventions ensures that every child makes good progress and no child gets left behind.

 

Intention two: Our learners will develop effective lifelong learning behaviours.

 

English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society. A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. To ensure our children have a high-quality education in English, we have combined a blend of techniques from different experts with our own research. This has contributed to our curriculum and pedagogy documents in Reading, Writing and Spelling. These documents align with whole school approaches, themes and values, enabling children to learn to do things ‘the Manley Park way’. 

 

Intention three: Our learners will be supported to think critically and creatively.  

 

The English curriculum at Manley Park Primary School is delivered in a purposeful, immersive and scaffolded way. This approach to the English curriculum sits alongside our whole-school approaches for challenge, reasoning, questioning and feedback. Speaking and listening and P4C sit firmly within our English approaches; we seek every opportunity to promote critical and creative thinking.

 

Intention four: Our learners will become well informed and responsible citizens.

 

All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society; pupils, therefore, who do not learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently are effectively disenfranchised. We provide a real-life purpose for speaking and listening (including P4C), reading and writing (including spelling). Our reading spine and genre progression ensure that our children acquire knowledge that builds on what they already know, and gives them the skills to continue to do this when they leave our school.

 

Why we want an excellent English curriculum at Manley Park Primary School / How we will achieve it and how we will know we are being successful 

 

Intent:

 

Our aim is to enable all children at Manley Park to communicate effectively and become critical thinkers in English. We want our children to become scholars of literature, having been exposed to a broad and purposeful range of genres throughout their school life with us. Our genre progression ensures that children are able to inform/be informed, entertain/be entertained and persuade/be persuaded. Our aim is to give children a rich and broad experience of texts. Through our understanding of reading as a ‘message gaining, problem solving’ activity and writing as a ‘message sending, problem solving’ activity, our children leave Manley Park able to demonstrate reciprocity, using their reading skills in their writing and vice versa. We aim for our children to be playful with their language: when they read, adding expression for different characters, and when they write, playing with words as they might play with sand and water. In reading, we aim for our children to read widely for pleasure and for purpose, making their own choices when doing so. In writing our children are passionate and willing to take risks; evident in their independent writing for a specific purpose. Our reading spine enriches all elements of our English curriculum, drawing links between areas of the curriculum to consolidate learning and offering a broad range of genres around topics in order that children develop preferences in their literature choices and leave the school as ‘mini-scholars’, ready for high school texts.

 

Implementation:

 

We ensure that the intentions of the subject become the reality for our children:

  • The National curriculum is our starting point. 

  • Our Reading, Writing and Spelling curriculum documents break down skills and knowledge. 

  • Learning is sequenced through long term planning documents, which include revisits (contributing towards a spiral curriculum).

  • Key texts and enrichment texts are mapped out in our genre map and reading spine.

  • Units of work are sequenced to ensure both coverage and a journey that incorporates our ‘reading into writing’ approach.

  • The subject is taught for five hours a week as part of a unit, as well as an additional English slot focusing on spelling, class reading, reading for pleasure and handwriting. Phonics is taught from Year N to Year 1.

  • Key subject specific vocabulary is established through Book Talk words, our Words and Sentence Progression document and Vocabulary Vaults (these are co-constructed with the children).

  • Subject specific pedagogy CPD for all staff is provided regularly.

  • Key composite skills and knowledge (end points) established for each year group throughout the school, through our FFT Assessment system. This is updated regularly throughout the year.

  • Subject monitoring is completed each term through pupil voice, book looks and learning walk. The English Lead monitors early in the year if there is compliance and coverage of the English curriculum, through planning scrutiny and book looks. In late Autumn and early Spring, the English Lead evaluates the impact, quality and effectiveness of English teaching and learning, through planning scrutiny, pupil voice, book looks and learning walks. In late Spring and early Summer, the English lead moderates the effectiveness of English as a whole, through triangulating data and ensuring work and assessment meets the standard expected. Throughout this process, the impact of our work is considered. Strengths and areas for development are highlighted, with support given to improve standards at the earliest opportunity.

  • Bespoke support is provided to staff. This includes an induction programme for new staff and frequent Reflective Inquiry sessions in English lessons.

 

 Impact:

 
  • Pupils are ready for their stage of education within and across year groups. For pupils falling behind, the Reading Virtual Class helps to ensure they have the right support at the right time.

  • Pupil voice, learning walks and book looks are used to evaluate and enhance curriculum impact. 

  • Pupils are assessed individually using ongoing assessment on FFT. Targets are identified and shared.

  • End points on FFT (used for data submission) are used to support transitions and develop curriculum design.

 

Our Rationale - why we do what we do and why we have chosen this

 

Speaking and Listening, for Purpose and for Pleasure

  • "Reading and writing float on a sea of talk."

  • We understand that thinking and talking is the starting point for English teaching and learning, and we allow time for this.

  • We create a climate of enquiry, in which children challenge themselves and others.

  • In P4C, we provide purposeful stimuli to engage and inspire learners.

  • We have high expectations of our children’s Standard English and oral rehearsal before writing.

  • We feed our children’s inquisitive nature: we encourage critical and creative thinking, we investigate concepts and ‘Big Ideas’, we play with words/sentences and we constantly explore language.

 

Reading for Purpose, Reading for Pleasure

  • We regularly model reading for pleasure and purpose, teaching children how to make choices about what they read and how to incorporate new vocabulary for comprehension and to support writing. This is achieved through class reader time (incorporating ‘slow reading’, ‘choral reading’ and ‘wringing text for meaning’) and specific reading slots in which a range of strategies are used to teach the children how to read.

  • For English lessons, we select our texts based on their literary merit. When possible, we also make links to the current theme and EI value; this helps our children make connections across English, the curriculum and the wider world.

  • Additional texts in the learning environment provide a breadth and depth around themes and ideas, through a range of literary genres. By the end of their time in MPPS, children will have been exposed to a broad, interesting range of literature.

  • Within the framework of English Unit planning (which provides structure and clarity), we vary our emphasis on different reading skills and different question types and skills at different times for maximum impact. Our objectives and skills are sequenced incrementally throughout the year, in line with increasing attainment.

  • We demonstrate and teach comprehension skills explicitly, through a range of question types/domains

  • We plan purposeful opportunities for children to read their own writing to an audience.

 

Writing for Purpose, Writing for Pleasure

  • We ensure that there is a positive writing atmosphere - our children get plenty of time to write and are confident about where they can seek support through purposeful resourcing (writing toolkits, co-constructed success criteria and accessible planning formats) and consistent displays.

  • We plan writing for real purpose and for a range of audiences to ensure it is meaningful. Children are invested and know ‘why’ they’re writing.

  • As with all subjects, we celebrate mistakes and use them as a learning tool to provide support and challenge.

  • We encourage creative writing by providing children with opportunities to experiment with language techniques through lenses and sentence types.

  • During the immersion and imitation stages, we provide an aspirational model (usually our own) of what independent writing should look like, so that our children know what they should aim for.

 

How we teach English at Manley Park Primary School.

We use Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised as our Phonics programme. This is available here:

www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk

English is taught across the school in both discrete lessons and alongside the wider curriculum. These discrete lessons are taught in ‘Units’ of around three weeks, in which we teach reading and writing (following Pie Corbett’s immersion, imitation, innovation model).

 

What you will see:

  P4C/Experience: At carefully chosen points within suitable units, you will see children actively discussing engaging stimuli to develop ideas and deepen knowledge and concepts. This process is underpinned by the P4C (Philosophy For Children) ethos; you will see high-quality dialogue, children constructing their opinions from different viewpoints and exploring concepts in-depth. You might also see other types of ‘experience’ lessons which immerse children in drama, stimuli or a trip, to enrich reading and writing.
 

Reading: In the first week of a unit of learning, you will see opportunities for all children to participate in whole-class reading. We teach and practise the skills of reading and model high-level ‘book talk’. In EYFS and Key stage 1, you will see systematic synthetic phonics taught, which includes reading practice sessions. Outside of English lessons, you will see wider reading opportunities with appropriate reading material (taken from our in-school Reading Spine, theme boxes, banded books and phonics books). Class Reader and/or Reading for Pleasure slots increase reading miles and promote daily reading at home. 

 

Writing: In the middle part of an English unit, you will see children learn to write with their reader in mind. You will see how, over time, high-level teacher modelling and examples allow children to master the nuances of the English language and gain a deeper knowledge of the impact of their word and sentence choices. You will see how we deal in ‘chunks of sense’ when forming writing, thinking about how we ‘hold our readers’ hands’ when developing writing skills and moving from plot-point to plot-point in fiction or across the structure of a non-fiction text. ‘Worked examples’ are built, unpicked, shared and displayed throughout a unit in order to immerse children in a range of different sentence possibilities (through the ‘lenses’ of writing and different ‘sentence types’). In the final week of a unit, you will see a series of lessons that follow a ‘pathway’ from co–constructed success criteria, to independent writing with ‘pause points’ to an editing process named ‘Edit Stations’. This part of a unit gives children the opportunity to choose what they wish to write about and gives them a purpose for their writing.

 

Spelling: You will see spelling taught in short discrete lessons (mapped using our Words and Sentences Progression document). In addition, one part of each English unit is devoted to a spelling ‘journal’ style lesson, in which you will see children solve spelling problems. Alongside this you will see spelling taught incidentally throughout an English unit through sentence challenges and ongoing modelling.

 

 

 

Science

How our Science Curriculum contributes to our whole school curriculum intent.

 

Intention one: Our learners will achieve excellent and sustained academic progress.

To ensure excellent and sustained academic progress in Science at Manley Park, we have carefully organised our long term plan to make sure all the learning is building on prior knowledge. The sequence of lessons within each subject has been thoroughly thought through to ensure that our learners  can build connections between their learning in the three core areas of Science. All pupils are taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of Science.

Intention two: Our learners will develop effective lifelong learning behaviours.

Science lessons are a great opportunity in our school for children to embed effective learning behaviours. Indeed, our lessons involve learning knowledge and concepts but also experimenting and exploring to help understand the world around us. 

Intention three: Our learners will be supported to think critically and creatively.  

The incorporation of the strand ‘Working Scientifically’ throughout our curriculum is key to encouraging our children to think creatively and critically. Within lessons, children are challenged to formulate their own questions then design their own experiment and finally draw their own conclusions.

Intention four: Our learners will become well informed and responsible citizens.

Part of our Science curriculum is to present different scientists to our children. At Manley Park, we have decided alongside historical figures of Science to introduce to our children the great diversity of scientists currently working all around the world. We believe that providing diverse role models allows each and every child to think of themselves as a scientist.

 

Why we want excellent Science at Manley Park Primary School

How we will achieve it and how we will know we are being successful 

 

Intent

Science education provides children with the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity. All pupils are taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of Science. Through building up a body of knowledge and concepts, pupils are encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena.

 

Implementation

Rigorously planned unit plans have been designed in our school to ensure that each topic is logically sequenced and to provide all the teachers with the needed subject knowledge to deliver high quality science lessons.

Teachers are using assessment for and of learning through hinge and exit questions to inform their planning.

Thorough monitoring ensures that the science coordinator has exact information in order to move the subject forward.

 

Impact 

Children’s work shows a variety of topics, a variety of enquiries and clear progression within their year group and throughout their primary school journey. 

Children are enthusiastic about science and are able to formulate relevant questions building on their prior knowledge.

Expectations about teaching and learning science are clear in our school and this allows children to make good progress.

 

Our Rationale - why we do what we do and why we have chosen this

 

EYFS

In EYFS, our children have the opportunity to be taught explicitly the objectives that need to be covered within Development Matters. However, they have opportunities to revisit  the learning from the taught sessions freely within the learning environment. The order we have chosen for the objectives to be taught links with the Theme for each half-term and consequently with the key texts that we use during our English sessions. 

 

KS1

In KS1, the topics ‘seasonal changes’ and ‘plants’ are delivered throughout the year. We believe that these topics benefit from being revisited each half-term in order to give the children a broad understanding of seasons and plants throughout the year.

Everyday materials are consolidated in year 2 as this is a dense topic before moving on to the uses of everyday materials.

 

KS2 & LKS2

The organisation of the units within LKS2 has been thought through to ensure that the children can build on their prior knowledge and that their new learning will be ready for UKS2. In year 3, the chemistry unit on rocks has been linked to the children’s learning in history on the Stone Age. Within year 4, the unit of chemistry is taught in Spring 1 so that the pupils can use this knowledge to understand in Summer 1 and 2 how sound travels in different media.

 

UPKS2

Earth and Space is taught in year 6 to ensure progress from the topic forces in year 5. To balance the curriculums, the topic light is taught at the end of year 5 building on from the topic light at the end of year 3 to ensure that this topic is revisited at a reasonable distance of KS3.

For similar reasons, properties and changes of materials are taught at the end of year 5.

To ensure that the children’s science knowledge is ready for secondary school, a consolidation half term has been designed for the end of year 6.

 

How we teach Science at Manley Park Primary School.

 

EYFS

In Nursery, children are taught Science specific vocabulary within High Focus activities. Through High Focus activities they have the opportunity to explore resources that are practical and relevant to their learning. After the High Focus activities, the resources are made available in the learning environment and the children can access them freely deepening their understanding. An adult will support children to make sure that the understanding has been embedded and ask the children questions that will challenge them further.

In Reception teachers model vocabulary that links with their learning during their Theme teaching sessions but also through some of the Literacy texts. The children in Reception have learning challenges that are linked with the Understanding of the World aspect of Development Matters. Through the learning challenges, the children access resources that are relevant to the objective that is being covered and the adults support the children while they explore their learning in and around Reception. 

 

KS1 and KS2

In our school, the science lessons are organised around the 5Es (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate). This structure not only ensures that the pupils take ownership of their learning with a hands-on approach, but also provides opportunities of assessment for learning to inform the teacher’s planning. The ‘engage’ part of the lesson is always linked to a working scientifically objective to revisit these regularly throughout the years and within diverse topics. We also use enquiry types and skills logos to secure the pupil’s understanding of working scientifically.

 

 

 

 

 

Art & Design

How our Art and Design Curriculum contributes to our whole school curriculum intent.

 

Intention one: Our learners will achieve excellent and sustained academic progress.

Our carefully planned curriculum documents ensure that the National Curriculum is sequenced in a progressive, creative and engaging manner from Nursery to Year 6. Linking to our whole school approach, our spiral curriculum ensures that children are able to build on the skills and knowledge they have learnt on a biyearly basis. 

Intention two: Our learners will develop effective lifelong learning behaviours.

A high quality education in art and design provides our children with enhanced fine motor skills, hand eye coordination and problem solving skills. Children develop their creativity, critical thinking, risk-taking, decision making and inventiveness. Visual art teaches children about colour, scale, perspective and form whilst the study of great artists develops children’s understanding of how art and design shaped history and contributed to the culture, creativity and wealth of the nation.  

Intention three: Our learners will be supported to think critically and creatively. 

Our art and design lessons enable children to develop their creative skills using a range of media and contexts. Children critically analyse artists from local, national and international backgrounds in order to develop an understanding and awareness of how art and design has shaped our history and contributed to culture, creativity and wealth. 

Intention four: Our learners will become well informed and responsible citizens.

Throughout their MPPS journey, children will gain the skills and knowledge to express themselves in a creative and innovative way. They will explore how art makes them feel and learn to share their thoughts with those around them. Children will learn to take-risks and reevaluate their ideas, they will learn resilience and patience, understanding that time and how you use it is essential in a successful project. 

 

Why we want excellent Art at Manley Park Primary School

How we will achieve it and how we will know we are being successful 

 

Intent

  • Art will engage, inspire and challenge our pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. 
  • Pupils will become experienced in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art and design techniques. 
  • As children progress, they will think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design.
  •  Pupils will know about the great artists and designers; and understand how art and design has shaped our history and contributed to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation. 
  • Pupils will produce collaborative and independent creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences. 
 

Implementation 

  • The implementation and teaching of the Art and Design curriculum at MPPS is based on the National Curriculum and units of work, developed by our Art subject leader, ensuring well-structured progression in art. 
  • Using the National Curriculum objectives as a guide, the curriculum has been broken down across year groups or phases to ensure clear progression and coverage. 
  • The children are taught art each half-term as we alternate with our Design and Technology curriculum. 
  • The Art LTP shows the distribution of our art disciplines. As a fundamental skill drawing is taught in each year group and bumped into all projects. By the end of each phase painting, sculpture, printing and collage are all completed and built on the previous phases skills and knowledge. 
  • Each unit of work follows a clear structure: artist analysis, focus tasks on skills, design ideas, make and evaluate, all of which are encompassed by knowledge. 
  • Key artists, designers structures
  • Key vocabulary is established for each unit.
  • Key composite (end points) skills and knowledge has been established for each year group throughout the school. 
  • Key component (check points) skills and knowledge have been identified and included in each unit of work. 
  • Subject monitoring is completed each term, this includes pupil voice, book looks and learning walks carried out by the art subject leader. 
 

Impact 

Children will become creative and innovative learners, who have an array of knowledge about the great artists of the world. Creativity and interpretation of artwork will be celebrated and children will become confident in editing and improving their work. Teachers will place emphasis on individuality and provide children with the freedom to explore art using their imaginations. 

  • Pupils will be ready for their stage of education within and across the year groups. 
  • Pupil voice, learning walks and book looks will be used to evaluate and enhance curriculum impact 
  • Pupils will be assessed individually using the well developed component skills and knowledge during each unit of work (where children have not reached component parts, individual support will be provided)
  • Childrens examples will be provided for each year group to support moderation and understanding of the expected standard.
  • End points will be assessed as a cohort and that will be used to support transitions and develop curriculum design.

 

Our Rationale - why we do what we do and why we have chosen this

EYFS - In the Early Years, our children have the opportunity to be taught explicitly the Physical and  Expressive Art and Design objectives that need to be covered within the Development Matters document. Children develop, explore and investigate these new skills freely in their learning environment following their taught sessions.  The order we have the objectives are taught links closely with our school themes in each half team and key texts explored in their English units. 

KS1 - In KS1, our children complete six Art and Design units (Drawing, Painting, 3D sculpture, Printing and Collage) alternating with our Design and Technology projects. Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils use their knowledge, understanding and skills to replicate, imitate and innovate designs to produce their final pieces. Our spiral curriculum enables children to revisit, build on and consolidate their skills and knowledge as they work through each project. 

 

KS2 - In KS2, our children complete 12 Art and Design units (4xDrawing, 2xPainting, 2x3D sculpture, 2xPrinting and 2xCollage) alternating with our Design and Technology projects. Similar to KS1, children use their knowledge, understanding and skills to be imaginative and innovative in their final pieces, inspired by the work of great artists and designers. Our spiral curriculum enables children to revisit, build on and consolidate their skills and knowledge as they work through each project.

 

How we teach Art and design at Manley Park Primary School.

 

EYFS - In Nursery, children are taught Art and Design specific vocabulary within High Focus activities. During these activities, they have the opportunity to explore techniques, resources and materials that are practical and relevant to their learning. Once High Focus activities are completed, children explore what they have learnt further in their learning environment, supported by an adult to make sure understanding is secure. 

In Reception, teachers model vocabulary linked to themes and their Literacy texts. Each week, children are taught a ‘technique of the week’ which develops objectives from the Physical and Expressive Art and Design aspects of Development Matters. Through the technique of the week, the children access resources that are relevant to the objective and the adults support the children while they explore their learning in and around the Reception learning environment.

KS1 & KS2 - At Manley Park, Art and Design lessons are organised around the 4 key elements (design, make, evaluate and knowledge). This structure not only ensures that the pupils take ownership of their learning with a hands-on approach, but also provides opportunities of assessment for learning as the unit’s progress. Pupils begin each unit with an analysis of a product, artist or designer, followed by focus lessons on specific skills, generation of ideas, creation of their final piece and finally an evaluation.  

 

 

 

 

 

Computing

How our Computing Curriculum contributes to our whole school curriculum intent.

 

Intention one: Our learners will achieve excellent and sustained academic progress.

The structure and delivery of Computing over the course of the Key Stages delivers a consistent and regular engagement with core Computing concepts and National Curriculum objectives. With each reengagement, our curriculum builds upon and broadens out the skill sets and knowledge that children have relating to each objective and concept, allowing them to make strong learning links and to master domain knowledge and skills.

Intention two: Our learners will develop effective lifelong learning behaviours.

Learning in the subject is well paced and delivers engaging learning experiences that mediate the development of skills and knowledge in an experiential and creative capacity, as well as providing opportunity for collaboration and critical thinking with peers. This engagement, creative output and rigour support enjoyment of learning more broadly, as well as in the subject matter itself.

Intention three: Our learners will be supported to think critically and creatively.

Challenge and collaboration allow opportunities for learners to work with one another within creative projects. Structured review and appraisal of progress and outcomes against clear objectives allow the learners to reflect on their learning and success, both individually and with peers, supporting them to develop this reflective practice as a feature of their ongoing learning and development.

Intention four: Our learners will become well informed and responsible citizens.

The curriculum allows children to explore and spend time with critical learning points relating to online safety, copyright, and the responsible use of technology. As such, it supports children to develop a depth of knowledge and understanding of their role within society, contributes to their understanding of how to stay safe, and provides clear guidance regarding responsible use of technology.

 

Why we want excellent Computing at Manley Park Primary School/ How will we achieve it and how will we know we are being successful?

 

Intent

Our Computing curriculum encourages children to engage with the core concepts, skills and knowledge relating to Computing. It celebrates the success of the development of computers and information communication within our society, while also empowering our children to succeed in the acquisition of the foundational computer skills and knowledge they will need to succeed in the world beyond our walls.

Children will:

  • Have a secure understanding of fundamental Computing concepts
  • Analyse and solve problems using programs
  • Use information technology to solve problems
  • Be responsible, safe, and creative users of technology
 

Implementation

  • The teaching of Computing at our school is founded on the National Curriculum
  • The delivery of the curriculum at our school is informed by resources from The National Centre for Computing Education and is an adaptation of the curriculum and resources they provide. Their content has been created by teachers and subject experts, using the latest pedagogical research and teacher feedback.
  • Within this, the National Curriculum has been separated into discrete parts within the learning scheme, with the experience of Computing at each age level designed to build on learning and skills previously met and developed.
  • Each element of the national curriculum has been broken down into core themes and curriculum aspects, namely computer systems and networks; creating media; data and information; and programming. These are structured as a block of learning, one block per half-term, with ‘programming’ and ‘creating media’ being encountered twice each year.
  • These themes and aspects, delivered each year to the children, afford a sustained engagement with those skills and knowledge, and build upon the skills and knowledge previously developed.
  • The units for Key Stages 1 and 2 are based on a spiral curriculum. This means that each of the themes is revisited regularly (at least once in each year group), and pupils revisit each theme through a new unit that consolidates and builds on prior learning within that theme.
  • This style of curriculum design reduces the amount of knowledge lost through forgetting, as topics are revisited yearly. It also ensures that connections are made even if different teachers are teaching the units within a theme in consecutive years.
  • Within each block, skills and knowledge are developed sequentially, with foundational learning secured before extending pupils to greater understanding and capability.
  • Each block has checkpoints and endpoints that allow teachers to capture the achievement of the child for that block, and at the end of the year.
  • Use of project-based learning activities provide pupils with the opportunity to apply and consolidate their knowledge and understanding. 
  • Key subject-specific vocabulary is established for each unit of work.
  • Subject-specific pedagogy CPD for all staff provided including staff meetings and workshops.
  • Subject monitoring is completed each term. This includes pupil voice, book looks and learning walks.
  • Bespoke support is provided to staff where required.

 

Impact

Children are enthusiastic about Computing and the development of Computing knowledge and skills. They are keen to deploy these in pursuit of creative outcomes. As such, children engaging with this Computing curriculum become creative, confident and innovative users of technology, with a strong foundational understanding in core Computing concepts and responsibilities. This basis allows them to express themselves using computers, to access and to be productive across non-Computing domains by leveraging Computing tools, and to contribute value to society and their own lives through the efficient application of technology to solve problems.

  • Children’s work shows a variety of Computing themes have been explored over a year, and that these themes are revisited over the course of the child’s time at school. This demonstrates a clear progression within their year group and throughout their primary school journey. 
  • Monitoring of Computing is achieved through: review of the learning journey in STEM books, pupil and staff voice and learning walks. CPD opportunities are facilitated where need is identified.
  • Teachers are informed of developments in the curriculum and Computing.
  • Each lesson provides opportunities for teachers to assess key learning, and to gather feedback from the children on their confidence with key concepts and skills.
  • Children’s Computing skills and understanding are assessed to ensure children are making progress year-on-year and to allow any necessary adaptations to the curriculum content to be made.
  • Feedback from teachers provides individual support to children who are not meeting unit checkpoints or yearly endpoints, thus ensuring children are able to progress.
  • Age related examples of the expected pitch and standard are being gathered to provide support for moderation.

 

Our Rationale - why we do what we do and why we have chosen this

The curriculum is structured in units. For these units to be coherent, the lessons within a unit are taught in order. However, across a year group,

The units themselves do not need to be taught in order, with the exception of ‘Programming’ units, where concepts and skills rely on prior learning and experiences. However, the units are ordered following the sequence recommended by the Teach Computing curriculum website, upon which this curriculum is based.


How we teach Computing at Manley Park Primary School.

The units for Key Stages 1 and 2 are based on a spiral curriculum. This means that each of the themes is revisited regularly (at least once in each year group), and pupils revisit each theme through a new unit that consolidates and builds on prior learning within that theme.

This style of curriculum design reduces the amount of knowledge lost through forgetting, as topics are revisited yearly. It also ensures that connections are made even if different teachers are teaching the units within a theme in consecutive years.

The Teach Computing Curriculum acknowledges that physical Computing plays an important role in modern pedagogical approaches in Computing, both as a tool to engage pupils and as a strategy to develop pupils’ understanding in more creative ways. Additionally, physical Computing supports and engages a diverse range of pupils in tangible and challenging tasks.

The Physical Computing units in the Teach Computing Curriculum are:

  • Year 5 – Selection in physical Computing, which uses a Crumble controller; and

  • Year 6 – Sensing movement, which uses a micro:bit.

 

The curriculum has been written to support all pupils. Each lesson is sequenced so that it builds on the learning from the previous lesson. Where appropriate, activities are scaffolded so that all pupils can succeed and thrive. Scaffolded activities provide pupils with extra resources, such as visual prompts, to reach the same learning goals as the rest of the class. Exploratory tasks foster a deeper understanding of a concept, encouraging pupils to apply their learning in different contexts and make connections with other learning experiences.

As well as scaffolded activities, embedded within the lessons are a range of pedagogical strategies, which support the accessibility of Computing topics.

 

 

 

 

 

Design & Technology

How our Design and Technology Curriculum contributes to our whole school curriculum intent.

 

Intention one: Our learners will achieve excellent and sustained academic progress.

Our carefully planned curriculum documents ensure that the National Curriculum is sequenced in a progressive, rigorous and practical manner from Nursery to Year 6. Linking to our whole school approach, our spiral curriculum ensures that children are able to build on the skills and knowledge they have learnt on a biyearly basis and apply them with accuracy and confidence as they progress. 

Intention two: Our learners will develop effective lifelong learning behaviours.

Our children are provided with a broad range of subject knowledge and skills, a love of Technology and lifelong learning behaviours. Children research existing products  which inform their own designs. They develop their creativity and innovativeness when designing a product. They learn how to critique, evaluate and test their ideas in order to find solutions to specific problems. They take risks whilst considering the needs, wants and values of others. Following a design criteria, children make and evaluate a product celebrating success and considering future improvements, critical thinking, risk-taking, decision making and inventiveness.

Intention three: Our learners will be supported to think critically and creatively. 

A high quality education in Design and Technology  provides our children with a broad range of subject knowledge and skills. They will undertake activities which allow them to investigate and evaluate a range of products, focus tasks in which they develop particular aspects of Design and Technology and design and make activities following a brief. These three activities are combined in sequence for each unit. The making aspect of this subject  allows children to test and make a product whilst thinking critically and problem solving. The study of Designers develops children’s understanding of how key people and events  shaped history and contributed to the culture, creativity and wealth of the nation.  High-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation.

Intention four:  Our learners will become well informed and responsible citizens.

Our learners are given the opportunity to take risks. They become resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Upon leaving our school, our Design Technology curriculum aims to have sparked children's creativity and imagination and provided them with the practical skills to bring their ideas to life. They will be confident in designing products, working with a range of tools and materials, developing their evaluative thinking and understanding and applying the principles of nutrition. 

 

Why we want excellent Design and Technology at Manley Park Primary School / How we will achieve it and how we will know we are being successful 

 

Intent

  • Design and technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. 
  • Using creativity and imagination, pupils design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. 
  • They acquire a broad range of subject skills and knowledge which can be utilised beyond their school years. 
  • Children will be able to design and produce products demonstrating innovative and creative thinking. 
 

Implementation

  • The implementation and teaching of Design and Technology at Manley Park Primary School is based on the National Curriculum and the units of work. 
  • Using the National Curriculum Objectives as a guide, the curriculum has been broken down to ensure progression and coverage. 
  • Clear and concise cross-curricular links have been made to ensure a holistic learning experience. 
  • Each unit of work has a clear learning structure, design, make and evaluate.
  • Skills and knowledge are sequenced within each unit. 
  • Diversity, inclusiveness and locality are celebrated. 
  • Key vocabulary is established for each unit of work. 
  • Subject specific pedagogy gained via CPD is implemented within the unit plans. 
  • Key component (check points) skills and knowledge evidence to support assessment. 
  • Subject monitoring completed each term inc pupil voice, book looks and learning walk.
  • Bespoke support provided to staff. 

 

Impact 
  • Pupils will be ready for their stage of education within and across year groups
  • Pupil voice, learning walks and book looks will be used to evaluate and enhance curriculum impact 
  • Pupils will be assessed individually using the well developed component skills and knowledge during each unit of work (where children have not reached component parts, individual support will be provided)
  • Childrens examples will be provided for each year group to support moderation and understanding of the expected standard.
  • End points will be assessed as a cohort and that will be used to support transitions and develop curriculum design.

 

Our Rationale - why we do what we do and why we have chosen this

EYFS - In EYFS, our children have the opportunity to be taught explicitly the objectives that need to be covered within Development Matters. However, they have opportunities to revisit  the learning from the taught sessions freely within the learning environment. The order we have chosen for the objectives to be taught links with the Theme for that half term and consequently with the key texts that we use during our English sessions. 

 

KS1 - In KS1, our children complete six Design and Technology units (food and nutrition, structures, Mechanisms and textiles) which are interwoven with Art over the course of two years. Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils are taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making. Due to the spiral nature of our curriculum children revisit units, building on and consolidating their skills and knowledge. 

 

KS2 - The organisation of the units within LK2 has been thought through to ensure that the children can build on their prior knowledge and that their new learning will be ready for KS3. 

 

How we teach Design and Technology at Manley Park Primary School.

 

EYFS

In Nursery, children are taught Design and Technology specific vocabulary within High Focus activities. Through High Focus activities they have the opportunity to explore resources, materials and equipment that are practical and relevant to their learning. After the High Focus activities, the resources are made available in the learning environment and the children can access them freely deepening their understanding. 

In Reception teachers model vocabulary that links with their learning during their direct teaching sessions but also through some of the Literacy texts. The children in Reception have a technique of the week that links with the Expressive Art and Design aspect of Development Matters. Through the technique of the week, the children access resources that are relevant to the objective that is being covered.

KS1 and KS2

At Manley Park, Design and Technology lessons are organised around the 4 key elements (design, make , evaluate and technical knowledge). This structure not only ensures that the pupils take ownership of their learning with a hands-on approach, but also provides opportunities of assessment for learning at the unit’s progres. Pupils begin each unit with a design brief (product, user, purpose). Each unit starts with research, artist case studies or product analysis, pupils then design a product based on a specific criteria, they then make and evaluate their product. 

 

 

 

 

 

Geography

How our Geography Curriculum contributes to our whole school curriculum intent.

 

Intention one: Our learners will achieve excellent and sustained academic progress.

Our aim is to provide a high quality Geography education which provides children with the opportunity to develop their understanding of different people and places. Over the eight years of our Geography curriculum, Geographical skills are scaffolded to ensure they are introduced at times that coincide with the rest of the curriculum, such as a heavier focus being placed on Geographical graph skills in Year 6, where children will require upper KS2 Maths skills to access this Geographical skill. Each year group’s content is crucial in providing a basis for the next year’s learning e.g. the Rainforest topic in Y4 is important for the Y5 study of Brazil; understanding biomes and climate zones in Y4/5 is important for learning about trade in Y6; introducing plate tectonics in the formation of earthquakes in Y5, allows Y6 to learn about different ways plates move to form mountains and volcanoes. Curriculum units are designed to address each main subject area: knowledge of location and place, human and physical features and specific geographical skills.

Intention two: Our learners will develop effective lifelong learning behaviours.

The delivery of Geography content follows whole-school pedagogical approaches such as P4C concept activities to deepen understanding and allow opportunities to develop speaking and listening skills. When comparing different places, children explore a range of sources of information to develop their skill of research before classifying this information into similarities and differences. This organisation of information and grouping of such is a learning behaviour which is sequenced throughout the whole of our Geography curriculum. 

Intention three: Our learners will be supported to think critically and creatively.  

Broad coverage of political , social, economic and environmental issues - both locally and globally - are ensured. As mentioned previously, we use P4C to encourage all learners to consider their own social and emotional attitudes, namely in relation to their sense of interconnectedness and concern for the natural world. A combination of place/project-based learning and P4C skills allow pupils to question their assumptions on a local, regional, national and global scale. Children are encouraged to pursue their own ecological standpoint and use their critical and creative thinking skills to develop and amend this throughout school.

Intention four: Our learners will become well informed and responsible citizens.

We incorporate practical enquiry into learning sessions whenever possible in order to consolidate knowledge based learning from the curriculum objectives. This learning can be contextualised through PBE (place- based education) which leverages the power of place to personalise learning to each individual. This ensures mastery of high standards for children by connecting the pupil to the local communities and the world around them. Through our Geography curriculum, children will become well-informed, responsible citizens who hold a secure understanding of how their own locality relates to a range of other localities. 
 

Why we want excellent Geography at Manley Park Primary School/ How we will achieve it and how we will know we are being successful. 

 

Intent - 

  • Our Geography curriculum ensures that children have a diverse subject knowledge base around the Earth’s physical and human processes. 
  • They will be able to recognise the relationship between these two types of processes and apply their subject knowledge to relevant case studies in order to draw similarities and differences between their own locality and that of others. 
  • Through our Geography curriculum, children will become competent in  their fieldwork skills and will be able to apply these skills in a range of contexts.
 

Implementation - 

  • Our Geography curriculum is based on the National Curriculum alongside our well-researched pedagogical strategies to support our excellent delivery of the subject, including hinge questions, P4C activities, collaborative learning and the nurture of critical thinking. 
  • Children first develop their knowledge of their own locality in the early stages of their Geography education and this is built upon over time through the introduction of localities which are further away. 
  • Key places are sequenced so that children can use the analysis and comparison skills they have built up in previous units throughout their Geography education. 
  • Key composite skills and knowledge are established for each year group throughout the school in the form of end points which are referenced by both children and teachers. 
  • Furthermore, key component skills and knowledge are used as assessment throughout each unit of work in the form of checkpoints. 
  • Learning intentions and subject specific vocabulary have been carefully spaced and sequenced in order to ensure children both revisit prior learning  and are exposed to new knowledge and skills at an appropriate time.
 

Impact - 

  • Through the delivery of this Geography curriculum, children will not only meet the National Curriculum objectives, but also develop a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people. 
  • Geography will be monitored through exploring the journey of learning in Humanities books, pupil and staff voice, evaluation of the curriculum coverage and through CPD opportunities. 
  • The subject lead will inform staff of new developments in the subject so that coverage is thorough. 
  • Assessments of children’s geographical skills and understanding will be undertaken to ensure children are making progress year on year and to allow any necessary adaptations to the curriculum content to be made. 
  • Individual support will be provided for children who are not meeting the checkpoints and endpoints in the form of teacher feedback. 
  • This will ensure each child is ready to progress to the next unit of their learning with the necessary knowledge and skills to best equip them to build new knowledge. 
 

Our Rationale - why we do what we do and why we have chosen this

 

KS1

  • In Year 1, we take one half term to teach each of the seasons of weather, allowing children to see first-hand how weather changes in their own locality and practise their skills of observation throughout the academic year. They learn about their own locality (‘Our School’ and ‘Our Country’) to provide a secure basis for beginning to compare places in Year 2. ‘Our School’ has been sequenced before ‘Our Country’ to ensure that the ‘zoom-out’ approach starts at the beginning of the National Curriculum’s implementation.

  • In Year 2, once children have learned about their own locality (Manchester), they build on this concrete experience through more abstract thinking about a distant locality that cannot be visited (Mexico City). The ‘Our World’ unit allows fundamental map skills to be focussed on and developed before applying these skills in a more unfamiliar context.Additionally, children are asked to consider issues in their own locality before  learning about issues in another locality. Many researchers, as referenced in the DfE’s research review series in Geography, note that the concept of building from secure, local knowledge allows pupils to more readily commit knowledge to their long-term memory. ‘Beside the Seaside’ highlights the fact that physical geography and processes can change and develop children’s understanding of their locality on a more regional and national scale.

KS2 - 

  • Throughout LKS2, children learn about ‘Land Use’ to introduce the idea that physical and human processes can be intertwined as well as the fact that certain areas can have a range of purposes. Each unit prepares pupils for future units, such as the subject knowledge gained in the ‘Our Earth’ unit on rainforests will allow children to have the necessary subject knowledge (appreciation of the rainforest ecosystem and how it is being impacted by humans) to learn about Brazil in Year 5.

  • Throughout UKS2, children apply their Geographical skills and subject knowledge in an increasingly abstract way. For example, children have minimal exposure to Geographical graphs in KS1 and LKS2, however they are exposed to a range of graphs in Year 6 as this is the year group in which lack of mathematical understanding will be as little of a barrier as possible. 

 

How we teach Geography at Manley Park Primary School.

 

EYFS, KS1, KS2

The following concepts permeate the Geography curriculum at Manley Park : place, space, scale, interdependence, physical and human processes, environmental impact, sustainable development, cultural awareness and cultural diversity.  The curriculum is built to allow learners to ‘think like a Geographer’, choosing, building and linking knowledge that they have acquired up until the point of a new knowledge or skill being introduced. Throughout Manley Park Geography lessons, spaced retrieval of skills such as compass skills ensure that by the end of their education, they have a level of automaticity the skills specified in the National Curriculum. P4C is a thread throughout the Geography curriculum too, with critical, caring, collaborative and creative thinking skills continually encouraged.

 

 

 

 

 

History

How our History Curriculum contributes to our whole school curriculum intent.

 

Intention one: Our learners will achieve excellent and sustained academic progress.

We provide a  high quality History education which provides children with the skills and knowledge to understand History over time and to question History and the sources they are given. Over the eight years of our History Curriculum, Historical skills are introduced at times that are linked with the curriculum. 

Intention two: Our learners will develop effective lifelong learning behaviours.

The delivery of our History curriculum follows whole school pedagogical approaches such as P4C style debates to develop speaking and listening skills. 

The use of P4C within History sessions are used to develop pupil’s reasoning about History and enable them to show mastery in their understanding of concepts. Pupils will develop their History knowledge and skills and will explore the six EI Values through different aspects of History. 

Intention three: Our learners will be supported to think critically and creatively.  

Our History curriculum ensures that children explore political, social, economic, environmental, religious factors on local and global history. P4C is used within our curriculum to encourage our learners to think critically about the historical sources they come across. They are encouraged to think about the reliability of the source and to gather multiple sources to gain a better historical understanding. Through our curriculum, learners have opportunities to research historical enquiries and come to their own conclusions. 

Intention four: Our learners will become well informed and responsible citizens.

Within our History curriculum, the topics chosen are carefully picked, to include history that relates to the pupils that are within our school. We have made these choices to ensure that learners have a varied historical understanding. Learners will learn about history from non-european societies and their impacts, diverse figures of significant people and the role of women throughout all periods of history; understanding them through a local, regional, national, international context. Through our History curriculum, children will become informed and responsible citizens who will have a deep and meaningful historical understanding of the world around them. 

 

Why we want excellent History curriculum at  Manley Park Primary School / How we will achieve it and how we will know we are being successful 

 Intent: 

  • Our History curriculum will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. 
  • Our History curriculum will inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. 
  • Our History curriculum will equip pupils with the skills to ask perspective questions, think critically, weigh evidence and develop perspective and judgement. 
 

Implementation: 

  • National curriculum as a starting point
  • Each element of our curriculum broken down into skills and knowledge
  • Key themes within History established and long term spiral curriculum in History created
  • Key subject specific vocabulary is established for each unit of work. 
  • Key composite (end points) skills and knowledge established for each year group throughout the school
  • Key component (check points) skills and knowledge established for each unit of work
  • Subject monitoring completed each pupil including pupil voice, book looks and learning walks
  • Bespoke support provided to staff. 
 

Impact: 

  • Pupils will be ready for their stage of education within and across year groups
  • Pupil voice, learning walks and book looks will be used to evaluate and enhance curriculum impact. 
  • Pupils will be assessed individually using the well developed component skills and knowledge during each unit of work (where children have not reached component parts, ind support will be provided)
  • Childrens examples will be provided for each year group to support moderation and understanding of the expected standard.
  • End points will be assessed as a cohort and that will be used to support transitions and develop curriculum design.


Our Rationale - why we do what we do and why we have chosen this
 

Within EYFS, our history curriculum fits into the branch of ‘Understanding the world’. This involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. In Nursery, they begin to make sense of their own life-story and family’s history, they then build onto being able to talk about these themes. In our Reception curriculum, the skills from our Nursery themes are developed. The children move onto comparing and contrasting characters from stories and events. 

In Year 1,  to ensure that they are building on their EYFS curriculum,  their first unit on changes within living memory focuses on childhood. It develops their understanding of the past to consider what has happened in their childhood so far and compare this to other members of their families, as well as changes which have happened nationally in living memory. Children will be given the opportunity to link history to their own lives before moving on to other units where they will explore the history of other people’s lives from different places. The children will have been exploring vocabulary linked to the past in EYFS and significant events during the calendar year, e.g. birthdays, Christmas, Eid, seasons, etc. This unit further embeds and extends this.

The following unit focuses on significant historical events, people and places in our locality. Our chosen focus is on L.S. Lowry. This unit explores the history of our local area (Manchester). Children will explore what the area was like at the time of L.S. Lowry’s artwork and compare the changes which have occurred over time to the present day.  This unit looks at a significant person and places in the locality from the past and will support the children to look further back in time than previously.

They will move further back in time in Summer 2 when comparing Queen Elizabeth II (Tudor period) with a queen from the modern day (Queen Elizabeth II).  The final unit of Year 1, is looking at significant Queens of England. This unit follows on from the history of the local area to look at history on a more national scale through the achievements of significant monarchs. There is a thread throughout the history curriculum to explore the impact of the role of women in  history and this unit begins the process in exploring two significant queens.

The children are completing this unit now as the children will explore the lives of other significant people (Walter Tull and Rosa Parks) in Year 2 so will gain experience of comparing the actions and lives of the two queens to prepare them for this. They will be developing their evaluating skills and considering the impact of actions and events which they will build on further in Year 2. As they progress into Key Stage 2, they will explore the lives of leaders and rulers in different civilisations in addition to the history of Britain and can make further comparisons between them.

 

In Year 2, their first unit is on significant people focusing on Walter Tull and Rosa Parks understanding what they contributed to national and international achievements.  This follows on from the unit of significant Queens of England, children are able to use their skills of comparing and contrasting, plus further developing those skills. Our chosen significant people highlight the diverse people within British history.

Furthermore when this unit is carried out our Whole School learning theme is Diversity, so this learning links into further elements of the curriculum.  Following on from the significant people unit, in Year 2 they focus on a significant event of The Great Fire of London. Exploring the question of why was The Great Fire of London a nationally significant event. The unit comes after children have explored significant individuals from the past and goes further back chronologically to explore a significant event and the impact on people at the time and what this event led to (e.g start of fire brigades which we still have today.  This unit will prepare the children to be more aware of the different factors which can contribute to events. They will build on this further in Year 3 where they will look at different viewpoints of the same events and people and why these might be different.

 

Throughout KS2, children are continuing to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history. 

 

In Year 3, the children learn about the changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. Then they follow on to learn about the achievements of the earliest civilizations (Ancient Sumer, The Indus Valley, Ancient Egypt, The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China). Children are able to make comparisons between the different civilizations from a British perspective and of the wider world.  This unit begins with exploration of Ancient Civilisations in Key Stage Two. These civilisations existed around the same time as previous study of the Bronze and Iron Ages so gives the children opportunities to develop their chronological understanding of the time periods and compare and contrast technologies and advances in different places around the world. Children will have been able to compare and contrast ancient civilisations which they will continue to build on in years 4 and 5. They can evaluate sources of information and consider if they are reliable or not.  

 

In Year 4,  the children learn about the achievements of Ancient Greece and how they have influenced the western world. Then following onto the Roman Empire and its impact on Britain. The children will learn about Ancient Greece at this time as follows the chronology of historical time periods. It is important that they are able to recognise how the Ancient Greeks have impacted on Britain today. Linking to the British values the children explore and understand terminology of democracy, civilisation, culture, laws and justice. This unit follows on from Year 3 and their exploration of different ancient civilisations, children will be able to build on their knowledge from a previous year. The unit on the Roman Empire, follows on from Year 3’s unit on Stone Age to Iron Age, exploring what happened in Britain after the Iron Age. The children will also have explored Ancient Egypt and some crossovers between this and Ancient Rome, e.g. when studying Cleopatra. They know that Ancient Egypt became part of the Roman Empire. Children will have explored women in power (Cleopatra) which will support them when exploring Boudicca as leader of the Iceni tribe. They will have some chronological understanding of the time period having explored ancient civilisations on a world history map.  Children will have an understanding of the growth of the Roman Empire and how the Romans were able to successfully invade Britain. They will be able to identify how the local people (Celts) felt about the Roman invasion and how life in Britain changed because of the influence of Roman technology. They will be able to explain the reliability of sources of information based on who/ what the source is.

 

In Year 5, the first unit children will learn about what happened during Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots and what happened during the Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England.  

 

The following unit is looking at the Mayan Civilization, This has been chosen to be studied now as comparisons can be made to the Stone Age and the Ancient Egyptians and as a direct contrast to Anglo-Saxons and Vikings which will have been studied previously in Year 5 and is placed in the same time period as the Maya c.900AD. Children will have explored ancient civilisations in Year 3 and 4 and how and where civilisations settle, e.g. near a water/ food source. They will be able to make comparisons when exploring where the Maya settled. They will also have explored religions which feature multiple gods who represent areas of nature in a similar way to the Maya. They will have used different sources of information and understood the limitations of some sources of information and be able to apply this here. They will build on the inferences they have made from exploring artefacts and other sources of information. They will have an understanding of the rainforest from Geography in Year 4 so will have some idea of what life may have been like for the Maya. Children will have a broader understanding of civilisations across the world and be able to make comparisons with these and with life in Britain at the time (Anglo-Saxons/ Vikings). They will be able to identify similarities and differences between events and identify causes and consequences of events.

 

In Year 6,  the first unit children will learn about how the role of women in British society changed since 1066. Following on how the Peterloo massacre impacted on our local area.  Children are able to compare the role of women from previous time periods that they have learnt through school. For example making links between ancient civilizations and now. Furthermore, this unit follows on from previous learning of the Vikings, following the chronology of now exploring the Normans. Throughout our history curriculum there have been significant women being  taught about e.g Cleopatra, Boudicca, Rosa Park and Queen Elizabeth I. Through this unit, children are able to see the change of women’s role and understand the positive and negative changes that came with it. Following on from this unit, Year 6 learn about the Peterloo Massacre. This unit is important in regards to a local context as it took place in Manchester. It is important for children to learn about further local history. 

 

How we teach History at Manley Park Primary School.

There are five key strands to the teaching and learning of History:

C: Chronological Understanding

KU: Knowledge and Understanding of past events, people and changes in the past

HI: Historical Interpretation

HE: Historical Enquiry

OC: Organisation and Communication

 

Lessons will be presented in a range of ways, including the use of roleplay, reading accounts from the time period, trips and visitors, artefact exploration, videos, P.4.C. style debates, using ICT to support research and, where possible and appropriate, cross-curricular links will be made to enable children to build up a whole picture of the period of history being taught and create links. Pupils will develop their subject-specific knowledge, skills and understanding, develop their thinking and communication skills and explore the six EI Values through different aspects of History. Children’s social and emotional backgrounds are respected and sensitive care is taken when areas of learning may cause distress. 

 

EYFS - Children build on their learning from EYFS (Understanding the World), where they will have explored the change of time through events in their recent past. 

KS1 - In KS1, they will explore significant changes in their lifetime, their local area and develop an awareness of the leaders of our country and how these have changed over time. They will explore national events and international events which have had an impact on our lives today through the actions of significant people

KS2 - In KS2, children have the opportunity to develop their chronological understanding further and explore time periods further back in time and across the world. They will explore these chronologically in order to see progress and change over time, especially in Britain. Through exploring world history, they will be able to compare events occurring simultaneously in different areas of the world. Children will be able to compare the lives of people, especially the different roles of people in society across the time periods explored and countries explored and will be able to compare and contrast these to their own lives.

As they move onto Upper Key Stage Two, they will be able to be more critical of the evidence from the past and develop an awareness of bias and propaganda and evaluate change and progress over a wider time period.

 

 

 

 

 

Languages

How our Languages Curriculum contributes to our whole school curriculum intent.

 

Intention one: Our learners will achieve excellent and sustained academic progress.
 

The Modern Foreign Languages curriculum enables and encourages pupils to build on their prior knowledge to ensure their language development is progressive and to a high standard.
 

Intention two: Our learners will develop effective lifelong learning behaviours.


In order to be successful in learning a new language, pupils are exposed to Spanish through speaking, listening, reading and writing activities that motivate, engage and stretch knowledge and skills. Through conversation-based tasks, pupils’ ability to communicate and listen effectively is enhanced whilst developing their reading and written skills.

 

Intention three: Our learners will be supported to think critically and creatively.  

Pupils are immersed in problem solving through language via translation tasks, role play and oral/visual presentations.

 

Intention four: Our learners will become well informed and responsible citizens.
 

Alongside their skill and knowledge progression, pupils will be educated about Spanish around the world and the importance of cultural awareness and appreciation.

 

Why we want excellent Languages Curriculum at Manley Park Primary School

 

Intent

 

As a school located on the periphery of one of Europe’s most multicultural cities, our curriculum engages children within a new language whilst equipping them with communication tools that can be used around the world. At Manley Park, we  foster the curiosity of younger children and inspire them to continue language learning through to secondary school and beyond.  Through progressive and dynamic learning experiences centred around the four key skills of language learning, pupils will leave with the fundamental knowledge, language and skills to engage in conversations and social interactions with a greater understanding of the world around them and how to immerse themselves within it.

 

How we will achieve it and how we will know we are being successful 

 

Implementation 


The four key language learning skills; listening, speaking, reading and writing are taught and relevant grammatical concepts  are  covered in an age-appropriate way across the primary phase. This enables 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. In addition, the children are taught how to look up and research language they are unsure of and have a bank of reference materials to help them with their spoken and written tasks going forward. 
 

  • National curriculum provides foundation 

  • Objectives and broken down into knowledge and skills - focusing on the key 5 skills for language learning (speaking, listening, reading and writing)

  • Long term spiral curriculum provides opportunities for linguistic development and that prior learning is revisited

  • Skills and knowledge are sequenced to ensure progression

  • Units of work established by school based expert that support lesson by lesson content with specific vocabulary highlighted

  • Spanish is taught weekly for at least 30 minutes

  • Subject specific pedagogy CPD provided for all staff teaching MFL

  • Key composite (end points)  skills and knowledge established for each year group throughout the school

  • Key component (check points) skills and knowledge established for each unit of work

  • Subject monitoring completed each term inc pupil voice, book looks and learning walk

  • Bespoke support provided to staff throughout the year

 

Impact 

  • Pupils will be ready for their stage of education within and across year groups

  • Pupil voice, learning walks and book looks will be used to evaluate and enhance curriculum impact 

  • Pupils will be assessed individually at the end of each unit across the skills of language learning

  • Childrens examples will be provided for each year group to support moderation and understanding of the expected standard.

  • End points will be assessed as a cohort and that will be used to support transitions and develop curriculum design.

 

Our Rationale - why we do what we do and why we have chosen this

 

At Manley Park, we believe that high-quality language learning grants opportunities to foster learners’ curiosity, for them to develop a sense of global citizenship and broaden their understanding of the world around them. As a school who strives to prepare our pupils to be global citizens of the future, we have selected Spanish as our chosen Modern Foreign Language to teach. This is predominantly due to its increasing popularity as a second language in the United Kingdom alongside the phonetic nature of the language and the linguistic correlations between Latin and English.
 

 

How we teach Languages at Manley Park Primary School.

 

KS2

The Languages curriculum at Manley Park is distributed across the year groups and throughout the academic year to revise prior learning, create cross-curricular links and structure progression of knowledge and skills. The Language Angels scheme of work forms the foundations of planning, with interactive resources to deliver high-quality teaching and support visual, aural and kinaesthetic learners. The resources provided vary in complexity to both support and stretch individuals depending on their level of understanding of the Spanish language. Pre-recorded readings from a native speaker expose learners to accurate pronunciation of new vocabulary to support their phonological awareness, metacognition and working memory. The rationale to use native pronunciation over teacher modelling alongside visual representations  is underpinned by Baddeley’s (1986) Working Memory Model in which the phonological loop is fundamental to the acquisition of new vocabulary and correct pronunciation being stored in the long term memory. Learners hear the recording of the word or phrase read before the teacher then simulates, raising awareness of key pronunciation points to avoid misconceptions. Each lesson refers to prior learning and knowledge which demonstrates that teaching is coherently sequenced and learning develops progressively. In line with our whole school approach to communication, speaking and listening are fundamental to every MFL lesson whilst also incorporating reading and writing activities alongside development of grammatical understanding. These skills of language learning are taught through the MARS structure (Modelling, Awareness-raising, Receptive processing and Structure production). Learners engage in dynamic and collaborative communication-based activities before independently applying their knowledge and skills to a range of tasks. Their understanding is then assessed at the end of each unit through recorded end of unit assessments which address their speaking and listening skills as well as reading and writing ability.

 

 

 

Music

Our Curriculum choices in each subject are informed by 1.  Subject fidelity and progression. 2. Theme,  linking enabling horizontal connections 3. Cultural Capital, the greats of the subject and their impact. 4. Current local people, places and current affairs that celebrate our diverse community.

 

How our Music Curriculum contributes to our whole school curriculum intent.

 

Intention one: Our learners will achieve excellent and sustained academic progress.

 

Music at Manley Park continually builds on the key subject areas: singing, listening, composing, performing. Each unit embeds these as the building blocks of musicianship, whilst subject specific vocabulary around the interrelated dimension of music, as well as forms of musical notation are introduced strategically and repetitively to ensure sustained progress.

 

Intention two: Our learners will develop effective lifelong learning behaviours.

 

Music at Manley Park gives children the opportunity to play in small groups, in whole classes or be part of a co-curricular ensemble. This means they are part of an integrated team. Everyone has a role however large or small - this helps to build cooperation and mutual support. It promotes the importance of working harmoniously with others towards a common goal. To learn music you need discipline - this is learnt both through classroom lessons and through independent practice for those who take up co-curricular instrumental lessons. Playing an instrument or learning to sing requires real concentration. Quietness and calm whether on stage or in the classroom is essential. Collaboration within music lessons helps children to recognise their own skills and appreciate those of others. This builds life skills such as empathy, problem solving and communication, and a sense of responsibility and commitment. 

 

Intention three: Our learners will be supported to think critically and creatively.  

 

Music at Manley Park enables young people to express themselves like no other medium. It empowers them to shape their world through sound and allows them to exercise their imaginations. Encouraging creativity also teaches them to think outside the box when problem solving. They are taught to critically analyse what they hear both to inspire their own composition as well as to verbalise their own musical tastes. Music teaches children to be inventive, resourceful and imaginative.

 

Intention four: Our learners will become well informed and responsible citizens.

 

Music at Manley Park gives children a varied and diverse listening experience - they will listen and appraise differing styles and genres from across the globe, and through time. Music deepens understanding and appreciation of different cultures as well as giving insight into key moments in history. Moreover, children will develop their own sense of self through music, establishing the music that best represents them and their families.

 

Why we want excellent Music at Manley Park Primary School / How we will achieve it and how we will know we are being successful 

 

Intent

  • Children will have a creative outlet and a way of expressing themselves

  • Children will develop discipline and the ability to independently rehearse and practise to improve

  • Children will have an open mind when listening to a diverse range of musical styles and genres, showing respect and empathy for others

 

Implementation 

  • National curriculum as a starting point.

  • Each element broken down into skills and knowledge

  • Regular attendance of subject lead at Bolton Music Service (GM Music Hub) network meetings and CPD sessions to ensure up-to-date with developments in subject and pedagogy

  • Units of work established by school based experts that support lesson by lesson content.

  • The subject is taught for around 1 hour per week

  • Key subject specific vocabulary is established for each unit of work.

  • Key composite (end points)  skills and knowledge established for each year group throughout the school

  • Key component (check points) skills and knowledge established for each unit of work

  • Subject monitoring completed each term inc pupil voice, book looks and learning walk

  • Bespoke support provided to staff 

 

Impact 

  • Pupils will be ready for their stage of education within and across year groups

  • Pupil voice, learning walks and book looks will be used to evaluate and enhance curriculum impact 

  • Pupils will be assessed individually using the well developed component skills and knowledge during each unit of work (where children have not reached component parts, ind support will be provided)

  • End points will be assessed as a cohort and that will be used to support transitions and develop curriculum design.

 

Our Rationale - why we do what we do and why we have chosen this

 

EYFS - Music is used as an essential tool for developing communication and language skills - it is recognised and well-researched that music is an effective way of building these key skills, so the music curriculum is closely linked to other areas of the curriculum. Additionally, through the music curriculum, we improve our children’s cultural capital by ensuring they are exposed to a range of listening experiences. We want our children to have a creative outlet and begin to develop their own way of expressing themselves through music. They will have independent opportunities to explore sound makers and sing familiar songs, beginning to improvise/compose to embed the idea that rehearsal and practice leads to improvement/deeper understanding. 

KS1 - Children build on their cultural capital by more and varied listening experiences, beginning to understand the technicalities of how music is created and manipulated through the interrelated dimensions of music, as well as beginning to consider how to write ideas down and evaluate them. Singing enhances musical understanding and is a way of getting to know a growing repertoire of musical styles and structures.

KS2 - Children will continue to understand the formalities of written music, using these tools to become more masterful in their approach to creating original pieces both through improvisation and a longer compositional process, using both written methods and music technology.. Through continued performing, singing and listening, children will finesse their self-expression and their ability to perform on their own as well as within an ensemble. 

 

How we teach Music at Manley Park Primary School.

EYFS - Music in the Early Years  is taught through an emphasis of singing e.g. in weekly nursery rhyme sessions that focus on  memorising melodies and lyrics as well as pitch awareness (this progresses to longer songs in Reception). High focus activities are planned around Development Matters objectives e.g. composition. Musical skills are also developed throughout the curriculum and during continuous provision e.g whenever the children listen and respond to different types of music with movement, the sharing of children’s musical likes and dislikes in collective listening and having access to sound makers for exploration.

 

KS1/2 - The music curriculum is built around 4 key areas of learning: singing, listening, composing and musicianship & performing. These key areas are not taught separately but in a connected way e.g. listening gives ideas for composing or understanding of pitch taught through singing. During music lessons, pupils should be ‘doing music’ as much as possible, as it is a skills-based, experience-based subject, whilst being exposed to the “three classes of knowledge: tacit - the knowledge gained through experience that is often difficult to put into words; procedural – the knowledge exercised in the performance of a task; and declarative - facts or information stored in the memory.” “Activities will have clarity over the components which will form the basis for formative assessment. There should be high levels of guidance for novices, remembering that pupils in every key stage are sometimes novices, with increasing freedom as pupils gain greater competence.” There is an expectation that each unit should cover the year group’s objectives for singing, listening and pulse. Other objectives will be covered at multiple points throughout the year, but may not be present in each unit. Skills progress through phases, with high levels of repetition between year groups within a phase (e.g. Y5 to 6) to ensure skills are embedded and higher levels of competency and confidence are developed.

 

*informed by Bolton Music Service, the National Curriculum research paper for Music and the Model Music Curriculum

 


 

 

Subject Co-ordination

All our subject co-ordinators have access to expert curriculum and pedagogical knowledge in their subject areas: 

  • Own expertise and training

  • Subject coordinator groups 

  • Support organisations 

  • Literature inc ofsted research documents 

Subject Coordinators are given dedicated time each term to monitor and review their subject areas.  The information gained is shared with the Senior Leadership team and actions are taken forward to ensure each curriculum area is continually improving and responding to the needs of the community.

At the end of the academic year, each subject lead will analyse year group assessments, gain teacher feedback and review subject progress relating to the school development targets.

Monitoring eg.

Term 1 - KS2 (Book Look and Pupil Voice)

Term 2 - EYFS/KS1 (Learning Walk and Pupil Voice)

Term 3 - Check Development Points from Terms 1 & 2 plus Assessment Moderation.  Staff voice will also be collected.

Annually - Subject Audit and Target Setting (SPD link)