Learning
Our Curriculum
Gladstone Park’s curriculum clearly sets out the knowledge and skills that pupils will gain in every subject from Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to Year 6.
We follow National Curriculum guidance and beyond to ensure that this underpins all curriculum design and provision. Phonics is taught daily using the validated scheme - Bug Club Phonics. We further enrich our curriculum through exciting learning experiences, workshops and activities.
We comply with our duties in the Equality Act 2010 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014, making the curriculum accessible for those with disabilities or special educational needs.
Parents can find out more about the curriculum through Curriculum Meetings, which are held by each year group at the beginning of term and by talking to the class teacher.
Please see the yearly overviews for each year group at the bottom of this page.
Intent
Artworks are used as starting points for our curriculum. Art was chosen as we wanted to promote art in school and expand our children's cultural capital. Children in our school are given the opportunity to become ‘art lovers’ and to find beauty in the world in which they live.
Why Art?
The National Curriculum states children should ‘know how art and design both reflect and shape our history and contribute to the culture creativity and wealth of our nation’.
Learning through and about the arts enriches the experience of studying while at school, as well as preparing students for life after school. Art subjects encourage self-expression and creativity and can build confidence. Creativity can help with wellbeing, improving health and happiness by providing an outlet for the pressures of study as well as those of everyday life. Studying the arts also helps to develop critical thinking and the ability to interpret the world around us. (Talking point Tate)
Each year group has a carefully selected piece of art which is then used for cross - curricular links across the subjects. Subjects are taught discretely, but there is a strong focus on links being made to the humanities subjects and where possible to the others such as D&T and science. Most year groups do a piece of art every term but in EYFS they may study a different piece each half-term. Some texts in English are used to support the cross-curricular links and, where possible, links to maths are made.
Where links are not possible, subjects are taught independently. In some cases, a different artwork may be used to act as a stimulus only and is not used as part of a focus art study - for example, Year 4 Rainforests and Year 5 Volcanoes.
Each subject lead has carefully planned their curriculum using the National Curriculum and other sources of expertise to help them. All subjects have a clear progression map and overview for the school. Subject leads have created medium-term planning (MTP) which clearly sets out what the children will learn for each unit of work including learning objectives, vocabulary skills and knowledge, learning outcomes, fieldwork and educational visits, resources to be used and home learning opportunities arising from the learning. Teachers use MTPs to plan their daily lessons. Each year group has an overview of their long-term curriculum planning so they can see the curriculum links across areas and plan their term's work accordingly.
Organisation
The core subjects of maths and English are taught daily. Phonics is taught daily and discretely in EYFS and KS1 and where necessary in KS2. We use the Bug Club Phonics program. Science, non-core subjects, RE and PSHE are taught at least once a week. We recognise that our children need to know how to stay healthy and keep active, so they have twice-weekly PE sessions. Art and DT are taught over alternate half-terms as are geography and history.
The hidden curriculum
Our school values underpin the year with one being the focus each half-term. British values are taught and embedded within our curriculum. Pupils are encouraged to be good role models and citizens. All staff model how to be courteous respectful and inclusive. Pupils are taught to appreciate both the similarities and differences between themselves and others. Assemblies are used to address issues or themes and are held daily.
