Teaching & Learning

CURRICULUM OVERVIEW

• Year 3 Curriculum Overview
• Year 4 Curriculum Overview
• Year 5 Curriculum Overview
• Year 6 Curriculum Overview

LEARNING JOURNEYS

• Art
• Computing
• Design & Technology
• Geography
• History
• Maths
• PSHE
• Religious Studies
• Science
• Writing + SPAG

Curriculum Intent

The curriculum at The Royal Alexandra & Albert Junior School is designed to be engaging, broad and rich. It is a curriculum that evolves, based on the needs of our children, recognising and celebrating the differences and changes in the world around us. It considers the local context of the school, experiences and backgrounds of our children and provides them with relevant and memorable learning experiences to enable them to become rounded successful citizens. It supports and promotes the vision and values of our school where all members of the school community are equally valued and respected.

Our vision is to nurture and develop the whole child through our Gatton Aims, a set of values which will enable them to reach their full potential in all aspects of life. Children leave the Junior School, ready for Secondary School, equipped with the experiences, skills and knowledge they need to function as young people and adults in the 21st Century. They develop a sense of belonging and desire to contribute and influence their local and global communities.

The curriculum is inclusive and aims for all students to be challenged. It focuses on vocabulary development and experiences, which increase children’s cultural capital to allow them to reach full potential. It fulfils the requirements of the National Curriculum through ambitious and challenging enquiry led learning, with clear progression and specific learning goals for every subject. It is deep, allowing children to return to and build upon previous learning, applying skills and knowledge to new challenges.

All curriculum leaders show understanding of key concepts related to curriculum design, ensuring there are clear skills, knowledge progression and sequencing, allowing all members of the school community to fully understand the rationale behind our curriculum.

Depth

Our curriculum is carefully designed, organised and planned for depth of learning.

Our definition of progress is; the widening and deepening of essential knowledge, skills, understanding and learning behaviours. We design, organise and plan our curriculum to ensure that children are not merely covering content but achieving a depth to their learning, which enables them to use their skills, and understanding in all areas of the curriculum. Our careful curriculum design and planning means that we build in many opportunities for repetition and practise. This ensures that children are able to revisit previous learning, which allows them to gradually develop a deeper understanding of the skills and processes within subjects, at their own pace and in the best possible way for each individual child.

Balance

As leaders and as a whole school, we carefully design, plan and implement a curriculum to provide balance for every student.

It is our underlying belief that every child should feel valued and experience the feeling of success in a wide range of curriculum areas. We believe that through the curriculum we can impact on what is in children’s heads and how they feel about themselves, so that they feel intelligent, confident and ready to tackle any challenge they may face. We have designed, organised and planned our curriculum to ensure every child receives an appropriate mix of academic and personal development, which means that in practice our curriculum places equal importance on core and foundation subjects.

We understand that children will not be successful learners unless they are emotionally secure, therefore we carefully design our curriculum and adopt a flexible approach to timetabling to ensure that we can meet and respond to any issues which may arise. Children’s physical and mental wellbeing are as valued and important as academic development.

We carefully monitor children’s progress with their personal development and our well-planned and thoughtful approach to the Spiritual Moral Social Cultural curriculum (SMSC) helps to ensure that every child is well cared for and supported. Our balanced approach to the curriculum is not at the expense of high standards in core subject areas. High standards and enabling children to reach national expectations and above is of vital importance if they are to succeed at the next stage of their education and go on to achieve full and happy lives and careers. Our full and rich curriculum, with its excellent range of experiences, ensures that every child has the opportunity to make excellent progress both academically and personally. Our unique curriculum ensures that every child is given the opportunity to shine and flourish.

Breadth

We carefully design, plan and implement a curriculum, which provides breadth for every student. Our curriculum is one in which provides:

• Creativity – we aim to provide experiences that allow the child’s creativity to flourish and develop ways to creatively approach all areas of learning
• Diversity – we aim to provide experiences that allow children to recognise and celebrate the diversity in our world, both on a local and global scale and understand it is their duty to challenge prejudice in all its forms
• Enquiry – we aim to provide experiences where children can be curious and find out about the world around them, with teachers being their facilitator of learning
• Environment – we aim to provide experiences, which help our children, value their environment and understand their responsibilities towards sustaining their local and global environment.

Our curriculum is further enriched through local community visits and projects, school trips, visiting speakers and residential trips. We firmly believe that real life experiences like these create lasting memories and strengthen the learning which they encounter in school.

We understand the crucial role parents have in promoting learning beyond the school gate and ensuring children make the best possible progress. We pride ourselves on being an open, friendly and approachable school that encourages parents to be actively involved in children’s learning. As well as Parents Evenings, we host regular events to inform parents how they can support their child or to come and work alongside their child.

We have designed and planned our curriculum to offer a range of experiences, which contribute, to every child receiving a full and rich curriculum. This supports and promotes our culture and ensures that our children benefit from a full range of academic and SMSC activities. These activities enrich their lives and those of our whole school community and make them proud of their British values and diverse society to which belong and play an active part.

We are proud that our curriculum gives our children the skills, confidence and self-belief to lead a happy and fulfilled life by encouraging them to aim high, dream big and work towards their goals in life.

The National Curriculum is used as a basis for designing our curriculum to meet the needs of our children while at the same time offering a unique curriculum, with a clear progression of learning and specific learning goals for every subject.

SMSC development, alongside Fundamental British Values are woven throughout our curriculum and embedded in all subjects.

For more information, visit the subject pages.

Organisation

The Junior School is organised into immersive cross-curricular topics. The topics vary in length, but are planned to last up to a term. This allows us to create exciting learning journeys and respond to the needs of the children.

There is also time and space for whole school topics (e.g. Book, Maths, Outdoor Learning or Science weeks), topics that reflect contemporary events (e.g. the Olympics) and topics devised by the children or teachers’ personal interests.

Mathematics, English, Reading and Phonics are taught daily, providing comprehensive coverage of the key skills which will reinforce learning and deepen understanding.

Enrichment

As well as designing a stimulating engaging curriculum, we are committed to providing enrichment opportunities that enhance learning and contribute to the children’s learning experiences:

Forest school and outdoor learning, local trips, educational visits, residential trip in Y6, enrichment activities with hub schools, sporting fixtures, drama and performances, visits, theatre groups and speakers.

We firmly believe that our children learn beyond the classroom. For this reason, every class has a planned Forest School and Outdoor Learning lessons throughout the year. The children have opportunities to make use in planned lessons or sessions in Gatton Park. During these sessions they build shelters, cook on a campfire, go pond dipping or bug hunting, play team-building games and do some really exciting activities linked to our curriculum topics. We believe that learning outside the classroom is essential for our children’s mental health and well-being.

The outdoor learning environment is also used throughout the school and we encourage children to learn outdoors wherever possible using the outdoor classrooms, Japanese garden, rock garden, school fields, the lake and our dedicated forest school areas.

Impact

Our curriculum has an ambition for high achievement of all students.

This achievement is represented in two key areas:

• The standards children reach in statutory curriculum areas at the end of key stage 2, in relation to their progress and attainment
• In reality, we will be measuring how effectively our curriculum helps our students develop into well-rounded individuals who embody our values and carry with them the knowledge, skills and attitudes, which will make them lifelong learners, and valuable future citizens.

The Junior school receives PE and Sport Premium funding. Further details can be found on our Policies page.

If you would like more information about the Junior Curriculum please contact the Head of the Junior School, Mr S Greenwood.

Wellbeing Philosophy

The health and wellbeing of all students sits at the heart of everything we do. Our Wellbeing Policy focuses on the achievement and maintenance of physical, emotional and mental fitness, as a student who is happy is more likely to flourish and achieve their potential. We provide a strong support network through teachers, boarding staff, learning coaches and nurses who are all available to offer advice and support.

Our Senior Leadership Team provide regular updates on current health and wellbeing topics such as internet safety, social media and privacy, and advice about the amount of screen time that is healthy for children. We actively promote the importance of positive mental health awareness throughout the school, making use of senior students to support and educate our pupils in Key Stage 2.

Our pastoral programme is given the highest priority. As a School we are caring, friendly and know that happy, cared-for children are most likely to thrive. In Years 3 – 6, teachers and learning support staff develop positive relationships with each member of their class and are quickly able to identify problems.

In the Junior School, the Head of Juniors and Deputy Headteacher Achievement, Standards and Inclusion are supported by all staff to oversee student welfare. We provide personal and approachable support for families. Parents and children are encouraged to speak to class teachers, boarding staff, learning coaches and the full-time school nurses about any worries. We hope your child will find the school to be a place of comfort and security, of which they will look forward to returning each day.

Health & Wellbeing

We have a strong focus on health and wellbeing from Year 3 to Year 13; we see the support of young people’s physical and mental health as a crucial element to their success.

Health and wellbeing advice and emotional support are available to students and families via the pastoral leads, class teachers, boarding staff, learning coaches, School Nurse, Chaplain and the school counselling service.

Our confidentiality policy enables pupils to trust in our support teams, whilst keeping safeguarding at the forefront of our approach. This means that where there is considered a risk of harm, information is shared appropriately.

The Health Centre onsite offers a calm and safe space for students. The nursing team all have extensive experience, allowing them to deliver a very high standard of care. The Health Centre is open throughout the day and at weekends.

Internet Security

To help atudwnta access their work outside lesson time and to facilitate e-mail contact with parents and family, students have access to computers almost from when they get up until when they go to bed. Two computer suites are open before lessons start in the morning, at lunchtime and after afternoon lessons and there are suites of computers in every boarding house.

Despite traditional internet blocking and filtering systems, all schools face increasing problems with students able to circumvent safeguards and access unacceptable material on unrecognised websites. Reliance on the sole use of traditional blocking and filtering systems allows huge areas of exposure to very real dangers.

In order to protect students from the many dangers which the Internet offers, and to discourage students from accessing inappropriate material, our internet and e-mail systems are protected by SECURUS.

Further details are available at http://www.securus-software.com

Behaviour

Good behaviour and discipline within the school are essential if children are to learn and teachers teach effectively. We work hard to ensure that we create a supportive and calm school environment in which the rights and responsibilities of everyone within the school community are understood, valued and upheld. You can read our behaviour booklet in full here..

Promoting Positive Behaviour

At RAAS, we have a system of rewards in place to promote the highest expectations of our students. We encourage, praise and reward positive behaviour through a variety of rewards which run through the junior school.

Individual Rewards

At times, praise may be given individually, either verbally or in the form of a sticker. House points are awarded to recognise children who specifically display our Gatton Aims and Upstanding qualities.

Certificates and Celebration Assemblies

Every Friday, children attend a weekly Celebration Assembly. During this assembly, certificates are awarded to children who have demonstrated our school values over the course of the week and have shown a determination to be the best they can be. Certificates may also be given to recognise pupil effort and achievement other curriculum areas.

Sharing Success with our Senior Leadership Team

Children displaying exemplary behaviour or an excellent attitude to learning will be sent to share this with the Head of Junior School.

Value Points, Star Badges and Celebration Lunches

Throughout the year, children collect value points or credits which count towards an end-of-term reward lunch. The top 6 in each class will be invited each term to a special celebration lunch in the Dining Hall with the Head of Junior School and other members of the Senior Leadership Team.

Leadership Opportunities

KS2 Learning Ambassadors

The role of the Learning Ambassador is to promote teaching and learning and help our students to be the best learners they can be.

During the year, the Learning Ambassadors will undertake the following: –

• Learning Ambassadors are excellent role models, they have good learning attitudes and are able to speak confidently to visitors, staff and governors.
• Talk to new and prospective parents about aspects of school life and share what learning looks like from a pupil perspective at RAA.
• Promote excellent behaviour for learning and encourage each pupil to set high expectations for their learning.
• Talk to children about their work – what they have enjoyed and what they are proud of.
• Carry out learning walks with the Head Teacher, School Improvement Partner and the Governors.

Additional Leadership Opportunities

• Anti-bullying Ambassadors
• PE / Sport Leaders
• School Council
• Eco Team

We pride ourselves here at RAAS to encourage all children from Year 3-Year 6 to be involved in discussing ways to ensure our school is a place where everyone feels safe, respected and valued.

Any child who successfully is included in any of the leadership groups will be given a badge to wear on their blazer. They will attend meetings with other students and staff throughout the year. All leadership positions are for one academic year. Students may reapply for any leadership roles the following year.

Our aim to promote upstanders and to demonstrate the importance of staff and students working together to form a stronger community.

Prep Policy Junior School

Prep

Prep in the Junior School will focus on giving students the opportunity to reinforce and embed key skills in Reading and Mathematics.

By completing prep, students will be gaining fundamental knowledge to facilitate their learning across the curriculum.

• Prep will be set on a Monday and students are given one week to complete set tasks.
• Students will be given a Reading Record. This is where passwords for online resources will be kept and a record of all finished books.
• All prep will be set on Class Charts, where each pupil’s completion of prep will also be recorded on a weekly basis.

Mathematics

All mathematics prep will be available online.

Students are encouraged to complete mathematics prep to build fluency in the fundamentals of the subject, including: subitising, number bonds, addition and subtraction, as well as times tables.

Students are encouraged to complete 30-minutes of times tables tasks on ‘TT Rockstars’ set by the class teacher and additional 30-minutes a week on ‘Numbots’.

Students will be awarded 3 House Points per week if all mathematics prep has been completed. Additional challenge tasks can be set if requested.

Reading

Reading should be a part of every child’s daily routine and this is reflected in our expectations for reading prep. Overall, children are expected to read at least 5 times a week for 25-30 minutes per day. This will consist of opportunities to read levelled books as well as free reads and will be made up of the following:

• Oxford Reading Buddy/Oxford Reading Tree – Children should read one levelled scheme reader on Oxford Reading Buddy or a physical scheme reader on the Oxford Reading Tree scheme per week. When a scheme reader is completed either online or a physical copy, children should then attempt the associated quiz on Oxford Reading Buddy, if available. Children will be assigned a level on Oxford Reading Buddy and this will match up with the level of scheme reader they should be reading.
• Free Read – Children will be able to take out a book of their own choosing in addition to the above. This can be read independently or shared with friends or family. They are welcome to read a free read from home instead.

Whenever a child finishes either a scheme reader or a free read, they should record this and review it in their reading record.

Children will be awarded 2 house points whenever they complete a scheme reader and the associated quiz, if available. They will also receive a further 2 house points for every free read completed if they then complete a review in their reading record.

Spelling

Children will be following the Read Write Inc Spelling programme in class and all pupils will be taught phonics or spellings each morning from Tuesday to Friday. There will be a list of spelling words on Edshed each week and children will be expected to complete 5 games per week. This list will match up with the spelling focus for their current literacy topic that term. Children will be awarded 1 house point each week if the games are completed.

Incomplete Prep

Class teachers will monitor pupils’ prep.

If there are any students who are regularly not completing their prep, class teachers will facilitate its completion by advising they attend ‘Prep Club’ which will take place after school in Rank Weston or at break time or lunchtime if convenient.

We strongly believe that communication is key to ensuring all children are happy, safe, motivated and ultimately successful. We have a wide variety of means of communication alongside the termly reports and parents’ consultation evenings.

For general enquiries, questions or to make appointments to speak to members of staff, please email the Junior Office juniorschool@gatton-park.org.uk

Teachers can be contacted (on non-urgent matters) by email. Emails can be sent to teachers using the following format:

The teacher’s first and last name @gatton-park.org.uk

For example: shaungreenwood@gatton-park.org.uk

Each teacher’s email address can be located here: staff list.

A member of staff will be in the playground at the start and end of the school day so that messages can be passed on.

We encourage communication through the use of home – school diaries.

We strongly advise that parents read the weekly newsletter which is emailed out at the end of each school week.

The Junior School has a dediated social media page, please follow us on Instagram @raajuniors to keep up to date with important information, events or images of the children’s learning.

PROGRESS EVENINGS

JUNIOR

We hold consultations for all classes near Half Term in the Autumn and Spring terms.

Parents can now book their parent evening appointments online. Information regarding this will be sent to parents closer to the date of the consultations. A parents’ guide for booking appointments can be found here.

Dates for Progress Evenings can be found on the school calendar here.

KS2 REPORTING

Autumn Term 2

Attitude to learning, Assessment results and target comments for Y3-6

Spring Term 2

Attitude to learning, Assessment results and target comments for Y3-6

Summer Term 2

Attitude to learning, Assessment results and target comments for Y3-6

The pattern of reports for the whole school

Autumn Term:               Interim reports for Y7, Y8 & Y10. Full reports for Y3-6, Y9 & Y11

Spring Term:                  Interim reports for all students

Summer Term:              Full reports for Years 3-6, Y7, Y8 & Y10