Curriculum
Key Stages
Primary age children are organised into different ‘Key Stages’ and the curriculum is geared towards the learning and development needs of children at each stage:
Early Years Foundation Stage: This covers children from Birth to age 5. At The Grange County Primary School, this is children who are in Reception.
Key Stage 1: Children in Years 1 and 2
Key Stage 2: Children in years 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Grange Curriculum – Our intent through our common threads
Our curriculum facilitates opportunities and experiences that create talented, unique and decent young people. It ensures that children do not stay still and settle for anything but their best. Our new curriculum is a platform for them to build an outstanding work ethic and strong core values.
At The Grange, all of our children, regardless of their age, ability, need, cultural background or means, deserve an education rich in wonder, memorable experiences, positive relationships and an enjoyment of learning.
All pupils are in an environment where they can consistently achieve highly, in particular the most disadvantaged and that pupils with special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities achieve exceptionally well so that they are able to show great potential, mettle, a strong moral compass and a massive commitment to our school and community.
Our curriculum is ambitious for all; demanding that children are challenged and push themselves hard; being studious and eager to go above and beyond. At the Grange, we encompass 6 common threads which reach across our school’s curriculum termly allowing for parity, shared experience, and a common vocabulary throughout the school.
Our common threads are;
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Citizenship
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Expression
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Dynasties
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Universe
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Life
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Dynamics
Our teachers have a firm and common understanding of our school’s curriculum intent and it dictates their practice so that pupils have the knowledge and skills they need to allow them to go onto destinations that meet their interests and aspirations.
Our curriculum allows children's natural creativity and curiosity to flourish, alongside the purposeful acquisition of skills and knowledge. It is successfully adapted, designed, and developed for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and provides ‘hands-on’ practical learning that supports pupils to make ‘real-life’ world connections.
Our curriculum ensures that our children set themselves high standards and demands that they always demonstrate that they care about everything and everyone. Through the curriculum, they are expected to embrace changes and challenges thrust upon them with grace and enthusiasm. The vast range of opportunities given to our pupils from Foundation Stage to Year 6, matches the aims of our curriculum and pupils’ work is of a consistently high quality.
Safeguarding and the Safeguarding Children in Banbury Programme underpins our curriculum; giving us all the right to feel safe wherever we are.
Our curriculum ensures that students leave The Grange brave enough and academically and emotionally equipped to chew up the world and spit it out; so that they are prepared to be open to and strong enough to rely on their own moral strength and independence and be able to differentiate between what is right and wrong, fair and unfair.
We believe the personal development of our pupils through the foundation of The Grange Way, Fundamental British Values, Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural Education and RSE does all of this, giving children the best chance to become well-rounded, happy individuals, ready to succeed and thrive in an ever-changing, ever-expanding and always-connected digital world.
Topic based learning
We ensure that learning is based around engaging and fun topics and common threads and in addition to class-based learning, we ensure that there is a whole school entitlement for all children to learn outside the classroom using the local area and personal expertise.
In the reception class, children follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum.
We follow the National Curriculum in years 1 to 6. This is composed of the eleven subjects;
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English (Jane Considine/ Literacy Shed / Letter join)
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Mathematics (Hamilton Trust/ Maths Makes Sense)
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Science (Rising Stars)
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Art and Design (Cornerstones)
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Computing (Purple Mash)
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Design and Technology (Cornerstones)
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History (Cornerstones)
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Geography (Cornerstones)
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Languages (Language Angels)
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Music (Charanga)
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Physical Education (specialist P.E Teacher Complete PE for Sport).
Religious Education is a statutory subject with the agreed syllabus determined by Oxfordshire County Council and is known as the 'local agreed syllabus'. We use Discovery Education to support the teaching of R.E across the school.
Personal Development is also (PD) taught on a weekly basis using resources from Safety, Caring, Achievement, Resilience, Friendship (SCARF) and Safeguarding children in Banbury.
(SCIB)
What are we doing to catch up and keep up after COVID disruptions?
From September 2021, we are delivering a whole new approach and curriculum; building on and using the existing Cornerstones curriculum that we have used previously. We now provide a broader and more balanced curriculum based on 6 whole school projects using Cornerstones Curriculum resources ensuring that we bring the whole school together through a common thread and a curriculum that has a substantive and disciplinary core:
Social
Moral
Spiritual
Cultural
Education
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Rising Stars for Science
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Complete PE for Sport
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Purple Mash and NatterHub for Computing and Online Safety
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Charanga - primary music curriculum
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Letter-join whole-school handwriting scheme
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Discovery RE
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SCIB (Safeguarding Children in Banbury)
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SCARF (Safety Caring Acheiving Reslience Frendship)
The Curriculum is a broad and balanced, knowledge-rich primary curriculum. Its content is delivered through a range of subject-specific projects, which last a half term. Subject-specific projects cover art and design, design and technology, geography, history, RE and science. Maths is delivered through the principles of the Maths Makes Sense scheme, and English is supported by Jane Considine Writing, Reading and Spelling scheme. We also use:
Personal Development
Our whole school projects build on the projects which have come before, creating interconnected layers and a common thread. These interconnected layers provide a robust framework that ensures connectivity across the curriculum and indeed school.