Curriculum
The curriculum is at the heart of what we do at our school in order to provide the children with the knowledge and skills across all subjects to prepare them for their future lives as well as inspire in them a love of learning.
Our aim is to ensure the 'daily lived lives' of our children at school allows them to have a deep understanding of the national curriculum, to have a breadth of experiences throughout their school life and to have the opportunity to make links within their learning so that they can truly demonstrate an application of what they know to new and existing concepts. A huge part of this is an active approach which encourages children and adults to immerse themselves in the wonderful rural context of the school. This year we aim to develop the curriculum further to ensure the children are receiving a broad and balanced curriculum not just a narrow focus on test results!
Subjects
Literacy
We believe that all children deserve to attain a high standard of Literacy. Children are explicitly taught the skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening. Daily reading focuses on the key skills needed to fully engage with text and teaches children the skills of comprehension. Children in Reception and Key Stage One receive daily phonics teaching (this is also taught in Key Stage Two as appropriate). In Key Stage One we use letters, sounds and phonics play schemes and utilise the Oxford Reading Tree Scheme to support their reading. Writing is promoted as a thinking tool, not just as a medium for sharing information. A weekly session, where everybody writes, engages children in extended writing. Many opportunities are given to children to use ‘talk’ as a thinking tool as well as a method of sharing their understanding. Drama is the fourth dimension to the Literacy curriculum: activities are used to develop confidence, explore the meaning of text and to rehearse writing. Literacy lessons are timetabled each day throughout Key Stages 1 and 2 with skills being transferred to all other areas of the curriculum.
Numeracy
A large emphasis is placed on children being able to use and apply the knowledge, skills and understanding of Numeracy across the whole curriculum. Our young mathematicians are presented with relevant challenges, working individually, in pairs or small groups as appropriate. We believe that a good knowledge and understanding of numeracy basics is key to children feeling confident about all aspects of mathematics. Consequently, we place a high importance on basic knowledge of number and the use of mental strategies for solving problems. We are also encouraging and active approach to maths, getting the children out of their seats and actively engaging with maths and problem solving. Numeracy lessons are timetabled each day in Key Stages 1 and 2. There are many opportunities for children to apply their skills and knowledge across the curriculum. We presently use the Collins Maths Scheme to deliver the maths curriculum but use other resources too such as Maths of the Day and The White Rose Hub.
Science
The curriculum has been developed over the last two years to allow more and more opportunities for children to carry out investigations, both independently and in small groups. Although we have a well-resourced Science Laboratory, much use is made of the school grounds and the local area to provide an exciting environment for learning and to allow children to participate in fieldwork. Year 5 children participate annually in the science fair at Royal Latin Grammar School and we have been awarded the Primary Science Quality Mark (Silver Level).
ICT
Information Communication Technology is used effectively across the curriculum. Children are provided with many opportunities to: research, manipulate and share information; use ICT to measure and to make things; assess their own and others use of ICT. Digital microscopes, measuring devices, digital cameras, laptop computers and interactive whiteboards are just some of the ways in which children gain hands on experience. We are currently improving our ICT provision to ensure the very best opportunities are available for our children.
Religious Education & Personal, Social & Health Education (PSHE)
As a Church of England School we place a high importance on learning about and learning from Christianity and other religions of the world. We use a variety of stimuli, including educational visits to places of worship, to engage children and to allow them to gain a broad experience of religion. Children will learn about religion, and then from it before relating this to their own experiences. A strong link between RE and PSHE is thus made which helps children to make sense of the decisions they have to make in their daily lives.We encourage children of all faiths to share their beliefs and for parents and religious leaders to contribute to the life of the school throughout the year. The school has adopted the Local Authority agreed syllabus. Whilst we accept the right of parents to withdraw children from RE we expect everyone to be a part of our inclusive experience.
Physical Education
At Quainton, we believe in the importance of school sport in shaping the way our pupils live the rest of their lives. By encouraging children to engage in a healthy, active lifestyle we hope to develop positive attitudes towards health and well-being which they will carry with them far beyond their time with us.
We engaged children by reinstating Play Leaders who targeted our KS1 and EYFS pupils with a variety of fun and active games at lunchtime. Alongside this, children from all year groups were encouraged to lead their own clubs at lunchtime which led to a huge range of activities from cheer-leading to football. Extracurricular clubs led by members of staff and external agencies and volunteers included football, multi-skills, hockey, dance, martial arts, netball, Change 4 Life clubs (skipping and running), athletics and rounders. This year we are participating in the Living Streets Walk to School scheme, encouraging children and parents to walk 10 minutes to school everyday.
We participated in several festivals which were organised by our School Games Organiser in collaboration with the Waddesdon family of schools. We competed in Quick Sticks Hockey, athletics, Year 5 and 6 football league, rounders, swimming, basketball, netball, dodge-ball, multi-skills, cross-country, tennis, cricket and most notably the KS2 Dance Extravaganza where our wonderful team reached the Buckinghamshire finals finishing 4th overall out of 42 schools…a fantastic achievement making us all very proud. .
Our year culminated in an exciting Sports Day which saw incredible displays of sportsmanship and team work.
Our vision at Quainton is that every child enjoys school sport and develops a positive attitude towards their own health and well-being. Through Physical Education and school sport, we aim to:
- Improve fitness, health and well-being·
- Encourage active participation and lifelong learning
- Allow each child to achieve their full potential
The values, discipline and teamwork associated with sport is paramount in the emotional and cultural development of the children. We use PE as a way to support children in their SMSC development along with other areas of the curriculum.
The school receives additional funds to support the development of Physical Education and Sport in school (Sport Premium). This money is in addition to the curriculum funding for PE and Sport from the main school budget. The way in which we have spent our sports premium is attached below along with the projection for the current financial year.
As a result of all our hard work this year we were rewarded with the Gold Sports Mark a government led reward for commitment to the development of competition across the school and into the community. Well done all at Quainton!
Modern Foreign Languages
Key Stage One children have the opportunity to learn French at our after school club. French lessons begin in Year 3 and are continued in Year 4. Throughout Years 5 and 6 children learn French once a week. The main focus of MFL at Quainton is the development of a love for language and the ability to communicate orally.
The Creative Curriculum
All other areas of the curriculum are delivered through topic based learning (History, Geography, Design & Technology, Art and Music). This multi-disciplinary approach allows children to understand how concepts are often inter-related, to transfer skills from one subject to another and to engage is exciting learning activities not always possible when studying each subject discretely. Good use is made of specialist teaching and educational visits to further enrich learning.
Key Stages
Your child’s education is divided into the following key stages:
Foundation Stage
3-5 Years
Key Stage One
from 5-7 Years
Key Stage Two
from 7-11 Years
Key Stage Three
from 11-14 Years
Key Stage Four
from 14-16 Year
For more information please contact the School's Office
Tel: 01296 655242
Email: office@quainton.bucks.sch.uk