Our Curriculum

A broad and balanced curriculum is offered at Quainton with pupils being given many opportunities to develop their knowledge & understanding; learn and apply new skills through the creative curriculum approach.

Our aim is to develop an active, engaging and healthy disposition towards lifelong learning. We believe that each and every child has an equal right to access the curriculum in a way that provides stimulation and challenge. We want our learners to be excited, imaginative and eager to participate in all aspects of school life. This year we aim to develop the creative 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 pupils deserve to achieve a high standard of literacy: reading, writing, speaking and listening. These key skills are then transferred to all other areas of the curriculum. The pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2 have daily literacy lessons. Reading focuses on the key skill of comprehension, teaching pupils how to fully engage with the text.  Pupils in Reception and Key Stage 1 are taught daily phonics lessons using the validated Rocket Phonics Scheme; this is complemented by the Rising Stars Reading Scheme where reading books are matched to their current phonological knowledge.  In literacy we follow a sequence of learning over 2/3 weeks where an independent piece of writing is produced at the end of the sequence; the specific skills (grammar, reading and writing) are tailored and matched to the specific genre. There is a focus on writing with a purpose (why we are writing) and for an audience (who we are writing for).  Editing and improving work is a major cornerstone of our work. Drama also forms part of our literacy curriculum; activities are used to develop confidence, explore the meaning of text and to rehearse writing.

Maths

When teaching mathematics at Quainton, we provide a curriculum which caters for the needs of all individuals and sets them up with necessary skills and knowledge for them to become successful in their future adventures. We aim to prepare them for a successful working life. We are working towards incorporating sustained levels of challenge through varied and high quality activities with a focus on fluency, reasoning and problem solving and to deepen their understanding of a concept and the links between maths topics.

At Quainton we use The White Rose Mastery aaproach to  secure a deepened understanding and conceptual understanding, allowing our pupils to explore maths in depth, using mathematical vocabulary to reason and explain their workings. We are currently giving the children a wide range of mathematical resources and ensuring they are taught to show their workings in a concrete, pictorial and abstract form wherever suitable. They are taught to explain their choice of methods and develop their mathematical reasoning skills through key questioning from teachers. We encourage resilience, adaptability, growth mind set and acceptance that mistakes are how we learn and progress. We have produced a curriculum that allows children to better make sense of the world around them relating the pattern between mathematics and everyday life

Science

The curriculum provides high quality, progressive learning that has been tailored to suit Quainton and provide cross curricular opportunities. School wide planning template for consistency teaches 2 hours of science per week. Practical lessons are planned to boost engagement, Science is a natural occurrence so lessons should be as natural as possible (real malleable resources. Knowledge organisers for vocabulary and topic content are introduced for each topic, these also build upon skills and knowledge. 

ICT

Taught weekly in Years 1 to 6, our Computing curriculum is a clear and effective scheme of work that provides coverage in line with the National Curriculum. Teaching and learning should facilitate progression across all key stages within the strands of digital literacy, information technology and computer science. The children will have access to resources which aid in the acquisition of skills and knowledge. Children will have access to the hardware (computers, tablets, programmable equipment) and software that they need to develop knowledge and skills of digital systems and their applications.

Children will have the opportunity to explore and respond to key issues such as digital communication, cyberbullying, online safety, security, plagiarism and social media. Curriculum Opportunities for the safe use of digital systems are considered in wider curriculum planning.

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.  For PSHE we use the Jigsaw scheme of work. The school has adopted the Local Authority agreed syllabus and deliver RE through Discovery RE.  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 wellbeing 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
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.  We use the Language Angels scheme which builds on prior knowedgde in a progressive manner.

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