Our curriculum

Our Curriculum Statement

The school's Curriculum Statement encompasses the nature of learning experiences which should take place in Overdale Junior School, including the National Curriculum:

"The curriculum is a term to describe all the learning experiences provided at school. It should be broad, balanced and relevant to all children in accordance with the principles laid down by the local authority. It complies with Government legislation in the form of the Education Reform Act. Every effort should be made to match the curriculum to the individual needs and abilities of the learner who should be actively involved wherever possible. It is vital for teachers at every phase to liaise closely when planning and implementing the curriculum: this will aid continuity and progress. It is crucial that all learners are challenged and that high expectations are held and fulfilled. All learners are entitled to this curriculum, which should acknowledge and reflect the changing and multicultural nature of society."

"The curriculum is a term to describe all the learning experiences provided at school. It should be broad, balanced and relevant to all children in accordance with the principles laid down by the local authority.

It complies with Government legislation in the form of the Education Reform Act. Every effort should be made to match the curriculum to the individual needs and abilities of the learner who should be actively involved wherever possible.

It is vital for teachers at every phase to liaise closely when planning and implementing the curriculum: this will aid continuity and progress. It is crucial that all learners are challenged and that high expectations are held and fulfilled.

All learners are entitled to this curriculum, which should acknowledge and reflect the changing and multicultural nature of society."

You can read our policies on Teaching & Learning, Assessment for Learning and Written Calculations on our policies page.

Curriculum Drivers

Each academic year, there are three different drivers behind our curriculum, chosen with the intention of broadening our pupils' knowledge and understanding of society and the wider world and providing opportunities to develop and gain cultural capital. These drivers are :

Year A

Autumn term - Identity
Spring term - Diversity
Summer term - Aspirations

Year B (Our current cycle for 2020/21)

Autumn term - Current Affairs
Spring term - Culture
Summer term - Performance

2020/21 Curriculum

SPRING TERM

This term, our driver is Culture.

Please see Curriculum maps and Text maps for details of each year group's curriculum content.

We are in the process of updating information on the website detailing how we are having to adapt our Spring term curriculum during the current National Lockdown.

AUTUMN TERM

Children in all year groups across school started the academic year focusing on the high quality picture book 'Here We Are' by Oliver Jeffers, with an emphasis on PSHCE and P4C as we returned to school.

We then moved on to focus on a different picture book within each year group as we began to move towards a fuller timetable, with emphasis on wellbeing and reducing cognitive load. PSHCE and PE remained key parts of the timetable, as did reading: whole class text focus in English (see below); whole class reading for pleasure and individual reading both for pleasure and progress. Class teachers and support staff have spent time getting to know children as readers, ensuring they have the correct level of reading book both for in school and at home.

Autumn term 1 core texts:

Year 3 - After the Fall by Dan Santat

Year 4 - Leon and the Place Between by Angela McAllister

Year 5 - The Promise by Nicola Davies

Year 6 - Can I Build Another Me? by Shinsuke Yoshitake

Units planned on the above texts enabled us to have a whole school focus on sentence structures. Careful planning for progression meant class teachers were able to revisit and recap on sentence building work carried out in previous year groups, ensuring precision and understanding underpins pupils' writing as we move forward.

During Autumn term 2, we reintroduced the rest of the foundation subjects into our curriculum offer.

Autumn term 2 core texts:

Year 3 - Into the Forest by Anthony Browne

Year 4 - The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson

Year 5 - Herakles (classic text)

Year 6 - Isis and Osiris (classic text)

Enrichment Activities

The children enjoy a range of enrichment activities, including Food Routes, Outdoor Education and Forest School sessions which make the most of our extensive and varied grounds.

Pupils also undertake a 6 week project on sustainability, linked to the curriculum theme. They learn about the beauty and intricacy of the natural world and the ways in which natural systems are in danger, looking for positive solutions to inspire themselves and others.

We are currently not running Food Routes sessions due to Covid-19 related limitations.