Principles of Curriculum change at Pucklechurch CEVC Primary School

Curriculum Remodelling
A Creative Learning Journey:
Teachers will now be planning based on the 6 areas of the Foundation Stage Curriculum that supports children’s learning in Reception.

WHY ?
We need to provide a curriculum for the children that is:

• more relevant

By working with areas of learning rather than traditional subjects we can draw more on real life experiences and the world that is around the children.

• more active

By planning from these strands it is possible for teachers to make more links across the curriculum, looking to develop the learning through applying the skills actively. An example of this would be:
          Children using instructions (Speaking & Listening – CLL) to teach a game (PD) to their peers.

• more enjoyable

Children do enjoy learning when it contains variety, challenge and purpose. The more opportunities there are to link activities across the curriculum the more enjoyable they will be.

Basics
There will still be a focus on developing the basic skills of reading, writing and numbers. All children need these skills to enable them to learn and to be able to express that learning. We need children with the confidence to apply basic skills independently to new learning situations; who can express their understanding in a variety of practical and recorded ways.

The remodelled curriculum is about ‘WHAT’ the children learn, whilst The Successful Learner initiatives over the page are about ‘HOW’ they learn.

Towards Successful Learning:

We are working from the basic idea of:
‘What can we do to enable children to be successful learners?’
This means that your child will be asked to think about their learning in different ways and will need to become much more involved in assessing the progress they are making in that learning. The strategies we are using this year concentrate on three areas for the children.

Self: - Thinking about how our behaviours and our emotions affect our learning.

• “Good Listener/Quality audience” – Used as a specific signal to cue children into important discussions about the learning.
• ‘Helpful/Unhelpful Talk’ board – An ongoing display that is derived from children identifying what the types of talk that support/distract from learning. The display is then used in reference to the types of talking that are helpful or unhelpful to the learning taking place in the classroom. As such it can therefore be added to or taken away from.
• Feelings Boards – Used in the classroom to develop children’s vocabulary of their emotions, their ability to communicate them, recognition of others feelings and their understanding of how to respond/support others.
• Noiseometer – Designed with the children and used to encourage their independent understanding of the level of talk/noise suitable in a variety of contexts.

Learning Environment: -

• The Dream Teacher – A classroom agreement for how children and adults show respect for each other to enable a happy, successful relationship between all.
• Music – Used to set a particular tone when children are in the classroom such as independent learning activities, tidying up. Research shows this has a positive impact on learning.
• Working Walls – The use of display boards to support ongoing learning as opposed to presenting finished outcomes. This is particularly useful in Literacy & Numeracy where the frequent learning opportunities allow for regular use.

Learning Process: - The way learning is shared and reviewed affects the way children engage with the learning.

• We Are Learning To (WALT) – Discussion of the skill that children are learning to use in a lesson. This is separate from the context so that they can begin to understand the skills they are learning in Science or Literacy, for example, can be used ‘anywhere’ – not just in that subject.
• Success Criteria – Spells out clearly what the children should be aiming to achieve in a lesson. Knowing this helps children to identify for themselves how successful they have been.
• Top Learner (of the day) / Wow Boards ( with ‘Thinking Bins’) – These are ways of identifying good learning skills and successful learning by any child in the class. They are focussed on the learning process rather than just what is produced at the end.
• “Every Time I Write” board – Developed with the children in order to focus their knowledge  of the essential aspects in all of their writing. This obviously progresses in each year group.

Not every strategy will be used by every teacher but you will find these three areas should be a fundamental part of helping them to be successful learners.

Please talk to your children about these strategies. It helps to remind them, develops their ability to talk about learning and proves to them that their learning is important. We want them to enjoy learning and to recognise their achievements but most of all to know it’s about them and for them.