Curriculum Intent

At Sheerness West Federation, our curriculum is designed in order for our pupils (regardless of their age, gender, individual circumstances or academic ability) to understand who they are; understand the Island and the rich heritage on which they live and understand the world beyond (Us, Our Island, The World).

Each subject is planned to ensure children are building on prior knowledge whilst preparing them for the future.

The children will ask questions to extend and challenge their thinking; will adapt their ideas, review their success and act on feedback from others to improve. They will actively listen to others. Our children will work on gaining in independence and resilience and be confident enough to seek support where needed.

All learning environments, set out to inspire and enable learning. Inclusion is at the heart of our learning - we believe that children should be a happy in our schools; enjoy investigating, enquiring and building on skills and knowledge over their time with us through exciting planned opportunities.

Our aim is to ensure that all children leave the Federation not only prepared for the next step of their school career but to be caring, resilient and confident pupils, who can manage positive relationships and overcome any barriers, while remaining eager to make their dreams come true throughout their life.

We will ensure that all pupils have access to magical memories throughout their years with us, including visits from outside speakers to the schools (Us), to the local beach and the historical places on the Isle of Sheppey (Our Island) and beyond (The World).

At Rose Street, we have chosen to use Kapow for almost all of our foundation curriculum subjects in order to ensure consistently high-quality provision for our children across our whole curriculum. We have also chosen Kapow because it provides adaptations to lessons for our teachers to draw on, to ensure that our curriculum is inclusive by design and precisely matches our specific context, and so that all our children can experience success.  

Curriculum Overview 

Core Subjects 

English 

Reading & Phonics 

At Rose Street we believe that children should have an equal opportunity to become confident, fluent readers and writers. We would like them to have a positive attitude towards reading and access a wide range of genres (non-fiction, fiction, poetry, plays etc). We also would like them to be able to interpret the books and understand them on a deeper level, using comprehension skills they have learnt in their reading sessions. In order to support this, we are using Little Wandle. This is a DfE validated SSP (systematic synthetic phonics scheme) with clear expectations that provide clear progression throughout EYFS to KS1. Once children have the appropriate phonetic knowledge, they progress onto Accelerated Reader which motivates, monitors and manages pupils independent reading practice. 

Writing  

In EYFS and the first term in Year 1 Drawing Club is followed.  Year 1 then move onto ‘Curious Quests’ the next stage for Drawing Club and Pathways to Write from Term 6 to support transition. 

Drawing Club & The Curious Quests 

Both support and develop a love of books and stories; immersing children in the world of story and enriching language skills whilst developing fine motor skills. 

Pathways to Write 

Our writing curriculum follows Pathways to Write supported approach which supports a broad and balanced curriculum using engaging texts to promote and inspire children’s love of reading as a starting point. The approach provides flexibility to adapt to Rose Street’s context and our pupils needs while enabling us to provide strong foundations and clear challenge. Taking into consideration the context of the school this approach provides strong links to the wider curriculum and promotes the development of cultural capital to enable our pupils to understand who they are, the rich heritage of where they live and the world beyond them. Spelling Shed and Grammarsaurus are also used to support SPAG lessons and spelling. 

Maths 

White Rose Maths 

White Rose Maths provides a connected, progressive curriculum, which supports pupils to develop a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts, make strong connections, and enables the class to work together. This ensures a fundamental belief that, through effort, all pupils are capable of understanding, doing and improving at mathematics.  

Mastering number 

This project aims to secure firm foundations in the development of good number sense for all children from Reception through to Year 1 and Year 2. The aim over time is that children will leave KS1 with fluency in calculation and a confidence and flexibility with number to support success in the future. 

Science 

At Rose Street we have chosen to use Kapow, a well-regarded scheme for primary Science. The scheme supports the school context so all pupils can experience the joy of science and make associations between their science learning and their lives outside the classroom while developing a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. 

Foundation subjects 

Kapow 

Kapow provides a carefully sequenced and cohesive curriculum for History, Geography, Art and Design, Design and Technology, French, Music and Computing. The schemes are engaging, knowledge-rich and progressive and builds skills. Lessons deepen pupil knowledge and extend vocabulary and includes varied and enjoyable recap and retrieval opportunities. 

PE – Get Set 4 PE 

This program enhances knowledge and abilities while providing kids with a strong basis for their upcoming phase of learning. We believe assessment should be focused rather than time-consuming and Get Set 4 PE has an easy reporting tool that provides useful statistics for categories such as working towards, working within, working beyond, for vulnerable groups and for who has attended extracurricular clubs and competed for school in a competition. This enables us to have a high-quality PE curriculum which matches the children’s needs, and is inclusive. We also have a specialist PE teaching team who work across the Federation. 

PSHE/RSE – Jigsaw 

We have chosen to use Jigsaw, a well-regarded scheme for PSHE & RSE. The rationale and philosophy underpinning Jigsaw resources is based on mindfulness philosophy and practice, sound psychology and is evidence-based. It explores how the brain works and how learning happens to structure Jigsaw lessons to maximise these processes. Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education is a statutory subject allowing children to develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they will need to manage throughout their lives.  

Jigsaw has two main aims for all children:  

• To build their capacity for learning  

• To equip them for life 

RE  

As a community school we follow the Kent agreed syllabus; this syllabus sets out programmes that provide a coherent understanding of religions and worldviews, preparing children and young people for life in twenty-first century Britain. Religious Education contributes dynamically to children and young people’s education in schools by provoking challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God, ultimate reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human to enable children and young people to develop their own beliefs and opinions. 

For periods of remote learning, we provide the following guidance for parents and children.

More information about the school curriculum can be found in the Curriculum by Year Group Section

IF YOU WISH TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM THAT GUIDES THE CURRICULUM THAT WE OFFER PLEASE CLICK HERE.