Meath Green Junior School | Our Curriculum
Curriculum Intent Statement
At Meath Green Junior School the curriculum is designed to:
Every child is recognised as a unique individual. We celebrate and welcome differences within our school community. The ability to learn is underpinned by the teaching of basic skills, knowledge, concepts and values. We constantly provide enhancement opportunities to engage learning and believe that childhood should be a happy, investigative and enquiring time in our lives where there are no limits to curiosity and there is a thirst for new experiences and knowledge. We promote positive attitudes to learning which reflect the values and skills needed to promote responsibility for learning and future success.
Community involvement is an essential part of our curriculum as we celebrate local traditions, learning new skills to enable the children to take an active role in events throughout the year.
Children leave the school with a sense of belonging to a tightly knit community where they have the confidence and skills to make decisions, self-evaluate, make connections and become lifelong learners.
Curriculum Implementation and Outcomes
Meath Green Junior School engages all learning styles using a variety of resources including:
Learning Research
The school has recognised the use of clear, focused learning objectives and steps to success as an effective tool in gaining intended learning outcomes.
We use effective questioning techniques to develop higher order thinking skills. In lessons we provide opportunities for study but we strive to provide as many recall and application activities as possible to support the retention of knowledge and understanding.
Growth Mindset Approach to Learning
The growth mindset learning culture is promoted throughout all learning opportunities; these are used to remind and empower children so that they become responsible for their own learning.
These approaches are:
Values Based Learning
We use Values Based Learning which is a rolling programme of focus values which are introduced in assemblies, discussed in class and promoted through activities and actions.
These values are being proud, honest, resilient, healthy, inspirational; sharing responsibility, happiness, respect and sportsmanship. Each subject leader ensures that there is appropriate curriculum coverage of Fundamental British Values. Children learn to take personal responsibility for their own thoughts and actions.
Subject Leaders
At Meath Green Junior School we have subject leaders who oversee, develop, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of their subject within school across all year groups and phases. Staff are committed to delivering high quality learning experiences throughout the curriculum.
Support staff have developed their strengths in order to further enhance the quality of learning.
National Curriculum
Maths
In our maths curriculum calculation is taught, practiced, practiced and practiced. The children can then apply these skills to problems which helps them to reason about number. These skills are transferable to everyday situations where maths is seen as an integral part of life.
English
Writing is taught through a range of exciting stimuli which includes books, film clips, artefacts, visitors and real-life experiences. We strive to equip children to develop a rich vocabulary which can help them bring their writing to life. Basic skills and non-negotiables underpin writing in all areas of the curriculum. Teachers model the writing process and demonstrate the ambitious high standards expected of all children. Every child is encouraged to let their imagination and personality shine through in their writing.
Reading is a fundamental part of everything we do at Meath Green Junior School. Children are exposed to high quality texts across the curriculum and reading skills are taught explicitly in all year groups through VIPERS. Alongside the skills of decoding and comprehension, book talk encourages children to think as a reader and discuss their preferences, likes and dislikes. Reading for pleasure is a cornerstone of our approach, with a well-stocked and well organised school library which children access both within the timetable and in their own time. The high profile of reading in school is further enhanced through our termly ‘Book Raffle’ which runs in school every year.
International Primary Curriculum Challenge
Learning Goals
The learning goals are the foundation on which the International Primary Curriculum is built. The IPC provides children with subject goals, personal learning goals, and uniquely, international learning goals, and these are defined for each age phase:
Subject Goals
Subject goals cover the knowledge, skills and understanding of children relating to the subjects they are learning. There are subject learning goals for Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, ICT & Computing, Technology, History, Geography, Music, Physical Education, Art and Society.
Personal Goals
Personal goals underpin the individual qualities and dispositions we believe children will find essential in the 21st century. There are 8 IPC Personal Goals - enquiry, resilience, morality, communication, thoughtfulness, cooperation, respect and adaptability. Opportunities to experience and practice these are built into the learning tasks within each unit of work.
International Learning Goals
International learning goals are unique to our curriculum and help young children begin the move towards an increasingly sophisticated national, international and intercultural perspective. Each thematic IPC unit includes an international aspect, to help develop a sense of ‘international mindedness’.
RE
Using the IPC and Local Authority RE Agreed Syllabus children are taught knowledge and understanding around a range of religious and worldwide views so that they can: describe, explain, analyse and investigate allowing them to appreciate beliefs and practices, recognising the diversity, meanings and values within and between communities (including their own) and amongst individuals.
Music
Our Music curriculum is designed to progressively develop children skills in the areas of musical appreciation (listening and discussing), performance on instruments and with voice, composition and recording and evaluating musical performances. Year 3 learn the recorder, Year 4 learn the keyboards, Year 5 learn the ukulele. We encourage children to focus on the work of great musicians for inspiration and exploration, and to build up a repertoire of techniques and approaches that they can apply in their own compositions. This is also extended into weekly whole school singing assemblies where we celebrate different types of music. Orchestra is held weekly to ensure pupils - past and present and parents have the opportunity to share their love of music in a community activity.
Modern Foreign Languages
Our MFL curriculum is designed to progressively develop children’s skills in languages, through regular taught lessons. Children progressively acquire, use and apply a growing bank of vocabulary organised around topics. All of these approaches help to equip our children with the skills to be confident global citizens.
Computing
Our computing curriculum is designed to equip children with the skills and understanding to live in a technological world, this includes being able to use a variety of computer software and coding programmes. There is an emphasis on the importance of Online Safety for all year groups.
Outdoor Learning
Meath Green Junior School teachers take children outside the classroom to make learning more relevant to their lives in the community and wider world. We encourage children to be responsible for and respect the local community and environment giving them a sense of belonging and ownership of the place in which they live. We explore the uses of the local area, integrating subjects so that meaningful activities can be planned and delivered effectively and regularly. Pupils in Year 4 and Year 5 have opportunities to be involved in Forest Schools.
Visits and Visitors
In the curriculum we recognise that children’s learning is enhanced by different experiences. We offer children a wide range of educational visits which are used to motivate and engage learning which improves retention. For example:
Regular visitors in school give the children another perspective on values, attitudes, learning and understanding. These include charities, people from different professions and the community.
Lunchtimes
We consider lunchtime to be an extension of the curriculum. Children have the opportunity to practice the transferable skills they have learnt during lessons. Structured play opportunities are provided children are encouraged to think creatively, apply their understanding in individual ways to be able to draw upon their own experiences and to be imaginative during play. Our Year 6 Leaders who are working towards their Primary Sports Leadership Award work hard to provide equipment and structured play opportunities with the support of the Sports Leader.
Life Skills
Children have opportunities to develop key life skills through a range of opportunities – e.g. Bikeability and Charity Day
Curriculum Impact
The impact of the curriculum is evident in the outcomes for all pupils.