Curriculum

Curriculum Statement

Here at The Hill we believe in delivering a broad and balanced, knowledge-rich curriculum that allows our pupils to gain the knowledge and skills that they need to make informed choices.

We do this through teaching subjects discreetly, with an emphasis on supporting pupils to make connections across themes within the same subject, and across subjects. This allows our children to deepen their knowledge and understanding of concepts and themes and make effective links. Research has shown that this is extremely important if children are to make progress and retain the information that they are taught.

We also put great emphasis on our pupils acquiring the thinking skills that they need to become life-long learners and overcome challenges throughout their lives. Through the P4C approach, we foster the 4Cs – creative, critical, caring and collaborative thinking – empowering our children to question and think critically in a supportive and collaborative environment.

Empowering children in a life full of choices

Curriculum vision

To give children the knowledge and power to make informed choices through the deliverance of a curriculum that gives children the knowledge and understanding of the world that they live in, including an understanding of themselves and to begin to shape their place in the world.

May your choices reflect your hope, not your fears.

(Nelson Mandela)

Curriculum aims –

Here at The Hill Primary Academy we aim to:

• Build a community within school with family values.
• Champion a culture of tolerance and mutual respect.
• Provide a safe, secure and caring environment in which to work and learn.
• Deliver inspirational and accountable leadership at all levels.
• Ensure decisions are made from knowledge, love, truth and hope.
• Strive for consistently high academic standards for every individual.
• Believe in every individual.
• Always deliver high quality, inspirational and innovative teaching and learning.
• Design and deliver a curriculum that is relevant, knowledge rich and empowering to our children.
• Promote a love of learning that lasts a lifetime.
• Create, innovative, exciting and memorable experiences inside and outside the classroom.
• Foster mindfulness and well-being of all.
• Support pupils to find the keys to open doors and create pathways.

The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential…these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence

(Confucious)

Curriculum drivers

The school’s curriculum drivers underpin the learning experiences that pupils receive.  These drivers should be considered when planning a unit of work for pupils to develop their knowledge in a specific subject area.

• Heritage
• Aspirations
• Healthy body, healthy mind
• Celebrating diversity
• Knowledge of the world
• Basic skills

It is our choices that show us who we really are…not our abilities.(J.K.Rowling)

Maths

Aims of the Math Curriculum

At The Hill, maths is taught using a mastery approach ensuring children access the three strands of the 2014 maths curriculum: fluency, reasoning and problem solving. We follow the Power Maths long term overview to ensure we have full coverage of the small steps that the children need. Power Maths is a DfE recommended scheme that teachers use to supplement whole class teaching and independent practice. This resource is used in conjunction with  other materials such as White Rose, NCETM spine documents and Nrich to personalize learning and to encourage children to think deeply about each concept. Most objectives are taught through a concrete-pictorial-abstract approach which encourages the majority of children to progress at broadly the same pace. The school’s calculation policies are tailored to meet the needs of the pupils and strengthen their arithmetic skills.

Key Skills

Here at The Hill, we take key skills –including multiplication facts – very seriously as they are the foundation stones of secure mathematical understanding. A long-term overview is in place to ensure the correct year groups are taught the correct skills, allowing time for revision and deeper thinking to address any gaps in learning. Teachers continue to teach using the C-P-A approach rather than simply rely on rote learning. It is important that pupils understand and make connections between key facts before they can recall them quickly. Only when pupils are ready, do teachers begin to assess multiplication skills using the school’s ‘Space Race’ program. Children will receive a ‘mission log’ in each year group which details the key skills they need to master. These are tested in quick quiz fashion and teachers continually check for understanding in order for all children to keep up. Years 2-6 use Times Tables Rock Star games to practice quick recall of multiplication tables and Y4 have targeted practice of ‘Sound Check’ which emulates the governments MTC. Nursery and Reception lay the groundwork for exceptional key skills learning, by practising concepts in continuous provision supported by Power Math materials.

Arithmetic

Fluency in arithmetic is crucial to ensuring children can apply their learning to other contexts. Arithmetic skills are practised every day using our ‘Flashback Fluency’ program which uses the principals of ‘Retrieval Practice’ to keep skills ‘warm’. As mentioned above, the school’s calculation policies are tailored to meet the needs of the pupils and strengthen their arithmetic skills.

Assessment

We make use of Same Day Intervention to ensure children do not progress through school with gaps in their learning. Teachers will identify children who would benefit from SDI from assessment for learning during the lesson and the marking of learning. Children with particular weaknesses in math are also able to access specific key skill interventions. We currently use Number Stacks and 1^st Class @ Number.

To enable teachers to accurately assess children’s starting points, we use a cold task at the beginning of each unit. These quizzes give teachers useful information about children’s levels of understanding so that lessons can be pitched appropriately. End of unit assessments (hot tasks) are used to identify any remaining gaps in learning. If a teacher identifies a gap in a child’s learning, the child will be placed in a strengthen intervention and given another opportunity to grasp the concept.

Please click on the links below to access the ‘What is Power Maths’ leaflet and the Department for Education Mathematics Programmes of Study: Key Stages 1 and 2.

What is Power Maths Leaflet

Mathematics Programmes of Study – Key Stages 1 and 2

Calculations Policy KS1 September 2020

Calculations Policy LKS2 September 2020

Calculations Policy UKS2 September 2020

Please click on the links below to access the school’s Policies.

Phonics Policy – September 2020

English Policy – September 2020