Curriculum

We believe that all of our pupils possess unique qualities; as such they have the right to succeed, recognise their own strengths and develop who they are in respectful and caring environment. As a school we place a high focus on developing children’s moral, spiritual, social and cultural understanding. Our school ethos is rooted in our Christian values, with ‘Caring, loving and learning’ together being at the heart of everything we do.

Curriculum Intention

At Montreal C of E Primary School, our intention is that our curriculum extends opportunities, raises aspiration, opens the children’s eyes to the world beyond their immediate environment, enables our children to live happy, healthy and productive lives and inspires children to learn more. Our aim is to deliver lessons which inspire the children to talk about and share their learning with their families.

We have focused upon developing our curriculum to ensure that coverage and progression across the year groups is evident. It aims to provide pupils with memorable experiences, in addition to diverse and rich opportunities from which children can learn and develop a range of transferable skills. The children's own community is used as a starting point for engaging interest. A primary focus of our curriculum is to raise aspirations, to develop  a sense of personal pride in achievement, and to provide a purpose and relevance for learning. We aim to provide activities that the children may not otherwise experience. We recognise that the children need experiences which encourage them to value their own strengths, and to develop aspirations for their future and for their community.

Our PSHE scheme and regular Kidsafe lessons provide children with opportunities to discuss and learn about personal health, well-being, safety, relationships (including anti-bullying work), differences and aspirations.

Curriculum implementation

We aim to ensure that all learners enjoy their education by being being given relevant, appropriately challenging learning experiences and support in making exceptional outcomes in all areas of learning. We teach through the CUSP curriculum for Reading, Writing and many of the foundation subjects. 

CUSP is guided by evidence-led curriculum structures, such as retrieval, spaced retrieval practice and interleaving. It is underpinned by explicit vocabulary instruction and research-focused pedagogy. Combining these leads to exceptional outcomes for pupils, as a result of coherent curriculum design and instructional teaching. Teaching through the CUSP curriculum provides ambitious expectations for our pupils and ensures consistency throughout. It also ensures a rich diet of language and vocabulary. 

The CUSP curriculum is based on the following principles:

• Cognitive load theory - the amount of information our working memory can process at any given time
• Generative learning practice - involves the active integration of new ideas with the learner's existing knowledge
• Explicit teaching of common misconceptions
• Tasks that require children to ‘think hard’
• Retrieval practice and quizzing
• High quality resources and images

Pupils at all levels are helped to achieve their potential. Those who are most able are challenged and supported through appropriate extension activities. Those who find aspects of their learning challenging are encouraged and given targeted support to embed skills, to develop at their own pace or simply to learn in a style that best suits their individual needs.

Curriculum Impact

We use regular monitoring throughout the year to evaluate the impact of our curriculum design. Initially, teachers evaluate lessons and plan the children’s next steps. The children’s acquisition of skills in English and Mathematics are monitored through teacher assessments or NFER/Power Maths assessments (previous SATs assessments will be used in Year 6) each half term. We use an online tool to monitor the children’s progress in the foundation subjects. Regular pupil progress meetings are held to monitor the children’s progress and to identify any interventions that are required.

Senior Leaders and subject leaders play an important part in the success of the curriculum by leading a regular programme of monitoring, evaluation and review where impact and outcomes for all children are always central. As part of this process leaders will listen to the pupil’s voice, provide feedback which celebrates our successes and highlights areas for development. This results of this monitoring then informs our school improvement plan so that we are constantly trying to develop our curriculum design.

Below you will find curriculum intention statements for each subject.

 

Our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) team prides itself on working closely with families to ensure the children in our Reception class receive the best care and experiences possible. Before children start our school, our staff liaise closely with parents/carers and feeder nurseries/childminders to ensure a smooth transition in to our setting. 

We strongly believe that children have a right to experience a curriculum which is exciting, interesting and purposeful. We strive to develop learning through a stimulating, creative environment where all children have the opportunity to flourish.  

Areas of Provision

Our carefully planned continuous provision enables children to learn new skills, explore recent learning and follow their own interests. This is done through active, hands on exploration and play based activities, both inside and out. 

This provision is enhanced to make links to adult led learning, enabling children to embed learning and challenge their thinking. Adults based in the provision will support in building new skills, develop independence and model/extend speech and vocabulary. Enhancements also give the children opportunities to practise and improve skills, build engagement, motivation and critical thinking. 

Curriculum

Our EYFS curriculum is based on the CUSP curriculum for Early Years Foundation Stage, which is split in to three core elements which work together to provide an engaging, challenging curriculum.

The three core elements are as follows:

1. Foundational Knowledge 
2. Opportunities and experiences 
3. Structured story time planning 

We use Structured Storytime as a basis for our core learning, planning purposeful, engaging learning opportunities to ensure our children receive a language rich, diverse curriculum that builds upon children's interests and talents.

Our long-term plan is supported by more detailed half-termly plans which contain specific areas of focus followed by weekly plans.

We use a mixture of teaching styles including:

• Adults based within the provision
• Whole class teaching
•  Group work
• individual teaching & appropriate intervention groups to both support and challenge our pupils

In our class, subjects are sometimes taught in specific subject blocks, but learning is mainly organised in a cross-curricular way based on a variety of topics linked to our Structured Storytime, where learning and skills are revisited throughout the year to consolidate learning. Our sequence of learning is influenced by children's interests and key events throughout the year, for example Shrove Tuesday. 

 

Characteristics of Effective Learning

The characteristics of effective learning are at the heart of how we learn in our EYFS class. They are the types of ways in which our children approach their learning through their decisions and interests. They also relate to how the children tackle new experiences and deal with challenges.

We have built a culture in which our children are motivated, curious, resilient learners who are not afraid to take risks. They show perseverance and resilience when it comes to tricky challenges, drawing on their own experiences and are always willing to have a go. 

The characteristics of effective learning are as listed below:

• Playing and exploring
• Active learning
• Creating and thinking critically

 

Forest School

At Montreal, we take part in Forest School every week. We believe in developing the 'whole child' and Forest School sessions allow us to take learning out of the classroom and into the great outdoors. It gives children an opportunity to learn in a new way and within a new environment. Forest School allows children to take risks and attempt new challenges that they would not normally face within a classroom, adding a sense of excitement and adventure for the children, who are free to explore and manipulate the environment around them using all of their senses. 

Our Forest School sessions support children in developing their imagination and creativity when carrying out activities. Children are free to let their imaginations run wild as they attempt problem solving and exploration of their surroundings. The sessions provide opportunities for the children to experience awe and wonder within the natural environment, allowing a spiritual connection with nature and enabling children to create space for their thoughts, feelings and intuition. 

It is a privilege to see our children's motivation, communication, vocabulary and confidence grow as they explore our great outdoors, flourishing through hands on learning experiences. 

 

 

EYFS Policy

 

EYFS / Year 1 Long Term Plan

When teaching Mathematics, our pupils are taught through whole-class interactive teaching, enabling all to master the concepts necessary for the next part of the curriculum sequence.

At Montreal C of E Primary School, we strongly believe that every child can learn and enjoy Maths. We strive to spark curiosity and excitement and nurture confidence in Maths. We aim to develop deep and lasting understanding of mathematical procedures and concepts, through the use of small steps learning and exposing children to a range of resources and representations. 

We promote the use of precise mathematical language throughout school to enable children to communicate their reasoning effectively. This is also displayed on our working walls to support mathematical discussion and learning. 

The CPA (concrete, pictorial, abstract) approach underpins our love of bringing Maths to life and learning practically, giving learning a purpose and supporting children in exploring their ideas further. 

At Montreal C of E Primary School, our Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 children study Mathematics daily following the Power Maths Scheme of Learning. Power Maths is built around a child‑centred lesson design that models and embeds a growth mindset approach to maths and focuses on helping all children to build a deep understanding of maths concepts.

Our EYFS children develop firm mathematical foundations in a way that is engaging, and appropriate for their age. We plan and deliver maths dependent on our cohort's interests and abilities, delivering adult led sessions planned carefully using Power Maths, White Rose and the NCETM. We use the small steps way of learning to build upon what the children already know, using manipulatives and representations to develop understanding. 

We also integrate maths into different activities throughout the day – for example, at registration and snack time – to familiarise children with maths language and make the most of the school day. On top of this, we believe that the use of stories and songs/rhymes can be a powerful tool for engaging children with maths concepts. We also use games to support children in developing a firm understanding of numbers. 

 

Power Maths Parent Letter

 

Mathematics Curriculum Overviews

The long-term plans below, which are taken from the Power Maths guidance, show which areas of Mathematics the children will be covering throughout the year. 

 

Maths Calculation Policies

 

Our Vision

At Montreal C of E Primary School, we recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children take pride in their writing and write clearly and accurately whilst selecting and adapting their language and style to suit a range of contexts, purposes and audiences. The overarching aim of English in the national curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word and to develop a love of literature through widespread reading for pleasure.

We plan engaging units of work in order to enthuse, inspire and motivate our children, which are underpinned by core texts from a carefully developed reading spine. English equips pupils with a uniquely powerful set of tools to understand and engage with the world.  These tools include the ability and confidence to communicate clearly and effectively using both spoken, and written words, to listen with understanding and to be responsive, knowledgeable readers. English is integral to all aspects of life and, with this in mind, we endeavour to ensure that children develop a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards all areas of English that will remain with them in order to achieve their full potential in life and make a valuable contribution to society.

Our Aims

By the end of KS2, we aim for our pupils to:

• Read with confidence, fluency and understanding.
• Love to read for information and for pleasure and read a wide range of books by different authors, including classic texts from our literary heritage, and to challenge themselves within their choices.
• Write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences.
• Understand a range of text types and genres – be able to write in a variety of styles and forms appropriate to the purpose.
• Understand how grammar and punctuation is used and applying this knowledge when reading and writing.
• Have an interest in words and their spelling and meanings, developing a growing vocabulary in spoken and written forms.
• Refine their writing with the use of a range of independent strategies to self-monitor and correct by being able to identify areas for improvements in all pieces of writing, editing their work effectively during and after the writing process.
• Present their written work in a clear, organised way, appropriate to the genre.
• Take pride in the presentation of their writing, including developing a neat, legible and fluent cursive handwriting style.
• Have a suitable, age appropriate technical vocabulary to articulate their responses.
• Be able to listen attentively with understanding and be able to express their views clearly in a range of situations such as discussions, presentations and debates.
• Develop their powers of imagination, inventiveness and critical awareness.
• Practise, consolidate and develop English skills across the curriculum.

Our Curriculum

Reading and writing are closely linked and taught through a selection of rich, core texts.

Reading

At the heart of our curriculum, we aim to foster a deep love of reading and a passion to explore a wide range of vocabulary and stories. Through enjoying literature, our children develop efficient skills, which equip them for the next stage of their lives. At Montreal CofE Primary School, we use the CUSP curriculum. The CUSP literature spine is broad, rich and agile. Its core purpose is to expose pupils to a range of high-quality literature that gives every child a mirror in which to see themselves and offers a window to children to see a world beyond their own. This has also been reflected within the supporting texts and the thematic mapping is designed to communicate where specific moral, social and ethical issues are indicated or addressed.