Axminster Community
Primary Academy
Curriculum Overview
At Axminster Community Primary Academy we aim to provide children with a broad and balanced curriculum that enables 'Achievement for All' across all strands of learning. Our values of respect, kindness, courage, integrity and resilience are embedded within our curriculum.
Community is at the heart of our school; our curriculum is designed to develop an understanding of the local, national and global communities that our pupils are members of. We offer rich, stimulating learning experiences that are enhanced through first hand experiences, visits and visitors. Strong links with our local area and local community are utilised to tailor the curriculum to meet the needs of the children. We provide a curriculum that develops children academically, physically, socially and spiritually.
Our two-year rolling curriculum programme is based on topics based on the National Curriculum programmes of study. These have been purposefully mapped to ensure a vertical progression of skills, knowledge and vocabulary from EYFS to Year 6. These can be viewed in our subject progression grids on our individual subject pages. Built into this are carefully planned horizontal links to connect different subject disciplines together in meaningful ways, as well as diagonal themes which provide opportunities to develop pupils’ spiritual, moral, social, cultural, and personal wellbeing and development. This two year rolling programme is enhanced by a bespoke Axminster curriculum offer designed to meet our children's needs, providing an equitable offer of experiences to develop children holistically, celebrating the rich diversity of our world and providing inspiration from sport, the arts and the natural world.
We provide a curriculum map each half term showing the learning planned in all aspects of the curriculum and have a clear subject progression to enable prior knowledge and skills to be carefully built upon. Each aspect of every subject is differentiated to meet the needs of the children.
If parents require more detailed information about the curriculum, we invite them to ask the class teacher, who will always be more than happy to give further information.
Parents have the right to withdraw their children from religious education and should contact the Head of School to ask for this. Parents will be invited to a meeting to discuss withdrawal and to explore how their concern may be met. Parents are not obliged to attend such a meeting in which case withdrawal shall be put into effect immediately and the school will notify the parent.
In accordance with the Equality Act 2010 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014, and in the pursuit of the school's mission for all pupils, the learning in each subject is provided for all pupils in the school, including those with special educational needs. Lesson planning by teachers and subject leaders ensures that learning is accessible for all: agile, adaptive approaches to learning allow all learners to focus upon the most important small steps in each lesson.
Occasionally, an individualised approach to the curriculum is designed in order to be fully inclusive of a child's needs and abilities.
Nursery and Reception
We follow the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage which sets out the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five years. You can find information for parents on the Foundation Years website. We use Development Matters to help plan, assess and observe children in order to support their development. At the end of the Reception year we carry out a statutory assessment of all children using the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile. The results of this assessment are reported to parents and carers at the end of the year.
We teach phonics using the RWI scheme.
We plan around topics in Little Acorns and Reception , and we also follow the children’s interests and develop learning themes from them. We also join in with the whole school core values each term using age-appropriate activities.
The Nursery and Reception staff are always happy to talk to you about your child’s learning, so if you have any questions please ask. Homework is introduced in Reception which is to practise phonics and reading every week at home.
The Nursery and Reception staff keep detailed profiles of each child through Tapestry which are available for parents and carers to look at online.
Year 1 and 2
At the start of Year 1 we teach the National Curriculum by incorporating continuous provision to ensure a smooth transition. Children are set ambitious targets and are taught in differentiated phonics and maths groups so that they can continue the excellent progress they made in Reception.
In Year 1 we continue to expect children to read regularly with an adult at home every week. We also expect children to practise their phonic sounds and maths skills.
At the end of Year 1 children are tested on their phonic knowledge using the statutory Year 1 Phonics Screening Test. The results of this are reported to parents and carers at the end of the year.
We teach phonics using the Read, Write, Inc. scheme.
In Year 2 children follow the National Curriculum. In Year 2 we continue to expect children to read regularly with an adult at home every week. We teach phonics using the Read Write Inc scheme.
At the end of Year 2 children are assessed using statutory tests and tasks in reading, writing and maths, along with the teacher’s assessment of their work in class. The results of these assessments are reported to parents and carers at the end of the year as part of their end of year report.
Year 3 and 4
In Year 3 the children continue to follow the National curriculum which is planned by teachers to cover all curriculum areas. We use a 2-year rolling curriculum cycle to ensure coverage before the children move to Years 5 and 6.
The children complete the multiplication tables check in Year 4 which assesses their times tables knowledge up to 12x12. We use Times Table Rockstars as a fun way of practicing these tables.
Year 5 and 6
In years 5 and 6 the children learn through a 2-year rolling curriculum to ensure coverage of all curriculum areas. Through this broad and balanced approach the children are well prepared for life after primary school.
In Year 6, the children transition to secondary schools and undertake the SATS. These tests' purpose is to assertain if the school has taught the children well in KS2.