Our Curriculum
At Barclay Primary School we pride ourselves on providing every child with a relevant, motivating and enjoyable curriculum. We aim to present the children with many wide and varying learning experiences, which will help them progress, not only in an academic sense, but also in terms of their personal development.
English
The teaching of English at Barclay is at the heart of curriculum provision at Barclay. Children learn how to read, write and spell in Literacy and Phonics lessons in the morning and afternoon. However, with many pupils beginning their education at the school with limited or no English, we aim to provide our pupils with opportunities to develop core communication skills in every lesson, regardless of the subject
Writing
Children have a daily Literacy lesson focusing on the development of key writing skills. Each term, children focus on a range of genres and text types, which are taught as two or three week units. Children learn how to write within the context of these genres, developing an understanding of key features related to text organisation, sentence structure and use of vocabulary. Teachers will use a variety of exciting events, books and authors as a stimulus for writing, making links with topics and other areas of the curriculum.
Reading
Guided Reading is taught every day and each group reads with the teacher at least once a week. Children are also read to on a frequent basis to familiarise them with story language and ideas for their own writing. Additional reading support is delivered by TAs to those who need it.
To help children develop their fluency and comprehension skills, we believe that it is vital that children have opportunities to practise their reading at home. We use the ‘Rigby Independent’ home reading programme, to support children in the early stages of reading, while more fluent readers take home chapter books and able to take online quizzes, as part of the Accelerated Reader programme, to test their comprehension.
Phonics
Pupils in EYFS and Y1 have a daily phonics session. We use the ‘Letters and Sounds’ programme to help children develop their blending and segmenting skills. If a child is not able to blend or segment at an appropriate level (as defined by the governments phonics screening test) by the end of Y1, they receive additional support until they reach the required standard.
Maths
Numeracy is taught as a discrete subject at Barclay, primarily using the Primary Framework for Mathematics. Our coverage of the curriculum ensures that children are given a solid grounding in Numbers and the Number System, Calculation and Problem Solving and this forms the basis of children’s learning each term. Children also acquire appropriate skills and knowledge of Measures, Shape and Space and Handling Data.
All children take part in a structured daily mathematics lesson which progressively allows the children to develop an understanding of mathematical concepts through practical work which then leads to recording formally and informally. Oral and mental work feature strongly in each lesson.
Science
In Science, children develop their knowledge and understanding of important scientific ideas, processes and skills, relating these to everyday experiences, through a series of themes/units. They have lots of opportunities to participate in practical science activities, developing their investigative and experimental skills. Children learn to observe, collect and sort data, question, predict, experiment, record and interpret findings.
Children are taught a new Science unit each Half Term. Please see the curriculum map for a breakdown of the units taught in each year group.
Topic
Each half term, children at Barclay study a new topic, through which they develop key skills related to many of the Foundation subjects. Geography, History, Art, DT and Music at Barclay are all taught through a general topic, helping the children to make links between different subjects. For an overview of the topics studied in each year group, please see refer to the curriculum map.
Religious Education
In RE, we teach the agreed syllabus for Waltham Forest. Within this syllabus, children learn about the principle religions of the world; their origins, core beliefs and places of worship. During the their time at Barclay Primary School, children will study Christianity and Islam in depth, but there are also opportunities, mainly when they are in KS2, to explore other religions, including Hinduism, Judaism. Sikhism and Buddhism. Over the course of a year, children will learn about the features of three different religions. The curriculum map shows when the different topics are taught in each year group.
PHSCE/Philosophy
At Barclay, the teaching of PHSCE is largely based on a national programme entitled Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL). As part of this programme, children explore themes such as bullying, getting on with each other, how they feel about themselves and changes in their lives. Through PHSCE, we also aim to develop children’s awareness of others and the world around them. Children, therefore, study a number of global citizenship units, using philosophical thinking skills (based on the Philosophy 4 Childen methodology) to discuss issues such as climate change and third world poverty.
ICT
In ICT lessons the children learn about the importance of information and how to select and prepare it using different software and hardware. They develop a wide range of computer skills: communicating information through text, exploring databases and spreadsheets, engaging in graphic modelling and learning how to control different devices.
ICT is also widely used in other subject areas to extend and support children’s learning. With three networked computers in each classroom, two ICT suites, 50 mobile laptops and 30 Ipads, children have access to computers on a daily basis and ICT plays a central role in their learning.
Physical Education
At Barclay, we aim to provide all of our pupils with two hours of quality PE each week, giving them confidence in developing their physical abilities. In Key stage 1, children build up skills which require them to control their body movements in gymnastic sessions and respond artistically in dance lessons. In outdoor games activities they develop throwing and catching skills and develop awareness of team sports. In Key Stage 2, children engage in gymnastics, dance, net and wall games, invasion games and field games. These will include learning skills that can be applied to sports such as badminton, tennis, football, hockey ,netball ,rugby ,cricket and rounders. Swimming takes place in Year 4 and lessons are delivered at the Leyton Leisure Lagoon.
School clubs run during the years which leads onto competition in leagues or against other schools in competitions. Children are also involved in competitions within school.
Curriculum Specialists
Barclay has specialist teachers for ICT, PE and Music. These teachers are responsible for curriculum design and delivery in these subject areas. They teach classes on a rotational basis each term.
Homework
At Barclay, we believe that homework plays an integral role in helping children to progress in their learning. We have a comprehensive homework policy with clear guidelines about is expected in each key stage. In addition to weekly homework tasks in core subject areas, children are expected to complete projects related to their topic each half term. They also need to read at home on a daily basis and practise their spellings and number facts
