Curriculum

Seek, Believe, Achieve!

Our vision is to be a happy, vibrant and caring school with deep roots in the Christian faith, so all grow and flourish (spiritually, academically, socially and emotionally).

‘May our roots go down deep into the soil of God’s  love and make us strong’ Ephesians 3 v 17  

At Speen School, we aim to develop an outstanding curriculum within our beautiful site and village locality. Our child-centred approach to learning is built to achieve purposeful and enriching key learning outcomes. These outcomes provide each child with an exciting focus to their learning, developing skills that are necessary for today’s world and instilling a  lifelong love of learning as they progress their educational journey. 

Curriculum Overviews for Parents

• YR – Autumn term 2020
• Y1
• Y2

• YR – Spring Term 2020
• Y1
• Y2
• YR Autumn Term 2019
• Y1
• Y2
• YR Summer 2019
• Y1
• Y2

Children rapidly begin to read and write in our Foundation Stage by following a programme called ‘Read Write Inc.’ which develops phonic reading and writing skills through Year 1 and Year 2 until the end of KS1. The English programme of study is used to complement the teaching of other subjects but its fundamental aim is to raise pupil attainment in spoken language, reading, writing, grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Mathematics is taught as a discrete subject and our Maths Mastery scheme – Power Maths alongside White Rose planning – plots the needs of each child clearly as they build the skills to achieve mastery of different concepts.  In addition, teachers plan opportunities, which will develop pupil’s greater understanding of the subject across the curriculum.

• 2019 results

RE
At Speen, an afternoon a week is given to whole school RE, where pupils across the ages work together on a wide variety of fun, engaging activities. Pupils often say it’s one of their favourite times of the week!  

In RE we have been learning about ‘Special Places’ and what makes them special and important for different people:

We have been thinking about how to make our own church and what would make it a special place

• Building a LEGO church

In our special places we enjoyed the peace and quiet and time to think.

• Special Places

Enjoying sharing St John’s Church as a special place, with Reverend Tony

• Visit to St John’s Church

Foundation subjects: Speen School follow a theme-based approach to learning, in the belief that children learn best when connections are made in their learning across the curriculum. We utilise the children’s interests so that the theme planning is dynamic and progressive. For our mixed aged classes, we follow a two-year rolling programme of themes which ensures coverage and progression through the National Curriculum subjects, enabling pupils to make progress and attain levels in line with or better than, national attainment.

Forest School: within our beautiful school site for the younger pupils and set within a local woodland for our older pupils, these sessions give pupils the time, space and opportunity to learn through first- hand experience. They give pupils the chance to develop their curiosity, respect, self-esteem and confidence, giving children the chance to play outdoors in inspiring environments; to access risk and the vibrant reality of the natural world. Forest School provides our pupils with opportunities to learn about the world around them, develop a love of nature, learn to work in teams and develop collaboration skills and create super designs with natural materials.

Christian values
At Speen Church of England School, children develop a strong sense of moral purpose founded on our core Christian values of respect, responsibility, care, courage, honesty and family. These are threaded through our curriculum so that they become embedded in the children’s thinking. Pupils are taught to respect and care for those around them, ensuring that they have a good understanding of other people’s different qualities, families and cultures. The teaching of British Values prepares our pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life in modern Britain. In pursuing our school values of care, respect and responsibility, Speen School have a link with Agape School in India, which gives our pupils the opportunity to learn about how the expression of Christianity impacts the lives of others across the world  www.agapealiveinindia.org.uk/ 

Assessment
We monitor pupils’ attainment and progress using a variety of test scores, pupils’ work, staff observations and pupils’ own perceptions of their learning. Pupils are assessed when starting at the school and their next school is informed of their attainment and progress when they leave the school.