Subjects

Art contributes to the school curriculum by integrating seeing, feeling, thinking and making in a powerful form of learning. Art educates visual and tactile senses and imagination.

It involves working with different materials, processes and technologies for a range of purposes and develops practical, investigative, creative, and intellectual skills. It promotes the ability to pose and solve complex problems and a willingness to take risks.

Pupils acquire knowledge and understanding of the significant contribution of artists, makers and designers from the past and in the contemporary world. Learning depends upon developing enquiry skills, which enable them to engage confidently with all forms of visual arts.

As visually discriminating citizens they can take an active interest in the natural and built environment and in the visual arts. They are able to evaluate the impact and meaning of works of art, craft and design and appreciate their role and value in public, cultural and working life.

AIMS

We believe Art and Design Education is entitlement for all pupils and plays an important part in each child’s development. Our aims in teaching Art and Design are to offer opportunities to:

• Stimulate children’s creativity and imagination by providing visual, tactile and sensory experiences and a unique way of understanding and responding to the world.
• Find a sense of purpose, achievement and fulfilment in artistic expression
• Develop children’s understanding of colour, form, texture, pattern and their ability to use materials and processes to communicate ideas, feelings and meanings
• Develop an appropriate vocabulary to help them understand and discuss their own work and that of others
• Appreciate and value pupil’s individual response in its own right
• Help children to learn how to make thoughtful judgements and aesthetic and practical decisions and become actively involved in shaping the environment.
• Encourage natural abilities
• Produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences
• Become proficient in using drawing, painting, sculpture and other creative expressions
• Evaluate and analyse artistic works using the language of art, craft and design
• For children to know about the great artists, craftsmen and designers, and understand the historical development of their art forms.

CURRICULUM ORGANISATION

The National Curriculum for Art and Design will be developed through the creative curriculum. This topic based approach provides many opportunities for art and craft activities to take place.

There is a statutory requirement to teach the programme of study at Key Stages 1 and 2. By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study.

Key Stage 1

Pupils should be taught creativity in art, craft and design by:

• using a range of materials to design and make products
• using drawing, painting and sculpture to share their ideas, experiences and imagination
• developing techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space using clay and printing to a large scale and in 3D
• being taught about the work of a range of artists, craftsmen and designers, describing the differences and similarities between different practices and disciplines, and making links to their own work.

We see the computing curriculum as an exciting opportunity to prepare children for the future. The programs which we teach children today will not be the programs of the future, however using these programs to develop confidence with ICT, understanding and appreciation of how programs are made along with a love of technology will prepare our children well for an unknown digital world!

Our computing curriculum follows the aims of the National Curriculum and we ensure in depth coverage by teaching skills and understanding through three areas of Computer Science, Information Technology and Digital Literacy.

Our aims are to ensure that all pupils at Yarlside Academy:

• can understanding and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation
• can analyse problems in computational term, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems
• can evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems
• are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communicational technology.

We teach these skills through a mixture of subject and cross curricular lessons, with a higher percentage of teaching being through other areas of the curriculum for example: sending emails, online research for topic areas, creating slideshows of information, using augmented reality to create book reviews. However, we understand that skills such as touching typing need to be taught separately.

We see E-Safety as a central focus of all Computing teaching and learning. E-Safety learning is built in to all topics as well as the school hosting regular E-Safety focus weeks and parent events.

We have many resources in school to develop children’s computer science, information technology and digital literacy skills. Currently, we utilise:

• a set of 16 ipad 4 and laptops for Early Years and KS1 classrooms
• a set of 16 laptops for each KS2 classroom
• a set of 16 iPad 4/iPad air for each KS2 classroom
• interactive boards in every classroom
• a range of floor robots to develop programing and debugging skills from reception to Year 6
• a range of other ICT resources, such as digital voice recorders, headphones, microphones, cameras, video recorders, digital scientific equipment, Early Years toys and resources to support SEN

We subscribe to a number of online resources to support our whole school creative curriculum including:

• Purple Mash
• Espresso
• Ordinance Survey Digi Maps
• Charanga Musical School
• A large number of Apps covering all curriculum subjects.

Yarlside Academy follows the National Curriculum for Design and Technology. It is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject, which encourages the children’s creativity and imagination. Using our ‘Creative Curriculum’ and stand-alone activities, the children design and make products that solve real and relevant problems in a range of contexts. These opportunities help the children to consider their own and others’ needs, wants and values.

In Design and Technology tasks, the children acquire specific technical knowledge and also draw on knowledge and skills from mathematics, science, computing and art. The children are encouraged to evaluate past and present design and technology of their own and others making, so they develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world.

Through this kind of learning our children will be well-placed to make good contributions to the creativity, culture and well-being of the world and industry in the years ahead.

There are four key aims – to ensure that all pupils:

• develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasing technological world.
• build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users.
• critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others.
• understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.

At Yarlside Academy we believe the use of English in spoken and written form is the foundation of all learning. We believe that literacy and communication are key life skills and that through the English curriculum, using cross curricular links where appropriate, we should help children develop the skills and knowledge that will enable them to communicate effectively and creatively in society and with the world at large. It is, therefore, essential that children are given an early confidence and ability in the use of language, which will give them access to the whole curriculum.

Therefore English is given a high priority in the school and is taught daily in every class using the guidance from National Curriculum (The Foundation Stage classes use the Early Years Foundation Stage and progress into the National Curriculum).

Aims:

Speaking and Listening, our intention is to help children to: –

• Adapt their speech to a widening range of circumstances and demands;
• Listen, understand and respond appropriately to others;
• Formulate, clarify and express their ideas clearly;
• Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions in spoken language.

Reading, our intention is to teach children to: –

• Read easily, fluently and with good understanding;
• Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information;
• Respond sensitively and critically to a wide range of texts;
• Use reference materials with confidence for a range of purposes.

Writing, our intention is to teach children to: –

• Write with growing confidence and precision in a widening variety of forms for different purposes;
• Balance effective compositional skills (planning & developing ideas and communicating meaning in a lively, appropriate style) with good presentation skills, learning to punctuate accurately, spell correctly and write in a legible hand;
• Discuss & evaluate writing.

In addition, outside the teaching hour, a number of activities will be planned to help children develop the skills and understanding they need. Within the school week English may also include:

Circle Time, Showing and Telling, Drama (including role-play), Media work, Story Time, Group Reading Sessions, Silent Reading, Diary/News, Spelling/Handwriting lessons, Extended Writing Sessions, Reading Partner Sessions, TV programmes, videos and apps to support language activities and study of texts.

Children learn Geography through first hand experiences in real life settings!

Geography teaching at Yarlside Academy is based on the programmes of study as stated in the National Curriculum.  Click the link below to view what is covered in KS1 and KS2:

Geography National Curriculum

At Yarlside we are aware that Geography makes an important contribution to the spiritual, moral, cultural and social education of our children. Mutual respect and tolerance for all cultures is promoted through the study of Geography.

In the Nursery and Reception classes children will have opportunities to find out and learn about the world they live in. These experiences will relate to the Development Outcomes of the Revised EYFS and include:

• An increasing awareness of their surroundings
• Focusing on the variety and diversity of human and natural resources;
• Being introduced to moral responsibility
• Developing ideas of citizenship and challenging stereotypes while respecting and enjoying diversity
• Learning early map work skills

The aim of History teaching at Yarlside Academy is to stimulate the children’s interest and understanding about the life of people. We help pupils gain knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world.

We teach children a sense of chronology, and through this they develop a sense of identity and a cultural understanding based on their historical heritage.

Thus they learn to value their own and other people’s cultures in modern multicultural Britain. By considering how people lived in the past, they are better able to make their own life choices today.

In our school, History makes a significant contribution to citizenship education by teaching about how Britain developed as a democratic society. We teach children to understand how events in the past have influenced our lives today; we also teach them to investigate these past events and by doing so, to develop the skills of enquiry, analysis, interpretation and problem solving.

The objectives of teaching History are:

• To foster in children an interest in the past and to develop an understanding that enables them to enjoy all that History has to offer;
• To enable children to know about significant events in British history, and to appreciate how things have changed over time;
• To develop a sense of chronology;
• To know and understand how the British system of democratic government has developed and in doing so to contribute to a child’s citizenship education;
• To understand how Britain is part of a wider European culture, and to study some aspects of European history;
• To have some knowledge and understanding of historical development in the wider world;
• To help children understand society and their place in it so that they develop a sense of their cultural heritage;
• To develop in children the skills of enquiry, investigation, analysis, evaluation and presentation.

Mathematics is an essential life skill and is therefore a vital part of the curriculum at Yarlside Academy. Mathematics is required for everyday routines such as shopping, washing and food preparation. It is also needed for the more pleasurable activities in life such as planning a holiday or a party and playing a sport or a board game.

Mathematics provides a way of viewing and making sense of the world. It is used to communicate and analyse information and ideas to tackle a range of practical tasks and real life problems. We teach Maths through a daily lesson using a variety of teaching and learning strategies, one of which is ‘Big Maths’ which encourages the children to develop an excellent understanding of all aspects of number.

The national curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately
• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language
• can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions

In addition to this, at Yarlside we aim to:

• follow a spiral core curriculum format, returning to each topic with increasing depth and ensuring that every mathematical concept is introduced, reinforced, mastered, consolidated and extended through further investigation.
• understand that mathematics is an essential part of communication and to give children opportunities to describe, predict, interpret, demonstrate and explain using mathematical language and conventions.
• ensure all children experience appropriate practical and investigative problem solving activities, presented in both oral and written form.
• encourage children to learn number bonds and times tables and become confident in developing their own mental mathematics strategies
• encourage all children to have an eager and positive attitude towards mathematics and to develop their curiosity.

As the UK is becoming an increasingly multi-cultural society, we have a duty to provide our children with an understanding of other cultures and languages. Therefore, at Yarlside Academy, we have implemented the teaching of French throughout Key Stage 2.

The skills, knowledge and understanding gained through learning another language also helps children to develop a better understanding of their own language.

Children take an active part in French lessons. They join in with singing, reciting poems and rhymes and respond to stories. They create mimes, sketches and role-play, imitating accurate pronunciation and intonation. They play games and experiment creatively with language.

Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. A high-quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. As pupils progress, they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination to the best in the musical canon.

The national curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians
• Learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence
• Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

In addition to this, at Yarlside we aim to:

• Provide a range of opportunities for all children to listen to a wide variety of live and recorded music.
• Provide opportunities for the children to learn a tuned instrument.
• Provide opportunities for all the children to perform in front of a live audience, either singing and/or playing an instrument.
• Inspire a lifelong love of music.
• Encourage children to continue learning their instrument or singing when they leave our school.

Physical Education is greatly valued at Yarlside. As well as helping to develop the full physical potential of each child, it helps foster and build confidence, self esteem and social skills.

A varied physical education programme helps children begin to understand what is involved in team membership and learn to appreciate fair play and sportsmanship.

Physical Education is concerned primarily with the acquisition and application of knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes that meet educational objectives through physical activity.

Physical Education is delivered through six core areas which are:

At Yarlside we have the following aims:

• To promote physical development
• To develop physical competence
• To acquire knowledge and understanding of the principles and concepts involved in the performance of physical activities
• To develop the ability to plan, organise, compose and express ideas in sequences of action in physical activities
• To develop inter-personal skills (e.g. fair play, co-operation and being a team member)
• To develop the capacity to maintain interest and to persevere to achieve success
• To develop an understanding of the importance of regular physical activity in maintaining a healthy lifestyle
• To develop the capacity to evaluate physical performances
• To understand the need for safe practice in physical activities and know how to achieve this
• To develop personal qualities (e.g. self-esteem, commitment, positive attitudes, enthusiasm)

At Yarlside our delivery of PE includes a warm up and recovery time appropriate to the activity. There are opportunities to watch, listen and comment upon performances of other children and demonstrations by the teacher or a capable child for children to master the correct techniques. Discussions are kept simple emphasising one or two skills only, making sure that every child watches, listens and has a chance to offer a contribution. Children have the opportunity to apply their learning by performing routines or engaging in competitive activity.

Yarlside has a proud sporting tradition and the majority of pupils benefit from a high level of involvement in games and fixtures.

Enthusiastic coaches, together with excellent school grounds, hall, playgrounds and links to local sporting clubs provide pupils with the opportunity to enjoy a full and busy programme of sporting activities.

Religious education enables children to investigate and reflect on some of the most fundamental questions asked by people. At Yarlside Academy we develop the children’s knowledge and understanding of the major world faiths, and we address the fundamental questions in life, for example, the meaning of life and the existence of a divine spirit.

We enable children to develop a sound knowledge not only of Christianity but also of other world religions, especially those that are the main faiths of children within our school. Children reflect on what it means to have a faith and to develop their own spiritual knowledge and understanding. We help the children learn from religions as well as about religions.

The aims of religious education are to help children:

• Develop an awareness of spiritual and moral issues in life experiences, strengthening their capacity for making moral judgements and for evaluating different types of commitments to make positive and healthy choices;
• Develop knowledge and understanding of Christianity and other major world religions and value systems found in Britain;
• Develop an understanding of what it means to be committed to a religious tradition;
• Be able to reflect on their own experiences and to develop a personal response to the fundamental questions of life;
• Develop an understanding of religious traditions and to appreciate the cultural differences in Britain today;
• Develop investigative and research skills and to enable them to make reasoned judgements about religious issues;
• To have respect for other peoples’ views and to celebrate the diversity in society.
• To promote community cohesion by developing an understanding of shared values and to challenge prejudice, racism and discrimination.
• To prompt them to consider their own responsibilities to themselves and others, and to explore how they might contribute their communities and to wider society.
• Through what they learn help build resilience to anti-democratic or extremist narratives.

The legal position of religious education

Our school curriculum for religious education is in accordance with Schedule 19 to the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, which is the key document in determining the teaching of RE is the locally agreed syllabus within the LA concerned (which for Yarlside is Cumbria).

Religious education is statutory for all children of compulsory school age. Parents have the right to request that their child be excused from all or part of the RE provided. They do not have to give a reason and the school must comply with their request. (see p.27 Religious Education in English Schools: Non-statutory guidance 2010).

Our school RE curriculum is based on the Cumbria LA’s Agreed Syllabus and it meets all the requirements set out in that document. Every locally RE syllabus must reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian and that it should, at the same time, take account of the teachings and practices of principal religions represented in Great Britain.

Teaching and learning style

We base our teaching and learning style in RE on the key principle that good teaching in RE allows children both to learn about religious traditions and to reflect on what the religious ideas and concepts mean to them. Our teaching enables children to extend their own sense of values and promotes their spiritual growth and development. We encourage children to think about their own views and values in relation to the themes and topics studied in the RE curriculum.

Our teaching and learning styles in RE enable children to build on their own experiences and extend their knowledge and understanding of religious traditions. We use their experiences at religious festivals such as Easter, Diwali, etc. to develop their religious thinking. We organise visits to local places of worship and invite representatives of local religious groups to come into school and talk to the children.

Children carry out research into religious topics. They study particular religious faiths and also compare the religious views of different faith groups on topics such as rites of passage or festivals. Children discuss religious and moral issues using computers and working individually or in groups.

We plan our religious education curriculum in accordance with the Cumbria LA’s Agreed Syllabus focusing on Christianity & Buddhism at KS1 and Christianity, Buddhism & Islam at KS2. We ensure that the topics studied in religious education build upon prior learning. We offer opportunities for children of all abilities to develop their skills and knowledge in each unit, and we ensure that the planned progression built into the scheme of work offers the children an increasing challenge as they move through the school. At Yarlside Academy Religious Education is part of the whole school curriculum and may be taught as a specific aspect within a cross-curricular theme or as a separate lesson following a specific R.E. theme.

We teach religious education to all children in the school, including those in the Reception and Nursery classes.

In the Nursery & Reception class, religious education is an integral part of the topic work covered during the year. We relate the RE aspects of the children’s work to the Learning and Development Outcomes of the revised EYFS which underpin the curriculum planning for children aged three to five.

Science is part of everyday life. The facts of science are all around us and can be drawn upon by children through investigative work.

It is important through the primary years to lay a foundation of knowledge and understanding in science and to give the children confidence and a structure in which to experiment.

Starting from the foundation years, children are developing the skills knowledge and understanding that help them make sense of the world.

Aims and objectives

Our aim is to give all the children at Yarlside Academy, the opportunity to explore, apply and enjoy science gaining a fuller understanding of phenomena and scientific ways of thinking.

The national curriculum for science aims to:

• develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics.
• develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them.
• are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.

In addition to this, at Yarlside we aim to:

• Develop enquiring minds who question the world around them and adopt a scientific approach to problem solving.
• Foster the necessary growth of scientific skills through the provision of a wide variety of differentiated activities which match the children’s needs.
• Encourage a positive attitude towards science.
• Link science to children’s experience and to everyday life in the community (and beyond), preparing children for life in the ever-changing technological world.
• Foster a sense of appreciation of the planet and an awareness of each child’s responsibility towards it.
• Encourage children to use scientific language throughout their work.
• Help the children appreciate the need for fair testing and apply this knowledge to their own investigations.
• Develop each child’s scientific skills such as measuring, observing, identifying, recoding, presenting, hypothesising, predicting, planning, fair testing, concluding, communicating and interpreting.

To meet these aims we:

• Follow a spiral core curriculum format, returning to each topic with increasing depth and ensuring that every mathematical concept is introduced, reinforced, mastered, consolidated and extended through further investigation.
• Provide first hand practical experiences.
• Offer trips and visits (local and beyond) experiencing science in the real world.
• Invite and learn from the local community and industries.
• Actively participate in Science and Engineering week.
• Use technology.
• Use ICT (including science related software accessible through the server).
• Use of a wide variety of sources – DVD, books, charts, models, visits etc.
• Develop cross curricular links.

At Yarlside Academy we recognise that a child’s personal development plays an important role in their ability to learn and achieve. As such, we aim to provide opportunities that enable children to explore and develop spiritually, morally, socially and culturally (SMSC).

We consciously facilitate opportunities in these four areas in the following ways:

Spiritual Development

This refers to a child’s beliefs, religious or otherwise, which inform their perspective on life and their respect for other people’s feelings and values. It is about the development of a sense of identity, self-worth, personality and character. This is supported by:

• The opportunity to develop a set of values and principles which compliments Yarlside Academy’s ethos and informs children’s perspective on life and their patterns of behaviour.
• An awareness of, understanding and respect for their own and others’ beliefs.
• The opportunity for children to experience ‘awe and wonder’ through exploring natural environments.
• Children will have the opportunity to reflect on their learning and progress and to learn from this reflection.
• Promoting teaching styles which value pupils’ questions and gives them space for their own thoughts, ideas and concerns so they can make connections between their learning and the context of their own lives.

Moral Development

This refers to a child’s moral code, their attitude and belief in what is right or wrong. This is supported by:

• An opportunity for pupils to explore and understand human emotions and the way they impact on people through Literacy, Drama, Music and Dance.
• Providing a clear moral code for behaviour which has been shaped by the children and is promoted consistently though all aspects of school; for example, Behaviour Policy, Class and School rules, E-Safety learning and Anti-bullying learning.
• Giving pupils opportunities to explore personal rights and responsibilities and to develop moral concepts and values throughout the curriculum; for example, during RE, History, Literacy, Drama. Also, through extra-curricular activities, such as School Council, Family Groups, our Buddies system, the Year 6 residential.
• Rewarding expressions of moral insights and good behaviour through our school behaviour policy and reward system.
• Encouraging pupils to take responsibility for their actions; for example, respect for property, care for the environment and developing their own codes of behaviour.
• Providing children with models of virtue, through literature, history, science, art during learning in class, assemblies and through acts of worship.
• Reinforcing our school’s values through images, posters, classroom displays and exhibitions.

Social Development

This refers to a pupil’s understanding of their role in society and the opportunity to develop the skills which will facilitate positive interaction with their local community. This is supported by:

• Fostering a sense of community through involvement in community art projects, sports events, partnerships with local schools and supporting local charities and events, visits from role models from the community and themed dinner days for parents and grandparents.
• Encouraging children to work co-operatively; for example, partner work, Playground Buddies, Family Groups, and School Council.
• Providing positive cooperative experiences; for example, sporting events, Christmas, Spring and Summer performances, Choir performances, both locally and nationally.
• Providing children with role models from their community; for example, visits from firemen, police officers, sport workers and older pupils both current and pupils who have moved on.
• Helping pupils to develop personal qualities which are valued in society; for example, thoughtfulness, honesty, respect, moral principles, independence, inter-dependence and self-respect.
• Encouraging children to challenge, when necessary and in appropriate ways, the values of a group or a wider community through visitors to school and assemblies which introduce children to positive role models.
• Helping children to resolve tensions between their own aspirations and those of a group or wider society; through adult support, Year 6 residential, PSHE and circle time discussions and assemblies.

Cultural Development

This refers to a child’s understanding of the beliefs, values and customs in their own and others’ social, ethnic and national groups. This is supported by:

• Providing children with opportunities to explore their own culture assumptions and values through the curriculum and special events, such as themed international weeks.
• Celebrating the attitudes, values and diverse cultures in Geography, RE, History, Literacy, Assemblies, Art, Dance, Music and drawing on the children’s own cultural backgrounds.
• Recognising and nurturing gifts and talents; for example, Yarlside Music Evening, taking part in a range of sporting competitions and events, and local and regional gardening competitions.
• Developing partnerships with outside agencies and individuals to extend pupil’s cultural awareness; for example, through Drama, Music, and visits to alternative places of worship.
• Reinforcing our school’s cultural values through assemblies, learning, displays and photographs
• Using ICT and the Internet to extend partnerships with those from other cultural backgrounds; through links with schools in France and Spain.