Curriculum
The curriculum at Packington is designed to provide a broad and balanced education that meets the needs of all pupils and gives them the skills, knowledge and understanding to prepare them for their future lives.
We ensure that the key elements of our curriculum such as, knowledge and skills, well-being and physical development support the development of the whole child. We are developing a curriculum built on current research regarding how memory works to ensure that children remember the curriculum content and are able to make links to deepen their understanding.
Our aim is for pupils to have the requisite skills to be successful, independent and motivated learners.
Our curriculum celebrates the diversity and supports the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and, at all times, is underpinned by our core values.
Please follow the links to see subject specific information.
If you would like any further information about our curriculum please contact the school office.
All children have daily English lessons. In Foundation Stage, this may take place throughout the day, whilst in Years 1 – 6, a dedicated lesson and further cross-curricular opportunities are designed to develop the children’s writing and reading skills.
Reading: We aim for all children to become fluent, independent, enthusiastic and critical readers of stories, poetry, drama and non-fiction texts. The children will be taught a range of reading strategies including phonic knowledge, grammatical awareness, word recognition and contextual understanding. Children will have opportunities to read and respond to a range of literature and non-fiction texts. Children in EYFS and reception have phonetically decodable books which are matched to the Sounds Write Phonics scheme. When children are ready they move onto the Accelerated reader program.
Phonics: At Packington we use Sounds Write Phonics. Children, in their daily phonics sessions, are taught conceptual knowledge and skills that enable them to say the sounds and read the words. For more information please follow the link
Spoken Language: We encourage children to listen attentively and respond to stories, plays and poems. They have many opportunities to discuss, explain and describe situations whilst also listening to the viewpoints of others. They learn to use language in imaginative ways and express their ideas and feelings through drama, and through reciting poems and stories.
Spelling: We know that supporting children in making automatic choices about the way words are spelled is key to developing automaticity in writing. Spelling is taught discretely and regularly throughout the school. We use Spellingshed for our spelling curriculum. For more information about Spellingshed please follow the link
Handwriting: Letterjoin for handwriting is a complete handwriting scheme for 3–11 year olds, offering clear progression through five developmental stages. It teaches children a fast and fluent handwriting style to help them achieve their potential in writing. For more information about Letterjoin please follow the link
The phonics lessons that the children have in their early years at school feed into more focused spelling lessons, beginning in Year 2. The children learn to break words down into their constituent sounds and syllables and are able to write these down. To develop their orthography skills, the children use an approach called Word Study, learning to recognise patterns in spellings and to identify what makes a word unique. This also involves understanding the meanings behind parts of words: knowing how a word has evolved in our language is an important step towards understanding how it is spelled as well as how it can be used. Investigating and sorting words also supports children in their vocabulary development.
Sometimes the children are given some words to rehearse at home using Word Study techniques. A few regularly occurring but unusually spelled words need learning out of context but, for the most part, we aim to support the children in being aware of the choices they have about ways of spelling different sounds and in feeling confident about how to apply them correctly most of the time.
Writing gives children a voice, an ability to share their thoughts and ideas. Children use their writing skills in almost all areas of the curriculum and we want our children to be able to communicate with others confidently and creatively through their writing. Therefore, we place importance on making writing meaningful and emphasising its purpose – to entertain, to persuade, to inform or to discuss. Children write every day across the curriculum.
Underpinning our writing curriculum is our reading curriculum: we know children’s reading experiences are closely linked to the progress they make in writing. Carefully chosen, high-quality and challenging texts support the development of the children’s vocabulary and writing techniques. They expose children to a breadth of literature and allow them to engage with authors and the way they write.
Learning to write is complex. Central to our children’s learning is achieving increasing fluency in the skills of handwriting, grammar and punctuation. Each year group has a specific set of skills to learn in order to ensure a steady progression through school. Grammar and punctuation are taught in context and linked to the texts children are reading in class.
Children also explore writing through drama and the spoken word. They are encouraged to articulate their thoughts and experiment with ideas and techniques. Clear teacher modelling of writing ensures that children are well supported in creating their own compositions before being able to work independently.
At Packington our aim is to develop lifelong mathematicians who are curious and creative. We want pupils to recognise the importance of having a deep understanding which is achieved by investigating and exploring mathematical concepts. Fostering a growth mathematical mind-set is key to this as pupils become resilient and resourceful in their mathematical journey.
Our maths teaching and learning is underpinned by the following key messages:
- Everyone can learn maths to the highest level.
- Mistakes help us to learn; never be afraid to make mistakes.
- Asking great questions deepens our understanding.
- Maths is about being creative and making connections.
- Maths is about being fluent and flexible.
- Understanding maths is much more important than how fast you are.
- The steps that you take when finding the answer are just as important as the answer itself.
(Messages developed by Jo Boaler Professor of Mathematics Education, Stanford University)
Maths learning at Packington follows the high quality guidance of the White Rose scheme of work which allows us to ensure accurate coverage across the whole school.
Every child has a natural curiosity about the way the world works; science lessons show us how to get answers to some of the questions that they ask.
Children learn about animals, plants and their bodies e.g. the importance of a varied diet and exercise for good health. Children also learn about materials such as wood, paper, rock and how they can be used and changed. They also learn that some can be mixed and separated. They learn about simple ideas in physics, taught through experiences with electricity, forces, light and sounds. Children also learn some basic facts about the Sun, Earth and Moon.
Through work in these areas children are taught about scientific enquiry. Children and teachers pose questions and work together to find answers by investigating and recording data. They think about their tests and compare results and patterns. Children then communicate their work and their results in scientific language, drawings, tables and graphs. Learning is revisited to enable children to recall key scientific facts.
How did we get here? Where do we come from? History helps shed light on these big questions. Children learn to place events in chronological order, and learn about the lives of men, women and children from the history of Britain and the wider world. They study events and places from the past. By investigating the past using different sources including books, objects and computers they look at history from different viewpoints.
Learning about the links between our lives and the environment around us is central to geography at Primary school. Children learn to use geographical skills and resources to find out about places, local and further a field in this country and abroad. It is a subject that is about the investigation of questions, examining the impact of our actions on the world and examining the world’s physical features.
Packington is a Church of England School and we hold a daily act of Christian Worship in school. RE is taught from a Christian viewpoint, but also includes introductions to other faiths and cultures, encouraging children to have a multicultural experience. We use the Scheme of Work written by the Leicester Diocese. Parents have the right to withdraw their child from Religious Education lessons and Worship if they wish to do so.
Design and Technology gives children the opportunity to investigate how well familiar objects work and how to solve practical problems skilfully, creatively and with imagination. Children are taught to look at products to see how they work and how they are used, and ask the views of people who use them. They practice practical skills and tasks such as cutting, joining, fixing and connecting and they design and create their own products, using what they have learned.
At Packington we teach French to all children in KS2.
We use a range of activities to support children’s learning including games, songs, stories, puppets and role play, and actions and visual cues to reinforce memory of new vocabulary. Our teaching covers a range of topics including greetings, counting, colours, celebrations, clothes, pets and family.
We build children’s confidence to say, read and write words, phrases and sentences, to ask and answer questions and give opinions. Lessons are reflective, encouraging children to draw on their previous language experience and skills to embed new learning.
We want to foster a curiosity and enthusiasm for language learning and the opportunity to develop an understanding of other countries and cultures.
In PE children learn that it is fun to stay fit and active – a vital foundation to help them lead healthy lives as they grow up. We are fortunate to have extensive outside facilities and a school hall for indoor work. Our wide range of activities include: Games, Athletics, Gymnastics, Dance, Outdoor and Adventurous Activities, Swimming and Water Safety.
To lead independent, happy lives, children must develop their self-confidence. This involves taking responsibility for their own health and well-being. In this subject children learn important life skills. They learn not only about their own rights, duties and responsibilities but also those of others. Teaching aims to help them respect and value the richness and diversity of our society. At Packington we use the SCARF scheme to support our work.
We also ensure that our spiritual, moral, social and cultural education provides the children with opportunities throughout the year to celebrate different aspects of life. A calendar outlining these opportunities can be found here:
Pupils explore and develop ideas using a variety of materials and by looking at famous pieces of art from across the years and cultures.
Children are taught how to sing and play musical instruments in a controlled way and to explore sound and create their own short compositions. They listen to many types of music, learning about how it was created and how it was used. From Key Stage 1 children are each given the opportunity to learn a musical instrument.
At Packington Primary School we believe that a high-quality computing education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world. Computing has deep links with mathematics, science, and design and technology, and provides insights into both natural and artificial systems. The core of computing is computer science, in which pupils are taught the principles of information and computation, how digital systems work, and how to put this knowledge to use through programming. Building on this knowledge and understanding, pupils are equipped to use information technology to create programs, systems and a range of content. Computing also ensures that pupils become digitally literate – able to use, and express themselves and develop their ideas through, information and communication technology – at a level suitable for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world.
British Values and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development
At Packington Primary School, we value the diversity of the backgrounds of all pupils, families and the wider school community and strongly believe in upholding British values through all aspects of our school provision.
The Department for Education states that there is a need: “To create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs”.
Our school reflects British values in all that we do. We aim to nurture our children on their journey through life so they can grow into safe, caring, democratic, responsible and tolerant adults who make a positive difference to British society and to the world and the wider world.
What is meant by British values?
Learning about British values forms a key part of children’s spiritual, moral, cultural and social education.
The five British values that the Government has identified for schools to focus on are:
- Democracy
- The rule of law
- Individual liberty
- Mutual respect
- Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
How should we help our children prepare for adult life as citizens of Britain?
- Develop their self-confidence and self esteem.
- Develop their understanding of right and wrong, and their respect for the law.
- Encourage them to take responsibility for their behaviour.
- Encourage involvement in the community and wider society.
- Promote tolerance of and respect for all cultures and faiths.
All schools are required to promote children’s social, moral, spiritual and cultural development. As part of our school ethos and through the broader curriculum, we aim to provide opportunities which will enable children to develop spiritually, morally, socially and culturally. The promotion of fundamental British values is incorporated into this approach.
Schools should promote the fundamental British Values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. This can help schools to demonstrate how they are meeting the requirements of section 78 of the Education Act 2002, in their provision of SMSC.
Actively promoting the values means challenging opinions or behaviours that are contrary to the British values. Attempts to promote systems that undermine British values would be completely at odds with schools’ duty to provide SMSC. The Teachers’ Standards expect