The Primary Futura Curriculum is both ambitious and inspirational. It provides access and entitlement to powerful knowledge, ensuring enjoyment and promoting the very best life chances. Children experience a wide breadth of study and have, by the end of each key stage, long-term memory of an ambitious body of procedural and semantic knowledge. Our progressive curriculum, from 3-19 years ensures that children have the requisite knowledge to proceed to their next year of study, including transition to secondary school. Our curriculum is ambitious for all and strives to address inclusion and disadvantage in its intent and implementation.

The curriculum encapsulates our trust values:

Respect

• Each school has its own distinctive identity; this will be reflected in the local context of its curriculum
• The curriculum will be planned progressively across the phases, to build on previous learning and prepare pupils for their next stage.

Opportunities

• A rich and diverse curriculum, both inside and outside the classroom, which exceeds the full intent of the National Curriculum
• A curriculum that enables success for all pupils regardless of their starting points.

Collaboration

• A coherently sequenced 2-19 curriculum curated by our subject experts
• A curriculum that is enhanced by cross-trust experiences.

Aspiration

• The curriculum in each school is designed to prepare learners for the next stage of their education, giving them the knowledge and cultural capital needed to succeed in their adult life
• A curriculum that introduces pupils to a range of experiences and knowledge that broadens their horizons and prepares them for life as global citizens
• A wider curriculum that promotes emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing. All our schools follow the Futura Curriculum that has been developed by cross-phase groups of passionate subject specialists. The curriculum has been planned vertically and horizontally giving thought to the optimum knowledge sequence for building secure schema. Progression through the curriculum is by shared age related expectations.

Everyone at Wansdyke Primary School is proud of the curriculum we deliver as we know that is accessible to all children, will prepare them for later life and inspire them to continue a love of learning.

Further information

• Futura curriculum principles (Pdf)
• Futura curriculum (Pdf)

Termly overview of learning

Term 1: September 2023

• Year 1 (Pdf)
• Year 2 (Pdf)
• Year 3 (Pdf)
• Year 4 (Pdf)
• Year 5 (Pdf)
• Year 6 (Pdf)

Term 2: November 2023

• Reception (Pdf)
• Year 1 (Pdf)
• Year 2 (Pdf)
• Year 3 (Pdf)
• Year 4 (Pdf)
• Year 5 (Pdf)
• Year 6 (Pdf)

Children at Wansdyke Primary School will explore a diverse range of traditional and contemporary Artists, Craftspeople and Designers, fostering their curiosity and understanding of the world around them. Children’s experiences will enable them to develop an appreciation of their own and other cultures and how artistic styles have been influenced over time.

Through high quality art lessons children will become reflective critical thinkers with the abilities to express themselves creatively. They will learn to evaluate their own work and the work of others. A well-sequenced art curriculum will enable children to make continued progression through the refinement of skills and building on prior knowledge. Learners will have the opportunity to apply their skills and knowledge in a range of contexts and be exposed to art in the local community, galleries and museums to inspire and inform their creative practice.

For more information, please see the Futura Curriculum for Art and Design (Pdf)

Our Computing curriculum ensure children are immersed in engaging, technology-rich learning experiences which allow them to learn deeply and embed core computing skills, think independently and problem solve in an ever evolving digital world.

Regardless of changes within technology and the world we live in, our children will possess the core skills and behaviours required to safely and confidently access new technology to enhance their wider learning, access the curriculum throughout their school journey and inspire a future where technology is used to innovate and make positive change.

We believe that learning about Computing provides an important context for the development of pupils’ key learning skills, particularly problem-solving, creative and critical thinking and resourcefulness. Futura recognise that social context plays a vital role in children’s education and as such we aim to provide opportunities for children to experience Computing in ways that are unique to their local and wider community.

More information

• Futura Curriculum for Computing (Pdf)
• Teach Computing curriculum

Online safety

Online safety is an integral part of children’s education in today’s digital world and is embedded in their learning at school. We also want to help our parents and children improve their own understanding of e-safety issues so they can learn to use the internet and all digital media in a safe and secure way.

To try and help parents and carers with the fast moving and changing world of internet and social media we've suggested a few internet sites below which are fantastic resources. They contain information on different types of social media and how to help keep children safe.

• Childnet
• Think you know
• Internet matters
• Net aware
• Safer internet
• Child Exploitation and Online Protection - safety centre
• DfE advice for parents on cyberbullying (Pdf)
• Parent Zone

Fact sheets and guides to popular social media

• Cyberbullying (Pdf)
• Fortnite (Pdf)
• Instagram (Pdf)
• Keeping young children safe online (Pdf)
• Snapchat (Pdf)
• TikTok (Pdf)
• YouTube (Pdf)

Internet acceptable use policies and agreements

• Internet acceptable use policy for pupils (Pdf)
• Acceptable use of the internet: agreement for parents and carers (Pdf)

Our DT curriculum aims to equip children with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to become successful, innovative young designers and makers. By building on prior experience, children progressively develop technical skills and practical expertise.

They are encouraged to think creatively, imaginatively and be ambitious in their design ideas. They are given opportunities to solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. They learn to recognise the importance of design and technology in the real world and its relevance in everyday life.

They are given opportunities to learn about and be inspired by designs and designers past and present who have impacted on life across the world. Through the design, make, evaluate process, children are guided to develop skills of team work, communication, resilience and reflectiveness through problem solving.

They learn to use knowledge and understanding from other curriculum areas including mathematical, scientific, computing and art skills, applying them in relevant and practical contexts. In this way, we aspire for our children to become articulate, dynamic thinkers able to approaching new challenges with confidence and enthusiasm.

For more information, please see the Futura Curriculum for Design and Technology (Pdf)

The period from age three to the end of the Reception year is described as the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). It is a distinct stage and important both in its own right and in preparing children for later schooling. At Wansdyke Primary School we have an intake of up to 30 children in our Little Acorns class as we are a one form entry school. The intent of our Futura curriculum is to ensure that every child develops the necessary skills, knowledge and attitude to achieve fulfilling lives. Great Oaks grow from Little Acorns!

Our vision is through exploring and learning together our children will be united together, have a sense of belonging and through key values of commitment, enthusiasm and determination we will rise from strength to strength together. To succeed in this we will:

• Provide a happy and safe environment where children feel safe to explore the world around them, independently and with friends, and develop their curiosity, ideas and imagination
• Provide a space where children can become lifelong learners, discovering the full potential of all they can be through exciting enrichment activities (gymnastics, eggmobil days, vocational workshops, visitors, trips etc.) and quality provision and sharing these with the wider school community
• Provide an enabling environment which develops each child’s independence and critical thinking skills ready for their future educational journey and their journey through life-ready to question, challenge and inspire.

In Reception we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum. This curriculum is broad and varied and enables the children to learn how to be learners through engagement, enthusiasm, curiosity and play. We are guided by, and highly value, the four themes that make up the principles of the EYFS:

• A unique child
• Positive relationships
• Enabling environments
• Learning and development

The EYFS is based on seven areas of learning:

• Communication and language
• Personal, social and emotional development
• Physical development
• Maths
• Literacy
• Understanding of the world
• Expressive arts and design

At Wansdyke, we use the EYFS curriculum to identify the Characteristics of Effective Learning. This shows us how each child engages with other people and their environment, how they play and explore, if they are active learners and if they are creating and thinking critically. Ee provide opportunities for children to explore and take risks through child initiated play and teacher directed activities indoors as well as outdoors. Our aim is to help each child reach their full potential.

We observe children through child initiated play as well as teacher led activities. We use these observations to assess each child using the EYFS curriculum which informs us for each individual’s next steps.  We use Tapestry, an online learning journal, to document learning and the most special moments to them both at school and home and capture the child’s voice and perspective of their own learning. Tapestry offers a valuable communication tool between parents, who are able to access this securely, and school.

Our English curriculum aims to inspire children to become creative and critical thinkers. We believe that it is the right of every child to become a competent and confident user of the English language; able to live, work and succeed in the literate world. Children will be able to communicate fluently and confidently, using a wide vocabulary accurately and effectively. They will be able to critique a range of fiction and non-fiction texts, appreciating a rich and varied literary heritage.

Children will be inspired to become imaginative writers who can write coherently with a high level of accuracy in spelling, punctuation and grammar; children will be able to adapt their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences. English provides the fundamental building blocks for students to succeed in all subjects; a high level of literacy provides the vehicle needed to unpick key concepts across the curriculum. This, alongside carefully selected texts appropriate to our contexts, develops the cultural capital needed to succeed in life. Crucially, we aim to foster a love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.

Aims

The aims of teaching English are:

• To develop a love of reading and writing
• To ensure children read easily, fluently and with good understanding
• To provide opportunities so that children develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
• To ensure children acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
• To allow children to appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
• To develop children’s ability to read and write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
• To provide opportunities for  discussions where children are able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
• To develop learners who are competent in the arts of speaking and listening.

For more information, please see the Futura Curriculum for English (Pdf)

Read Write Inc

At Wansdyke Primary School we use Read Write Inc Phonics (RWI) to give every child the best possible start to reading.  We are passionate that children learn to read as quickly as possible but to keep reading – to read widely and often and to be lifelong readers. Research shows that children who read widely and often, are children who go on to succeed in school. Through the use of the RWI programme as a whole school approach to teaching early reading, delivered by an enthusiastic and a highly skilled team of teachers, every child will learn to read and develop a love for reading. RWI is taught daily in phase 1 and for children in phase 2 (as appropriate).

In Read Write Inc. Phonics pupils:

• Decode letter-sound correspondences quickly and effortlessly, using their phonic knowledge and skills
• Read common exception words on sight
• Understand what they read
• Read aloud with fluency and expression
• Write confidently
• Spell quickly and easily by segmenting the sounds in words
• Acquire good handwriting.

More information about RWI.

• Handwriting phrases (Pdf)
• Parent/carer FAQs and glossary booklet (Pdf)
• Reading at home booklet 1 (Pdf)
• Reading at home booklet 2 (Pdf)
• Read Write Inc policy (Pdf)

Handwriting

• Handwriting policy (Pdf)

Accelerated Reader

Once children have completed the RWI programme, they will then select appropriate reading books related to their reading age using a programme called Accelerated Reader (AR). AR is a computer program that helps teachers manage and monitor children’s independent reading practice. Each child picks a book at his/her own level and reads it at his/her own pace. When finished, children take a short quiz- passing the quiz is an indication that a child has understood what has been read.

Our Geography curriculum inspires children’s life-long curiosity and fascination about the world and its people. The aim is to ensure that children are equipped with knowledge about a diverse range of places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the earth’s key physical and human processes.

Children will make sense of the complex world around them, understand and be confident to investigate some of the major issues, challenges and opportunities that the world faces today. The aim is to ensure that children will develop greater competence in using geographical knowledge, approaches, concepts and skills in analysing and interpreting a wide range of different geographical information.

Children will grow their locational knowledge, spatial and environmental understanding as well as acquire the geographical cultural capital needed to be confident and successful global citizens.

For more information, please see the Futura Curriculum for Geography (Pdf)

Our History curriculum inspires children to have a curiosity and fascination about the local area and Britain’s past and that of the wider world as well. Children learn the skills to think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. The children’s deep learning of history and its related information gathering skills will enable them to have an understanding of where we have come from and how this has been influenced by the wider world and different cultural heritages.

This in turn will enable us to learn from the past, model the future and understand society and the child’s place within it. Furthermore, it gives us a view of other cultures and their development through time. We believe that learning about historical events provides an important context for the development of pupils’ key learning skills, particularly communication, working with others, problem solving and critical thinking skills and that this will be done not just through experiences in the classroom but also through the use of field work and educational visits.

For more information, please see the Futura Curriculum for History (Pdf)

Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. At Wansdyke Primary School, we strongly believe that languages are a skill for life and something that children should enjoy and find rewarding. In Phase 2 children learn French.

We aim to expand children’s cultural knowledge whilst developing their language skills in French.

For more information, please see the Futura Curriculum for Languages (Pdf)

At Wansdyke Primary School, we believe that every child can achieve a mastery of number which allows them to be curious and confident mathematicians who embrace challenge. Children will ask questions and think creatively, applying mathematical reasoning to enable them to find out more about the world. In maths lessons, children will feel a sense of accomplishment and joy as they successfully solve problems and apply their mathematical understanding practically, preparing them for the use of maths in daily life.

We aim for all children to:

• Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics so that they develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
• Be able to solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including in unfamiliar contexts and to model real-life scenarios
• Reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and develop and present a justification, argument or proof using mathematical language.

At Wansdyke Primary School, we use White Rose scheme of learning to guide our maths teaching. 

Our Maths policy outlines our approach to teaching Maths at Wansdyke Primary School.

For more information, please see the Futura Curriculum for Maths (Pdf)

Times tables

• 2 times tables (Pdf)
• 3 times tables (Pdf)
• 4 times tables (Pdf)
• 5 times tables (Pdf)
• 6 times tables (Pdf)
• 7 times tables (Pdf)
• 8 times tables (Pdf)
• 9 times tables (Pdf)
• 10 times tables (Pdf)
• 11 times tables (Pdf)
• 12 times tables (Pdf)
• Mixed practice up to 12 x 12 (Pdf)

The intention of our Music curriculum at Wansdyke is that children develop a life-long love of music. Through the musical experiences and opportunities offered to them throughout their education, each child will develop a musical identity which is personal to them, this may be in the form of a performer, composer and/or as an active listener who, in the future, will become a participator in the cultural life of the UK.

Children experience a stimulating, practical and holistic curriculum which explores music through singing, performing, composing and listening. Alongside this we encourage all children to develop their musicianship in a variety of extra-curricular activities both in and outside school.

We strive to ensure all children find Music an engaging and fulfilling subject in which they embrace the discipline of practice, the challenge of analysis and the excitement of creating and finding their own musical voice.

For more information, please see the Futura Curriculum for Music (Pdf)

Futura schools, in partnership with parents, have a vital role in preparing children and young people to negotiate the challenges and opportunities of an increasingly complex world. This presents many positive and exciting opportunities, but also challenges and risks. Personal Development deals with real-life issues affecting our children, families and communities. It is concerned with the social, health and economic realities of their lives, experiences and attitudes including relationships. It supports students to be healthy (mentally and physically), safe (online and offline) and equipped to thrive in their relationships and careers.

The aim of the Personal Development Curriculum is to enable our children to become healthy, independent and responsible members of our society. It supports children with their personal and social development, and develops their understanding of the moral, social and cultural aspects of society and life. We provide our children with opportunities for them to learn about rights and responsibilities and appreciate what it means to be a member of a diverse community. Our children are encouraged to develop their sense of self-worth by playing a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community. Our Personal Development Curriculum is integral to the development of children’s values in order for them to become positive citizens in an ever-changing community.

For more information, please see the Futura Curriculum for Personal, Social, Health and Economic (Pdf)

The aim of our Physical Education curriculum is to foster a life-long love for a variety of physical activities and sporting opportunities. Through an engaging curriculum they will develop a range of transferrable skills, language, knowledge and understanding which can be used in multiple settings.

Children are provided with many opportunities to develop wider personal, social and moral skills which could include resilience, communication, teamwork, independence, leadership, analysis and evaluation. Children will develop their understanding of what engenders a healthy lifestyle both physically and the contribution this has on good mental health and well-being.

Opportunities will be provided to experience a broad range of different sports safely, through participation and observations, in both the curricular and extra-curricular provision. Community links are established and advertised to encourage our children to have further opportunities for continuing participation through school extra-curricular activities and local clubs and sports.

For more information, please see the Futura Curriculum for Physical Education (Pdf)

Our Religious Education curriculum aims that all children develop an awareness of major world religions and world views, including their impact on society and culture. Our pupils will be able to appreciate and respect faiths and beliefs which may be different to their own, which will equip them for their adult life, employment as well as lifelong learning.

Through RE lessons, children will be able to engage with challenging questions of meaning and purpose, which will equip them to continue their studies of RE in secondary school where they will deepen their understanding of different world faiths as well as more general philosophical and ethical questions. Our pupils will be given the opportunity to develop their own religious, spiritual and philosophical beliefs in a safe environment. Children will be able to reflect, consider, analyse, interpret and evaluate different issues which are prevalent in our society, whilst also promoting mutual respect and tolerance in line with British Values.

For more information, please see the Futura Curriculum for Religious Education (Pdf)

Our Science curriculum encourages children to understand and question the world around them. It teaches them the scientific knowledge and skills that they need in order to be successful in their future lives and make a contribution to the wider community.

Children are empowered with a strong knowledge base that they can then use to evaluate important issues, analyse evidence and problem solve. They develop the confidence to form their own opinions and articulate themselves effectively.

For more information, please see the Futura Curriculum for Science (Pdf)

At Wansdyke Primary School, we take great pride in our approach to SMSC across the school, feeling that pupils should develop into tolerant, kind individuals with a social conscience. 

SMSC feeds into several areas of life: assemblies; charity and community outreach projects; children’s leadership opportunities; online safety and mental health awareness days.

Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) information

This statement should be read alongside the relationships and sex education policy and the relationships and sex education from the DfE (Pdf).