Our Vision     

We believe that through a respectful and caring ethos, as a school community, we can celebrate our children’s individuality and cultivate enthusiastic, healthy, happy and confident learners for life.

Our Curriculum Intent

At The Gattons, our curriculum is underpinned by our Rights, Respecting Rainbow which is used throughout the curriculum.

This underpins our curriculum and the ethos of the school.  At The Gattons, we place great importance on a curriculum that develops the whole child to achieve, including children with SEND and from disadvantaged backgrounds.  Our curriculum is broad and balanced.  We equip the children with the skills and knowledge needed to be good people who make a positive contribution to society who enjoy learning and continue to be learners for life. 

Our curriculum has a strong focus on developing speech and language and promotes the use of accurate and rich vocabulary in all subjects, including emotional literacy. 

Outdoor Play and learning (OPAL) is key to our children developing as individuals.  It allows them to explore, manipulate, experience and affect their environment. Play encourages self-confidence and the ability to make choices, problem solve and to be creative. It requires ongoing communication and negotiation skills, enabling the children to develop a balance between their right to act freely and their responsibilities to others.

Our learning journeys involve rich experiences including visits, visitors and hands on opportunities ensuring that all children experience and explore the diverse local environment and community.  At the end of a learning journey the children have the opportunity to share their learning with a variety of audiences in a multitude of ways. 

It is our belief that children will be most successful when home and school work together in partnership.  Therefore, we actively encourage parents to engage with their child’s learning, enabling them to support their child’s learning using a consistent approach with school.

Implementation

We have carefully designed a knowledge, skills and vocabulary based curriculum which allows learners to acquire relevant subject knowledge which underpins the application of skills. These skills are carefully and progressively mapped from the Early Years Foundation stage through key stage 1 in every subject area.  Knowledge is consolidated and built upon to support retention and recall and is clearly outlined on medium term plans.  This ensures that at the end of KS1, the children leave our school having learnt and able to recall and apply the key information that we feel is important in order for them to be successful in the future.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Educational Programmes  and the National Curriculum are taught through our curriculum. The curriculum is planned through purposeful, exciting Learning Journeys, which follow the children’s interests and teach the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary in all areas of learning. Each Learning Journey covers different areas of the curriculum, always incorporating English and Maths. The Learning Journeys start with engaging ‘hooks’, or challenges, for example, a letter, a visitor, a phone call and then follow through to a purposeful and engaging outcome.

Our children are taught in classes, small groups or individually according to their needs. A variety of teaching styles are used based on good pedagogy and teachers continually reflect on their teaching. We are always working to improve to achieve high standards for all. Learning is progressively revisited so that knowledge sticks and the children can make links with previous learning.  We encourage our children to be resilient, learning from mistakes and be confident enough to take risks.

The Arts

Every child is encouraged to enjoy and achieve in the Arts by ensuring that Art and Design, Design and Technology, Dance, Drama, Music and Creative writing have a special place in the curriculum. Through careful planning of creative cross-curricular learning journeys, children follow their interests and build on their confidence and self esteem. We ensure that all children are able to participate in the Arts at their own ability level. This means that we ensure that children with special needs are individually supported where needed and talented children are given the opportunity to stretch themselves. Staff and children are given the opportunity to work with professional artists and arts organisations through workshops. All children have access to a range of high quality experiences in all Arts subjects in each year group, whatever their background or ability. In relation to our school motto Everybody Matters, every child is encouraged to express themselves using a broad range of media, styles and cultures within all art forms, including digital media. Through the Arts, pupils gain in confidence and self esteem. They learn to work both as team members and independently.

Impact

Formative assessment is used daily by teachers to inform planning and establish any short-term interventions required. This helps us provide the best possible support for all of our pupils, including the more able.

Summative assessment is carried out termly to inform longer-term planning and identify any interventions required. Again, this includes our more able children. A tracking system is used to assess key objectives in the all subjects on a termly basis.

Assessment information is analysed by Subject Leads, the Assessment Lead and Headteacher as part of our monitoring cycle. Pupil progress meetings are conducted termly (summative). This process provides the SLT and Governors with an accurate and comprehensive understanding of the quality of education in our school.

Assessment data, along with findings from monitoring activities including book looks, learning walks and pupil voice, are reviewed by SLT and used to inform curriculum development or any necessary adaptations to provision.

Children leave The Gattons with detailed knowledge and skills across the curriculum and, as a result, achieve well. The children are ready for Junior School. They have a love of reading, reading with fluency and comprehension. Our children feel safe. They take risks, ask questions, make mistakes, learn to trust, share their feelings and self-regulate effectively.

If would like further information and you already have a child at The Gattons, please speak to your child's teacher.  If your child may be starting school at The Gattons and you would like further information, please contact the Headteacher.