Reading and Writing
Intent
Reading is at the heart of our curriculum. Every child at Sion is a reader and it is our intent that every child will be inspired by the curriculum and the environment to develop a love of reading and the skills to be able to read with fluency and understanding.
Writing plays a key role in our whole curriculum. By the end of Year 2, it is our intention that our children have begun to develop a love of writing, which they will carry on into KS2 and into Senior school life. Our children will be able to convey their ideas clearly and creatively using the written word. Through our curriculum, we intend to enable our children to become writers who are able to read, edit and further improve their writing, confidently using the skills of grammar, punctuation and phonics that they have been taught.
Implementation
Phonics and early reading are taught across the school. Every morning phonics sessions take place lasting between 15-20 minutes. These sessions involve using phonics as a tool for learning sounds for decoding when reading, and for spelling when writing. At Sion we know that reading is crucial for children to access all areas of the curriculum and we place a high importance on time spent reading with our children. In KS 1 each child is heard to read every day at school and ERIC (Everyone read in class) is a daily occurrence throughout the Junior School. We use core texts to inspire and lead other areas of learning. We ensure our environment is vocabulary rich through well informed and labelled displays, reading areas and a beautiful library which is timetabled for use across the school. We value regular story times which foster a love of reading and enable the development of language and comprehension skills. One to one reading is important to us, as it gives children the time to talk about what they are reading and what they think about it, so children are heard to read daily by staff.
We recognise that reading is fundamental to the writing process because children will successfully write when they understand the key features of a sentence and are beginning to build up both their vocabulary and an understanding of different text types by the end of Year 2.
At Sion Junior School, we use visual stimuli and books to inspire our children to write. Adults model examples of effective writing in the classrooms to support the children in being successful in their own writing. We support our children to develop and build their writing stamina as they progress through the school, writing in all areas of the curriculum. In Key Stage 1, children learn to apply their phonics skills to spell, alongside learning the spelling of common exception words. From Reception to Year 6 Spelling and Grammar (SpaG) is taught weekly and the children are expected to apply this knowledge in the writing in all subjects.
Weekly spellings are progressive through Years 1 to 6, with the expectation that learned spellings are then correctly used in everyday writing.
Impact
Children at Sion will develop a love of reading. Children will have the skills to decode words and read fluently while confidently talking about their understanding of what they have read. During each phonics and reading session, adults are listening to and observing children to ensure they are making progress and to plan their next steps. Each half term, assessments are used to make an assessment against the Literacy ELGs and the National Curriculum objectives.
Our children make good progress within their own context. By the end of their time at the Junior School the children will have been exposed to a variety of genres and texts covering a wide range of cultures and themes. Our aim is to promote a love of writing, an appreciation of world culture and a rich understanding of the impact that the written word can have.
At Our Lady of Sion, we believe that being successful in Mathematics is not just about rote-learning procedures and methods, but that Mathematics is taught in an inclusive, creative way to ensure that pupils understand the underlying concepts.
We love to have fun in our maths lessons. Our maths curriculum is designed not only to help children build a strong foundation of skills, but to able them to utilise these skills through problem solving, reasoning and real life situations. The teaching and learning is tailored to each child’s need as they move up through the school, focusing on mathematical thinking and reasoning, using models and images to help us.
Our aim is to provide opportunities for children to:
Mathematics is taught fluidly through revisiting each topic in the curriculum for that year group several times in the year to ensure that all children make good progress and ultimately achieve their potential. We help children to recognise how they can apply their maths skills and knowledge to varied contexts and real-life situations.
Our Mathematics teaching has a whole school approach based upon the White Rose/Power Maths Scheme, however teachers also use a range of other resources and manipulatives to support effective adaptive teaching.
“The only way to get good ideas is to get lots of ideas and throw the bad ones away.” – Linus Pauling
Children work both independently, and as part of a team, to investigate, design, problem solve, make and evaluate products. They are taught to take risks, becoming resourceful and innovative in projects that will support their learning to solve real life problems within a variety of contexts.
Intent
To develop a range of practical and life skills that will empower students to apply their knowledge to the wider world.
We give our students opportunties to:
In Years 5 and 6 students are taught in the Senior School by Mr Sefton, Head of Design Technology.
“Creativity is in us all – and it’s good for our minds and spirits” – Grayson Perry
The Junior School has its own light and spacious art room; a vibrant and exciting place where students experience a wide range of media and materials through a broad and engaging curriculum – a place where creativity flourishes.
Intent
We want all our pupils to thoroughly enjoy the creative process and to have confidence in expressing themselves visually. Our aim is for all children to leave enjoying art and have an appreciation for the arts.
We give our young artists opportunities to:
We recognise the talents and abilities of our pupils by participating in a range of national art competitions such as The Royal Academy’s Young Artists Summer Show.
Artwork created by all pupils is displayed throughout the school which inspires others and promotes a sense of pride.
Opportunities are provided for pupils to work outside their timetable lessons by joining Art Club and attending trips to galleries and museums.
What is PSHE in schools?
What does PSHE stand for? PSHE stands for Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education. The acronym PSHCE is also sometimes used, where the ‘C’ stands for Citizenship.
As a subject, PSHE aims to provide children with the knowledge and skills to keep themselves happy, healthy and safe, as well as to prepare them for life and work. PSHE aims to give children the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to lead confident, healthy and independent lives.
Navigating our complex world can be challenging, and parents and teachers play an essential role in preparing children for the future. As such, PSHE aims to equip pupils to:
The three core elements of PSHE and Citizenship taught in primary schools are:
During the Relationships unit, children will learn:
Through the Health and Wellbeing unit, children will learn:
The Living in the Wider World unit will teach them:
Though our child centred approach to the Humanities Curriculum our programme of Creative curriculum and homework helps to encourage deeper and wider engagement with the subject area, inspiring independent research. We strive to ensure that the curriculum enthuses, engages, enriches, and motivates, developing in each child, curiosity, and excitement of the world in which they live.
Example Overview of the Humanities topics (subject to change year to year)
Reception/ Year 1 | Incredible journeys | Exploration – compare significant individuals, Neil Armstrong with Christopher Columbus | Seaside Holidays in the Past and History of Worthing Pier. |
Year 2 | Florence Nightingale | The Great fire of London | The Weather |
Year 3 | Ancient Britain Stone Age to the Bronze age | The Ancient Egyptians | The Uk |
Year 4 | The Ancient Romans | The Polar Regions, Ernest Shackleton, and The Titanic | London |
Year 5 | The Ancient Greeks | South America and the rainforest | The Mayan Civilization |
Year 6 | The 2nd World War | Decades of Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Victoria | West Africa and fair trade |