Foundation Subjects
Religious Education
Philosophers try to understand the world better by asking lots of questions. They particularly ask 'why' questions and seek answers to difficult ideas like emotions and thoughts.
As a Church of England school within the Diocese of Guildford, Religious Education is a core subject and our Christian faith underpins the vision and values for the school community. RE lessons are taught weekly in a lively and imaginative way through a variety of different activities including art, drama, storytelling, visitors, discussion and technology. Children often work in pairs or small groups for these activities. Lessons often include time for discussion, debate and reflection.
Visitors with areas of expertise are often invited to take part in lessons and each year group visits a place of worship e.g. parish church, cathedral or mosque.
Through our R.E. teaching, our daily distinctive act of collective worship, provision and links with the church, we seek to give our pupils a rich variety of experiences from which they are equip with a deep knowledge, respect and understanding of Christianity and other faiths. Our children are naturally curious; we nurture and encourage their enquiring minds through plentiful opportunities to ask questions, reflect and to form their own ideas and opinions. Through the RE curriculum, we also foster an awareness of British values, tolerance for others and knowledge of our own society and the wider world.
Our Religious Education curriculum is enhanced through experiences and enrichment opportunities including:
- fostering close links with our local church community with regular visits and services as well as visits by clergy to the school.
- taking part in year group and whole school events - (multicultural days, Harvest Festival, school performances at Christmas and Easter)
- engaging in daily Collective Worship and whole school Pause Days
- participating in moments of quiet reflection using Prayer spaces and reflection areas
- learning through cross curricular opportunities
The units of work outline substantive knowledge, ways of knowing (viewed through the multi-disciplinary ‘lenses’ of theology, sociology and philosophy) and personal knowledge, as well as key questions that might be asked to help shape the learning in different ways, and end of phase expectations. This supports the recommendations of Ofsted’s RE Research Review.
You can read more about the syllabus here: https://www.cofeguildford.org.uk/surrey-agreed-syllabus/
Science
Scientists ask questions about the world around them by carefully looking at both big and small things that cannot always be seen easily. They constantly search for answers to understand the world better for everyone.
Our curriculum meets the requirements of the National Curriculum in Science though the ‘Plan Bee’ scheme. Teachers know what to teach when because the scheme is carefully mapped against the seasons and gardening calendar to maximise the use of what the school grounds have to offer. The scheme is enriched by opportunities for retrieval of prior learning, cross-curricular links, sustainability 'World Caretaker' projects and 'Plot to Plate' curriculum gardening. Each unit uses hands-on investigative science activities to promote a deep understanding of scientific concepts which we refer to as the golden threads and help children develop effective methods of scientific enquiry.
Our curriculum layers learning and builds on previous years knowledge and skills through the Golden Threads:
- Plants
- Animals, including Humans
- Materials and States off Matter
- Living Things and their Habitats
- Forces
- Light and Sound
- Electricity
- Earth and Space
‘Plot to Plate’ projects offer children the opportunity to sow, tend, harvest, cook and eat crops from the school gardens and develop an understanding of the importance of positive food culture and a healthy lifestyle. We aspire for the skills and knowledge learnt by the pupils in school to become lifelong. Through our ‘Plot to Plate’ projects and Design Technology curriculum we aim to support this philosophy by:
- Fostering the enjoyment that taking part in cooking, eating and gardening activities can bring;
- Enabling children to develop and explore cooking and gardening skills;
- Teaching children how to make healthy lifestyle choices;
- Developing children’s understanding of the environmental impact of food (seasonality and food wastage);
This approach utilises and links the golden thread of ‘Plants’ to the Design and Technology golden thread of ‘Cooking and Nutrition’.
‘World Caretaker’ Projects
Ashley is an environmentally aware school that strives to reduce it’s footprint on the planet. We teach children to make informed choices about living sustainably as part of the science curriculum. We work together to be responsible caretakers of the world. Each year group undertakes a ‘World Caretaker’ project which aims to improve our school environment and have a positive impact on the world we live in. The children's efforts have been acknowledged by 'The Green Flag Award' and 'RHS School Gardening Awards'. We also work closely with the Elmbridge Eco-Hub and take part in local community projects.
The curriculum gardener works alongside the class teacher to enhance the teaching of science and sustainability.
We have adopted and adapted the PlanBee Science Scheme: https://planbee.com/collections/science
Computing
Being a Digital Engineer
Engineers often find solutions to real life problems. They find ways to make things easier to use or work better like clothing, electronics, buildings and transport. They often try to improve things that already exist or create new versions.
At Ashley, we use the ‘Teach Computing’ scheme of work as a basis for our planning. Teachers assess and adjust plans as required to ensure teaching builds upon children’s prior learning. You can find out more here: Curriculum teaching resources (teachcomputing.org)
Each child will be able to progress through 6 computing units throughout a year which focus on developing children’s skills and knowledge in programming, multimedia, handling data and technology in our lives.
Children are given opportunities to use computing for a purpose and share their learning with a real audience where possible. The ‘Teach Computing’ scheme of work also allows plenty of opportunity for peer-to-peer discussion and collaboration, which in turn provides children with the opportunity to evaluate and reflect upon their learning.
Our curriculum layers learning and builds on previous years knowledge and skills through the Golden Threads within ‘Teach Computing’:
- Online Safety
- Computing systems & networks
- Creating Media
- Programming
- Data & Information
We have adopted and adapted the Teach Computing Scheme: https://teachcomputing.org/
History
Historians use things that have been left behind to understand what life might have been like in the past. They use different sources to help understand people, places and significant events throughout time.
We follow an enquiry approach to teaching History to help us develop children’s curiosity and understanding about the past. Each History topic starts with an overarching question and each lesson has a smaller enquiry question that the children will answer within the lesson. We use the National Curriculum to structure our line of enquiry topics, providing opportunities for each year group to study different time periods. The children are encouraged to form and answer questions about historical sources, gain knowledge and vocabulary, compare and contrast periods of history and understand change.
Many of the topics children study in History are closely matched to their English learning and provide excellent opportunities for speaking, reading and writing. We believe that the best way to learn about history is through keeping it local, making links to the history in and around Walton, it’s community and the heritage of the school. This way History is relatable, tangible and more memorable. By having a firm understanding of the local area and how it has changed over time, this can then be expanded to the wider world and its links to the local area.
Our curriculum layers learning and builds on previous years knowledge and skills through the Golden Threads:
- Hierarchy and Power
- Conflict and Disaster
- Exploration and Invention
- Community and Culture
The Disciplinary knowledge of Historians is developed alongside the golden threads are:
- Change and Continuity
- Similarity and Difference
- Cause and Consequence
- Evidence and Interpretation
- Significance
history on a page for staff.pdf
Design & Technology
Being a Design Engineer
Engineers often find solutions to real life problems. They find ways to make things easier to use or work better like clothing, electronics, buildings and transport. They often try to improve things that already exist or create new versions.
Children develop their engineering skills across the school through focused DT projects. Each project requires children to explore products and design their own product thoroughly before they make it, with time planned to ensure children have opportunities to evaluate their product throughout the iterative process. This explore-design-make-evaluate cycle forms the basis for all DT projects so that a consistent approach is used, helping children embed their understanding of the DT process.
Our curriculum layers learning and builds on previous years knowledge and skills through the Golden Threads:
Textiles
Structures
Mechanisms
Cooking and Nutrition
Digital World
Electrical Systems
Design Engineering can be the vehicle for other states of being. An example of this is the Year 4 learn about Circuits and Conductors prior to making torches.
When engaging with learning within the ‘Cooking and Nutrition’ golden thread, the children benefit from ‘Plot to Plate’ projects where they harvest food they have planted. This philosophy is supported by:
Fostering the enjoyment that taking part in gardening activities, cooking and eating can bring;
Enabling children to develop and explore gardening and cooking skills;
Teaching children how to make healthy lifestyle choices;
Developing children’s understanding of the environmental impact of food (seasonality and food wastage);
This approach links the science golden thread of ‘Plants’ and to the Design and Technology golden thread of ‘Cooking and Nutrition’.
Design and Technology has further links to year group specific ‘World Caretaker’ projects where children aim to find solutions to improve our school environment and in turn have a positive impact on the world, we live in.
Art & Design
Artists communicate their ideas and emotions in different ways. They can use a variety of things to help them represent the world around us like painting and drawing, sculpture or performance. Artists help us to understand the world from a different point of view.
Children’s artistic learning process is recorded in sketchbooks from Year One. Children use their sketchbooks to; record their responses, ideas and observations, experiment with the formal elements of art, practice their art and design skills.
Art units, where possible, link to year groups overarching half termly learning theme. These provide a valuable context for children to explore and develop their art skills.
Our curriculum layers learning and builds on previous years knowledge and skills through the Golden Threads:
- Collage
- Sculpture & 3D
- Painting & Mixed Media
- Printing
Children also have the opportunity to develop their drawing skills within each unit taught.
PSHE
Philosophers try to understand the world better by asking lots of questions. They particularly ask 'why' questions and seek answers to difficult ideas like emotions and thoughts.
At Ashley, PSHE is at the core of all we do and enables our children to become independent, confident, healthy and responsible members of the community, as well as developing the ‘whole child’ intellectually, morally, socially and spiritually.
PSHE is taught across the school on a weekly basis and the whole school follows the Jigsaw PSHE scheme. Our PSHE curriculum equips children with relevant and meaningful content, which is supported through a strong emphasis on emotional literacy, building resilience and nurturing mental and physical health. It is designed as a whole school approach, with all year groups working on the same theme (Puzzle) at the same time at the appropriate developmental level. There are six puzzle pieces (half-term units of work) and each year group is taught one lesson per week.
Jigsaw brings together PSHE Education, compulsory Relationships and Health Education, emotional literacy, mindfulness, social skills and spiritual development. A key part of our curriculum is Relationships and Sex Education and our delivery of RSE enables our children to learn how to be safe, and empowers them to have healthy fulfilling relationships, both now and in their future lives.
At the heart of our PSHE teaching we have a commitment to promoting and enhancing our core Christian values: care, challenge and explore. They run through our ethos, guide our decision making and the curriculum as well as underpin our teaching and learning. The values help all stakeholders create an environment which prepares our pupils to be caring, curious and courageous citizens. Within an ever-changing society, we provide the children with a strong understanding of the diverse world around them and support them in playing a positive role in contributing to the school and the wider community.
Jigsaw has two main aims for all children:
- To build their capacity for learning
- To equip them for life
We have adopted and adapted the Personal, Social & Health Education scheme from Jigsaw.
PE (including swimming)
Athletes are focused on being fit and healthy. They work hard at being the best they can be, setting new goals. They listen to others, problem solve and persevere through challenges.
Our PE curriculum follows a scheme of work from Get Set 4 PE, which is closely aligned to the National Curriculum. This scheme supports a clear and sequenced progression of skills and knowledge, both within each year group and from one year to the next. Children are given time to revisit and develop their knowledge and skills to gain a competence within PE. Children take part in twice weekly PE lessons in a wide range of sporting activities.
Class teachers work alongside a sports coach to deliver a high-quality sports provision. Swimming lessons are also provided for KS2 by qualified swimming teachers to support children in being able to competently, confidently and proficiently swim a distance of at least 25 meters.
We listen to our children's wants and needs and provide them with a range of active experiences, clubs and chances to compete.
Through our school values, we aid our children in obtaining the courage and skills to recognise and respect the success of others as well as celebrating their own successes.
We strive to educate our children to develop a greater understanding on how to live healthy lifestyles and make healthy choices. We are dedicated to ensuring healthy minds as well as bodies and support the children's well-being in a variety of ways.
Our curriculum layers learning and builds on previous years knowledge and skills through the Golden Threads:
- Athletics
- Dance
- Games
- Gymnastics and Yoga
- Outdoor Adventurous Activity (OAA)
- Swimming
Music
Musicians express ideas and emotions using their voice and instruments. They communicate complex things in creative ways through sound. Music can help communicate ideas that might be hard to say with just words.
At Ashley, we follow the Kapow Primary’s music scheme, which takes a holistic approach to music. Over the course of the scheme, children are taught how to sing fluently, expressively, and play tuned and untuned instruments accurately and with control. They will learn to recognise and name the interrelated dimensions of music - pitch, duration, tempo, timbre, structure, texture and dynamics - and use these expressively in their own improvisations and compositions.
Through Kapow the music curriculum layers learning and builds on previous years knowledge and skills through the Golden Threads:
- Performing
- Listening
- Composing
- The history of music
- The inter-related dimensions of music
Languages
Linguists understand the world through different languages. They are curious to learn about community and culture through understanding how people communicate in different places around the world.
At Ashley, we follow the Rigolo scheme. Designed as a KS2 approach to teaching French, Rigolo is a comprehensive and highly interactive scheme which meets all statutory National Curriculum MFL requirements. Children work through a structured programme (Rigolo) which equips them with age-appropriate vocabulary and phrases. Delivered in a bitesize way, Rigolo allows regular revisit and retrieval opportunities, helping the children with their successful acquisition of the language.
The lessons are designed to motivate and captivate children from the first moment. Lessons have clear, achievable objectives and incorporate different learning styles. Medium Term Plans outline which units are covered each term. Each lesson focuses on a combination of the five key language-learning skills: speaking, listening, reading, writing and grammar. Lessons include the following:
- Recap of vocab – this is to ensure children are receiving frequent exposure to key vocabulary and opportunities to recall.
- Interactive lesson resources, which include videos, songs, animated games and activities to encourage whole-class engagement. These resources also include a Virtual Teacher feature to support primary teachers who lack confidence or practice in French.
- An effective mix of oracy, reading, writing and listening, in the form of worksheets, songs or activities, related to the lesson input. These give children a breadth of skills and experience outlined in the National Curriculum.
- Clear expectations have been set out to ensure consistency throughout KS2 French teaching, driving effective pedagogy.