THE DESFORD CURRICULUM

We believe that the Desford Curriculum is not just about what the children learn during lessons, but is about every experience, interaction and moment that they are at school.  As well as delivering all of the primary national curriculum subjects (English, Mathematics, Science, Art & Design, Computing, Design & Technology, Geography, History, Languages, Music, Physical Education), our school reaches beyond these in ensuring that the children receive a broader range of experiences that open their minds to opportunities and enable them to grasp a wholesome understanding of the world around them and how they can have a positive impact on this.

If after reading the information below, you would like to find out more about our curriculum, please contact the school office to register your enquiry.  Office staff will ensure the best person to answer your questions gets back to you.

Some of the innovative and inspirational initiatives that we offer include the following:

• Assemblies around a range school, national and international topics, themes and issues.
• Themed days and months such as Black History Month, Pride Month, Children’s Mental Health Week, Stephen Lawrence Day and much more.
• Curriculum linked school trips and/or visitors of historical, scientific and religious interest.
• A breadth of extra-curricular clubs that are linked with our school ‘Be Kind’ ethos such as sports, arts, music, allotment/environment and wellbeing.
• School residential visits in year’s 2, 4 and 6 that provide different experiences and enable the children to develop independence away from their parents in carefully measured way.
• A Forest school curriculum and allotment that drive an environmentally focussed learning program for children in all year groups.
• Road safety and cycling lessons across a range of year groups, that develop the life skills of learning how to ride a bike and learning how to ride safely on the road.
• A developing Ambassador program (Stephen Lawrence, Wellbeing, Environment) that provides children with a voice that can be heard and make a difference in their school and community.
• Involvement in the annual ‘Re-think Your Mind’ mental health awareness project.
   

SUBJECT SPECIFIC OVERVIEWS

Each subject has a progression of skills and objectives that set out the content of each block of learning.  Our subject areas are split into five main categories.  Details about the skills and objectives for each subjects subject area are laid out in these five categories below.

Reading

Our reading curriculum is adapted from the national framework for the teaching of reading, using a research based approach to best meet the needs of our children.  In EYFS and year 1, our Little Wandle phonics programme drives the teaching of reading.  These can be found in our phonics section.  The documents for year 2-6 are below.  These outline the core principles for the teaching of reading, as well as the progression of knowledge and skills for each year group from EYFS to year 6 (based upon national curriculum expectations).

Writing

Maths

We use PowerMaths as a planning resource for the delivery of our maths curriculum at Desford.  This ensures a consistent approach to the teaching of maths in terms of the progression of knowledge and skills.  Below is an overview of the topics covered in each year group, as well as the detailed lesson by lesson objectives that underpin these.  

Wider Curriculum Subjects

YEAR GROUP OVERVIEWS (wider curriculum)

Each year group's curriculum has been constructed using the curriculum drivers to ensure that they are integrated into the children's learning in all subject areas.  Below are the year group overviews that show how this has been done as well as giving an overview of all of the topics covered in each subject for each year group.

We are currently reviewing our wider curriculum, so the documents below show the updated documentation for the first half of the Autumn Term.  This will be updated as the review is finished.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics)

Computing and e-Safety

Wellbeing and Creativity

Humanities