Curriculum
At Heathcoat Primary we work hard to deliver an exciting and relevant curriculum to all of our learners. We have fully adopted the New National Curriculum and have used this opportunity to design brand new topic as vehicles through which the children access a variety of subject areas. We enjoy being flexible and incorporate the children’s own ideas into the topics that we plan and then teach. As a result, planning is always being adapted and changed to meet our learner’s needs.
Curriculum Maps
The links below will take you to the curriculum maps for each of the year groups across the school. To find out more about our curriculum please contact your child’s class teacher or team leader.
Intent, Implementation and Impact statements
- The curriculum at Heathcoat Primary School
- Art
- Computing
- Design Technology
- EYFS
- Geography
- French
- History
- Maths
- Music
- Phonics
- PSHE
- Physical Education
- Religious Education
- Reading
- Science
- Writing
Reading and Phonics
At Heathcoat Primary School, the reading curriculum is designed to create passionate readers. Children, from Nursery to Year 6, enjoy listening to a variety of stories, poems and information texts during the daily, shared class-read. The texts used during the class-read are purposefully selected as part of our reading spine, and include well-loved classics as well as more contemporary texts that offer a more diverse range of authors, characters and perspectives. Children at Heathcoat Primary School enjoy the Scholastic book fair that comes twice a year and they enjoy participating in the annual summer reading challenge at Tiverton library.
To support children on their journey to becoming avid and passionate readers, Heathcoat Primary School teach early reading using the Read, Write, Inc. Phonics programme, which teaches children how to decode the words on the page and how to comprehend what they have read. The Read, Write, Inc. Phonics programme provides a structured approach to teaching reading, whereby the sequence of reading books provides cumulative progression in the children’s phonics knowledge, reading accuracy, reading pace, comprehension skills and the fluency with which children read texts using their storyteller voice.
Upon completing the Read, Write, Inc. Phonics programme, children are taught more complex comprehension skills using the Read, Write, Inc. Comprehension programme, which provides engaging and more challenging texts. In conjunction with the Read, Write, Inc. Comprehension programme, children freely access a range of books from the library, using Accelerated Reader to support their choice text and check their understanding of the text through regular quizzes and half-termly reading tests.
In Key Stage Two, children are taught reading using a range of genres and text types selected from Literacy Shed. The teaching of reading in Key Stage Two builds on the reading skills taught in the Early Years and Key Stage One, with a continued focus on reading fluently, understanding vocabulary and comprehending more complex texts. During the Key Stage Two reading lessons, teachers teach children the comprehension skills linked to content domains of the National Curriculum, using the acronym VIPERS. The letters of the acronym represent: vocabulary, infer, predict, explain, retrieve and summarise. Children in Key Stage Two continue to use Accelerated Reader to help them choose books from the library.
To support children on their journey to becoming fluent and enthusiastic readers, teachers use a range of assessment tools to monitor children’s progress so that they access books and texts that are appropriately matched to their stage of development. Reading teachers use what they hear and observe in the reading lessons as part of their ongoing, formative assessment, as well as more summative assessments, including half-termly Read, Write, Inc. assessments, Accelerated Reader Star reading tests, termly NFER reading assessments and past SATs reading papers for children in Years 2 and 6. Teachers adapt their teaching of phonics and reading for children who are identified as needing additional support, providing the necessary scaffolds to support children to access the reading curriculum at the appropriate level. Some children also receive one-to-one tuition and additional reading intervention provided by the Read, Write, Inc. programme.
Maths at Heathcoat Primary School
A mathematician at Heathcoat Primary School is a pupil who is on a journey to develop their love of mathematics and apply their knowledge in a range of meaningful and real-life contexts.
At Heathcoat Primary School, we are continuously striving towards teaching mastery in mathematics. Our curriculum is built around the three key aims of the National Curriculum: fluency, reasoning and problem solving, alongside the Five Big Ideas of Teaching for Mastery Five Big Ideas. Pupils are supported to secure core skills (fluency), explain and justify their thinking (reasoning), and apply their understanding in a variety of contexts (problem solving). We prioritise depth over speed, ensuring children fully grasp concepts before moving on. This ensures that children have a deep understanding of concepts before progressing onto new learning.
Mathematics at Heathcoat is taught through a carefully sequenced curriculum (following Whiterose maths), where learning is broken down into daily small steps. A key feature of our teaching is the Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract (CPA) approach. A new concept it is introduced through hands on resource and experience approach before moving onto pictorial representation and then abstract methods.
Every day from years 1 to 6 children will complete an additional fluency session. This involves them completing a variety of arithmetic questions to support them in becoming fluent in the four operations ( – + x ÷ ) of mathematics. Pupils develop understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
Ways to support your child with mathematics
· To support your child’s Maths learning we recommend the 1 Minute White Rose Maths Apps which can be downloaded here. · Encouraging use of TT rockstars (KS2) and Numbots (KS1)
· The calculation policy overviews show progression in methods from Reception to Year 6 so you can see how their learning develops over time.
Relationships and Sex Education
At Heathcoat Primary school, we follow the comprehensive PSHE programme called ‘Jigsaw’ This programme is a scheme of work that we teach from Nursery to year 6. Jigsaw covers all of the new national requirements for PSHE including the new relationships and health education that was required to be statutory from September 2020. Updated guidance was published in 2025 and will be implemented from September 2026.
Jigsaw promotes the spiritual, moral, social, cultural, mental and physical development of all our pupils and prepares them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.
The documents below will help guide and reassure parents in regard to our RSE / PSHE obligations.
2026-3-11-progression-of-skills-and-vocab-map
jigsaw-pshe-3-11-rshe-mapping-document
pshe-3-11-knowledge-content-snapshot-overview
jigsaw-information-leaflet-for-parents-and-carers-2026
parents-guide-to-rshe-in-primary-schools-2026
talking-about-puberty-sex-education-and-growing-up-with-your-child
Jigsaw Information Leaflet for LGBT Parents
Our RSE policy can be found here. jigsaw-pshe-3-11-policy HPS 2026
Music
Heathcoat Primary School’s Music Development Plan is a summary of how our school delivers music education to all our pupils across three areas – curriculum music, co-curricular provision and musical experiences – and what changes we are planning in future years. This information is to help pupils and parents or carers understand what our school offers and who we work with to support our pupils’ music education.
HPS School Music Development Plan
Remote education Provision