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.
Read our current newsletters here:
Nursery Newsletter Autumn 2022
Reception Newsletter Autumn 2022
Year 1 newsletter Autumn Term 2022
Year 5 Autumn Newsletter 22-23
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.
- Long term plan nursery 2022-2023
- Long term plan Reception 2022-2023
- Year 1 Topic Overview 2022-2023
- Year 2 Curriculum Map 2022-2023
- Year 3 Curriculum Map 2022-2023
- Year 4 Topic Overview 2022-2023
- Year 5 Curriculum Map overview 2022-2023
- Year 6 Curriculum Map 2022-2023
Intent, Implementation and Impact statements
The curriculum at Heathcoat Primary School
Progression of skills:
Art – progression of skills 2021-22
DT – progression of skills 2021-22
Geography – progression of skills 2021-22
French – progression of skills 2021-22
History – progression of skills 2021-22
ICT Computing – progression of skills 2021-22
Maths Curriculum Key Skills Progression grid 2021-22
Music – progression of skills 2022-23
PSHE – progression of skills 2021-22
RE – progression of skills 2021-22
Reading – progression of skills 2021-22
Science – progression of skills 2022-23
Writing – progression of skills 2021 -22
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
At Heathcoat Primary School we want all our children to develop a love of mathematics and to be able to solve a range of problems with confidence.
Following a comprehensive review of the teaching of mathematics, we have chosen to use the resources from the NCETM website (National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics) to help shape and deliver our maths curriculum. These resources are used across the whole school, including EYFS, to support teachers in delivering a comprehensive and cohesive maths curriculum. These resources ensured we could teach Maths in a mastery approach allowing all children to build on their learning throughout the year. The new format will allow us to focus more on the assessment of the children’s needs within each area so that lessons can be planned and adjusted accordingly. The aim is to ensure all pupils get a rounded and balanced curriculum targeting their learning needs and allowing children to build on key concepts during the year.
Pupils in Year 4 are required by the Government to sit a times tables test. This means that all children should know their multiplication facts to 12×12 by the end of year 4. To ensure that all children have the best opportunity to develop this knowledge we have introduced a daily times tables practice for all of KS2. This is a short focused session allowing the children to practice, learn and recall the multiplication and division facts.
We will continue to target arithmetic skills with weekly sessions and assessments as well as continuing to use My Maths, TT Rock stars and Numbots to support children’s learning at home.
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.
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.
RSE Consult letter 8.3.23.docx
Jigsaw Information Leaflet for Parents and Carers
Jigsaw Information Leaflet for LGBT Parents
Our RSE policy can be found here. HPS PHSE Policy January 2023
Remote education provision
This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education where national or local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home.
For details of what to expect where individual pupils are self-isolating, please see the final section of this page.
The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home
A pupil’s first day or two of being educated remotely might look different from our standard approach, while we take all necessary actions to prepare for a longer period of remote teaching.
What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first day or two of pupils being sent home?
We aim to upload the learning within 24 hours, however for the first day pupils may be directed to BBC bitesize and Oak Academy.
Following the first few days of remote education, will my child be taught broadly the same curriculum as they would if they were in school?
We teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. Children in KS1 will be set English, Maths, phonics and topic work as well as PE. Children in KS2 will be set English, Maths, spelling and topic work as well as PE. However, we have needed to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, some aspects of PE and PSHE (Jigsaw) may not be able to be taught remotely.
Remote teaching and study time each day
How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?
We expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take pupils broadly the following number of hours each day:
KS1 – 3 hours
KS2 – 3.5 – 4 hours
Accessing remote education
How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
Children in Nursery and Reception will be set learning at home through Tapestry.
Children in KS1 and KS2 (Years 1 – 6) will be set remote learning via Google Classrooms.
If my child does not have digital or online access at home, how will you support them to access remote education?
We recognise that some pupils may not have suitable online access at home. We take the following approaches to support those pupils to access remote education:
• We have a limited number of laptops which we can loan to children working at home who do not have access to a device. Please contact the school office to request a laptop. You will be asked to sign a loan agreement and expected to return the laptop in good condition at the end of lockdown.
• We have a limited number of dongles which we can loan to parents to access Wi-Fi. Please contact the school office to request a dongle. You will be asked to sign a loan agreement and expected to return the dongle in good condition at the end of lockdown.
• All children have been provided with a workbook so that work can be completed in the book. Sheets do not need to be printed. If your child is finding it difficult accessing work via the screen we can print paper copies. Please contact your child’s class teacher if you require paper copies.
• You can take photographs of your child’s work and submit the photograph through Tapestry or Goggle Classroom.
How will my child be taught remotely?
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:
· Recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, White Rose, video/audio recordings made by teachers)
· Assignments set through Google Classroom or Tapestry
· PowerPoints
· Reading books pupils have at home
· Commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences, for example YouTube, Oxford Reading Tree, Accelerated Reader
Engagement and feedback
What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?
· Pupils in KS1 and KS2 are expected to attend the ‘class meets’ session in Google Classrooms each morning.
· They are expected to submit work for all the learning set where a written outcome is required. If pupils and families are struggling with the remote learning then we expect the English and Maths work to be completed as a minimum and then to build up to completing the rest of the work set.
· Pupils in EYFS are expected to complete the online learning and send a daily ‘observation’ via Tapestry. Parents can include photographs, videos or a comment about their child’s learning.
· Non-attendance or engagement with online learning will be logged by classroom teachers and contact with home will be carried out by class teachers in the first instance.
· We expect parents to be setting routines to support their child’s education, ensuring they join the daily ‘class meets’ sessions and are accessing the learning during the day. If you are unable to complete the work or your child is not engaging with the learning please contact the class teacher for support.
How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
• Class teachers will take a register at each ‘class meets’ session and will follow up via email in the first instance those children not in attendance.
• Teachers will also be logging which children have been submitting work during the day. Again if children have not submitted work that day they will contact parents via email or telephone.
• Non-attendance or engagement with online learning will be logged by classroom teachers and contact with home will be carried out by class teachers in the first instance.
• Concerns around long term non engagement will be shared with the senior leadership team and the safeguarding team.
How will you assess my child’s work and progress?
Feedback can take many forms and may not always mean extensive written comments for individual children. For example, whole-class feedback or quizzes marked automatically via digital platforms are also valid and effective methods, amongst many others. Our approach to feeding back on pupil work is as follows:
• Comments provided on at least one piece of work set each day and where possible on all key pieces of work.
• Not all work submitted will require written feedback.
Additional support for pupils with particular needs
How will you work with me to help my child who needs additional support from adults at home to access remote education?
We recognise that some pupils, for example some pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), may not be able to access remote education without support from adults at home. We acknowledge the difficulties this may place on families, and we will work with parents and carers to support those pupils in the following ways:
• All children in Year 1 have a set of resources at home to support learning e.g. sound mats.
• All children have been given a workbook for home.
• Additional resources such as now and next boards will be sent home to pupils where applicable.
• Work on Google Classrooms and Tapestry will be differentiated to meet the needs of our SEN pupils.
Behaviour in Google Classroom and other online spaces
Heathcoat Primary School’s expectations of behaviour are the same in the Google Classroom, Tapestry or TEAMs space as when pupils are in the physical school building and appropriate sanctions will be applied for inappropriate behaviour.
Remote education for self-isolating pupils
Where individual pupils need to self-isolate but the majority of their peer group remains in school, how remote education is provided will likely differ from the approach for whole groups. This is due to the challenges of teaching pupils both at home and in school.
If my child is not in school because they are self-isolating, how will their remote education differ from the approaches described above?
• Teachers will call parents within 24 hours of a child needing to self-isolate to ensure they are well enough to work at home.
• If the child is well enough to work at home then work will be set work via our online platforms. They will be set work for English, Maths, spelling or phonics and topic. It will be the same work that is being taught in the classroom.
• There will not be prerecorded lessons by the teacher so work may be supplemented with BBc bite size, Oak Academy.
• There will not be daily class meets session but the teacher will try to check Google Classrooms and Tapestry for any questions during the day.
• Feedback will be provided for the work submitted.
Plan for Remote Learning
Engagement in home learning is essential in order to ensure that learning time is not lost.
Pupils | Curriculum | Safeguarding / SEND |
In the event of a child receiving a positive test and being in isolation for 10 days, assuming they feel well. | Work loaded each evening at 7pm ready for the following day.
Contact the child within 24 hours to ensure they are well enough to complete work at home. • This needs to be work that you are covering in class. If it is not appropriate to send home, then find something such as BBC bitesize or Oak Academy that links to the area.
KS1 and KS2 – Expectation is for Maths, English, spelling or phonics and a Foundation subject every day. EYFS – Expectation is for maths, phonics, reading, topic and sharing stories. Messages sent daily through Google classroom and Tapestry.
Provide scaffolding to support independent learning. SEND – ensure work is differentiated to meet the individual needs of pupils with additional needs – low, high and EHCP. Expectation that work is returned by 3pm to be reviewed by the teacher. |
Weekly phone calls
• Delivery of resources where needed
SEND – ensure work is differentiated to meet the individual needs of pupils with additional needs – low, high and EHCP.
If child is in receipt of means tested FSM, ensure food parcel is sent home. |
In the event of on child in isolation for 10 days. In the event of shielding – longer term absence | ||
In the event of on child in isolation for 10 days. In the event of shielding – longer term absence | ||
In the event of an outbreak in a bubble – therefore the bubble has to close
In the event of local lockdown – full school closure |
If a bubble or the school locks down:
• Work loaded each evening at 7pm ready for the following day. • Work set as above including PE and needs to be more teacher based. Messages sent daily through Google classroom and Tapestry • Action SLT to set the expectation (through a Teams conference with the class / school) that all children are completing Maths, English, PE and at least one other subject daily; with a view that they cover all subjects in a two-week cycle. • Action SLT to ensure that those who did not engage during lockdown are fully aware that they have to engage. • Answers to questions will be sent to parents. • Photographs of work done / completed should be uploaded on to Google Classroom/Tapestry by 3pm on the day completed, to be reviewed by the teachers. • Feedback in the form of questions to be given in a timely manner, which the children should respond to. • Communication between staff and pupils through the day: questions etc – to be via Google classroom/Tapestry or email. Daily Class meet with another member of staff present. |
Regular phone calls to all children in the class
• Where possible home visits to any not responding or engaging and a referral to EWO. • Class daily meet with another member of staff present • Delivery of resources • Weekly paper copies of the work to be circulated to those who cannot access the technology: work to be photographed and emailed.
If child is in receipt of means tested FSM, ensure food parcel or voucher is sent home. |
Teaching staff | Actions | Wellbeing |
In the event of a staff member receiving a positive test and being in isolation for 10 days, assuming they feel well. | The bubble will close, and we will revert to lockdown remote teaching and learning as detailed above. Teacher provides the online learning. | Regular contact between the team – by Teams and phone
• Regular check-ins to discuss workload and how things are working • Google Classroom & emails silenced outside of working hours • Regular working patterns to be acknowledged • PPA to be honoured
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In the event of isolation for 10 days due to contact with a positive case out of school (e.g.: Track and Trace) | The bubble will remain open and will be covered by another member of staff or supply
TAs may be asked to set work for classes in the event of staff shortages with the support of SLT (see Covid guidelines). The teacher should continue to plan, prepare, TEAMs, call and upload work to Google Classroom |
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In the event that a member of staff’s children are forced to isolate due to their bubble closing and they have no one to support them in looking after their children. | ||
In the event of a staff member receiving a positive test and being in isolation for 10 days, assuming they are unwell | Teaching partner to upload the work with regards to the expectation of English, Maths, reading, spellings/phonics and foundation subject as well as PE.
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