Kirkby La Thorpe
Church of England Primary Academy

Welcome toKirkby La Thorpe

Church of England Primary Academy

Kindness Learning Tolerance

Curriculum

KLT Curriculum

The priority of the staff, senior leaders and governors of our school is to ensure that all of our pupils gain and develop the knowledge and skills required of them to successfully enter the next stage of their education journey.

As a small, rural, Church of England primary school, the vision for our pupils is that they leave our school:

being positive and active citizens, with the ability to communicate clearly with others, being tolerant and respectful of one another’s differences, beliefs and aspirations;
being curious and independent members of society, with a sense of justice;
having the confidence and perseverance to be the best that they can be;
having the courage to respectfully challenge, whilst being robust enough to hold their own, fully informed opinions, even if these differ from others; and
knowing their local and national heritage, having a sense of where they are from.

Furthermore our key values of ‘kindness’, ‘learning’ and ‘tolerance’ underpin all that we do in our school. Aligned with Biblical quotes, these illustrate the significance of our Christian faith.

School Day/Timetable

08.45 - Morning Registration

0845 - 10.20 - Morning Lessons

10.20 - 10.40 - Collective Worship

10.40 - 11.00 - Playtime

11.00 - 12.15 - Morning Lessons

12.15 - 13.15 - Lunch

13.15 - 15.15 - Afternoon Lessons

(Total 32.5 hours per week)

Curriculum Organisation

Based on our PAN of 15, our class structure is:

Reception/Year 1;
Year 2;
Year 3/4;
Year 5/6.

As a result, our curriculum has been carefully planned to ensure that pupils have access to the knowledge expected of them by the end of each Key Stage.

This is structured in the following way:

Reception/Year 1 and Year 1/2 – a 3 year rolling programme
Year 3/4 - a 2 year rolling programme
Year 5/6 – a 2 year rolling programme

To provide a purpose for reading and writing, English skills are given a context. This is taken from the key subject being taught within the term, of science, history or geography. Where possible, appropriate links have been made between these subjects, to reinforce the knowledge expected of our pupils and to enable them to make connections within their learning.

To ensure consistency of knowledge and procedure, PowerMaths is used to teach maths discretely throughout the school. Where appropriate, mathematical knowledge is drawn upon within other areas of the curriculum, and pupils are encouraged to apply this, and their mathematical skills in other contexts.

PSHE, art, design and technology, music and computing skills are drawn from the key subject for the term, where this is appropriate. Where it is not, the subjects are taught discretely, so as not to make tenuous connections, which do not reinforce knowledge.

Within Year 3 all children are given the opportunity to learn an instrument, as part of the services that we purchase from Lincolnshire Music Service. In addition, pupils are able to learn instruments of their choice, which are also purchased from this service.

RE and MFL are taught discretely, following the Lincolnshire Agreed Syllabus and Language Angels respectively.

To enrich our weekly PE lessons and to develop our physical literacy and maths, Coach Naomi, from Carre’s PE Outreach Service, spends a day a week in school, working across all year groups, to ensure that our pupils understand the importance of an active lifestyle.

Each term, a starting point of a trip or visitor is planned to excite and engage learners. This ensures that pupils are provided with first hand understanding, providing an equitable base from which to develop their knowledge and skills. Learning is stimulated with a key question, which pupils explore and investigate to develop their knowledge. To provide purpose for their learning, pupils exhibit their answers to the key question at the end of each term; this can take a range of formats, for example, an exhibition, class assembly, or parent/carer workshop.

Each year three charities are identified, which our school will support. To develop our pupils’ knowledge of a range of causes, these are chosen at a local, national and international level. Our long term curriculum overview is considered when selecting the charities, so that subject knowledge is reinforced through the chosen charities, deepening our pupils’ understanding.

Supporting children with additional needs

Whilst it is hoped that all pupils will work at an age appropriate level, it is recognised that for some pupils, support and curriculum adaption maybe required to enable them to access learning at their individual level. This may take different forms depending upon the subject being being learned and the needs of the child. Strategies include: pre-learning tasks; additional adult support; extended time to complete learning activities; additional resources; and adapted activities.

In addition, core intervention may be required to address gaps in their learning. This may be due to additional special educational needs and disabilities, or due to being disadvantaged in some form. As a school our focus is for our pupils to be able to read, write and apply mathematical knowledge, in order to access the wider aspects of our curriculum. To this end, targeted support is put in place, through a carefully planned intervention timetable; this is applied in a flexible format, to reduce curriculum narrowing.

Wider Curriculum Opportunities

In addition to the delivery of our core curriculum, our school provides pupils with a wide range of extra-curricular, leadership and social opportunities. These take many forms:

Extra-curricular clubs

Each half term, a range of clubs is offered to pupils. These predominantly take place after school, although some take place at lunchtime for younger pupils or those that are harder to reach (eg. Change4life). The clubs vary each half term, depending on the interests of the staff and external factors such as the weather. Recent clubs have been: netball, football, German and gardening.

Pupil Leadership

Various leadership roles are offered to pupils throughout our school. These include: School Council; Eco Club; Junior Road Safety Officers; Junior Online Safety Officers; and Sports Crew. Some of these involve a democratic vote from their peers, whilst others are based on a child’s interest in a given area.

Furthermore, leadership skills are developed in other ways. For example:

at lunchtime KS1 pupils are seated in their houses (with a mix of R/Y1/Y2 on each table), with Year 2 monitors identified for the table, to assist their younger peers; this is then replicated with KS2, with Year 6 children nominated as the monitors;
during ‘house’ events, pupils from all year groups come and work together on a specified activity, with our older pupils supporting our younger ones; and
older children are paired with younger children, when they access the bus at the end of the school day.

Social Opportunities

Pupils take part in a range of social activities, some of which are with our cluster of primary schools in the area. Activities include: singing to the residents at the local nursing and care home; taking part in a collaborative choir with pupils from local schools; attending sporting festivals; and taking part in school social events such as school discos.

Evaluation and Review

Curriculum review is a regular item on staff meeting agendas where teaching staff are given the opportunity to review and share their thoughts on KLT’s curriculum to ensure that it is fit for purpose, and meets our key aims for the children in our care.

For further information about the KLT curriculum please contact our school office: enquiries@kltprimary.co.uk or 01529 302595.