Curriculum

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Curriculum Rationale

The staff at Victoria Primary School designed the school curriculum with the aim of making a positive difference to the life chances of each of our pupils, no matter what their individual background may be. We believe that the curriculum must always take account of our pupils’ life contexts as well as their social, linguistic and academic starting points if it is to enable and challenge our pupils to learn and grow into successful individuals.

Curriculum Principles

Pupils at Victoria Primary School learn through a curriculum that will:

• creatively engage, inspire and be fun
• be purposeful and relevant to the lives of families in our community
• celebrate every pupil’s social and cultural background whilst also teaching the British values that make us ‘one’
• embrace, nurture and highlight every pupil’s uniqueness
• open their eyes to new ideas, perspectives, activities and experiences
• use real, hands-on experiences from the many rich resources on our doorstep
• be academically cohesive so that pupils make intuitive links across their learning, including through opportunities to apply their growing skill set across the curriculum
• be flexible enough to be truly inclusive of all learning needs
• provide challenge and aspiration through high expectations for all
• be enabled through the passion and knowledge of the staff team

Through these principles, Victoria Primary School pupils will become independent and positive members of society who consistently demonstrate the qualities of our school motto:

WORK HARD. BE KIND. BE SCHOLARLY.

What is learned each term?

Knowledge Progression - Our curriculum has been carefully designed to build knowledge and understanding from Nursery to Y6 through half-termly topics for each curriculum area. This progression allows us to embed a deeper understanding (both substantive and disciplinary knowledge) within each subject to know more and remember more. For full curriculum content please download VPS Curriculum Cycle A (2023-24) and Cycle B (2024-25) [PDF] on the right hand of this webpage>>

Why this, why now? - We have created a curriculum that serves the needs of our pupils and is relevant to our community. Subject leaders can justify choices made to determine our curriculum and are able to clarify – why this, why now? To understand further what, why and when we teach subjects please download the following on the right hand of this webpage >>

VPS Curriculum Why This Why Now

Enquiry Questions – Every topic is driven by 4 enquiry questions to reveal substantive knowledge (facts) and provide disciplinary knowledge(skills) for children to demonstrate their understanding and for staff to assess the children accurately. You will find all enquiry questions for each topic within the VPS Curriculum Cycle A (2023-24) and Cycle B (2024-25) [PDF] on the right hand of this webpage>>

Retrieval Practice - We have identified the core knowledge our children need to learn and we prioritise is the best way to present new knowledge to encourage retention into our long-term memory. With this retention of knowledge we can build on existing knowledge and make links. For each unit, Children are provided with Knowledge Organisers that specify and present substantive knowledge (facts). We'd like the children to practice retrieval in order to remember core knowledge upon which they can build new knowledge as they progress through school. You will find all Knowledge for each topic within the VPS Curriculum Cycle A (2023-24) and Cycle B (2024-25) [PDF] on the right hand of this webpage>>

How is Early Reading Taught?

The school uses the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Programme.

In Early Years and Key Stage 1, pupils have a 20 minute Phonics lessons every day. During the session the children might work with their class or in smaller groups with other children who are working within the same learning phase. Children learn different sounds (phonemes) and how to read (blend) and write (segment) using the knowledge of these sounds.

Pupils apply all of this knowledge in their writing.

How can I find out more?

For more detailed information on our high-quality pedagogical culture of Teaching & Learning at Victoria Primary School please download the following on the right hand of this webpage >>

VPS Teaching & Learning Handbook 2.0 2023 24

Your child's class teacher can talk to you more about the lessons taught each day. Alternatively, you can make appointment to speak to the Deputy Head of School who is responsible for maintaining the School Curriculum.