For further information about primary school curriculums please visit the Department for Education's website: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-primary-curriculum

At Malton Community Primary School we want our children to immerse themselves in enquiry.

Enquiry is based on the children’s wonders. Children lead the way when it comes to deciding how they will learn skills and National Curriculum objectives. Each class has a wonder wall. All curriculum areas can be encompassed into an enquiry. Some subjects may be taught as a separate, mini-enquiry if they do not fit with the children’s main enquiry.

Collaboration is key to successful enquiry. Knowing how to learn and work with others will prepare our children for later life.  Talk should be used as the main teaching tool in all lessons. Children move through a sequence of thinking and talking to each other. We use Talk Cards to group children.

Our Vision for the Curriculum

Overarching themes take our pupils on an annual journey beginning with themselves and their locality to an appreciation of the wider world: Right and wrong, who we are, expressing ourselves, overcoming challenge, making a difference and sharing the planet.

Within each theme, key skills are developed as children create and refine their work, explore possibilities, evaluate their outcomes and present their findings. We expect our children to represent what they learn to others, with confidence and excitement. Our inclusive curriculum, promotes eight characteristics of a successful learner:

• Persevering
• Imaginative
• Inquisitive
• Motivated
• Communicators
• Reflective
• Adaptable
• Principled

A full version of our curriculum can be viewed here: MCPS Curriculum

Miss Hughes leads enquiry in our school.

Here is an example of our long term Planning for Enquiry:

PSHE Curriculum for Years 1, 2 and 3 can be viewed here: PSHE Curriculum

PSHE Curriculum for Years 4, 5 and 6 can be viewed here: PSHE Curriculum

Spiritual Moral Social and Cultural Education (SMSC)

Miss Smith leads SMSC in our school.

Whilst we appreciate the need to intertwine the four aspects of SMSC into a holistic approach to teaching soft skills, we also see the benefits of recognising these four strands as equally important in their own right. Subject leads ensure key questions form the focus for assemblies, teaching and learning and whole school events, with each taking the lead on a specific aspect. For example, leaders for pupil voice, RE, geography and history use the following questions to audit and move children’s understanding on: How do you show respect for other people’s feelings? How do you show respect for other people’s faiths? Do you enjoy learning about the world around you?  When are you creative? How do you know you are an imaginative learner? How do you know you are a reflective learner?

SMSC provision is everyone’s responsibility and a team approach is taken to ensure our provision is outstanding. Subject leads work together to develop curriculum enhancements.

In addition to curriculum provision we incorporate mindfulness and opportunities for calm reflection into our daily routines.

Active learning 

Our classrooms are active centres for leanring. Children do not automatically sit at tables or on chairs but instead they choose how and where they wish to work. This may equate to pupils working in class, traditionally seated, or making use of the large floor spaces, beanbags and standing desks. Children also have access to two enquiry zones which include standing areas and seats, along with standing desks in corridors. Literacy and numeracy skills are regularly incorporated into PE sessions and equally, physical activity is incorporated into lessons across the curriculum. Outdoor literacy and numeracy is common, along with the use of collaborative and cooperative learning which encourages pupils to move around the learning space, work with all peers and contribute positively to their whole class dicussions. As a result of this approach to learning we have seen low-level disruption virtually disappear and presentation in workbooks is good. 

Talk for learning

Mrs Vasconcelos leads Communication and Talk for Learning in our school. 

Collaboration is key to successful enquiry as well as effective oral presentation. Knowing how to learn and work with others will prepare our children for later life.  Talk should be used as the main teaching tool in all lessons. Children move through a sequence of thinking and talking to each other. We use Talk Cards to group children.

ITT: Initial thinking time.

Bullet point thinking: Children are encouraged to put their ideas on their fingers as a memory aid.

Snap 2: Paired talk.

AB talk: Children use talk cards, labelled A or B, to structure their turn-taking.

Snowball: Talking in 4s.

Thought shower: Children write their ideas down as a group.

Envoying: Sharing something with another talk group

Behaviour in our school

Mr Allman, Miss Anderson and Miss Smith lead our personal development, behaviour and welfare team in school. 

The school continues to monitor behaviour very carefully since the introduction of a new behaviour policy. Incidence of poor behaviour has decreased significantly and we are striving to ensure this trend continues. A copy of our behaviour policy can be found in the policies section of the website.

" Bullying is the persistent, wilful and conscious desire to hurt, threaten, frighten or isolate someone else.”

At Malton Community Primary School, we do take bullying very seriously and will deal with any bullying behaviour appropriately. If you have any concerns regarding bullying please see the class teacher in the first instance, followed by Miss Anderson our Assistant Head and Leader for Anti-Bullying. Follow the links below for help and advice on bullying.

www.bullying.co.uk/advice/anti–bullying-advice

www.childline.org.uk/explore/bullying/pages/bullying.aspx

www.beatbullying.org/abw2012/index.html

www.nobully.org.nz/advicek.htm

(Please note, Malton Community Primary School is not responsible for the content of external sites, although these websites have been selected for their suitability for all audiences)

Reading

Our leader for reading is Miss Anderson.  

Our aim is to develop confident children who can decode effectively by the age of 6. We do this by applying a consistent approach to reading across the whole school which begins in our Foundation Stage with the Read, Write Inc. Programme implemented on a daily basis. As children make progress we endeavour to build up their capacity for decoding and comprehending more complex texts with specific sessions designed to teach the basic skills of comprehension. 

Read, Write Inc. (RWI)

At Malton Community Primary School we use RWI as a tool to support the teaching of reading. We believe that reading opens the door to all learning. RWI teaches children to read and write successfully and quickly. All staff (teachers and teaching assistants) have been trained together to deliver the program, and they are supported in school by a designated RWI manager who assesses all children on the program to ensure they are taught in the right groups and supports teachers throughout the session on a weekly basis.

Read, Write Inc. is taught for an hour each day with the children grouped according to their reading level rather than the year group they are in. Reception children start the program in the autumn term for initially 20 minutes a day. This then builds up to two 20 minutes sessions a day.

Using RWI helps the children to:

• Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple picture prompts
• Learn to sound out words using Fred Talk
• Read lively stories featuring words they have learned to sound out
• Show that they comprehend the stories by answering questions
• Learn to write and form letters correctly using simple formation rhymes
• Learn to write the letter groups which represent 44 sounds
• Learn to write words by saying the sounds in Fred Talk
• Write simple sentences
• Compose stories based on picture strips and using writing frames

Using the RWI program is helping our pupils to read effortlessly so that they can then put all their energy into comprehending what they read.  With writing, the program supports spelling so this also becomes effortless and all energy can be placed on composing.

Once the children can decode words with little effort and have no gaps in their phonological understanding, they have completed the program and will join a guided reading group where the texts are chosen to strengthen and develop the child’s comprehension and inference.

For more information please visit the RWI Website.

Big Reading

Once children have completed the Read, Write Inc. Programme and are able to decode fluently, they are taught the key skills of reading (Read, Retrieve, Explore, Analyse and Deduce and Infer) through Big Reading.  These sessions involve activities that promote talk, collaboration and fun. The specific skill that is being focused on is shared with the children as a ‘reading mission’ at the beginning of each session. The Big Reading characters are linked to each of the key reading skills and these are displayed in every classroom to act as a focal point. A range of texts are available in school that are engaging, enjoyable and cover a wide range of topics and themes in order to appeal to as many children as possible. Reading for enjoyment is an integral part of the Big Reading lesson and the school day, with class texts being shared daily. 

A Big Reading SPIES lesson is taught each week and this is where the skill and objective is introduced and modelled by the teacher. During the remaining sessions where a Big Reading SPIES lesson is not taught, there is a ‘Reading S.P.I.E.S Team Time’ session where children work in groups to complete mini missions focused on a specific key skill that has been taught. These missions may be taken from the Big Reading resources or may include mini missions linked to the class enquiry. During these sessions opportunities to spend time reading for pleasure are included which entail collaborative, oral discussion with a clear outcome such as a presentation to the class. Each Big Reading lesson must include a 5 minute ‘Daily Deduction Time’ activity as this has been identified as the skill which our children need to focus on to improve. 

Big Reading is the vehicle through which the skills of reading are explicitly taught and these reading skills are then applied into other curriculum areas to show depth of understanding.

Big Maths and Maths Mastery

Our leader for maths is Miss Mogg.

Numeracy in our school is taught through the 5 steps of mastery which are fluency, reasoning, problem solving, abstract problem solving and self-evaluation. Throughout the week, or a concept, children should develop breadth and depth in the form of the above 5 varied steps. This allows children to be exposed to a range of maths skills and to develop as independent mathematicians. All numeracy lessons incorporate technical language whether this is in mathematical terminology or in the form of reasoning within numeracy.

Alongside this we have a 15 minute “Big Maths” session which encompasses the key arithmetic skills and calculations.  Every week the children will therefore have an arithmetic day focused on individual needs, where they take part in calculation and multiplication challenges and try to beat their score. One of the key mathematical elements threaded throughout the school day is times tables practice. This doesn’t just include recalling facts but applying them to varied contexts i.e 1.2 x4 or 134 ÷ 12

As a school we are additionally taking part in a Maths Hub TRG (teacher research group) where we collaborate with different schools and specialists in the area to observe practice, research and reflect on the teaching of numeracy.

Calculation policy

Here are some fantastic videos which show our calculation policy in action. These will be helpful when helping your child with their home learning, just click on the links below. If you have ideas for further videos, please contact Miss Mogg and we will arrange this.

Year 1 – Reinforcing addition strategies
Year 2 – Understanding Multiplication Facts
Year 2 – The communicative law for multiplication
Year 3 – Demonstration of expanded column addition
Year 3 – Subtraction – teaching children to consider the most appropriate methods before calculating
Year 3 – Introducing partitioned column subtraction method, from practical to written
Year 4 – Subtraction—teaching children to consider the most appropriate methods before calculating
Year 4 – Introducing partitioned column subtraction method, from practical to written
Year 4 – Moving to compact column method for subtraction
Year 5/6 – Moving from the grid method to a compact method
Year 5/6 – Reinforcing rapid times table recall
Year 5/6 – Demonstration of long multiplication

PE

Mr Allman leads PE and sports development in our school. 

EYFS and Key Stage One start their journey towards physical competence through experiencing stimulating and engaging activities that are focused upon developing their physical literacy. In particular our younger children are provided opportunities to master the basics of locomotion, stability, and co-ordinated object control.

Key Stage Two children take part in weekly PE sessions on site. All lessons are delivered by Mr Allman, who is our full time Sport and PE specialist teacher. An integral aspect of the Key Stage Two PE curriculum focuses upon allowing children to develop as excellent communicators and team-workers. All children have the opportunity to work independently with choice, freedom and expression alongside contributing to small group and team challenges. Early key stage two children are given the opportunity to work towards technical mastery and build upon the basic fundamentals of physical literacy by developing their object control and co-ordination across a broad range of engaging activities.

As children progress into upper Key Stage Two they are challenged to apply their physical skills and technical concepts in competitive scenarios; focusing upon overcoming the constraints and tactics of various activities in addition to further refining their technical mastery. Our children work towards being able to competently reflect, compare, contrast and plan for improvement in areas of personal interest as they are exposed to engaging and stimulating sporting activities.

Year 6 children have the opportunity to participate in a diverse range of sporting activities each week led by ports specialists at Malton Community Sports Centre as part of our affiliation with the Malton Primary Schools Sports Partnership. This allows our older children the opportunity access outstanding facilities and resources, receive high quality curriculum delivery, and gain access to early transition experiences ahead of moving into Key Stage 3.

Additional provision for physical activity is made for our children with weekly after-school sports clubs and supervised lunchtime activities led by our highly skilled junior play leaders and Mrs Smith.

High level performers in upper Key Stage Two compete regularly in various sporting events and fixtures hosted by Malton Community Sports Centre as part of our Primary School Sports Partnership. In addition, as our school system continues expand our children will have increasing opportunities to compete in a range of sports against each other in inter-house sports events, culminating in our annual school sports day each summer term.

Weekly swimming lessons also ensure each child in Year 2-6 has the opportunity to develop water competence and confidence over the course of the year. As our community partnerships begin to grow we aim to be able provide a robust series of extended links and pathways into lifelong physical activity for our children within our local community.