Wren Park School Curriculum

KS1 - KS2

Thank you for clicking on this link. We hope you find the information useful. There are further links to individual year group’s curriculum - please access these for specific details of coverage.

Our School Curriculum

The Wren Park school curriculum is designed and modified to meet the curriculum needs of our children and gives them the best possible start to their successful lives.

We are determined, in our aspiration and efforts, to equip children with knowledge, skills, attitudes and experiences they need to be successful in learning and beyond primary school. Through our school values we encourage and teach our children to be respecful, ambitious and resilient.  

We have a curriculum which places great value on the importance of English - Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening- and the mathematical concepts of number, calculations, reasoning and logic. We make practical links in a meaningful way to give a deeper understanding and purpose to these core skills.

We teach objectives in a variety of ways. Children will have opportunities to learn, practice, repeat and improve so there is depth to their learning, concepts are secure and misconceptions tackled. We are determined that our curriculum has high appropriate academic rigour and aspirations for all children and that this is supported by quality teaching, assessment and curriculum alongside our high expectation of hard work from all children.

PSHE

As well as being a curriculum of high academic rigour, our values are reflected in the breadth of the subjects that we teach. We view Personal, Social and Health Education as being a vital aspect of our work, enabling children to become resilient, confident, calm, creative thinkers who learn about tolerance, respect, empathy and teamwork as well as thinking beyond themselves and considering others and their community.

High quality PSHE is a powerful aspect of our work in breaking down children's barriers to learning. We know that happy, confident, kind and caring children have fewer problems in school; better self-image; better coping strategies when faced with difficulties and have a bright outlook to life; make positive relationships and develop healthy lifestyle choices. We believe well rounded children are in a better frame of mind to work hard, learn, achieve and make good progress.

Strong PSHE not only equips children to be independent and skilled but also teaches about fairness, conflict resolution and where to turn to for help if they are scared, anxious or upset.

We teach practical techniques for coping with times of emotional stress. Childhood and beyond is not always an easy path but the skilled teaching of PSHE and the healthy environment of discussion gives Wren Park children the best possible start. PSHE is taught as a weekly lesson on a Monday morning across the whole school involving the class teachers, supported by TA's. This is then supplemented and revisited throughout the week and is a process of cyclical progression and themes will be revisited and built upon. Our PSHE is enhanced by our nurturing and personal care. In today's world, children may experience distress, trauma, see and hear things through social media which are upsetting or worrying to them and although bullying is rare it does happen in all aspects of society. Stereotypes and discrimination are also negative issues which children need to be supported through and education is our best tool for helping children. When issues arise, either in school, locally within families or indeed globally, we use this as an opportunity to respond and teach children which we hope makes them feel safe, secure and can make sense of difficult situations. PSHE is not only effective within our school but is also great fun, unites us in our ethos and compliments the character of Wren Park.

Science and Technology

Science, as a core subject, is an important aspect of our curriculum. We follow curriculum guidance and best practice and our work is a blend of teaching knowledge of basic scientific principles and of the natural and physical world. We also teach the principles of scientific enquiry through practical activities which are exciting, fun and will hopefully excite the enquiring minds of children.

In Derby we are fortunate to have some world class leaders of science and engineering on our doorstep (Rolls-Royce, Toyota, Alstom and JCB). These partners are not only the inspiration behind our house groups; they regularly work with us to enhance our curriculum through visits, specialist teachers, activities and projects. All Year 5 children are given the opportunity to participate in high quality Imagineering work led by a Rolls-Royce engineer and we hope that through this specialist teaching the children learn not only about physical principles of science but are inspired by the industries that are available and very much at the heart of Derby. We thank the many partners who support us with their expertise in their area. Whilst science and engineering will not be the future pathway for all our children, we are sure that we are the breeding ground where working on balsa wood elastic band aeroplanes in our hall will lead on to some children becoming jet and rocket scientists in the future. Such activities also provide opportunities to learn and work with other adults, thus inspiring confidence of children.

Our Wider Curriculum

We have a fantastic school resource in our school grounds and outdoor work is very much a feature of our learning. As well as regular outdoor experiences to see and survey the changing seasons we have a two week outdoor science block in the summer term which children enjoy and experience opportunities to appreciate the natural world, learn, explore and create, whether it's looking at mini beasts or making outdoor sculptures in the style of Andy Goldsworthy.

We have a number of visits to outdoor venues from parks to historic estates and places of natural beauty and we hope children learn the skills of appreciation and enjoy the world around us.

Our wider curriculum is sometimes referred to as the Foundation subjects. At Wren Park we cover all the National Curriculum requirements and follow the Local Authority agreed syllabus for Religious Education. This ensures we meet all statutory requirements.

We view these other subjects (Art, History, Design and Technology, Geography, Computing, Physical Education, Music and Modern Foreign Language - KS2) as vital in creating well rounded children. It is their absolute right within their childhood to have access to all these subjects through a broad and balanced curriculum and we as a school protect this right.

Sometimes we use specialist teachers and staff expertise to teach some aspects such as PE (Soccer Stars), music (Wider Opportunities) and French.

We often teach subjects through a themed topic approach but we ensure that the key objectives for each subject are covered well. The themed topic approach we find is engaging for the children and enables them to practice and apply curriculum skills and knowledge leading to extended learning and deeper understanding without losing the rigour of the subjects.

Although we deliver a balanced curriculum and place value on all the subject areas, they are not necessarily taught within equal time slots each week or within each year. We use themed weeks and a varied timetable to focus on quality experiences so that all subjects are covered adequately within each key stage and that children have opportunities to create, perform and compete in order to make the best possible all round progress.

Providing wider opportunities and experiences

Our work covers other important life skills and attitudes, for example we teach First Aid, hold a careers week for Y6 and teach the British Values of tolerance, respect, democracy, fairness and law throughout our work within class, school council and this is enhanced through school debates, assembly themes and visits such as the Y5 visit to London where our children witness Parliament in action (this year we saw Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn and many others in political debate from the public gallery) and learnt about how laws are made and passed in Parliament.

Charity work is an important strand of our work. We use this as an opportunity to educate children in a range of issues, support charity through fundraising and to learn about the plight of others and how their actions and understanding can help those in difficulty or less fortunate circumstances. This helps children to explore deeper personal values of empathy, compassion and see charity as a two way process, not just a token effort to be 'charitable'.

We are an inclusive, multicultural school and we make good use of our community, including parents to learn about cultures, traditions and faiths reflected in our community. We find these are interesting and help children to see similarities as well as differences between themselves and their peers. This helps to build tolerance, respect, understanding and friendship where every child is valued, confident and proud. We have good relationships within our school reflecting the impact of this work. This year, as well as the Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter, we had visiting parents as part of our Chinese New Year celebrations and Eid. We aim to reflect all faiths celebrations over time but not necessarily each year due to the number of celebrations involved as well as our intention to have deep learning from these activities and not a superficial experience for children.

We work well with other educational establishments to enhance our teaching and learning and use the University of Derby and local secondary schools for specialist advice, support and resources. This year we linked with the University Hospital Medical Department and our children have supported their paediatric examinations for trainee doctors. This was a valuable activity, again giving our children opportunity to learn about the hospital and many different aspects and jobs within the hospital environment.

Our environmental champions work with industry to learn about environmental issues and look at ways we can become more environmentally friendly and efficient. News items, such as the impact of plastic waste, are spoken about with children to make them aware, informed and opinionated on a wide range of issues. 

We continually try to improve the curriculum we provide to instil high academic standards and progress as evidenced by our key indicators in EYFS, Y1 phonics and Y2/Y6 SATs, as well as providing the depth, breadth and enriching activities which make learning engaging, fun and relevant. We aim to break down barriers to learning and build high aspirations for personal and academic achievement through our Wren Park Experience.

We have consulted with Governors, teachers, children and parents in our curriculum design. If you have any ideas you would like to share or wish us to consider, please do let us know.

We hope you enjoy looking at the detailed curriculum for each year group.

A. Buckley