Curriculum Subjects

The teaching of mathematics at North Kidlington School seeks to help children to:  

• ‘become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.   

• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language   

• solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.’ (DFE 2014)  

At North Kidlington we use the White Rose scheme of work to support children’s learning.

Class teachers are committed to promoting mathematics as a creative and real subject which can be adapted to problems in everyday life, it is therefore recognised that concrete resources such as Dienes, Numicon and Cuisenaire rods have a valuable role to play in every age group from Foundation stage to year 6. The use of concrete structured resources allows children to develop deep understanding of mathematical concepts through opportunities to manipulate real items and to see ideas modelled either by the teacher or their peers.  

We endeavour to encourage all children to reach their full potential by offering a suitable range of activities in the classroom which address the needs of individuals, or, where appropriate, groups of children.  At North Kidlington School we also provide targeted support for children experiencing difficulties in their learning of Mathematics; this may include extra adult help either in the classroom or as part of an intervention such as ‘Number Stacks'.  In addition to differentiated class work, the most able pupils in upper key stage 2 also have the opportunity to work in a small group in which teaching provides extension work suited to the higher level at which they are working in Mathematics.

In order to further enhance children’s learning in Maths we subscribe to ‘Purple Mash’ and 'MyMaths' which are online programmes which the children can access at home as well as in school. They give invaluable practise in all the areas of Maths that children encounter at school. The use of modern technology linked to Maths is one more way in which we endeavour to make the learning of Mathematics at North Kidlington both fun and rewarding.

In line with our computing curriculum, children will also use information technology to communicate their findings, control, explore and solve problems and collect and process data as appropriate.  Teachers will use appropriate software on the computer network, as well as other computing/programming resources such as ‘Scratch’, ‘Roamer’ or LOGO which support mathematical understanding in aspects such as shape, direction and measures of turn/angles.

The National Curriculum states that:  

The overarching aim for English in the national curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:   

• read easily, fluently and with a good understanding   

• develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information   

• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language   

• appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage   

• write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences   

• use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas   

• are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.  

The teaching of English of English at North Kidlington School 

The work in Apple Class gives the EYFS children a very solid foundation of knowledge and experience to build on. The children work towards their Early Learning Goals in ‘Communication and language development’, where they focus on listening and attention skills, vocabulary development, comprehension, oracy and early reading and writing skills. The children currently start to learn how to read and write through the the DfE accredited Twinkl Systematic Sythetic Phonics scheme (SSP). This is a programme which teaches pure phonic sounds, phonic blends and how to put these sounds together. This enables children to begin to read and enjoy lively books featuring words they have learnt to sound out. The children learn rhymes to help write the letters which represent the sounds they have learnt and then use these to write simple sentences and stories.  

During KS1, teachers build on work from the Early Years Foundation Stage, making sure that pupils can sound and blend unfamiliar printed words quickly and accurately using the phonic knowledge and skills that they have already learnt. This is done through a continuation of the Twinkl Phonics programme which follows the Letters and Sounds progression pathway. They continue to used matched phonetically decodable books for individual reading practise and work towards group and whole class guided reading sessions where they unpick features of texts and look for information and understanding.  

The KS1 children are provided with a range of writing opportunities that focus on the purpose of the writing - whether it is to entertain or inform - and teach the knowledge, skills and vocabulary that are needed to do this. In class, the children work hard on investigating spelling patterns, learning age-appropriate grammar and punctuation rules and how to present their work. A wide range of texts and other stimuli are used to support the teaching of writing.  

In KS2 teachers continue to embed the support and opportunities provided in KS1 and develop more challenging knowledge and skills. The children study a wide range of text types and have the opportunity to write for many purposes in all curriculum areas including writing to persuade and discuss. There is also a focus on grammar, punctuation and spelling to support their writing and to prepare them for the end of Key Stage 2 tests and beyond.