Our Learning

Welcome to our learning page. Here, you can read all about our curriculum for all classes and subjects, our approach to learning and our policies for SEND, Pupil Premium and Sports Premium. You will also find information about assessments and results.

SEND

Colwall C of E Primary School – Our Local Offer for Children with Special Education Needs or Disabilities (SEND)

As a fully inclusive school, we welcome everybody into our community. All of our pupils are valued and their diverse abilities are equally celebrated. We believe that every child has a right to be provided with the opportunities required for them to achieve their full potential – personally, socially, emotionally and academically in all areas of the curriculum.

Each child is considered as an individual and treated accordingly, with support given to ensure that they are able to study all areas of the National Curriculum. Lessons are adapted to cater for personal learning styles and abilities.

Pupils who have been identified as having SEND will be provided with a range of learning opportunities intended to help ensure they continue to make progress in all areas of their learning. These opportunities may include differentiated work (work designed for a range of abilities), specific resources tailored to their needs, or more specific short-term interventions (or learning programmes). Children with more significant special needs will be provided with a tailored curriculum to suit their individual needs, helping to develop self esteem and satisfaction through all they achieve during their time at Colwall.

If your child has a disability, their needs will be individually catered for. Any child with a disability, be it a physical or sensory impairment, will have access to all aspects of the National Curriculum, differentiated or modified whenever necessary.

For further information, please look at the Colwall SEND School Offer below, or contact:

Miss Laura Dyer, Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo)

Tel: 01684 540532

Our Curriculum

At Colwall, we design our curriculum to not only meet the requirements of the National Curriculum, but also to inspire our children through an enquiry approach to learning.

Every lesson is designed around an enquiry question, something which the children will be supported to explore, challenge and investigate throughout the session until they reach an answer or response. Our School Vision of ‘Sparking Curiosity, Unleashing Potential’ forms the foundations of our approach to the curriculum, teaching and learning at Colwall. We aim to motivate and inspire learners, engage them in their learning and support or challenge them as they deepen their understanding.

Every class has a Maths and an English lesson a day, alongside some shorter key skills sessions for areas such as arithmetic, grammar, spelling or handwriting. Our afternoon sessions consist of the foundation subjects, some which are taught through cross-curricular Topic lessons and some which are taught as stand alone subjects.

The Topics which we cover are mainly History or Geography focus topics, with cross-curricular links made with subjects such as Science, Design and Technology, Music, Art etc where appropriate and effective.

All classes have 2 hours of Physical Education each week, which are taught by Sports coaches or the children’s normal class teacher. We also have a session of Forest School or Eco School for every class.

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

The EYFS applies to children from birth until the end of their Reception Year. It focuses on the key principles:

A Unique Child
Positive Relationships
Enabling Environments
Learning and Development

There are three Prime areas of learning:

1. Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)
2. Communication and Language (CL)
3. Physical Development,

And four Specific areas of learning:

1. Literacy (L),
2. Mathematics (M),
3. Understanding the World (UW)
4. Expressive Arts & Design (EAD).

The National Curriculum

Every state-funded school must follow the National Curriculum which is a set of subjects and standards used by primary and secondary schools so children learn the same things. It covers what subjects are taught and the standards children should reach in each subject.

Every school must offer a balanced curriculum which:

promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society
prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life

The National Curriculum for five to 11 year olds is made up of blocks of years, known as key stages:

Infant children (Year 1 and Year 2) are known as Key Stage 1.
Junior children (Years 3 to 6) are known as Key Stage 2.

Formal assessment takes place at the end of each Key Stage (Years 2 and 6). A phonics screening check takes place in Year 1.

In addition, schools are advised to teach personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) and citizenship, together with at least one modern foreign language.

Please click on the individual subjects for more information, or contact the school office and we can put you in touch with the subject leader.

Our English curriculum is designed to encourage and inspire all pupils to read and write confidently across both fiction and non-fiction, developing their knowledge of themselves and the world around them. We aim to establish a life long love of reading, one which will help our children to succeed in their future endeavours. It is our intention that, by the end of their primary education, all pupils will be able to read fluently and with confidence.

At Colwall, we believe that all pupils should be able to communicate their knowledge, ideas and emotions confidently through writing. This, paired with a wide vocabulary base and solid foundations in grammar, punctuation and spelling, will ensure that all children will be able to write for a range of purposes and audience. We also believe that all pupils should be encouraged to take pride in the presentation of their writing, through the use of the drafting, editing and publishing stages of writing.

Phonics and Early Reading:

We teach Phonics through the ReadWrite Inc approach. This starts in our Reception ‘Wrens’ class and continues until children are able to decode and blend to form words. The ReadWrite Inc programme places an emphasis on focussing on the sounds heard in words. Teachers and teaching assistants delivering this programme follow a set of structured lesson plans ensuring that there is a consistency in delivery across the school.

Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling and Handwriting:

These skills are taught through the writing sequence where they can provide support or depth to the context. We also focus on these areas in separate, short sessions to help children retain the grammatical knowledge and offer a chance to practise the skills.

Writing:

We teach writing through the Talk4Writing approach, which enables children to imitate the key language they need for a particular topic orally before they try reading and analysing it. Through fun activities that help them rehearse the tune of the language they need, followed by shared writing to show them how to craft their writing, children are helped to write in the same style. The structure of a writing units is:

Cold task – (completed at least one week prior to the start of the unit to ensure that targets can be generated and planning tailored to meet the children’s specific learning needs)
Creative Hook – used to excite the children and engage them into the writing journey.
Model Text introduced with a story/text map to support the learning –which has been tailored in light of the cold task.
Vocabulary focus – vocabulary is discussed with children at every opportunity, exemplified and put into context. Vocabulary is displayed around the environment.
Oral retelling and immersion of the text
Sentence level skills work – Short bursts writing linked to devices highlighted from targets.
Comprehension – reading as a reader to understand the text.
Identifying the underlying structure of the text (Boxing up)
Sentence level skills work – Short bursts writing linked to vocabulary, grammar or text structure highlighted from targets.
Innovation – pupils make changes to the text. They learn, rehearse and write a new version of the text.
Independent application – Pupils must have the opportunity to independently apply the skills they have learnt in English and whenever possible be given the opportunity to apply these skills across the curriculum.
Publishing and celebrating: Children are encouraged to show case their work through different publishing and presenting opportunities.

Our Maths curriculum is carefully designed and structured to encourage and inspire all pupils to developing their knowledge of key mathematical concepts, building on secure foundations so that they can use and apply their skills in a range of scenarios and ultimately, to solve real life problems in the world around them.

The National Curriculum for Maths aims to ensure that all children:

Become fluent in the fundamentals of Mathematics
Are able to reason mathematically
Can solve problems by applying their Mathematics

We follow the guidance from the NCETM (National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics) to deliver lessons that are creative and engaging whilst also ensuring that children are forming secure mathematical foundations in their understanding. We focus on teaching concepts thoroughly, delving deeper into the learning and ensuring that we use the correct terminology and vocabulary. This helps children to be able to explain their thinking and can use this to reason and justify.

We want children to make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and we want to give children competence and confidence to have the ability to think logically and solve mathematical problems.

We are committed to ensuring that children are able to recognise the importance of mathematics in the wider world and that they are also able to use their mathematical skills and knowledge confidently in their lives in a range of different contexts and recognise its importance in the world of employment.

Teachers use precise questioning in class to test conceptual and procedural knowledge and assess children regularly to identify those requiring intervention so that all children keep up. Children’s explanations and their proficiency in articulating mathematical reasoning, with the precise use of mathematical vocabulary, are supported through the use of stem sentences provided by the teaching staff.

At Colwall, we encourage children to be inquisitive and to ask important questions about how things work and why things happen in a certain way. Ultimately, this will help all children to understand the world they are growing up in and provide them with life skills to better access it, to share and respect successes, as well as becoming creative thinkers and adults who strive to seek solutions to problems and answers to life’s questions.

All lessons are focused around a key question, which the children explore and investigate during their learning. Our science curriculum is designed to ensure that children are able to acquire key scientific knowledge through practical experiences; using equipment, conducting experiments, building arguments and explaining concepts confidently. They are encouraged to question situations and are shown scientific concepts which aim to spark their curiosity and create a sense of awe and wonder.

Teachers create a positive attitude to science learning within their classrooms and reinforce an expectation that all pupils are capable of achieving high standards in science. Science is taught in a “hands on” way where possible and activities are created to develop the scientific enquiry skills of the children. Teachers use precise questioning in class to test conceptual knowledge and skills

Forest School allows learning of life outside the classroom where they can apply their skills and knowledge, particularly in the areas of Biology and Ecology where children have the opportunity to observe living things in their natural habitats and observe seasonal and climatic changes over an extended period of time.

At Colwall, we teach the Herefordshire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education to all pupils from Early Years to Year 6, as part of the normal school curriculum. We believe children children’s ability to reflect on what it means to have a faith and develop their own spiritual knowledge and understanding is key. We help children to learn from religions as well as about religions.

Aims of Religious Education Curriculum

Religious education enables children to investigate and reflect on some of the most fundamental questions asked by people. At Colwall, we develop the children’s knowledge and understanding of the major world faiths, and we address the fundamental questions in life, for example, the meaning of life and the existence of a divine spirit. We enable children to develop a sound knowledge of Christianity and also of other world religions, especially those that are the main faiths of children within our school. Children reflect on what it means to have a faith and to develop their own spiritual knowledge and understanding. We help the children learn from religions as well as about religions.

The aims of religious education are to help children:

Religious education contributes dynamically to children and young people’s education in schools by provoking challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God, ultimate reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human.
In RE pupils learn about religions and beliefs in local, national and global contexts, to discover, explore and consider different answers to these questions.
Pupils learn to weigh up the value of wisdom from different sources, to develop and express their insights in response and to agree or disagree respectfully.
Teaching therefore should equip pupils with systematic knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and beliefs, enabling them to develop their ideas, values and identities.
RE should develop in pupils an aptitude for dialogue so that they can participate positively in our society, with its diverse religions and beliefs.
Pupils should gain and deploy the skills needed to understand, interpret and evaluate texts, sources of wisdom and authority and other evidence. They should learn to articulate clearly and coherently their personal beliefs, ideas, values and experiences while respecting the right of others to differ.

The key concepts covered throughout the RE curriculum are:

Making connections

Evaluate, reflect on and enquire into key concepts and questions studied, responding thoughtfully and creatively, giving good reasons for their responses.
Challenge the ideas studied, and allow the ideas studied to challenge their own thinking, articulating beliefs, values and commitments clearly in response.

Making sense of beliefs

Identify, describe, explain and analyse beliefs and concepts in the context of living religions, using appropriate vocabulary.
Explain how and why these beliefs are understood in different ways, by individuals and within communities.
Recognise how and why sources of authority (e.g. texts, teachings, traditions, leaders) are used, expressed and interpreted in different ways, developing skills of interpretation.

Understanding the impact

Examine and explain how and why people express their beliefs in diverse ways.
Recognise and account for ways in which people put their beliefs into action in diverse ways, in their everyday lives, within their communities and in the wider world.

At Colwall, we recognise the importance of children living a healthy and active life and want to encourage them to develop a life-long love of physical activity, sport and PE. We aim, therefore, to inspire children through encouraging friendship and team work, by building hope and perseverance when faced with a challenge and by engaging them in new experiences as individuals and with peers.

We believe that increased ability, knowledge and skills will promote independent learning and give greater access to a wide range of ideas and experiences. Our Curriculum, based on GetSet4PE, offers a coherently planned sequence of lessons to help teachers ensure they have progressively covered the requirements of the PE National Curriculum. It provides the opportunity for progression across the full breadth of the PE National Curriculum for KS1 and KS2 for both indoor and outdoor PE.

Aims of PE Curriculum

To develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities
To ensure pupils are physically active for sustained periods of time
To engage pupils in competitive sports and activities
To promote and encourage children to lead healthy, active lives

In line with the National Curriculum, our curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils: gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. This gives our pupils an understanding of the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time. Our aim is to allow pupils to develop historical skills and concepts which are transferable to whichever period of history is being studied and equip children for future learning. These key historical skills and concepts, which are revisited throughout different units, are:

Historical Interpretations;
Historical Investigations;
Chronological Understanding;
Knowledge and Understanding of Events, People and Changes in the Past;
Presenting, Organising and Communicating.

The coverage of recent history in KS1 enables children to acquire an understanding of time, events and people in their memory and their parents’ and grandparents’ memories. The intent KS2 is that children can work in chronological order from ancient history and then progress onto more modern history. Children start to understand how some historical events occurred concurrently in different locations, e.g. Ancient Egypt and the Stone Age.

Our students achieve a depth understanding in History by engaging in well-planned lessons, effective teaching methods, and immersive experiences. Through consistent retrieval activities, they revisit crucial facts, anchoring this knowledge in their long-term memory. Each topic’s fundamental knowledge and skills are identified, ensuring a seamless progression across the school years. By Year 6, our pupils develop a chronological understanding of History spanning from the Stone Age to modern times. They will be able to make connections between different historical eras and their own lives.

At Colwall, our aims for our geography curriculum is to provide a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum; ensure the progressive development of geographical concepts, knowledge and skills; and for the children to develop a love for geography.

The key substantive concepts in geography are as follows:

Geographical skills and fieldwork
Locational knowledge
Human and physical geography
Place knowledge

We aim for a geography curriculum which should inspire pupils and spark a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people, which will remain with them for the rest of their lives. It is vital we promote the children’s interest and understanding of diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. We also want children to develop geographical skills: collecting and analysing data; using maps, globes, aerial photographs and digital mapping to name and identify countries, continents and oceans; and communicating information in a variety of ways.

At Colwall, we believe in fostering an open-ended exploration of creativity to allow all children to experiment, invent and create their own works of art. By providing the children with the key skills, materials and ideas in a safe and nurturing environment, we aim to develop creativity.

We encourage our children to persevere when overcoming challenges, to show determination and self-belief and to never give up. Our children are taught to refine their work and develop resilience, understanding that there is not one right way of doing something.

Our Art curriculum follows a comprehensive scheme of work (AccessArt) that provides a clear progression of skills across all key stages within the strands of Art. The curriculum builds in fundamental subject knowledge, skills and understanding. It encourages our children to explore, investigate, create and evaluate artwork as set out in the National Curriculum.

At Colwall, our curriculum is designed to cover the key strands of Design and Technology: Textiles, Materials and Food technology. Where possible, we make links to our Topic learning, which helps to enhance the children’s learning.

The main aims of Design and Technology are:

To develop imaginative thinking in children and to enable them to talk about what they like and dislike when designing and making;
To build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users
To enable children to talk about how things work, and to draw and model their ideas
To encourage children to select appropriate tools and techniques for making a product, whilst following safe procedures;
To explore attitudes towards the made world and how we live and work within it;
To critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others
To foster enjoyment, satisfaction and purpose in designing and making.
To understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.

At Colwall, we believe a music curriculum should provide opportunities for children to develop the key skills of listening, appraising, composing and performing while fostering a life-long love and appreciation of music. By exposing children to many diverse and meaningful musical experiences, and embedding music and singing into the everyday life of the school, we believe we can guide children to become confident and reflective musicians.

It has long been recognised that the skills developed through music education are transferable and beneficial to other areas of the curriculum and all walks of life. As a school, we understand the significance of music in developing key life skills such as confidence, perseverance, improved memory and awareness of and interaction with others. Vitally, music can also provide an emotional outlet for children, and the act of music-making and listening to music can be extremely beneficial for a child’s mental health and wellbeing.

At Colwall, PSHE is taught through a clear and comprehensive scheme of work in line with the National Curriculum. We ensure we cover the Health and Well-Being, Relationships and Living in the Wider World Learning Opportunities set out in the PSHE Association’s Programme of Study, which comprehensively cover the statutory Health Education and Relationships Education guidance.

Our PSHE curriculum develops knowledge and skills which will enable children to access the wider curriculum and prepare them to be a global citizen now and in their future roles within a global community. It promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils, preparing them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences for later life. Our Relationships and Sex Education enables our children to learn how to be safe, and to understand and develop healthy relationships, both now and in their future lives.

At Colwall, we plan and deliver a curriculum which aims to build children’s confidence and ability to develop their skills and understanding when meeting new challenges. Computing is an ever growing, integral part of life for us all and will play an essential part in our children’s future. We aim to provide our children with the skills, creativity, enthusiasm and understanding of safety to live and thrive in a world increasingly dependent on computers.

Through our Computing curriculum, children will be aware of the possible risks when using the internet and electronic devices. They will understand the necessary precautions to take, to stay safe and know where to seek help and advice from. They will also be able to use technology for a range of purposes, from presenting information whilst researching a project to coding their own game for a virtual world.

At Colwall, we begin to introduce different languages from the start of the children’s journey in the Early Years. From different ways to say ‘Hello’ and greeting each other.

The MFL curriculum begins officially in Key Stage 2, from Year 3. We teach French at Colwall, as this is the language taught in all local high schools so that there is a consistent link when children leave us in Year 6.

During the delivery of our French lessons we aim to develop a curiosity about the world beyond that of the United Kingdom. We want to broaden their knowledge and experience of other cultures, establishing an understanding and an awareness of the similarities and differences in our world.

Our teaching of French focuses on establishing a solid foundation where there is a balance between both spoken and written French and learning about the lives and culture of our French neighbours. We aim to equip our pupils with the skills necessary to become respectful, responsible, global citizens upholding our British Values and linking these to other cultures.

Pupil Premium at Colwall C of E Primary School

“The school has a clear shared vision and common purpose for where they are headed and what they want to achieve for their disadvantaged children. They are socially attuned and empathise with their community. They champion the vulnerable children who attend, and parents chose for their children to attend on this basis.”

(Colwall C of E Primary School Pupil Premium Deep Dive Inspection, July 2021)

The Pupil Premium is an allocation of additional funding provided to schools to support specific groups of children who are vulnerable to possible underachievement. These include pupils who are entitled to free school meals (FSM), those looked after by the local authority, previously looked after by the local authority and children of armed service personnel. The intended effect of this funding is to accelerate progress and raise attainment.

It is for schools to decide how the Pupil Premium is spent since they are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for the individual pupils within their responsibility.

Colwall C of E Primary School – Principles relating to Pupil Premium spend:

We ensure that teaching and learning opportunities meet the needs of all of the pupils.
We identify any social and emotional difficulties and provide the necessary support.
We ensure that appropriate provision is made for pupils who belong to vulnerable groups, this includes ensuring that the needs of socially disadvantaged pupils are adequately assessed and addressed.
We also recognise that not all pupils who are socially disadvantaged are registered or qualify for free school meals.
Pupil premium funding will be allocated following a needs analysis which will identify priority classes, groups or individuals.

Pupil Premium Policy Pupil Premium Strategy Statement Review Pupil Premium Strategy Review and Plan

Sports Premium Report 2022-2023 Sports Premium Report 2023 – 2024 Sports Premium Expenditure and Impact Report 2021-2022

Sports Premium

What is the Sports Premium?

The Government introduced the Sports Premium Grant in 2013. The Government is providing additional funding of £150 million per annum from the academic year 2013 to improve provision of physical education (P.E.) and sport in primary schools.

How is this funding allocated to schools?

The P.E. and sport allocation is funding provided to schools in addition to main school funding. The funding is ring-fenced and therefore can only be spent on the provision of P.E. and sport in schools.

Funding for schools will be calculated by reference to the number of primary-aged pupils (between the ages of 5 and 11), as recorded in the annual school census.

What are the aims of the Sports Premium?

Schools must spend the additional funding on improving their provision of P.E. and sport, but they will have the freedom to choose how they do this.

Key themes and priorities:

the engagement of all pupils in regular physical activity – kick-starting healthy active lifestyles.
the profile of PE and sport being raised across the school as a tool for whole school improvement.
increased confidence, knowledge and skills of all staff in teaching PE and sport
broader experience of a range of sports and activities offered to all pupils
increased participation in competitive sport

Assessment Results

Early Years – EYFS

At the end of Reception each child is assessed to see if they have reached a Good Level of Development (GLD). Children are defined as having reached a good level of development at the end of the EYFS if they have achieved at least the expected level in:

The early learning goals in the prime areas of learning (personal, social and emotional development; physical development; and communication and language) and
The early learning goals in the specific areas of mathematics and literacy.

The levels attained by children at the end of the EYFS are allocated a number as follows: Emerging = 1 or Expected = 2.

This data is reported to the Local Authority and to parents in their child’s end of Year report.

Phonics

In Year 1, all children have a Phonics assessment. This is administered by their usual class teacher on a one-to-one basis, and the child reads the sounds and words as they would do in a normal phonics session. The test is formed from a combination of real words and ‘alien’ words (made up words). The teacher marks if the child has read the word correctly and a total score is submitted. There is a National pass mark, which a child needs to reach to pass the Phonics Assessment.

If a child does not meet the expected standard in Year 1, they resit the assessment the following year, in Year 2.

This data is submitted and will be sent to parents in the end of year report.

Key Stage One Assessments:

During the Summer Term in Year 2, children are given some assessments which help to form accurate teacher judgements of attainment and progress. This data is submitted and will be sent to parents in the end of year report.

Key Stage Two Assessments (SATS):

In May, assessments are administered to all children in Year 6. These papers are used to ensure that children have met the expected standard in Reading, GPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) and Maths.

The assessments are marked externally and results are returned to school mid-July.

The class teacher also submits teacher judgements in the summer term. These results and teacher judgements are provided to parents in the end of year reports.

For our latest results in each of these assessment points, please see the document below:

External Data Summer 2023 National School Performance Tables