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Curriculum at Lowtown
Under this menu, you can find out about each subject area of our curriculum. On each subject page you can find out:
1. The Intent - what are our long term aims for the children in relation to learning this subject.
2. The Implementation - how we have designed the subject curriculum to meet those aims.
3. The Impact - what do we hope the children will gain/achieve from each subject by the time they leave Lowtown.
4. The Long Term Plan - what each year will learn over the course of the academic year.
5. Progression of knowledge and skills - how learning builds from EYFS to the end of Key Stage 2.
6. Any other useful information about that subject
On this page we set out our whole school curriculum rationale. What is it that drives and underpins our whole curriculum?
If you require any additional information about our school's curriculum please contact our school office on 0113 2567303 or email admin@pudseylowtown.org.uk and we will direct your query to the most appropriate member of staff.
Intent
At Lowtown we aim to create good citizens of the world. We encourage pupils to be individuals who are proud to be part of the Pudsey community and are aware of the opportunities in the wider world. We want our children to have a solid academic foundation which gives them knowledge and skills which they can continue to build upon. We want them to be confident when faced with tests and see them as a way to show off what they can do. We want them to have a Growth Mindset and evaluate their progress against themselves and be proud of their achievements. We want them to be confident communicators able to express their opinions in a clear way to ensure they can speak out for themselves and what they believe is right. We aim to give them information and skills to be able to make rational and balanced judgements and express their views in a way which does not offend others. Importantly, if they can speak clearly for themselves this will keep them safe in the future. An ability to read fluently is an essential skill and is the vehicle which allows children to access the wider curriculum. We also want our children to foster a love of reading, have experience of a variety of texts and authors and be excited about books. We want our pupils to be individuals who can be themselves and be proud of being part of the Lowtown team. We know the importance of being able to read and understand number and we promote the use of phonics for reading and mental arithmetic as a strong basis for Maths learning.
Implementation
To do this we place an emphasis on all children being able to express themselves. This begins in Reception Class and continues throughout school. We have created a curriculum which has oracy and our 6 moral values; Empathy, Respect, Tolerance, Honesty, Responsibility and Resilience at the heart. We continually revise our curriculum to ensure that basic knowledge and skills become firmly embedded. We employ as many teaching assistants as finances allow and we prioritise staff development ensuring they are trained to a high standard. This means that pupils receive high ‘Quality First’ teaching and subsequent interventions which enables them to make good progress from their individual starting points.
Phonics are taught systematically and rigorously to enable pupils to make good progress with the mechanics of reading. The writing curriculum is based on quality texts to embrace a love of books. The introduction of different authors and recommended reading lists encourages pupils to widen their reading choices and be excited about books. This focus on oracy and high quality texts, translates to good outcomes for writing. If children can express what they want to say and are enthused by the stimuli, then this has a positive impact on all subjects across the curriculum.
Our curriculum is designed to be engaging and revisit key learning so that it becomes embedded over time. Subject Leaders have developed the curriculum to meet the needs of the pupils and enhance learning. Our Subject Leaders have access to training both in house and through external providers, this makes sure as a school we are evaluating our development using a range of ideas and sources.
Subject Leaders are given leadership time, staff meeting time to deliver training to staff and a budget to ensure the resources are in place to enable them to lead their area confidently and competently. Subject leaders are expected to develop a deep understanding of their subject area/s and train other staff members in school. They are expected to ensure objectives are covered and there is a progression in knowledge and skills over time. To ensure the curriculum continues to develop year on year resources are created in collaboration with staff such as knowledge mats and progression frameworks to drive towards high quality sessions and develop assessment to ensure pupils understand and retain key knowledge and skills. Our curriculum is constantly evolving. All staff are encouraged to access training to further their knowledge and understanding in all areas of school life.
Impact
We judge how effective our curriculum is in a variety of ways. Subject Leaders monitor curriculum content in taught sessions, in books and through Pupil Voice and questionnaires. Through Pupil Voice monitoring, children need to be able to say what they have learned and put it into context. Our internal data for Reading Writing and Maths shows that overall our pupils make good progress through school. This is tracked using oral feedback, written evidence in books and test data. At the end of each Key Stage; EY, KS1 and KS2 the percentage of pupils achieving ARE and above is consistently above Leeds and National in nearly all areas.
Both local High Schools have fed back to us that our children are usually in the higher academic sets and that they have a disproportionate amount of pupils from Lowtown who become year group leaders and house captains due to their confidence and speaking ability. We have been asked by both High Schools to work with them in order to share our knowledge and expertise about how we maintain consistently high standards.
Visitors in school note that our pupils are confident speakers and make good eye contact.
From staff and pupil feedback in questionnaires and discussions, children and staff express that they are proud to be a part of Lowtown School.
Year Group Long Term Plans
