Pennington Church of England Junior School Curriculum Statement

Our core values of Love, Respect, Perseverance and Courage are key in all we do, and underpin our aim to promote excellence and enjoyment throughout the curriculum. We believe that secure, confident children learn best, and aim to provide children with a broad, rich and exciting curriculum that promotes high standards. We aspire to help our children understand how they learn best, to encourage them to ask questions and be inquisitive, creating learning experiences that lay the foundations for life.

We make cross curricular links where possible and encourage children to explore the world around them, learn about our rich culture and further develop and practise their literacy and maths skills. We find opportunities to apply writing skills across the curriculum.  Our curriculum is based on the 2014 National Curriculum. A copy of which can be found on the parents information page.

Our curriculum changes and evolves constantly. We are always looking for new ways to capture the imagination of our children so topics may change in their delivery style and content from year to year.

Parents and carers are informed about out curriculum through termly curriculum letters which are posted on our web site and shared with families by text and email. Hard copies are always available in the school office.

At Pennington Church of England Junior School we aim to ensure our curriculum :

•     Meets statutory requirements
•     Is broad and balanced
•     Teaches children the basic skills needed to access all learning and to be successful in life
•     Offers first hand experiences wherever possible to broaden children's experience
•     Has clear progression in skills over the four years in school
•     Teaches children a wide vocabulary to ensure they are able to access all opportunities in life
•     Encompasses and values all aspects of the curriculum including the arts and physical development
•     Supports vulnerable groups and individuals to achieve highly and have aspirations to be the best they can be
•     Fosters pride in themselves and in their local community
•     Teaches children to be healthy, both physically and mentally and to stay safe
•     Fulfils the requirement to promote British values
•     Supports children to learn about their place in a multicultural society
•     Enables children to become responsible global citizens

We have high expectations of our children. Our approach to assessment for learning encourages a partnership between teacher and pupil in finding the next steps in learning.

As a Church of England school, we have a strong partnership with our local church, St Mark’s, Pennington. We enjoy a positive relationship with the church and feel our curriculum is enriched by the work we do together. We are committed to high quality RE education and have a shared understanding of Spirituality.

Please feel free to contact us if you would like to find out more about our curriculum or talk to your class teacher.

The resources below explain what your children are currently learning at PJS and may give you ideas for topics to look out for at home.

We have created a variety of subject specific documents which explain what our aims are for that subject and what the next steps of progression are.  You are welcome to explore these documents and together we can work to help ensure your child is aiming to "Be the Best they Can Be!"

Reading

When children enter year 3, there are often still phonic gaps which impede children's ability to read fluently.  We identify the phonic gaps children have when they join the school so we can ensure these are closed.  Phonics is taught daily at the beginning of year 3 to all students and for those with greater gaps, we use precision teaching and daily reading to support them to catch up. 

Maths

We use White Rose Maths as our main Maths scheme and we supplement these plans with NCETM resources and Herts 4 Learning resources.