Curriculum
At Newnham Primary each child is taught a broad and rich curriculum, which is appropriate to their abilities.
We teach the National Curriculum at Foundation Stages, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
Pupils are taught in all subjects in mixed age classes. This ensures that all children experience a wide range of experiences appropriate to their age and ability. At Newnham we want everyone to have fun as they learn and so we teach a curriculum which is both challenging and enjoyable.
We use the Effective Maths scheme supplemented with activities and investigations appropriate for the needs of the children in the class. This scheme enables us to ensure that the basic skills of calculation and number are embedded early on and covers all aspects of the Maths Curriculum.
Reading and Phonics are taught using Read Write Inc. - a phonics, reading and writing programme, from Reception onwards and we also use Oxford Reading Tree and Oxford Treetops. Pupils read a wide range, including classics and contemporary fiction, and non-fiction based on the DRET Recommended Book List.
As well as the academic curriculum, pupils take part in a wide range of extra-curricular activities and have regular enrichment opportunities such as day trips, residentials and visitors in school. It is our belief that education is not just about academic scores, but also making sure each pupil is a caring, well-rounded individual who is ready for their next step in education.
Curriculum
We offer a very well-balanced curriculum that ensures that all targets set by the Early Years Foundation Stage and National Curriculum are available to all children.
This education is not only academic, but includes cultural, social, spiritual, physical development, growth and fun.
We plan the curriculum carefully to provide a meaningful and worthwhile education that will prepare our children for the experiences and responsibilities of secondary education and later life. Clear procedures are in place to identify and meet children’s needs providing extra support and new challenges where appropriate to help every child fulfil their potential.
A wide range of learning opportunities and activities are offered alongside the statutory curriculum, which complement learning within the classroom.
Subject Leadership at Newnham Primary and Welton CE Academy
To ensure a balanced, rigorous and achieving team our curriculum leadership is shared across Newnham Primary and Welton CE Academy. Middle and senior leaders working across both sites to ensure the very best outcomes for children in both schools.
This greater pool of staffing expertise to draw upon adds a breadth and depth to the curriculum offer that both schools are able to make.
This shared leadership translates into children who are better equipped to transition smoothly into secondary education. It also helps to ensure children have strategies to enable them to solve a variety of problems. We also aim to ensure children have factual knowledge in their long term memory which enables them to make connections between different concepts and provides a firm foundation upon which to build further learning as they progress though life.
The staff and families at Newnham Primary and Welton CE Academy, like others across the country, provided extraordinary support to help children learn at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, for many children, the disruption caused by school closures has had a negative impact on their learning and wellbeing. Following advice from our Trust and other professionals, including the Education Endowment Foundation, we did use a recovery timetable. We have now fully returned to our usual timetable. But we know that the ripples caused by the disruption of the pandemic affected and continue to affect children's learning and we take full account of that in our delivery.
British Values
Our Trust is very supportive of the ethos of promoting British Values, and preparing our pupils for success in a modern Britain.
A heavy reliance is placed upon broadening horizons for each and every child and this includes developing the core skills of tolerance, respect, teamwork, resilience and building self esteem. These are all values and qualities that we feel are relevant in order to play a full and meaningful role in society, and are promoted via our extensive house systems that lends themselves to cultural and sporting competition, democratic principles, social mixing, the development of greater pastoral care and enhanced PSHE.
At Newnham Primary and Welton CE Academy we uphold and teach pupils about the British Values which are defined as:
- democracy
- rule of law
- individual liberty
- mutual respect
- tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs
These values are taught explicitly through Personal, Social, Health and Emotional (PSHE), and Religious Education (RE). We also teach the British Values through planning and delivering a broad and balanced curriculum, and the way we run our schools (embodying respect, democracy and tolerance of all).
The schools take opportunities to actively promote British Values through our focus on different values and whole school themed assemblies and whole school systems. We also actively promote the British values through ensuring that our curriculum planning and delivery includes real opportunities for exploring these values. Actively promoting British Values also means challenging pupils, staff or parents expressing opinions contrary to fundamental British Values, including ‘extremist’ views.
These values are reinforced regularly.
For further information about the curriculum followed at Newnham Primary please contact us.
Our Subjects
Reading
Subject Leader - Mrs Kim Gospel (Welton)
Here at Newnham Primary School we are committed to ensuring that all children develop the ability to communicate fluently and effectively. We do this by delivering a designated Talk for Reading lesson a day in addition to Read Write Inc lessons. Read Write Inc is designed to support early readers with phonic development and initial reading skills such as blending and comprehension.
Newnham Primary School is a Read Write Inc. model school and we use this scheme from Reception to Year 2. Reading is taught daily through Talk for Reading and class story sessions.
All children at Newnham Primary School have a reading book and a reading record to take home. In Key Stage 1 the reading books are phonetically decodable and link to the Read Write Inc. scheme. With such high expectations, we recommend pupils read at least three times a week at home and that reading records are completed by parents and guardians so that progress can be monitored and there is a positive home-school link.
A love of reading is developed through the experience of high-quality texts from a variety of authors during the Talk for Writing sessions and through use of our reading for pleasure books and our class stories. All children, from our early readers to those who are fluent, have a rich and varied reading diet, promoting both reading pleasure and an experience and appreciation for a range of texts.
By the end of Key Stage 2 we expect children to be competent and confident readers who can read a wide range of texts and show an understanding through proficient comprehension skills.
Writing
Subject Leader - Mrs Avery (Welton)
We believe that knowledge, understanding and the successful application of the English language is a fundamental life skill; it develops children’s ability to communicate their experiences, desires and knowledge effectively and successfully. Throughout our school, we aim to nurture and develop independent writers through purposeful, engaging and developmental lessons which link to our rich and stimulating creative curriculum work.
During our Talk for Writing lessons, we support our children to express themselves creatively and imaginatively, as they become enthusiastic and critical readers of stories, poetry and drama; as well as non-fiction and media texts. This allows pupils to learn a quality story or text that they can then imitate in their own writing before innovating in a different context. We look at many different forms of writing across the school such as stories with imaginative settings, instructions, recounts, humorous poems and so on. We apply these writing genres across the curriculum to ensure the children gain lifelong skills and are prepared for writing in the wider world.
Our children also gain an understanding of how language works by looking at its patterns, structures and origins and use their knowledge, skills and understanding across a range of different situations.
The daily talk for writing lessons are linked to the current national curriculum objectives. The units of work begin with a cold write which is an independent piece of writing to assess previous understanding and knowledge. The children then repeat this task at the end of the unit as a hot write. This showcases the progress and learning that have taken place across the unit. Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar is taught as part of the T4W lessons as well as in cross- curricular writing opportunities.
Newnham Primary follow the Read Write Inc spelling programme to ensure that our children become competent and confident spellers building on prior knowledge of spelling rules. We also encourage and teach handwriting daily and have a certificate awards in our Celebration Assembly.
Oracy
Subject Leader - Mrs Kim Gospel and Miss Kirsten Avery (Welton)
At Newnham Primary we expect all of our children to progress to secondary school as fluent and effective communicators and we begin this process from when the children enter our setting. We include speaking and listening skills in all of our lessons. We do this through class discussions, drama activities, paired talk, oral rehearsal, echo reading, poetry recital and in many other forms.
Maths
Subject Leader - Miss Warren (Newnham)
The teaching of maths is planned carefully to meet the needs of every child at Newnham Primary School. Effective Maths is used to support children to progress quickly and develop a mastery understanding of mathematical processes.
Effective Maths is a mastery approach to the teaching of mathematics. It is a comprehensive framework for ensuring high quality maths teaching. Lessons are designed carefully to incorporate the below elements:
- mastery
- procedural and conceptual understanding
- variation
- mathematical patterns, relationships and connections
Planning is based on the national curriculum standards and used to facilitate high quality teaching and learning.
Furthermore, where possible, we believe that maths should be taught in context. We particularly value the importance of children understanding the reason why their mathematical learning will be relevant to them in the real world and demonstrate a clear purpose for learning mathematical skills.
Science
Subject Leader - Mr Taylor (Newnham)
Our Science Curriculum is sequenced coherently so useful knowledge and skills builds through the three distinct disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. As a result of the accumulation of essential knowledge and skills pupils’ science capital and scientific understanding will be substantial and will provide a secure foundation that will enable them to succeed in the next stage of their education.
At Newnham Primary, we aim to stimulate children's curiosity by engaging our pupils in science activities that are designed to encourage pupils to plan, observe, predict, investigate and analyse.
Geography
Subject Leader - Mrs Fahy (Newnham)
Our Geography Curriculum is sequenced coherently so useful knowledge builds through two distinct strands; Locational Knowledge and Human and Physical Geography. As a result of the accumulation of essential knowledge pupils are provided with the frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time, enabling them to become true global citizens.
History
Subject Leader - Mrs Fahy (Newnham)
Our History Curriculum is sequenced coherently so useful knowledge builds through six unifying themes; humans and the environment, cultural develops and interactions, governance, economic systems, system interaction and organisation and technology and innovation. As a result of the accumulation of essential knowledge pupils’ cultural capital and historical disciplines will be substantial and will provide a secure foundation that will enable them to succeed in the next stage of their education.
PSHE
Subject Leader - Mr Mead (Welton)
Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE Education) is such an important and necessary part of all pupils education. This is taught in discreet PSHE lessons and modelled and delivered throughout our entire curriculum in our values and our ethos.
Art & DT
Subject Leader - Miss Mallon (Welton)
Art and DT encourages children to think, developing skills and confidence as they go. Here at Newnham Primary School our curriculum stimulates creativity and imagination.
Our aim is for children to enjoy Art & Design through developing increased confidence in their ability to communicate what they feel and think through the use of colour, texture, form and pattern using different materials, tools and techniques. We aim to develop each pupil’s skill in drawing, painting, sculpture and shade.
Together with teaching children with the different artistic skills, we teach children about a variety of artists that reflect upon the skills taught. Pupils will learn about know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation. The artists chosen provide pupils with positive role models that they can aspire to emulate, as well as developing their understanding of their own and others’ cultural heritages. Children will also be encouraged to reflect and critic their own work as well as the work as others.
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Music
Subject Leader -Mrs L Lane
Music plays a central role within the curriculum at Newnham and is fundamental to our wider trust mission of creating aspirational and knowledge-rich pupils. Pupils will perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians. Pupils will also learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence. Pupils will understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the interrelated dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.
The Newnham Music curriculum aims to ensure that all children:
- Sing with a wide range and with a variety of expression.
- Sing confidently in parts.
- Read staff notation.
- Experience playing an orchestral instrument in class ensemble (and to be given the opportunity to continue learning the instrument in smaller groups/one-to-one).
- Hear a youth or professional orchestra live.
- Hear a youth, church or professional choir live
In addition, there are opportunities for those children showing musical aptitude to be able to develop their musicianship through singing in choirs, playing in instrumental ensembles and joining local (and national) musical groups. The school’s Music Lead, guided by a DRET Primary Music Specialist, will direct these children to such ensembles.
PE
Subject Leader - Mr Taylor(Newnham)
Children receive a varied and balanced P.E. curriculum with every child receiving two hours physical education each week. During lunch we encourage our children to participate daily in our Moving Mile.
We aim to establish an active school ethos and environment. We do this by working with key partners, including sports coaches and Daventry Leisure Centre.
Language
Subject Leader - Mrs Pinsent (Newnham)
We teach Latin. The understanding of words is integral for how we read and how we communicate successfully. Our knowledge of words is inextricably bound to our knowledge of the world, words have depth, their own histories, that are revealed through human history. When children learn the deeper meanings of the words, it can make it more memorable, complimenting their learning.
RE
Subject Leader - Mrs Pinsent (Newnham)
We live in a diverse society so we aim to encourage our pupils to respect and understand the variety of religions and cultures within our community.
At Newnham we explore a range of world religions and belief systems, developing knowledge and understanding of the diverse world we live in. Opportunities are given to ask philosophical questions, develop our own opinions while being respectful of beliefs that differ to our own. We learn that different people follow religions or belief systems in different ways and that there is no right or wrong way to believe.
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Computing
Subject Leader - Mr Taylor (Newnham)
Computing is split into three fundamental elements: Computer Science, Digital Literacy and Information Technology.
Computer Science is the core of the computing curriculum, in which children learn how the digital systems work and how to put this knowledge into action through programming. The children use information technology to create programs, systems and a range of content.
Digital Literacy ensure the children can develop their ideas with the use of information and communication technology to ensure they are active participants in a digital world and are at a level suitable for the future workplace.
We also teach the children about safety online: how to spot any dangers; how they can be avoided easily and what to do if they encounter any misuse of the internet.
David Ross Education Trust and British Values
The Trust is very supportive of the ethos of promoting British Values, and preparing our pupils for success in a modern Britain.
A heavy reliance is placed upon broadening horizons for each and every child and this includes developing the core skills of tolerance, respect, teamwork, resilience and building self-esteem. These are all values and qualities that we feel are relevant in order to play a full and meaningful role in society, and are promoted via our extensive house system that lends itself to cultural and sporting competition, democratic principles, social mixing, the development of greater pastoral care and enhanced PSHE.
Click here to find out more about British Values at our academy
