We have high expectations of all of our children and are committed to providing a curriculum offer that enables every child to flourish and fulfil their potential, in line with our Christian vision. We aim to foster a life-long love of learning and to nurture the curiosity of our children. We believe it is our role to promote development of the whole child and therefore our curriculum design reflects this.
At Himbleton CE Primary School and Nursery we have worked hard to develop and adopt a broadly thematic enquiry-based approach to curriculum design, with History and Geography as the primary drivers, as we believe this best suits the needs of the children in our school. This enables our children to progressively develop, practise, revisit and apply skills and knowledge sequentially so that learning becomes embedded across all areas of the curriculum and therefore long-term retention secured. A key aim of our curriculum is to enable effective learning by creating linked opportunities across the curriculum, thus providing a meaningful, purposeful context which engages and inspires the children. As part of this, each unit of enquiry has an identified vehicle for learning that provides focus and clarity.
Each subject is important to ensure a rich and broad curriculum which prepares our children for life in modern Britain. Therefore, subject leaders have considered carefully how each subject should be implemented to ensure high quality provision. The documents under the ‘Curriculum Subject Specific Approach Documentation’ tab outline each subject in detail.
Due to our cohort sizes and class structure, we follow a carefully planned, broad and balanced two-year rolling curriculum programme for each Key Stage at Himbleton to meet the needs of all children in our mixed age classes. The sequences are planned for delivery in as logical a sequence as possible to support understanding. Please see the ‘Long Term Unit of Enquiry Overview’ tab for further information.
From the aforementioned overview plans, detailed plans for each unit of enquiry map out key knowledge, skills and vocabulary that are covered. In addition, a ‘learning journey’ for each unit of enquiry is mapped out to ensure that the sequence of learning is as impactful as possible. Examples of the former can be found in the ‘Curriculum Knowledge Overview’ tabs.
We use the reading scheme Rising Stars Reading Planet to support the development of reading in school. The materials available through this scheme enable us to ensure all children access books that are well matched to their current reading ability.
Our chosen DfE validated programme for the teaching of phonics here at Himbleton is Reading Planet Rocket Phonics by Rising Stars. As a school we demonstrate fidelity to this programme and it is aligned completely to our selected reading scheme, ensuring that there is a consistent approach to the teaching of early reading for maximum impact. Daily phonics sessions using this approach ensures that all of our children have a secure foundation upon which to build during their time with us. Opportunities to develop and practise skills in reading and writing are a key feature of our curriculum design.