Colman Federation is committed to meeting the requirements of the 2014 primary curriculum.
Active learning is the key to how we work at Colman Infant School. Learning by doing things & having rich & varied experiences. Learning to communicate through speaking, listening, reading & writing is of central importance.
We provide a broad & balanced curriculum. During the children’s first year at school children follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. This focusses on early learning skills in reading, writing & maths as well as fostering creativity. It also encourages children’s social & emotional development & the development of appropriate relationships. Play is central to learning for all children in their infant years. Children learn though playing indoors & outside.
Aspects of this curriculum are continued as the children move in to Year 1. We strive to build a bridge between the Early Years Foundation Stage & the National Curriculum.
Although we teach distinct skills subject areas are approached through cross curricular themes. Within these are aspects of:
Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Science, Design & Technology, Art & Design, Music, History, Geography & Physical Education.
Different topics have different emphasis in respect of how the curriculum is covered.
Topics by Year groups are as follows:
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 | Spring 1 | Spring 2 | Summer 1 | Summer2 | |
| Foundation Stage | All About Me
Autumn |
Hurray
People Who Help Us |
Frozen
Traditional Tales |
Spring
Myths and Legends |
Space
Dinosaurs |
Water
Animals |
| Year 1 | Trees | Autumn | Mini Grey
Author Study |
Transport | The Big Blue | The Big Blue |
| Year 2 | Space | Space | Kenya | Frida Kahlo | Boudicca and the Celts | Minibeasts and Microhabitats |
Our curriculum has been redeveloped to reflect the content and challenge of the 2014 National Curriculum.
The curriculum is taught with the consideration of the needs of all learners. Our curriculum is exciting and we hope it will inspire children to nurture a lifelong passion for learning.
The most important work of the school is learning. We believe that every member of the school community is a learner and we aim to nurture life-long learning. We also believe that how we are learning is as important as what we are learning and strive to find ways to make learning enjoyable, engaging and meaningful. We include many opportunities for practical activity, learning outside, learning through investigation and learning through play.
We encourage learners to ask questions and to take responsibility for their own learning, learning as much from mistakes as successes. Our school is a relaxed and happy environment where children and staff feel safe and secure and are therefore more willing to take risks and creative leaps. We ensure that every pupil enjoys a broad and balanced range of learning experiences. We place great emphasis on developing key literacy and numeracy skills, as these are essential for life-long learning.
We believe in promoting and developing skills that can be used in any area of life. Thinking skills are actively taught throughout the school and there are daily opportunities to apply these directly. Creativity is highly valued and children are encouraged to see things differently. We believe that all children are gifted and talented in some way and that it is our task as a school to find out how.
| 2019-20 | |
| Year 3 | Curriculum Map |
| Year 4 | Curriculum Map |
| Year 5 | Curriculum Map |
| Year 6 | Curriculum Map |
At Colman Junior School the development of children’s reading, writing and spoken language is at the heart of everything we do. We aim to promote the high standards of language and literacy necessary to express themselves, access the curriculum and participate fully in society.
Reading:
We work hard to ensure our children are fluent readers who develop a life-long love of reading for both information and pleasure. We know that vocabulary development is vital to children’s progress as readers and also that reading widely is essential to developing children’s vocabulary as well as their knowledge and understanding across the curriculum.
All classes visit our fantastic, well-stocked library every week and are able to choose two books to take home and read. In addition, children who need a more structured book scheme change their colour-coded book band books regularly in their year group areas. Each year we have a programme of exciting events with author visits, whole-school story times, sponsored reads and much more.
Our curriculum is carefully planned to link to a key shared text for each half term and these texts have been chosen to ensure children encounter a range of good-quality literature over their time in school. Reading skills such as prediction, inference, deduction, skimming and scanning and summarising are explicitly taught and modelled using progressively difficult texts throughout the school. We use the ‘Big Reading’ reading objectives to ensure progression throughout the school.
Writing:
The teaching of grammar, punctuation and spelling is embedded within our teaching of writing as well as being taught discretely. We aim to ensure all children develop into clear, accurate and coherent writers, writing with increasing stamina and in a range of styles.
Children take part in Big Write fortnightly, in which they apply what they have been learning about writing to complete a piece of independent writing, linked to their learning in Topic and/or their class text.
Around the school you will find the ‘VCOP’ superheroes which help our children develop their writing voice. Vocabulary, Conjunctions, Openers and Punctuation are all taught using these characters and children develop these four elements of their writing.
Writing is assessed regularly using the Big Write Criteria as well as the end of Key Stage 2 expectations and this informs teachers’ planning for progression within their class. All children have individual, short-term writing targets which will improve their writing. All year groups take part in national comparative marking tasks and feedback from all teaching staff is valuable in identifying next steps for each class.
Spelling and Handwriting:
We use the Read Write Inc. phonics-based approach to teaching spelling which develops children’s prior-learning at Colman Infant School. Spelling patterns are taught each week, based on National Curriculum expectations and children are given ten words to practise at home before the lesson each week. Similarly, the handwriting style taught is that taught at Colman Infant School using Nelson Handwriting.
Spoken Language:
Opportunities for partner talk, role play, drama, formal presentations and debates are planned into our curriculum on a regular basis. Children in Year 3 perform in a Christmas production, Year 5 take part in a poetry recital and Year 6 proudly perform their end of term production. It is vital that children are competent in using standard spoken language and this is promoted at all times.
Adaptations and Support
Adaptations and support are routinely provided for those with dyslexia or other literacy based need, including early intervention with reading, 1:1 reading, reading buddies, ARROW, additional phonics and the Beanstalk reading programme. Needs are identified through Cat4 testing and through regular pupil progress meetings. Technology is needed to support individual needs as required.
Subject Intention:
At Colman we have adopted a mastery approach to teaching maths as we feel this provides all pupils with the best access to the whole ks2 curriculum. This approach enables consistent overall coverage whilst providing all pupils with an opportunity to investigate and be curious about the subject. It allows for small step learning to be gradually built upon whilst enabling the development of an overall fluency in number. Regular challenges to problem solve encourage the development of a positive mindset towards the subject and a recognition that making errors and improving are all part of the learning process. Here we value the stages of working out as much as the correct answer. We feel the focus on mathematical thinking and the ability to explain what they have done helps pupils to be able to understand and explain the world around them, whilst developing a sense of wonder and enjoyment in maths.
Maths at Colman Junior School
At Colman Junior we follow the idea of Teaching for Mastery. We base our curriculum around the White Rose resources and use the Power Maths scheme to support this.
Everyone learns together
In a traditional primary school maths lesson, children are put in different groups and learn different things based on what the teacher thinks their ability is.
This means that from an early age children are classed as those who can and can’t “do maths”. Teaching maths for mastery is different because it offers all pupils access to the full maths curriculum. Children often work in mixed ability pairs, where they can be learning resources for one another.
Time to think deeply about maths
Rather than learning one procedure for ‘doing maths’ (for example column addition), we focus on children really understanding their learning.
We emphasise solving problems in many different ways, and challenge our children to see the connections between methods. The process is seen as having more value than the answer and children spend time describing how they solved one problem in different ways and are asked to explain their thinking. This builds self-confidence and resilience in pupils.
Concrete & Pictoral
Many people find that they understand maths better if they get to use objects, or they can see pictures which help them understand what the symbols in maths mean.
At Colman, children use cubes, counters, and a variety of objects to help them understand what the maths they are using really means. They make links to pictures of problems and ideas, and explain what the links are. They understand mathematical concepts using everyday language (e.g ‘add’ means ‘together with’), which helps them understand what the numbers and symbols mean.
Short step learning
There is a daily focus on learning a key point, these then link together to develop improved overall understanding over a series of lessons. While topics may be revisited, there is an expectation that key learning will be retained to enable further learning in that area, from term to term and year to year.
Development of basic fact knowledge and maths fluency
Basic facts include addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts (e.g. 7 x 5 = 35). At Colman we prioritise children understanding their basic facts, rather than just remembering them.
So instead of just remembering that 7 + 6 is 13, children will know that they can double 6 and add one to find the solution. Children are given basic facts homework every week, and parents and carers can help them learn by using a range of resources- Hit the Button (no login required) and Times Table Rock Stars (children have a login).
Use of cross-curricular maths
Children are encouraged to use maths in other areas of the curriculum, handling data in Science for example, where it will naturally crop up.
Week of Inspirational Maths tasks
We continue to make use of these rich resources, dividing children into mixed-age and ability classes each term, where a challenge is set and children are expected to work together to solve problems, explaining their thinking as they go. We feel these tasks provide a great opportunity to develop a positive approach to Maths.
Mathletics and Times Table Rock Stars
Amongst the many online resources, we provide children with logins to the above. We feel they provide useful resources and opportunities to practice areas children may be working on in classrooms,
We feel regular practice on TTRS does significantly improve pupils’ ability to recall and apply basic facts to aspects of maths they will need.
Year 3 2019-20
Year 4 2019-20
Year 5 2019-20
Year 6 2019-20
Calculation and Mastery Briefings - 12, 19 and 26 Nov 2018
Please find below links to slides which have been used to explain our approach to teaching maths.
It has been good to see so many parents involved and a number of useful questions and suggestions raised.
Mr Furlong
At Colman, Science has a high profile; taught at least weekly with a dedicated afternoon to explore and investigate. Science is key to the world that we live in. We aim to help children develop key knowledge, skills and attitudes about the world in which we live and to be excited, curious and interested in how Science affects their lives.
We endeavour, where possible, to provide opportunities to develop these skills and gain an understanding of scientific concepts through first-hand experience and practical work. Scientific enquiry and questions drive our curriculum, leading to a secure knowledge base.
Teachers ensure that children have a secure understanding of each key block of knowledge and concepts in order to allow them to progress and working scientifically skills are built upon throughout the year groups. The quality and variety of language that pupils hear and speak is crucial to developing children who can understand and question the world around them. Vocabulary and technical terminology is key to Science at Colman and an extensive, specialist vocabulary bank is built up as they progress through the school.
Website Links
Science Information – Videos, information and fun experiments to aid children’s understanding.
sciencebob.com
Amazing Science Facts
www.planet-science.com
NASA Kids Club
www.nasa.gov/kidsclub
National Geographic Kids
www.natgeokids.com/uk
At CJS, our aim is to prepare children to deal with tomorrow's rapidly changing world and to develop transferable skills. Our curriculum encourages pupils to become curious and creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. It enables pupils to respond to and develop a range of ideas which encourages them to be more resourceful, innovative and confident learners.
Our curriculum is delivered through three main areas:
Textiles
Engineering (EHoM – Engineering Habits of Mind)
Food Technology.
Children will develop a greater awareness and understanding of how everyday products are designed. They will gain experience using the learning habits of mind when designing, refining and evaluating design, developed through talking about how things work. There is a particular focus on researching, planning, designing and evaluating their ideas and products, with an opportunity to improve them based on their evaluation.
Textiles
Year 6 Christmas Stocking
Year 5 Weaving
Year 4 Memory pouches
A cross-circular link with the School Council’s fund raising project raising awareness of climate change.
A cross-curricular link with the local church for the ‘Angels’ project.
Engineering (EHoM – Engineering Habits of Mind)
Year 3 Shaduf
Year 4 testing their Roman boats at Eaton Park
Year 5 STEM Bridge Building
Food Technology
Shrove Tuesday - making pancakes and flipping them!
A cross-curricular link making musical instruments from vegetables.
At Colman Junior School we are guided by the National Curriculum for History (2014).
Our teaching of History allows pupils to have real life experiences and learn about History in active and creative ways, to gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world too. This comes from our lessons inside our classrooms but also through the educational visits we are able to organise.
We aim for our History topics to inspire the children’s curiosity about the past and how it has shaped how we live today. We aim to enable pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, as well as work as historians by weighing up evidence and think about both sides of arguments.
Through the teaching of History we endeavour to teach children to understand the process of change, the diversity of societies and the relationships between these different societies.
At Colman we seek to inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Our curriculum equips pupils with the knowledge, skills and understanding of both locational and place knowledge and the human and physical aspects of geography. Geographical enquiry is at the core of our geography curriculum and pupils are encouraged to ask questions about and investigate the world around them.
Fieldwork is an essential part of the geography curriculum and, where possible, we endeavour to provide opportunity to develop skills and understanding through first-hand experience and practical work.
We are a truly global school with many pupils coming to us from around the world. We celebrate this diversity and seek to encourage every child in their journey to become a global citizen.
Residential Visits
Throughout their time at Colman Junior School, the children have the opportunity to go on two residential visits.
In the autumn term, Year 6 spend a week at the Brancaster Activity Centre on the North Norfolk coast.
Each spring, Year 4 enjoy a three-day residential visit to Hilltop, North Norfolk where they take part in a range of outdoor activities. Here they are completing the orienteering challenge.
Also, in the autumn term, the whole school take part in a mini-orienteering challenge in the school grounds with Adrian Hall from Active Outdoor Discovery. This is a great introduction to basic map reading and compass work.
Art and Design Curriculum Intent
At Colman Junior School our Art curriculum aims to stimulate and develop a child’s creativity and imagination. Through the use of colour, texture, form, pattern, different materials and processes, children are able to communicate what they see, feel and think.
Using these skills, they will become proficient in sculpting, painting, drawing and other art and design techniques and will be able to analyse and evaluate their work using specific subject language.
Children will also study the work of various historical and contemporary artists and will use this to evaluate and ascertain how they are influential.
At CJS, our wish is to develop a curiosity and enjoyment of music. The subject is completely inclusive and develops the children not just musically but spiritually, socially and culturally too. We are committed to ensuring children understand the value and importance of music in the wider community, and are able to use their musical skills, knowledge, and experiences to be involved in music, in a variety of different contexts.
Our curriculum develops 5 core skills: Theory, Listening, Composing, Improvisation and Performing and ensures students sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. The curriculum has been developed for the school and combines Schemes such as Charanga and Music Express. Children have access to a varied programme, which allows students to experience achievement, self-confidence, interaction with and awareness of others, and self-reflection.
We are lucky to have a dedicated music room with a range of musical instruments to use. Pupils have an hours’ class music every week as. Once a week there is singing assembly where the school come together as one large choir. Peripatetic lessons are available and we have a recorder club and orchestra which practise weekly.
We believe that children should be given the opportunity to share their musical skills at
Physical Education is the aspect of the curriculum concerned with the development of physical skills, knowledge and understanding in games, gymnastics, dance, athletics, outdoor & adventurous activities and swimming.
We devote two hours a week to the delivery of PE, in the form of indoor, outdoor or swimming sessions (at our own pool.) Pupils remain with their base class for the indoor session; for the outdoor and swimming activity, each year group is divided into three groups –roughly twenty children- based around swimming ability. Consistently, 90-95% of leavers achieve 25m, which is well above the National average (55% as reported in The 2014 School Swimming census.)
Physical education promotes personal, social, intellectual and physical skills and we believe it helps to develop co-operation, tolerance, teamwork and self-esteem. Our school aims to promote and inspire an enjoyment in undertaking exercise in all children that will, hopefully, be continued into adulthood as part of a healthy lifestyle.
In addition to lessons within the curriculum, we encourage children to take part in a wide range of extra- curricular clubs, these change from term to term – many are free to attend (some run at lunchtime) though some involve a cost or may have a limit on numbers. (Recent figures show around 66% of children attended at least one sporting club.) See the attached clubs list.
We also involve children in ‘House’ events where possible (water polo & korfball this year) and whole school events like sports day or the Eaton park fun run.
Finally, we aim to be involved in a wide a range and number of competitive inter-school events. These events cover all ages and we attempt to include as wide a range of children possible.
So far this year the school has competed in; football, korfball, cross country, athletics, rugby, netball and cycling, while some our year 4 students are working towards the SSP Dance show in the summer.
(Last academic year, we took part in 50 events in 10 different sports –with 55% of pupil representing the school.)
Computing at Colman Junior School is designed to equip our children to be competent, confident and creative users of communication and information technology. We want all children to have a clear understanding of the responsibilities involved in being active and safe participants in a digital world. We aim to enable children to express themselves fully and develop their ideas as digitally literate learners. Through the breadth of our Computing curriculum we will equip children with the knowledge and skills to analyse and solve problems, evaluating and applying new technologies.
KS2 Curriculum Map
Online Safety
Please see our Safeguarding page for more information.
Computer Club
Welcome to Colman Computing Club.
We meet on a Tuesday after school at 3:15 to 4:15pm in the ICT suite. The Computer suite houses 17 computers and we each have one to work on; so, no sharing. Colman Computing club is for pupils who are interested in all aspects of computing and not just coding.
Mrs Wilson, who supports the club, is there to help us develop our interest and skills but not to teach us. Therefore, we have to do a lot of independent learning using resources such as books, fellow students or help videos on You Tube to help support our progress.
Developing our coding/programming skills by using the software Scratch, Espresso or Code.org at our own pace and engaging in activities which interest us and not what we are told to do is fun.
We can use the code club online resources or challenge each other with ideas for activities to code. If we are stuck for ideas Mrs Wilson will give us a task to complete such as a Christmas E-card that we can share with the class or the whole school in an assembly.
If coding isn’t your thing and you prefer more traditional Information and technology or Digital learning then you access Microsoft Office to develop your word or presentation skills using PowerPoint. Exploring our Email and contacting each other in a safe environment with a trusted adult to support us is also an option.
If this sounds like something you would be interested in then come and find Mrs Wilson who can tell you more about how to register your interest for next term.
At Colman Junior School, children learn about cultures within and beyond their local community through the study of language. Their curiosity of the world is harnessed and developed as they are taught to communicate through sign, speech, reading and writing.
BSL, Spanish and French are taught because of their relevance in our school community and because of their importance as majority global languages of near geographical neighbours.
Relevant and appropriate content provide our learners with skills for communicating in practical ways. Children develop confidence in signing and speaking in new languages through fun and engaging activities practiced in safe and supported settings. The curriculum is planned to allow children to hear and join in with songs, rhymes and words to reading and then writing words and short phrases. Language learning skills are practised and repeated when new languages are taught.
We follow a bespoke scheme for BSL written by our Teacher of the Deaf in consultation with the BSL Curriculum Group *. Spanish is taught in Y4 using ‘Early Start Spanish’ and French uses resources from ‘Rigolo’ when taught in Y5 and 6.
*Based at Frank Barnes School for the Deaf in London after consulting the worldwide Deaf community at the World Federation of the Deaf (WDF) in July 2019
See also BSL intent document
Curriculum Intent for RE
At CJS, RE is taught in accordance with The Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education in Norfolk and largely delivered through the programme of study within Discovery RE. We also provide our children with opportunities for them to learn about and from religions in local contexts by arranging for each Year group to visit a different local place of worship in order to discover, explore and consider different answers to key questions.
We deliver an RE curriculum which is accessible to all and that will engage, inspire and challenge children, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to answer challenging questions, explore different religious beliefs, values and traditions and develop a more rigorous understanding of religious traditions, beliefs and practices that are followed in our multi-cultural society.
We want our children to know how religious education promotes discernment and enables pupils to combat prejudice, preparing them for adult life, employment and life-long learning. As a result of this, they will become independent and responsible members of a society who understand and explore big questions about life, to find out what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, so that they can make sense of religion, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living. Furthermore, at CJS we encourage our children to develop a positive attitude towards other people, respecting their right to hold beliefs different from their own, and towards living in a society of diverse religions and beliefs.
Year 4 trip to the Synagogue 2019-20
Year 3 trip to the Roman Catholic Cathedral 2019-20
Year 6 trip to the Norwich Cathedral and Rose lane Mosque 2019-20
All children need to acquire core knowledge and understanding of the beliefs and practices of the religions and worldviews which not only shape their history and culture but which guide their own development. The modern world needs young people who are sufficiently confident in their own beliefs and values that they can respect the religious and cultural differences of others, and contribute to a cohesive and compassionate society. RE’s place on the curriculum will be strong if its role and importance are communicated effectively and widely understood. RE in England compares favourably with equivalent curricula in high performing jurisdictions around the world, but this reputation can only be maintained with a rigorous model of RE. (GOVE)
