Ysgol Gynradd Llandeilo Primary School

“A child has the Right to an Education”  Article 28

At Llandeilo Primary School we believe in the concept of lifelong learning and the idea that both adults and children learn new things every day. We maintain that learning should be a rewarding and enjoyable experience for everyone; it should be fun.

Through our teaching, we equip children with the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary to be able to make informed choices about the important things in their lives. We believe that appropriate teaching and learning experiences help children to lead happy and rewarding lives. We also believe in equality of opportunity to succeed for every child and our learning programmes will enable each learner to reach his / her full potential.

We have adopted the CORNERSTONES Curriculum which we feel gives us the skills and thematic  approach we believe is right for the pupils at our inclusive school.

Our Cornerstone curriculum includes:

• a whole school learning philosophy that engages children and raises standards
• a wide range of cross-curricular activities tied to theme and subjects
• comprehensive coverage of the new national curriculum programmes of study
• Essential Skills for all subjects to help plan and assess children’s progress
• writing, spoken language and reading at the heart of all learning.

Our imaginative Learning Projects are split into sections, which see children progress through four stages of learning: Engage, Develop, Innovate, Express.

Engage:

At the ‘Engage’ stage, children:

• gain memorable first-hand experiences, such as going on a visit or inviting a special visitor into school
• enjoy ‘WOW’ experiences
• get an exciting introduction to a topic or theme
• begin researching and setting enquiry questions
• get lots of opportunities to make observations
• develop spoken language skills
• take part in sensory activities
• have lots of fun to fully ‘engage’ with their new topic.

Develop:

At the ‘Develop’ stage, children:

• improve their knowledge and understanding of the topic
• develop and practice their new skills
• compose, make, do, build, investigate, explore, write for different purposes and read across the curriculum
• research their own questions and those set by others
• follow new pathways of enquiry based on their interests
• complete homework activities that support their learning.

Innovate:

At the ‘Innovate’ stage, children:

• apply skills, knowledge and understanding in real-life contexts
• solve real or imagined problems using everything they’ve learnt
• get inspired by imaginative and creative opportunities
• revisit anything not fully grasped at the ‘Develop’ stage.

Express:

At the ‘Express’ stage, children:

• become the performers, experts and informers
• share their achievements with parents, classmates and the community
• evaluate finished products and processes
• link what they have learnt to where they started
• celebrate their achievements!

We believe that education must be experiential, must nurture independence and must enable all members of each generation to develop the judgments necessary to take responsibility for:

• The conduct of their lives
• The shaping of their societies
• Global citizenship

We believe that judgment is the integration of knowledge, skills and standards of ethical behaviour that guides decisions, commitment and action.

Throughout this, and every other curriculum-based policy, the right of every child to acquire and apply Basic Skills is implicit and their entitlement to support in the acquisition of those skills is fundamental.

High quality education is characterised by:

• concern for the individual;
• high expectations;
• clear assessment and fulfilment of individual potential;
• equality of opportunity;
• a stimulating and orderly learning environment
• good relationships ;
• respect for self and others;
• order and purpose in learning;
• pupils’ confidence and self-esteem.

Curriculum design must take account of:

• breadth;
• balance;
• relevance;
• differentiation;
• coherence;
• progression.

Aims:

To develop experiential learning so that:

• Children will become confident, resourceful, enquiring and independent learners.

To develop collaborative learning communities so that:

• We foster self-esteem and help them build positive relationships with other people.
• We develop children’s self-respect and encourage them to respect the ideas, attitudes, values and feelings of others.
• Children show respect for all cultures and, in doing so, promote positive attitudes towards other people. (Promoting UNICEFF Rights of the child)
• We unable children to understand community and help them feel valued as part of this community.

To develop standards-driven learning so that:

• Children grow and develop in outcome areas
• We focus on motivating children and building on their skills.
• We set and achieve targets for each child and review their progress at the end of the academic year and, in turn set new revised targets.
• We plan our lessons with clear learning objectives and evaluate lesson outcomes.
• We achieve high standards of individual and whole school achievement.

To develop a skills based curriculum so that:

• Children are well equipped with the learning tools they will need for lifelong learning.
• Each child is able to access the curriculum in formats appropriate to his / her learning styles and needs

To develop problem-based learning so that we offer opportunities for children to learn in different ways. Ways which we have identified as effective learning.

These include:

• Investigation and problem-solving
• Research and finding out
• Group work
• Paired work
• Independent work
• Whole class work
• Asking and answering questions
• Use if ICT
• Fieldwork and visits to places of educational interest
• Creative activities
• Use of and response to multi-media material
• Debates, role play and oral presentations
• Designing and making things
• Participation in physical or athletic activity.

To maximise potential by ensuring that children have:

• appropriately challenging tasks and targets;
• active involvement in, and responsibility for, learning;
• ‘ownership’ of the learning process;
• opportunities to work independently.

Implementation:

• By developing learning environments
• By organising classrooms to support a range of teaching and learning styles.
• By providing access to appropriate learning areas.
• By defining learning areas within classrooms
• By building on previous learning experiences to ensure continuity and progression

across the whole school.

• By ensuring that children find familiar settings in each classroom which will facilitate independent learning
• By using tools and strategies which will be recognisable to all children e.g. thumbs up, check in, quality audience, quality control etc.
• By planning with a skill-based focus
• By developing differentiated planning
• By developing assessment for learning by:

* Developing children’s understanding of Success Criteria grids

* Making effective use of assessment information e.g. in setting individual targets for achievement

* Maintaining children’s books with annotated work which informs planning and individual target setting

* Implementing the marking & presentation policy consistently

*  Developing self and peer assessment

• By striving to develop strategies which we have identified as effective teaching:

*  Good relationships with all children

*  All children treated with kindness and respect

*  Following all school policies

*  Abiding by set and agreed codes and practices

*  Secure knowledge and understanding of the curriculum

*  Motivating children and building on their skills

*  Teaching based on knowledge of the children’s level of attainment

*  All tasks set according to levels of ability

*  Setting, monitoring and reviewing of individual targets

*  Lessons planned with clear learning objectives

*  Lessons evaluated to improve practice

*  Having high expectations for all learners

Basic Skills

The basic skills of Literacy and Numeracy will be developed through the skills based delivery of programmes of work in ways appropriate to the needs of each child.

Key skills across the curriculum:

The ‘skills framework’ identifies a range of ‘key skills’, the development of which will enable each child to develop as an active and interactive learner of the skills necessary to meet the demands of our programmes of study and to enjoy the opportunities they offer and to ‘prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.’

Children will be given opportunities to build on skills they have started to acquire and develop at Foundation Phase. Children will continue to acquire, develop, practice, apply and refine the key skills of thinking, communication, ICT and numeracy through group and individual tasks in a variety of contexts.

Roles and Responsibilities:

The Role of the Class Teacher.

It is the role of the class teacher:

• To implement this policy in the classroom whilst complying with the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum.
• To plan, both termly and weekly or fortnightly, differentiated programmes of work to effectively develop all children’s knowledge and competencies in using appropriate skills.
• To have in place assessment strategies to inform the next stages in learning and development and to report within the school
• To develop the basic skills of literacy and numeracy through the delivery of a skills-based curriculum
•  To be mindful of the need to develop key skills across the curriculum.

The Role of the Curriculum subject leader. Mrs V Davies

It is the role of the ARR leader:

• To monitor the implementation of the policy,

i)                    by looking at teachers’ termly and fortnightly planning

ii)                   ii) by observation and monitoring and

iii)                 iii) by listening to learners

• To keep abreast of developments.
• To update schemes where necessary.
• To offer advice and support to colleagues.
• To monitor the provision and use of resources and suggest purchasing as necessary.
• To monitor the inclusion of the development of key skills across the curriculum

The Role of the Headteacher and Governing Body:

It is the role of the Headteacher and governing Body:

• To oversee the implementation of the policy and the new curriculum orders.
• To ensure balance across the curriculum and that the appropriate time is allocated to subjects.
• To make financial provision to support the implementation of the policy.
• To secure any necessary provision for children with special educational needs / additional learning needs.

A skills – based curriculum is tailor-made for children who experience difficulties in accessing the curriculum through normal routes. Each child’s learning styles will be recognised and his / her learning needs can be met.

If a child is experiencing severe difficulties, in any class, the child will have been identified as being in the ‘school action’ / ‘school action plus’ stages of our code of practice and his/her programme of work will be planned appropriately in an Individual Education Plan.

Each child’s work will be recorded in an appropriate manner and relevant to the ability or disability of the child e.g. models, paintings, computer aided etc.

Every child’s achievement in all areas of the curriculum, however small it may be, will be valued and treated with respect.

Where a  child demonstrates ability beyond that expected for a child of his/ her age or stage will have been identified as MAT (more able or talented) and will have the same entitlement under the SEN the code of practice e.g. an IEP may be appropriate. When planning to provide for pupil’s outside the “norm” we must also be aware that there may be children who have particular gifts and work may need to be “differentiated up”.

Any specialist equipment, programmes of work, special tuition etc. will be acquired as and when the need arises. If specialities cannot be coped with within the school structure these pupils are also entitled to the protection and provision under the later stages of the code of practice.

Assessment/Evaluation:

Assessment is an on-going process and will be based upon teachers’ professional judgments. Children will be involved in assessing, evaluating and making judgments about their own work, and from this joint formative assessment goals can be set to ensure continuing development and progression in the acquisition of skills.

Evaluations of processes and procedures will be made in line with all policy reviews.