A Curriculum To Inspire @ Mountfields Lodge

EXPLORE         PERSEVERE      BE INDEPENDENT       COMMUNICATE                  

These are the 'drivers' around which our curriculum is centred. Whilst our ‘Curriculum to Inspire’ is based on the EYFS Curriculum and the National Curriculum, we have been proactive in our school by developing a Curriculum which inspires our children to learn and is relevant to their needs now - and in the future in our school. We are not static in our thinking regarding the Curriculum we plan to deliver; we believe that on-going Curriculum review is essential, refreshing and exciting.

We want to provide a curriculum that allows for our EPIC ‘drivers', or ‘learner attributes’, to be instilled in our pupils in order that they become EPIC Learners; we want them to:

1. Explore facts,  information and skills; we want them to be inquisitive and enquiring (EXPLORE)
2. Not give up at the first hurdle (or even the second); we want them to know that effort, commitment and hard work can pay dividends (PERSEVERE) 
3. Learn how to learn; to learn how to pursue lines of enquiry and interest for themselves (be INDEPENDENT)
4. Be able to tell others, with confidence and clarity, what they know, what they think, what they imagine… (COMMUNICATE)

We have 5 Curriculum Teams made up of teaching staff, each with a team leader:

1. Well-Being Team: PE, PSHE, RE (this encompasses FBV (Fundamental British Values), SMSC (Spiritual, Moral and Social Curriculum), Drug and Alcohol Education, RSHE (Relationships, Sex and Health Education), Mental Health). Team Leader: Mrs Mock
2. Global and Cultural Team: History, Geography, Music, Art. Team Leader: Mr Coleman
3. English Team  Team Leader: Mr Wilson
4. Maths Team  Team Leader: Mr Froud
5. Innovation Team: Science, Computing, DT (Design Technology)  Team Leader: Mrs Moore

These teams contunually review and revise our 'Curriculum to Inspire @ MfL', focusing upon what we are trying to achieve; our Intent; how we wish to deliver this; our Implementation, and how we know if we are 'getting it right' for our learners; our Impact.

Each Team is capturing this in our new Curriculum (Subject) Statements (replacing our previous Currciulum Policies), and you will find these below.

In each Curriculum Statement there is a Progression Map which details the acquistion of knowledge, understanding and skills as our pupils move through our school. From these Maps we have identified what we call our Core Learning expectations; these are our 'non-negotiables' for teaching and learning.

In each Statement there is also clarification on the Key Characteristics that we believe will make our pupils successful learners in each subject; we call these our 'How to be a good...' (historian, coder, scientist...).

Curriculum Teams will be working (2021-22) on Curriculum Statements for e-Safety and Spoken Language and (Foreign) Languages.

At Mountfields Lodge School we use the Leicestershire Agreed Syllabus as a basis for our teaching of R.E. This syllabus enables an understanding of concepts and the development of skills and attitudes so that our pupils can explore wider issues of religion and belief in religiously literate ways. It prepares our pupils for active citizenship in a diverse and rapidly changing world, exploring some aspects of British Values in relation to religions and world views.

EYFS

During their first year at school our children continue to follow the ‘Foundation Stage’ curriculum which comprises seven areas of learning - three ‘Prime’ areas and four ‘Specific’ areas.

Prime Areas:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development

• Communication and Language

• Physical Development

Specific Areas:

• Literacy

• Mathematics

• Understanding the World

• Expressive Arts and Design

Teaching and learning is designed to be multi-sensory and engage children in fun and stimulating activities across all of the areas above, making use of our inspiring outdoor areas as well as the classrooms. Our children’s learning is recorded in two "Learning Journeys': the Online Learning Journey 'Tapestry' and in a scrap-book type learning journey in school. Staff and parents observe and support the learning of pupils through photographs, drawings and mark making/writing presented in these Learning Journeys. 

Phonics at MFL

The teaching of reading uses a range of strategies, with phonics playing a key role in this.

Synthetic phonics is the primary approach used in reading for children in early school life. Phonics provides pupils with the tools to decode words when reading and to segment words for writing and spelling. Using phonics to read enables children to explore literacy, develop their vocabulary, learn across the curriculum from many sources, enter imaginary worlds and to answer their many questions.

An amalgamation of the most effective elements from Jolly Phonics, Letters and Sounds and Read Write Inc. methodology are combined to create a clear and engaging Mountfields Lodge Phonics curriculum. This combination of programmes gives each individual phoneme/grapheme a clear identity; allows children to build up a large bank of sight words and equips them with the skills to blend and segment.

Phonics is taught daily for approximately 20 minutes.

Teaching

Characteristics of successful phonics teaching:

• Rigorous and fast paced
• Highly interactive
• Many opportunities to articulate phonemes/words
• All children blending orally and visually (with and without use of sound buttons)
• All children segmenting orally and segmenting for spelling
• Teacher modelling correct pronunciation and technical language
• High expectations for all pupils
• New learning in each session
• Praise and reinforcement
• 4 part structure – Review, teach, practise and apply