Thurlstone Primary School – Curriculum Intent Statement

General Principles:

Our curriculum will give children the opportunity to:

• experience the challenge and enjoyment of learning
• see clear links between different aspects of their learning
• explore the breadth and depth of the national curriculum and beyond
• develop and demonstrate their creativity in a variety of contexts
• learn within a coherent and progressive framework
• develop a rich and deep subject knowledge
• develop new skills through a variety of interesting contexts
• understand the purpose and value of their learning and see its relevance to their past, present and future
• develop values which enable them to be effective and happy world citizens.

Our curriculum will give also the children opportunity to:

• Cultural – Appreciate cultural influences; appreciate the role of Britain’s parliamentary system; participate in culture opportunities; understand, accept, respect and celebrate diversity.
• Tolerance and respect – To respect and tolerate the opinions, beliefs and behaviour of others.
• Individual liberty – Be free to express views or ideas.
• Rule of law – Learn that all people and institutions are subject to and accountable for their actions and behaviour.
• Democracy – Be part of a system where everyone plays an equal part.
• Social – Use a range of social skills to participate in the school community; the local community and the worldwide community. To appreciate diverse viewpoints; participate, volunteer and cooperate; resolve conflict.
• Spiritual – Explore beliefs, experience and faiths, feelings and values; enjoy learning about oneself, others and the surrounding world; use imagination and creativity and reflect on experiences.
• Moral – Recognise right and wrong and respect the law; understand consequences; investigate moral and ethical issues and offer reasoned views.

At Thurlstone Primary School, we believe that oracy — the ability to communicate effectively through speaking and listening — is a crucial skill that supports both academic achievement and future success. We aim to weave oracy throughout all areas of learning so that every pupil develops the confidence, clarity, and respect needed to express themselves and engage with others. A clear progression of oracy skills is mapped across the school, ensuring that children have structured and meaningful chances to strengthen their communication in every subject.

Our Oracy Framework is shaped around three core strands: Talk in the Early Years, Talk for Learning, and Talk for Life. Together, these strands provide a strong foundation for developing children’s communication abilities in different settings, nurturing both their educational progress and personal confidence.

Vocabulary:

At Thurlstone Primary School, we have developed a carefully planned and structured approach to identifying and mapping key vocabulary across the curriculum. This progressive approach ensures that pupils build a strong linguistic foundation, enabling them to take part in meaningful discussions, express their ideas clearly, and fully access the breadth of the curriculum. Each subject area has identified the essential vocabulary that children will encounter and use throughout their time at Thurlstone, ensuring consistency and depth in language development.

Performance Opportunities

At Thurlstone Primary School, we are committed to giving our pupils a wide range of opportunities to perform and share their voices with growing confidence. Whether presenting persuasive speeches, performing poetry, or sharing work with classmates, parents, and the wider community, we aim to nurture every child’s ability to speak with clarity, confidence, and pride. Through these experiences, pupils learn to express themselves effectively and appreciate the power of their own voice.

At Thurlstone Primary School we will teach our children to:

• write fluently and with interesting detail on a number of topics across the whole curriculum.
• use their imagination which makes readers engage with, and enjoy their writing.
• develop their vocabulary and knowledge of writing techniques to extend details or description.
• produce well-organised and structured writing, which includes a variety of sentence structures.
• develop excellent transcription skills that ensure their writing is well presented and punctuated, spelled correctly and neat.
• develop a love of writing and an appreciation of its educational, cultural and entertainment values.

We follow a Mastery approach to English through the programme ‘Pathways to Write.’ Units of work are delivered using high quality texts and children in all year groups are given varied opportunities for writing. Skills are built up through repetition within the units, and children apply these skills in the writing activities provided.  Many opportunities for widening children’s vocabulary are given through the Pathways to Write approach and this builds on the extensive work we do in school to provide our children with a rich and varied vocabulary.

Please click on the documents below to see what objectives are covered in each year group. More detail can be found in the curriculum class plans.

Overview of objectives EYFS

Overview of objectives Y1

Overview of objectives Y2

Overview of objectives Y3

Overview of objectives Y4

Overview of objectives Y5

Overview of objectives Y6

Spelling in YR, Y1 and Y2 is taught through Rocket Phonics.

We also use Pathways to Spell in KS2. Please click on the documents below to see what we teach in each year group:

Y3 and Y4 Spelling Objectives

Y5 and Y6 Spelling Objectives

Children routinely read in school independently, in guided groups, with partners and in shared class sessions. Children

Every day our children have the opportunity to listen to adults and other children read high quality and varied texts.

THURLSTONE PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN WILL HAVE

• confidence and positive attitudes to reading through access to a wide range of literature
• Extensive knowledge through having read a rich and varied range of texts.
• The motivation to read for both study and for pleasure.
• Excellent phonic knowledge and skills.
• Knowledge of an extensive and rich vocabulary.
• Excellent comprehension skills, which enable children to analyse what they read and to participate in discussion and debate about texts.
• good home/school partnerships.
• Effectively support those children who require additional support with their reading.
• Fluency and accuracy in reading across a wide range of contexts throughout the curriculum.

We make every effort to ensure our children are exposed to a wide range of high quality texts, both as part of their literacy lessons and during their daily story times.

OUR KEY AUTHORS

• Malorie Blackman
• Roald Dahl
• Julia Donaldson
• Philip Pullman
• Katherine Rundell

We also use Fred’s Teaching Reading  to drive our writing curriculum.

Reading Progression – Whole School

Reading Spine – whole school

Year 3 medium term plan

Year 4 medium term plan

Year 5 medium term plan

Year 6 medium term plan

We use the government validated scheme – Rocket Phonics

Rocket Phonics Overview

At Thurlstone Primary School, an inspiring science curriculum that provides many opportunities for practical lessons is key. As one of the core subjects, we give the teaching and learning of science the prominence it requires. The children are exposed to a wide variety of topics that support their natural curiosity for learning. Our curriculum aims to broaden the children’s scientific view of, and respect for, the world around them, whilst promoting an enthusiasm for enquiry and wanting to explore new things.
We want our pupils to develop an interest in science, and curiosity about the world we live in, that carries through into later life, instilling in them an awareness of how science is relevant in today’s society.
We endeavour to ensure that the science curriculum we provide will give children the confidence and motivation to continue to further develop their skills into the next stage of their education and life experiences

THURLSTONE PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN WILL DEVELOP:

• • The ability to think independently and ask questions about working scientifically and the knowledge and skills that it brings.
  • Confidence and competence in the full range of practical skills, taking the initiative in, for example, planning and carrying out scientific investigations.
  • Excellent scientific knowledge and understanding which is demonstrated in written and verbal explanations, solving challenging problems and reporting scientific findings.
  • High levels of originality, imagination or innovation in the application of skills.
  • The ability to undertake practical work in a variety of contexts, including fieldwork.
  • A passion for science and its application in past, present and future technologie

Please click on the link to see the whole school curriculum overview:

Whole School Curriculum

History

HISTORY THEME OVERVIEW

WHOLE SCHOOL HISTORY PROGRESSION DOCUMENT

Geography

GEOGRAPHY THEME OVERVIEW

Whole School Geography Progression Plan

Spanish

KS2 Spanish Curriculum Overview Sept 23

Design Technology

DT Long term curriculum plan

Computing

Whole School Computing Overview

Art

Whole School Art Overview

Art Curriculum Progression Overview

Whole School Artist Overview

myHappymind and myHappymind+

We are proud to be a of myHappymind school!
As a whole school programme grounded in science and dedicated to building positive mental wellbeing, myHappymind helps children understand how their brains work and creates a culture that
helps to build children’s resilience, confidence, and self-esteem. myHappymind also teaches the children how to self-regulate and manage their emotions in stressful times, allowing them to be their
very best selves!
The myHappymind programme is based around the following modules:

• Meet Your Brain: Understanding how your brain works and how to ensure we look after it so that we can manage our emotions and be at our best. Growth mindset is a key part of this too.
• Celebrate: Understanding your unique Character Strengths and learning to celebrate them. This is a fantastic module for building self-esteem.
• Appreciate: Understanding why gratitude matters and how you can develop gratitude as a habit. Gratitude is key to well-being and resilience and we’re all about making it a lifelong strategy!
• Relate: Understanding why positive relationships matter and how to build them. We’re focussed on the building blocks of good relationships and friendships.
• Engage: Understanding how to set meaningful goals that matter and how to stay resilient in times of challenge. This module is all about building self-esteem and resilience too.

If you would like to know more about the Parent App that accompanies the programme, you can find out more by clicking on the link below:

https://myhappymind.lpages.co/myhappymind-parent-app-introduction/

PSHE and myHappymind+

myHappymind is a mental health and well-being programme to support children in learning habits to support their own mental health. It does also cover all the mandatory objectives from the DfE Relationships Education Curriculum and also around 70% of the PSHE objectives.

RSE

The teaching of Sex and Relationship Education is now compulsory in Primary schools. Here is some useful information for parents:
RSE primary schools guide for parents

Real P.E.

We are passionate about the teaching of P.E. Click on the link to find out about our whole school Real P.E scheme.

PE. Curriculum Overview

Long Term Plan (with End Points) 2023 24

Core Real PE – Progression of Skills

Foundation Stage Curriculum Map

Y1 Curriculum Map

Y2 Curriculum Map

Y3 Curriculum Map

Y4 Curriculum Map

Y5/6 Curriculum Map

Fundamental Movement Skills Progression of Skills

Real Gym:

Real Gym – progression of skills

Real Gym FS2 Map

Real Gym Y1 Map

Real Gym Y2 Map

Real Gym Y3 Map

Real Gym Y4 Map

Real Gym Y5/6 Map

Real Dance:

Real Dance – progression of skills

Real Dance FS2 Map

Real Dance Y1 Map

Real Dance Y2 Map

Real Dance Y3 Map

Real Dance Y4 Map

Real Dance Y5/6 Map

Sparkyard Music

Our Musical School

Music Curriculum

School Music Development Plan

Religious Education

We use Discovery R.E to support the teaching of Religious Education across the school.

Whole School RE Overview (1)

Discovery RE Information for parents

Discovery RE and British Values

As a result it is our intention that children will leave Thurlstone:

• With resilience
• With lifelong learning skills essential for adulthood
• With independence
• As empathetic, responsible citizens who care about our planet
• With an appreciation of the wider world and it’s cultures
• With a strong moral purpose and respect for others
• Happy and healthy in both mind and body

We believe childhood to be a happy, investigative and enquiring time in our lives, where there are no limits to curiosity and there is a thirst for new experiences and knowledge.

We aim to grow our wonderful little ‘Rockets’ into ‘Great Explorers’ who are ready to take on the world.

EYFS Intent statement

British Values in the Early Years

EYFS – Story Time Books: 2022/2023

A happy and healthy learning environment creates children who are successful, confident, resilient and with high self-esteem. Our curriculum will give the children opportunity to:

• learn how to respect themselves and others
• build respectful friendships
• Follow their own interests and be themselves
• work in a range of groups and settings
• recognise that people are good at different things
• reflect and think mindfully about their learning
• learn in a peaceful and supportive environment
• develop self-esteem and confidence in their abilities
• learn how to manage intense feelings and support others to do so
• to develop and demonstrate empathy
• have access to highly skilled Thrive Approach practitioners who are exceptionally well placed to support the emotional needs of our children.
• benefit from the whole school Thrive Approach ethos.

Pupil Wellbeing Policy

Click on the link below to see how we promote staff wellbeing at Thurlstone.

Promoting Staff Wellbeing

We aim to enrich our curriculum by:

• offering opportunities for children to learn outdoors
• welcoming parents and carers to take part in children’s learning, experiences and successes
• holding specialist curriculum days or weeks
• developing partnerships with external providers (including the police) that extend children’s opportunities for learning
• providing on and off-site subject or topic related activities and trips
• taking our Y6 children to Crucial Crew (South Yorkshire Police) so they can learn develop valuable life skills
• providing our children with opportunities to experience large and small scale theatre productions
• providing our children with opportunities to take part in large and small scale musical productions
• providing our children with opportunities to experience the world of art and design by visiting a high quality gallery
• providing our children with opportunities to experience sporting activities in a range of venues
• providing our children with the opportunity to attend a two day outdoor and adventurous residential trip
• providing a wide range of extra-curricular clubs designed to meet the needs and interests of as many pupils as possible.

Click here to view a selection of photos and images which provide a flavour of personal development and enrichment opportunities at Thurlstone Primary school.

British Values at Thurlstone Primary School

Our enrichment offer

Personal Development at Thurlstone Primary School