Long-term overviews

At Beech Grove, we have designed a curriculum which is based on and meets the requirements of the Primary National Curriculum. It is carefully structured to ensure that learning builds on the knowledge and skills previously taught. It provides a coherent learning journey for our pupils that provides a firm foundation for all future learning.

Click on the links below to see our long term plans for each phase:

Years 1 and 2 Years 3 and 4 Years 5 and 6

Click here to see progression documents for each subject.

Our motto ‘Engage, Enrich, Excel’ has guided the development of our Curriculum. We take time to get to know our pupils well, including any barriers to learning they may face, the prior experiences they bring to the classroom, and their interests, talents and ambitions. This has enabled us to design a curriculum that engages and meets the needs of the particular learners at our school.

In-line with our motto, we enrich the curriculum through a range of opportunities which ensure pupils’ personal development is effectively promoted alongside their academic development. These include:

our termly enrichment weeks which connect children to their local, national and global world and raise awareness of important issues such as protecting the environment and healthy living. Enrichment weeks currently planned in to our rolling programme include a focus on: our school values, building aspiration, caring for the environment, the arts, healthy living and world cultures.
our termly problem solving days, which seek to inspire pupils’ mathematics learning whilst developing key learning behaviours and skills.
the ‘Civic Award’ which gives pupils the opportunity to play an active role in their community through carrying out various activities including volunteering and leadership challenges.
strong community links which connect our pupils with a range of businesses and organisations in the town including our local care homes.
the ‘Archie Project’ which teaches children about the impact of dementia on others and how they can support members of their community.
Mini-Police where our pupils learn about the important work of the police and the role they can play in building a strong community both within the school and town.
a wealth of visits and visitors such as to the local museum, Wellington Town Council, The Houses of Parliament and residential visits to engage the pupils and ensure their learning is connected to the real world.

These opportunities ensure pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is nurtured and that they develop a good understanding of our British Values of democracy, individual liberty, the rule of law and mutual respect and tolerance.

We understand the crucial role we play in preparing pupils for the next phase of their education.

We are ambitious for every pupil and seek to equip them with the skills and knowledge they need not only to excel academically, but to confidently manage their own lives and make a positive contribution to society.

By building a set of shared core values, we uphold a safe, calm and positive learning environment where diversity is celebrated, pupils have equal access to a high quality educational experience and where pupils feel valued for the unique contribution they can make.

The inclusive environment we offer at Beech Grove is centred around high expectations for all and a belief that every pupil, regardless of their needs, can excel.

Early Years Foundation Stage

Children in Reception are assessed against the Early Years curriculum and work towards the ‘Early Learning Goals’. Our on-going assessments are used to identify key subject areas, and focus children to be targeted for specific needs. There is a strong focus on the three prime areas for learning: communication and language, physical development and personal social and emotional development.

As well as these three prime areas, for the children to achieve a ‘Good Level of Development’, they also need to achieve the Early Learning Goals in reading, writing and maths. We believe it is important that children experience a broad and balanced curriculum so that they can make good progress across all areas of their learning.

Key Stage One

In Key Stage 1, we prioritise pupils' development in the core areas of reading, writing and maths, whilst also ensuring they achieve well in subjects across the curriculum. Phonics and maths are taught daily as discrete lessons and are regularly assessed. In English, we follow the ‘Talk for Writing’ approach across the school which involves daily, discreet teaching of writing as well as planned opportunities for pupils to apply their writing skills in other subjects.

Whilst we ensure meaningful curriculum links are made between subject areas in order to deepen pupils’ learning, we have taken care to ensure the rigour of individual subjects is not lost within ‘topics’. There are times when subjects are taught discreetly to ensure clear progression and focused teaching in that subject.

Careful consideration has been given to the progression of knowledge and skills within each of these subject areas to ensure pupils’ learning builds effectively over time and is secured in their long-term memory.

Key Stage Two

In Key Stage 2, children continue the daily diet of rigorous teaching in maths, reading and writing. Alongside this, they have access to a broad and balanced curriculum which places a heavy emphasis on the accumulation of rich knowledge.

We do not believe that there is any tension between preparing pupils well for their Statutory Assessment Tests (SATs) in Year 6 and maintaining a broad and balanced curriculum. We know that it is through accessing a rich and deep curriculum that pupils will develop the knowledge and skills they need to perform well in their SATs.