DOGSTHORPE INFANT SCHOOL
CURRICULUM POLICY
Considered & Ratified:
Meeting:
Full Governors
Date:
27th November 2013
Minute:
18
Review:
In line with Curriculum Development
Evaluation & Monitoring:
Curriculum Manager
This document is a statement of the aims, principles and strategies at Dogsthorpe
Infant School.
It was developed through a process of consultation with teaching staff and
Governors.
Each person in our school will be given fair and equal opportunities to develop their
full potential with positive regard to gender, ethnicity, cultural and religious
background, sexuality or disability. A schedule for the review of this and all other
policy documents is set out in the School’s Plan of Whole School Development.
1
Supporting documents: Subject Guidelines, Assessment, Recording and Reporting policy,
Marking policy and Home Learning policy
Curriculum Policy.
This policy is a statement of aims and principles relating to the school’s curriculum. It
will be reviewed in line with our Learning and Teaching policy.
Education influences and reflects the values of society, and of the society we would
like to live in. As an Infant school we accept that is part of our responsibility to not
only prepare our children academically for the next steps in their education, but also
to enable them to develop spiritually, morally, socially and culturally in order that they
grow to become respectable and knowledgeable individuals.
 CURRICULUM STATEMENT.
The staff and governors of Dogsthorpe Infant School aim to tailor education to
individual need, interest and aptitude so as to fulfil every child’s potential. Every pupil
will have access to a rich, broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum.
 COMMUNITY COHESION
At Dogsthorpe Infant School we aim to work for the benefit of the whole community
and involve our pupils and staff in community life. Opportunities will be created
throughout the curriculum to value diversity whilst also promoting shared values,
spiritual awareness and respect for each other.
 COMMON VALUES AND PURPOSE.
Our curriculum pays high regard to achieving high standards in English and Maths
whilst being broad, exciting and challenging.
At the heart of our curriculum are the core outcomes of: keeping safe and healthy,
enjoyment and achievement, achieving economic wellbeing and making a positive
contribution.
The curriculum is used to increase children’s knowledge, skills and understanding as
they grow and develop and become more aware of their community, society and the
world around them. We aim to carefully plan and structure the curriculum to ensure
learning is continuous, and that pupils make good progress with the development of
their learning.
2
Supporting documents: Subject Guidelines, Assessment, Recording and Reporting policy,
Marking policy and Home Learning policy
 PLANNING.
In Reception, children follow the DFE Development Matters in the Early Years
Foundation Stage which includes seven areas of learning:
PRIME AREAS:
 Personal, Social and Emotional Development
 Communication and Language
 Physical Development
SPECIFIC AREAS:
 Literacy
 Mathematics
 Understanding the World
 Expressive Arts & Design
Throughout the year, every child is assessed according to achievements relating to
age brackets and at the end of the year they are given profile scores:
1 = Emerging (Early Learning Goal not achieved)
2 = Expecting (Early Learning Goal achieved)
3 = Exceeding (Early Learning Goal exceeded)
In Year One, elements of the Foundation Stage Curriculum are continued for at least
the first half term to ensure smooth transition. Year One teachers also make
reference to ‘Development Matters’ if appropriate to the child. After this transition
period, the National Curriculum is followed and continues into Year Two, unless the
child has special educational needs and requires a different curriculum approach.
Key Stage One Curriculum documents.
 The National Curriculum; the programmes of study for each subject are used as
the basis for the long term and medium term plans.
 The Renewed Frameworks for Literacy and Mathematics.
 The Peterborough RE Agreed Syllabus 2013.
 The Cambridgeshire Personal Development Programme
The subjects taught in Key Stage One are:
CORE SUBJECTS
Literacy
Numeracy
Science
ICT
3
Supporting documents: Subject Guidelines, Assessment, Recording and Reporting policy,
Marking policy and Home Learning policy
FOUNDATION SUBJECTS
Geography
History
Music
Art
Design Technology
PSHE*
Physical Education
NON-CURRICULUM SUBJECT
Religious Education*
(* due to the nature of this subject, there is a separate policy)
ICT is also used across the curriculum to enhance and support all other subjects, as
well as being a discrete subject.
Each subject has ‘guidelines ’developed by the Subject Leader and Curriculum
Manager.
 DELIVERY.
 All Reception classes are mixed ability, with children being ability grouped for
learning when necessary. This year group covers the seven learning areas
through a well-planned topic based curriculum.
 All Key Stage One classes are mixed ability and Foundation Subjects are taught
within these groups with differentiation as necessary.
 For the daily phonics sessions, the children are taught in ability groupings across
the year group. In Year 2 Numeracy is taught in ‘sets’.
 Literacy and Numeracy is taught every morning throughout Year 1 and 2.
Foundation Subjects are taught in the afternoons through a topic-based
curriculum.
 Some subjects are taught in ‘blocks’ to enable more thorough coverage of the
subject.
 The school’s planning promotes enrichment and caters for individual pupils needs
whilst reflecting the cultural diversity of the school.
Topics:
EYFS: topics vary in Reception from year to year as teachers plan in response to the
needs and interests of the children.
Year 1: Ourselves, Food & Festivals, Toys & Games, Pets, Dinosaurs and Bears
Year 2: London’s Burning, Aspirations, Space, Animals from Around the World, Tell
me a story and Healthy, Happy Me.
The topics are reviewed annually within year group teams. Visitors and Visits are
planned to motivate and engage learners in the topics.
4
Supporting documents: Subject Guidelines, Assessment, Recording and Reporting policy,
Marking policy and Home Learning policy
 TARGET SETTING.



The Development Matters document and APP materials are used to support
target setting.
Children with special educational needs have Individual Education Plans (IEPs)
which set specific targets focusing on their area of need.
The Gifted & Talented Lead Teacher works with teachers to identify children
working well above age expected attainment. These children are targeted in
class and also additional provision made e.g. clubs
 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.
 The role of the Curriculum Manager is held by the Deputy Head teacher. It is the
manager’s responsibility to ensure all subjects are planned and delivered in an
enriching and exciting way whilst following the school’s and national
requirements.
 Subjects are divided into ‘teams’ which supports cross-curricular planning and
collaboration:
HUMANITIES TEAM – RE & Collective Worship, Geography, History and Global
Dimension.
HEALTH & WELLBEING TEAM – PE, PSHE and Outdoor Learning (inc. Ecoschools)
CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT TEAM – Music, Art and DT and the Learning
Environment
The Core Subjects stand alone. We also have teams responsible for EAL and SEN
pupils and Safeguarding.

Members of staff are given responsibility for a subject area within each team. It is
the leader’s responsibility to monitor the subject and to ensure that it is
implemented consistently and effectively. This can be done through learning
walks, lesson observations, pupil interviews, planning checks and scrutinising
pupils work.
 INCLUSION.
Teachers plan to meet the needs of all pupils by ensuring learning is focused on
individual pupils’ needs and abilities. Assessment for Learning strategies enable
teachers to set targets which reflect individual pupils’ skills, abilities and potential.
The school uses the ‘Wave Model of Intervention’:
 WAVE 1 – the effective inclusion of all pupils in high quality lessons – Quality
First Teaching.
 WAVE 2 – small group work and booster groups for identified target children with
a variety of programmes (e.g. Every Child a Reader, Numbers Count & 1st
Class@Number support programmes).
 WAVE 3 – specific targeted intervention for pupils identified as requiring special
educational needs support. Specific curriculum extension programme for Gifted
and Talented cohort.
5
Supporting documents: Subject Guidelines, Assessment, Recording and Reporting policy,
Marking policy and Home Learning policy
 SPIRITUAL, MORAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL OPPORTUNITIES.
The staff and governors are keen that all pupils are provided with SMSC
opportunities both through the planned curriculum (specifically PSHE and RE) and
through Collective Worship, Special Events, Visits and Visitors representing the local
community and worldwide issues.
 EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES.
A variety of extra-curricular activities are made available to children including Dance,
ICT, Arts & Crafts, Football, Writing, Maths and Science clubs
As an Extended School our children can also access: Breakfast Club, After-School
care and holiday activities.
 RESOURCES.
The school is well resourced for all curriculum areas and there are designated
storage places for these around the school. Resource audits are carried out by
Subject Leaders as necessary and the School Leadership Team audits whole school
resources on an annual basis.
6
Supporting documents: Subject Guidelines, Assessment, Recording and Reporting policy,
Marking policy and Home Learning policy