St George's Church of England School, Bourton

Inclusion and Our Curriculum

St George’s is an inclusive school. We accept children with Educational Health care Plans in accordance with the SEN Code of Practice. We believe that all pupils deserve the right to a broad and a balanced curriculum. The needs of children with English as an additional language are carefully considered. We aim to provide support to assist each child’s individual needs.

We provide additional nurture support for children who require it. Our programme, which aims to support and develop the emotional well-being of children who may have been identified as vulnerable or require focused behaviour support is delivered by our ELSA trained Teaching Assistant in school.

The curriculum is designed to be accessed by all children who attend the school. If we think it necessary to modify some children’s access to the curriculum, to meet their needs, then we do this only after their parents have been consulted. If children have special needs, our school does all it can to meet the individual needs, and we comply with the requirements set out in the SEN Code of Practice. If a child displays signs of having specific needs, then his/her teacher assesses this need in consultation with the SENDCO. If a child’s need is severe, we involve the appropriate external agencies in making an assessment. We always provide additional resources and support for children with special needs as appropriate.

The school works with specific children and their parents to create a Support Plan for each of the children who are on the Special Needs Register. This sets out the nature of the special need, and outlines how the school will aim to address it. The My Support Plan also sets out targets for improvement, so that we can review and monitor the progress of each child at regular intervals. Detailed Provision Maps are written termly to identify the provision put in place to meet the needs of individuals. Our provision mapping is an ongoing, self-review process designed to identify and overcome barriers to learning where they exist, ensuring inclusivity and that teachers are responsible for each pupil’s progress.

Early Years Foundation Stage

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, we adopt an inter-disciplinary topic approach to curriculum planning. We plan the curriculum carefully, so that there is coherent and full coverage of all aspects of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum and Early Learning Goals. We ensure that there is planned progression in all curriculum areas and this is based on children’s interests and the continual evaluation and evolvement of medium term plans.

Children learn basic skills through a blend of formal learning sessions, continuous provision practice and play activities which are carefully planned to include the prime and specific areas of learning.

PRIME AREAS:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development;

Communication and Language;

Physical Development.

SPECIFIC AREAS:

Literacy;

Maths;

Understanding of the World;

Expressive Art and Design.

In the Early Years, teachers build on children’s previous experiences and ensure that everyone feels included, secure and valued. The aim of the EYFS curriculum is to ensure equal access to the Early Years Foundation Stage learning objectives whilst also taking account of previous learning experiences and individual rates of development. The curriculum that we teach in our Reception and Year 1 class meets the requirements set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Our curriculum planning focuses on the Early Learning Goals, as set out in these documents, and on developing children’s skills and experiences.

Our school supports the principle that young children learn from a variety of activities, through appropriate play, and by engaging in well-planned and structured learning activities. We understand all children need the support of both the parents and the teachers to make good progress in school. We strive to build positive links with the parents of each child, by keeping them informed about how the children are being taught, how they can support learning, and how well each child is progressing.

Subject Leaders

Each Subject Leader checks each year group’s Long-Term Plan against the National Curriculum for coverage in their subject area. If there are gaps, the relevant year group’s teachers plus the Head teacher are informed to ensure comprehensive coverage.

Elements of the role of subject leader/leaders:

  • Knowing how well children make progress and what the standards are
  • Evaluating all aspects of the subject and summarising to define next steps for improvement
  • Action planning for future development by keeping up-to-date with developments (local and national) in their subject
  • Ensuring that appropriate resources are in place in order to deliver a rich and challenging curriculum
  • Having oversight of curriculum coverage and ensuring that the curriculum meets national requirements
  • Providing guidance and support to colleagues
  • Leading professional development
  • Overseeing the effectiveness of assessment


IMPACT

An integral aspect of the curriculum is that children are prepared for the future – during their time St George’s, they become good role models and the very best version of themselves. Their individual identity is valued and our children are kind and caring while also aspiring to be the best that they can be in whatever area they choose to pursue. We believe that every child is unique – they all have the potential to achieve; and our broad, varied curriculum allows every child to excel now and in the future based upon their own personal strengths, interests and core values. At St George’s we acknowledge the importance of learning from mistakes, encouraging resilience and positive attitude to meeting challenges and learning from them.

Ongoing assessment is carried out across the school. Some of this is informal on a day-to-day basis- teacher assessment is carried out on an ongoing basis using a range of assessment materials, and other relevant assessment and observation tool kits. Some is formal to meet the requirements of statutory assessment – EYFS Profiles at the end of Reception, Year One Phonics Screening, and SATs at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2) and the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6).

We review how well resources are matched to learning needs – in terms of use of time, space and money. Class Teachers are responsible for the day-to-day organisation of the curriculum. They monitor the weekly lesson plans, ensuring that all classes are taught the full requirements of the agreed schemes of work, and that all lessons have appropriate learning objectives.

  • Subject Leaders and our SLT monitor the way the subjects are delivered throughout the school. They review long-term and medium-term planning, and ensure that appropriate teaching strategies are used. Subject Leaders also have responsibility for monitoring the way in which resources are stored and managed.
  • Subject Leaders also monitor the effectiveness of teaching and the impact on learning and progress
  • Subject leaders review the way the subject is taught in school, and plan for improvement.
  • This development planning then links to whole-school objectives. Each Subject Coordinator reviews the curriculum plans for the subject and sees that progression is planned into schemes of work.


At St George’s, we strive for all pupils to achieve their maximum potential, by having high expectations and excellent standards. Our pupils make good progress throughout their time at St George’s.