READY RESPECTFUL RESPONSIBLE REFLECTIVE RESILIENT
CURRICULUM
Follow the link below to view our full curriculum (PDF):
The aim of our curriculum is to develop in the children the qualities outlined by our school rules, values and mission statement so that they are:
Ready
Children are ready for the next step, phase and stage in their education and ready for life in modern Britain.
Respectful
Children are respectful of others’ beliefs, traditions and points of view and respectful members of their community.
Responsible
Children have a sense of responsibility for their own learning and behaviour and are responsible citizens of their local communities and the wider world.
Resilient
Children are resilient to challenges and set-backs and resilient in their beliefs and values.
Reflective
Children are reflective about themselves and the world around them
See below for a summary of how each subject is taught here at Ewelme, along with links to each subject's medium and long term overviews and plans.
Click here for our full English Curriculum.
Writing
English lessons or reading sessions happen daily for every class to ensure the children are always ready for the next step, phase and stage of their learning.
Class teachers immerse the pupils in a wide range of rich texts that act as models for their own work. The books selected are linked to their overarching topic, and come from a wide range of authors and genres. The selected texts also reflect a wide range of socio-economic, geographical, cultural and racial contexts in order to develop in the children a respectful and reflective attitude towards people from different backgrounds, and with different traditions, attitudes and beliefs to their own. The pupils then use these texts to begin to imitate features in their own writing. Finally, the pupils innovate and apply what they have learnt into their own, entirely independent pieces of writing. Each unit of writing lasts between 3 and 6 weeks. The grammar and punctuation requirements for each year group are taught explicitly during these three stages of work.
Pupils are able to increase their independence, resilience and responsibility by accessing a range of resources that can help them with their writing, including dictionaries, thesauri, word mats etc.
Phonics
Phonics is taught every day in reception and KS1 and spelling is taught regularly in KS2.
In Key Stage 1, the ‘Floppy’s Phonics’ scheme is followed. Floppy’s Phonics is a rigorous and systematic synthetic phonics program, validated by the Department for Education. For more information follow these links:
Find out more about how Floppy’s Phonics meets the reception Early Learning Goals by clicking below:
Click to access FP_English%20Curriculum.pdf
Find out more about the progression within the Floppy’s Phonic scheme by clicking here:
As part of their phonics learning, the children take home two books; one reflecting the phoneme/s that they are working on at that time in their phonics sessions and a fully decodable, levelled reader that matches their phonics knowledge and reading ability.
Handwriting
Ewelme School follows the continuous cursive style of handwriting, which is taught and practised regularly. Pupils in Year 4 upwards work in a blue handwriting pen. Pupils in Year 3 can earn a ‘pen licence’ if their handwriting is of a sufficient standard.
Reading
In reading, pupils work in small groups to read, discuss and explore texts that are appropriate to their fluency and understanding and have regular opportunities to practise other keys skills, such as reading comprehension and decoding, and develop a lifelong love of books.
Every class visits our school library every week and have the opportunity to chose a book which they can read for pleasure both in class and at home. There are also a collection of age appropriate books in each classroom for the children to chose from.
Click here for our Maths Curriculum.
Maths is taught every day.
Teachers use the ‘White Rose Maths’ resources to guide their long, medium and short term planning in maths. These resources have been created in conjunction with the National College for Excellence in the Teaching of Maths (NCETM) and promote varied fluency in each area of maths, along with problem solving and reasoning skills. They also set out the small, incremental steps that pupils need to master as they develop skills, knowledge and understanding, meaning pupils are always ready for next step in their learning.
Across the school, teachers use concrete resources to support pupils’ understanding of mathematical concepts in order to build their independence and resilience.
Click here for our Science curriculum.
Science is taught every week. Science is about developing enquiring minds and a scientific approach to problem solving, through predicting, testing and analysing the results of those tests. This helps our pupils to develop the ability to be reflective about what they have observed or discovered and consider its implications.
The new curriculum, introduced in 2014, offers greater opportunities to develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding, as well as understanding the uses and implications of science today and for the future. The central aim is to build up a knowledge of biology, chemistry and physics. Working scientifically is key to the understanding of nature, processes and methods of science for each year group. It runs through all strands of science and is not taught in isolation.
Situated, as we are, in Oxfordshire with its vibrant scientific and technological industries close at hand, we believe it is important our pupils leave us with a passion for, and good standard of knowledge and understanding of science and STEM subjects more broadly so that they are ready to build up their knowledge and skills further at secondary school and ready to pursue this area into their later employment if they wish.
Click here for our Computing curriculum.
The 2014 national curriculum introduced a new subject, computing, which replaced ICT. Computing is an essential part of allowing children to discover new skills and develop their understanding of the world. At Ewelme, we focus on a wide range of skills including using emails, the internet and a range of publishing programs, as well as coding, programming and how to stay safe online, meaning our pupils are ready with the necessary skills for the work place and society of the present and future, and are responsible and respectful in the way they navigate the online world.
To support the teaching of computing, teachers and pupils have access to a range of resources including Chromebooks, laptops and tablets. Purple Mash is used as the basis of Computing, a learning platform that provides high quality resources, activities and tutorials to support the pupils in their learning.
Click here to see our overview of RE learning.
RE is taught in-line with the Oxfordshire Agreed Syllabus. At Ewelme we teach Religious Education using the Oxford Dioceses Board of Education’s Scheme of Work. This scheme shares the belief that RE makes a strong contribution to the education of each child by encouraging them to develop skills of critical thinking and analysis, allowing them to be reflective about their own and others beliefs and faith, as well as developing respectful attitudes to other beliefs and traditions and resilience in their own values. RE is taught through an enquiry-based approach and, whilst the study of Christianity will form the main component of the Programme of Study, RE will also involve learning about three or four other religions. Developing tolerance and respect for other religious beliefs and traditions will help pupils be ready for life in modern, multi-cultural Britain.
Click here to see our Art curriculum.
Each pupil has an art sketch book for their planning and artistic experimentation and art is linked, as much as possible, to each year group’s overarching theme or topic.
We believe that creativity, inspiration and challenge are essential to the development of our children. Our Art and Design curriculum aims to develop a deep understanding and appreciation of the role creativity has played; both culturally and historically. We provide high quality teaching and learning in drawing, painting and sculpture to enable children to create their own works of art, craft and design, using a range of different media. Children will also learn about significant artists and makers throughout history.
Click here to see our Physical Education curriculum.
At Ewelme School we want all children to LOVE BEING ACTIVE and to be advocates of leading a healthy, active lifestyle and understand the importance of their physical and mental health. Our PE curriculum aims to provide all children with a high quality, diverse and stimulating PE offer which develops their physical, personal, social and thinking skills. Through play, PE lessons, physical activity and competition we aim for every child to feel motivated to achieve their personal best and to gain confidence and physical competence to be active throughout their lives.
The 5Rs (being ‘ready’, ‘respectful’, ‘responsible’, ‘reflective’ and ‘resilient’) are explicitly taught through PE lessons.
Please click here to see our French curriculum.
French lessons are delivered on a weekly basis to all classes in Key Stage 2 (Years 3-6) by class teachers. They immerse the pupils in the French language throughout lessons, enabling them to develop their French understanding, speaking and writing.
Click here to see our History curriculum.
Ewelme School, built and opened in 1437 by Alice Chaucer, is steeped in its own history and the children are very aware of the historic importance of their surroundings. This naturally leads the children to being very inquisitive about the history of Britain, as well as global history. Therefore, topics taught across the school are often chosen based on a history focus. For example, ‘War and Peace’ in Year 5 and 6 is a history-led topic exploring the events of various conflicts.
Throughout the school, pupils develop a good chronological understanding and are able to understand the history that has shaped their current existence. They achieve this by learning about significant periods in British and global history (such as World War 2 and the Viking and Anglo Saxon invasions of Britain) as well as Ancient civilisations (such as the Greeks and Romans) and how key themes have changed throughout history (for instance, how streets have changed in appearance and usage from Roman Britain to the modern era).
Using a range of relevant experiences, artefacts and other primary and secondary sources, inspires the pupils to apply historical skills and independently draw conclusions or inferences.
Click here to see our Geography curriculum.
Some topics taught across the school are based on a geography focus. For example, ‘Rainforests’ taught in Year 2 is a geography-led topic that develops pupils locational knowledge and understanding and respect of different cultures around the world.
Whilst at Ewelme School, the pupils are equipped with a knowledge of diverse people and places. Pupils develop their locational knowledge (such as learning the names of the continents and oceans of the world, identifying the equator and tropics etc.); their map and geographical enquiry skills; and their understanding of human and physical geography (such as urban development, natural features such as mountains, rivers etc.).
The experiences that the pupils at Ewelme School have through geography, including carrying out fieldwork, partaking in trips associated with their topics and having an exposure to a wide range of reading materials, inspires the pupils to have a curiosity and fascination about the world.
Click here to see our PSHE curriculum.
PSHE is a key component of our curriculum and in promoting our school values of being ready, respectful, responsible, resilient and reflective. Our PSHE curriculum is based on resources and ideas provided by the PSHE Association and aims to develop skills and attributes such as resilience, self-esteem, risk-management, teamworking and critical thinking in the context of three core themes: health and wellbeing, relationships and living in the wider world (including economic wellbeing and aspects of careers education).
Our PSHE curriculum also fulfils the school’s statutory duty to provide Relationship and Sex Education to all pupils from Reception to Year 6. The content and context of this element of the curriculum is carefully tailored to the year group and age range taught so pupils are introduced to new ideas, concepts, information and language at the appropriate stage and age.
Click here to see an overview of the Relationships and Sex Education curriculum: RSE content by year group
Click the links below to view the lesson plans for sex education:
Year 2: Year 2 – changing and growing lessons
Year 5: Year 5 puberty lessons
Year 6: Year 6 – puberty and sex lessons
Click here to view the Power Point presentation shared with parents at our ‘Relationships and Sex Education – Information for parents meeting’: Relationships and Sex Education at Ewelme powerpoint for parents
- Click here to see our Music curriculum.
In music we encourage children to listen to and enjoy music of different styles, and to be able to appreciate the main elements of music including rhythm, pitch and composition.
In key stage 1, class teachers lead weekly music sessions, using the Charanga program. In Key stage 2, all pupils learn an instrument. They are taught the ukulele by a specialist teacher from the Oxfordshire Music Service.
Peripatetic music tutors also provide 1:1 piano and wind instrument lessons for pupils who wish to participate. Those children learning an instrument are regularly given the opportunity to perform to the school during assemblies and services.
Beyond the music curriculum, the children are encouraged to develop their skills and enthusiasm for the performing arts in a number of ways.
Our school choir practices weekly and takes part, on a rolling bi-annual basis, in the Festival of Voices concert at Dorchester Abbey and the Big Christmas Sing at Oxford Town Hall. It also regularly performs in assemblies and at services, attended by parents, at the church.
Every two years a whole-school production is staged at the village hall with parents invited to come along and watch. Our most recent show, in July 2022, was ‘Shakespeare Rocks’, a light-hearted musical based on the life of Tudor playwright William Shakespeare. In the ‘off years’, the children are invited to participate in a whole-school talent show in the summer term which, again, parents are invited to attend.
Through our Design and Technology curriculum, pupils are encouraged to become independent, creative thinkers and problem solvers who can work autonomously, as well as part of a team. Lessons are planned so that pupils follow a process where evaluation and communication are key. Design and Technology lessons allow pupils to apply learned skills from various other subjects such as mathematics, science, computing and art. In their projects, they design, make and evaluate products that solve real problems.
Follow the link below to see our SMSC tracker, which shows the whole-school and year group specific activities, events and learning that take place to develop the children’s social, moral, spiritual and community education.