The School Curriculum

At Halfway Houses Primary School, we believe that every child is entitled to a high-quality education that enables them to achieve their full potential. Our curriculum is carefully designed to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum (2014) while providing rich, meaningful learning experiences that inspire curiosity, creativity and ambition.

We use the Kapow Primary curriculum as the foundation for our curriculum design across a range of subjects. Kapow's carefully sequenced schemes of work ensure that knowledge and skills are taught progressively, enabling children to build upon prior learning and develop a secure understanding over time.

Our Curriculum Intent

Our aim is to provide children with the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to become successful learners, responsible citizens and confident individuals. Through our curriculum, we seek to inspire children to be curious about the world around them, think critically, solve problems creatively and develop a lifelong love of learning.

Our curriculum is designed to:

• Provide a broad, balanced and ambitious education for all pupils.
• Develop secure knowledge and skills across the full range of curriculum subjects.
• Enable children to make connections between their learning and the wider world.
• Promote creativity, resilience and independent thinking.
• Encourage pupils to become active, informed and responsible members of society.
• Build cultural capital through a wide range of enriching experiences.
• Develop confident communicators with strong literacy, language and oracy skills.
• Foster respect, inclusion and understanding of different people, communities and cultures.

At the heart of our curriculum are our ROAR values:

Resilience

We encourage children to persevere when faced with challenges and develop the confidence to learn from mistakes.

Optimism

We help children develop a positive outlook, believing in their ability to succeed and make a difference.

Ambition

We inspire children to aim high, challenge themselves and strive for excellence in all they do.

Responsibility

We support children to become thoughtful, respectful and responsible members of their school, community and wider world.

These values underpin all aspects of school life and learning, helping children to develop the personal qualities needed to thrive both now and in the future.

Implementation

Our curriculum is delivered through carefully sequenced units of learning using the Kapow Primary schemes of work. These schemes provide clear progression from the Early Years Foundation Stage through to Year 6, ensuring that learning builds systematically year upon year.

Kapow's curriculum is designed around the principles of:

• Progressive knowledge and skills development, enabling children to know more and remember more over time.
• High-quality vocabulary instruction, helping pupils develop language and understanding across all subjects.
• Creative and practical learning opportunities, encouraging children to apply their knowledge in meaningful contexts.
• Critical thinking and enquiry, enabling pupils to ask questions, investigate ideas and evaluate information.
• Inclusive teaching approaches, ensuring all learners can access and succeed within the curriculum.

Learning is structured so that pupils revisit and build upon previously taught knowledge and skills, strengthening understanding and supporting long-term retention.

Reading remains a central priority at Halfway Houses Primary School. We believe that reading unlocks all areas of the curriculum, and we provide rich opportunities for children to develop fluency, comprehension and a genuine enjoyment of reading. Alongside this, spoken language and vocabulary development are promoted across all subjects, enabling children to communicate their ideas confidently and effectively.

Teachers use a range of assessment strategies to identify prior knowledge, inform planning and support pupils in making strong progress. Lessons are adapted where necessary to meet the needs of all learners while maintaining high expectations for every child.

The Why, What and How of Learning

Why?

We believe every child deserves the opportunity to achieve their full potential academically, socially and emotionally.

What?

Our curriculum delivers the knowledge, skills and understanding outlined within the National Curriculum while providing rich opportunities for personal development.

How?

Learning is shaped by our ROAR values of Resilience, Optimism, Ambition and Responsibility. These values are taught, modelled and celebrated throughout the curriculum, helping children develop the confidence and character needed for lifelong success.

Impact

Through our ambitious and engaging curriculum, children develop as knowledgeable, confident and responsible learners who are well prepared for the next stage of their education and future life in modern Britain.

The impact of our curriculum is measured through:

• Ongoing formative assessment during lessons.
• End-of-unit and summative assessments.
• Pupil discussions and opportunities to explain their learning.
• Work scrutiny and moderation activities.
• Monitoring of curriculum coverage, progression and outcomes.
• Evaluation of how well pupils remember and apply previously taught knowledge and skills.
• Celebration of learning through displays, enrichment opportunities, performances and curriculum events.

As a result, pupils leave Halfway Houses Primary School with a strong body of knowledge, secure subject-specific skills, positive attitudes to learning and the confidence to contribute positively to their communities and the wider world.

For further information, please see our curriculum overviews, subject information pages and progression documents, or speak to a member of the Senior Leadership Team. Information about the National Curriculum can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-primary-curriculum

Curriculum Rationales

Subject overviews

Long Term Planners

Medium Term Planners

Homework

Each term the children in years 1-6 are given the opportunity to complete a passport to learning project. These can either be based around our termly topics or on the children's interests and hobbies. Children therefore have a degree of freedom as to how they respond to the topic they have been given. It is expected that the children complete their projects as independently as possible and are encouraged to bring them in at the end of each term to display at the open afternoon. They can then be shared with our visitors and other children in the class. 

Alongside this, children are also expected to practise their spellings and times tables regularly and ensure that they read their school accelerated reader book.

Special Educational Needs

It is recognised that 1 in 5 children can have a specific educational need at some stage in their learning.  Our school policy aims to identify needs as early as possible in order to support children effectively before the need has too great an impact upon their learning in accordance with the Equality act 2010 and the SEND and disability regulations 2014  For many children the needs are supported by the class teacher and teaching assistant but all children are monitored on a regular basis and for some children more specialised intervention is required.  The school is able to call upon external agencies for further support when required.  It is our policy to involve parents as much as possible in their children’s needs.

Sex and Relationships Education

Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) is a key aspect of Personal, Social and Health Education at Halfway Houses Primary School. As such it is more than the biology of reproduction and is taught in the context of caring relationships. The SRE is provided in upper Key Stage 2 and forms a foundation for further work in secondary schools.

Religious Education

Religious Education is included in the basic curriculum alongside the core and foundation subjects. The work undertaken is non-denominational; whilst reflecting the broad traditions of Christian belief, the work also draws on the beliefs of other faiths.
Parents have the right to withdraw their children from Religious Education if they so wish - we will make the necessary arrangements on receipt of a written request.

Educational Visits

During the time the children are at the school, they will have the opportunity to accompany their class on a variety of educational visits, either linked with the current programme of study in the classroom, or educationally worthwhile in their own right. These visits are an important part of the children's learning, and are planned with that in mind. There are also regular visits to the school by a variety of providers.

.