Our Curriculum
At Tarporley, our hope is that all our children flourish so they can 'live life in all its fullness'. John 10:10
In order that all learners grow and reach their full potential, we want our curriculum to:
Demonstrate BRAVERY – we want our teachers to be ambitious when planning our curriculum with high expectations of all learners. We want our learners to be brave, willing to take risks and get things wrong, and show resilience alongside a strong desire to learn and grow
Be OUTWARD-FACING – our curriculum will look beyond our school to our local community and will encourage children to see themselves as part of the wider national and global community. They will learn from other countries, faiths and cultures and we will celebrate differences while recognising that all life on Earth is precious. Our children will understand they have the power to affect change through courageous advocacy and both ask and answer Big Questions
Create memorable OPPORTUNITIES – we want our children’s time at Tarporley to be filled with happy memories that spark their curiosity, motivate them to reach their full potential, ensure learning is ‘sticky’ and instil in them a life-long love of learning. Our broad and ambitious curriculum will embrace learning outside the classroom, and will recognise the importance of cultural capital in preparing our children for life and learning beyond our school
Develop KNOWLEDGE and SKILLS – we recognise that knowledge is key. Our coherently planned and sequenced curriculum ensures all children can achieve, make sense of the world and make informed judgements and decisions. Vocabulary development will be at the heart of this. Our children will leave us with the skills they need to thrive in the next stage of their learning
Nurture SPIRITUALITY – led by our Christian Values, staff will nurture the whole child by developing their social, moral, cultural and spiritual well-being. We recognise spirituality as ways of being with God and the ways God is with us
…while always having high-quality BOOKS and reading at the heart of our teaching and learning!
Below is an overview of our learning for the summer term and what we will be focussing on:
English
We have a books-based approach to the teaching of writing and we choose books that will inspire, entertain and excite our children. We ask that you don’t read these books in advance as it’s lovely to discover them together. It’s also important that we can develop their prediction skills which is difficult if they already know the book!
Core text for summer 1: Blue John by Berlie Doherty, Fiction: write a letter that includes an explanation
Core text for summer 2: A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories by Angela McAllister (Julius Caesar), Fiction: write a playscript for a part of the story
In Guided Reading, we'll be exploring A Myth-Hunter’s Travel Guide by The Literacy Company, and in summer 2, we’ll read more of A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories by Angela McAllister
Maths
Decimals and Money, Shape, Position and Direction, Statistics, Measure (Time, Length, Perimeter, Weight and Capacity)
Religious Education
Christianity: What is my point of view about God and why do people have faith?
Islam: What do Muslims believe happened on ‘The Night of Power’ and how do they worship?
Science
Learning will focus on animals including humans where we’ll learn all about digestion, teeth and food chains before focussing on states of matter where we’ll explore solids, liquids and gases
Geography – Are all settlements the same?
In this unit, we’ll focus on different types of settlements around the UK and around the world, identify land use and identify the human and physical features in our local area
History – How hard was it to invade and settle in Britain?
Our learning will look at the causes and consequences of the Anglo-Saxon and Scots invasion of Britain and explore a range of sources to deepen our understanding of this period
Art and Design – Telling Stories Through Making
In art and design, pupils will explore how artists are inspired by other art forms – in this case how we make sculpture inspired by literature and film
Design and Technology
Our D&T learning will look at designing and making a fabric purse of wallet to sell in a gift shop. We’ll link this with our learning in English where we will be reading the story Blue John which is based on the Blue John Caverns in Derbyshire
Computing
We will be learning to use a graphing tool where we’ll enter data into graphing software and answer questions. We will then solve an investigation and present the results in graphic form. Children will also learn to touch type. Children learn about the importance of posture when typing and they are introduced to finger positions in relation to key areas of the keyboard
PE
Sports Day is planned for 2st May so we will be practising for our athletics events in our PE lessons. During the second half term we will be learning cricket with an external coach
French
We’ll be reading Petit Chaperon Rouge (Little Red Riding Hood) and will focus on listening skills to pick out key words and phrases from the story
Music
Year 4 pupils will all receive clarinet lessons this term culminating in a performance to families while Year 3 pupils will be learning the recorder
How you can support at home…
- While we request that you avoid the core English texts (so we don’t get any spoilers!), any reading or further research you can support your child with, which we call pre-learning, will be of huge benefit. We favour the local library over online research, but any additional learning linked to any of our topics would be great.
- Supporting your child with their quick recall of multiplication and related division facts will make so many areas of maths easier and will stand them in good stead for the next stage of their learning. Pupils have to know all facts to 12x12 by the end of Year 4. There are links to games and activities on our class pages to support with this.
- All the activities on the optional homework menu (which you can download from our class pages) link with the learning taking place during this term. We’d recommend encouraging your child to choose from the menu – the activities can be done in any order and at any point during the term – so they have opportunities to deepen their understanding and practise their skills.
Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour. Psalm 25:5
