Our Curriculum

INTRODUCTION

ENGLISH .

MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE

PROJECT WORK

COMPUTERS .

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

P.E./GAMES

CREATIVE ACTIVITIES, DESIGN TECHNOLOGY and MUSIC

SPECIAL EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION

The curriculum, taught within a calm and caring atmosphere, is organised partly through project, work which is relevant to the level of understanding of the children and includes the following curriculum areas:English, Mathematics, Science, Information and Communications Technology, Design and Technology, History, Geography, Music, Art, Physical Education, Religious Education and a number of cross- curricular issues. These include subjects such as Personal and Social Education, and Health Education, and any other area which might be relevant to the children's learning.

 

 

 Not all teaching can be done through project work and so a careful balance of subjects, requiring basic skill development and progression, is also included. Teachers keep accurate records, which ensure that children have are tracked through the school. There is regular contact with parents, which enables everyone to share in the progress of each individual child.

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ENGLISH .

 

 

 

We base our teaching on the National Literacy Strategy.

Much emphasis, particularly in the early years, is placed on communication skills. We encourage children to listen carefully, talk, discuss, debate, reason and report.
Phonic work is introduced in the infant class and continues until the child is a confident reader and writer - and beyond.
Independent writing is encouraged from the very beginning and a variety of situations will be used to develop different writing skills, i.e. creative, descriptive and factual writing.

Spelling, punctuation and general grammar are taught at the appropriate stages and handwriting receives regular practice.
Throughout the school we encourage a love of reading and we provide a wide range of books, both fiction and non-fiction. We want the children to use and read books confidently, both for pleasure and information.
We use a foundation scheme to help teach reading skills. However, other reading schemes are used to supplement it, arranged in stages to ensure steady progress. Children's reading ability is carefully monitored throughout the school.

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MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE

 

 

We follow the  New Primary Strategy  Numeracy and, as mathematics is all around us, we try to use everyday practical experiences and situations to encourage mathematical understanding.

 

 

Throughout the school emphasis is placed upon applying mathematical concepts in various ways, using a variety of materials and equipment, including computers.We are continually developing new activities and games to extend, develop and consolidate numerical concepts. We use a number of approaches.

Young children are extremely interested in so many things. In our Science lessons we aim to encourage the children's natural enjoyment of exploration and develop their ability to observe, compare and classify. Children are given practice in undertaking their own experiments and they learn to record the findings in various ways.

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PROJECT WORK

 

 

Children are encouraged to discover more about the world in which they live and to appreciate the need to work with others to establish a stable environment. The work is approached through a Topic Study.

 

 

 

The children learn about a topic for a sustained length of time.

The teachers plan each unit with care.

Units may include all or some of the following :- History, Geography, Art and Craft, Design, Technology, Computer Studies, Maths, Science etc., whenever appropriate.

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COMPUTERS .

The computers in school are used by the children to support the curriculum. We have dedicated computer suite with 17 machines and there are also interactive white boards in each classroom, the Hall  and in the computer suite.

Children are taught specific computing skills and are encouraged to become as proficient as possible in word processing, and data collection.

ICT is increasingly used as a medium for instruction in all curriculum areas.

The school has broadband internet access.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Religious Education is an integral part of the life within Beckington School and our aim is to foster a Christian attitude as well as to present a basic understanding of Christianity. It is important that the children are aware of the richness and diversity of religious belief.

Each day we hold a short assembly and on a Wednesday the Rector joins us in church in a Family Assembly to which all parents, toddlers and friends are welcome. Back to top

P.E./GAMES

P.E. lessons are held regularly. Swimming lessons take place on Thursday in a heated pool at the Frome Sports Centre with life savers in attendance. Part of P.E. learning involves Health Education, Personal and Social Education and deals with a wide variety of matters including relationships with others, taking care of ourselves and Sex Education in its broadest sense. Back to top

CREATIVE ACTIVITIES, DESIGN TECHNOLOGY and MUSIC

Many opportunities are given for children to be creative and a variety of materials and media are used including painting, drawing, collage, clay, sewing etc. - with attention to the development of skills, techniques and enjoyment.
We are very aware of living in a technological age and therefore aim to present the children, from a very early age, with problem-solving activities. Music plays an important part of the life of our school. Activities include singing, percussion and elementary music reading. Children have the opportunity to learn to play the recorder. Other instrumental tuition i.e. flute, cornet, trumpet, violin, is available but parents have to bear the costs Back to top

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Most children experience some difficulty in learning during their school career. Some problems are easily identified and dealt with by the class teacher. Sometimes it may be necessary to give a child particular help through a specific learning programme.
The school aims to give special help to children with specific or general learning difficulties. The work set will match individual pupil's needs and abilities. A member of our teaching staff, with responsibility for special needs education throughout the school, guides our Special Needs Classroom Assistant in the implementation of programmes. Children with particularly severe learning or behavioural difficulties may, with their parents' consent, be referred to the Educational Psychologist. All children make progress at our school, but we are particularly proud of the progress made by children who have special educational needs and we monitor their progress very closely.

We also give extra time to children who are particularly able. Back to top