Aims
Through a wide range of learning opportunities, we want children to leave our school engaged and confident learners with a variety of skills that ensure they have options for successful futures. Our curriculum is firmly rooted in our local community. Our curriculum intent covers the breadth of the National Curriculum. Its design is based on research evidence and our trust curriculum principles.
Reading sits at the heart of everything we do. We place a strong focus on developing fluent, confident readers who can use reading as a tool for learning across the curriculum. Vocabulary is taught explicitly and revisited regularly so that children understand and remember what they have learned.
Oracy is woven throughout school life. Children are encouraged to talk confidently, explain their thinking and use subject-specific language in every lesson. Carefully planned opportunities for discussion help pupils to listen respectfully, build on the ideas of others and express themselves clearly.
Through rich learning experiences, meaningful links between subjects and a strong emphasis on reading and talk, children leave Nether Edge as confident communicators, enthusiastic readers and thoughtful members of their community who understand the positive difference they can make in the world.
Implementation
At Nether Edge, the curriculum is organised into four structured learning cycles, allowing pupils to study foundation subjects in depth over ten-week blocks. Core skills such as reading, writing, maths and oracy are integrated across subjects to strengthen understanding and make learning meaningful. For example, history learning is supported through targeted reading and vocabulary work, helping pupils build strong connections and knowledge throughout the day.
Impact and assessment
We believe that effective assessment is central to excellent teaching and learning. The most important assessment information we gather comes from formative assessment, which is woven into our daily practice.
Every day, teachers use specific, repetitive, minute-by-minute formative assessment strategies and other leading indicators to understand exactly where pupils are in their learning, where they are heading, and what steps they need to take to get there. This ongoing process enables us to adapt teaching swiftly and purposefully so that every child is supported and challenged appropriately.
While formative assessment drives learning in real time, summative assessment also plays an important role in our approach. Summative assessments take place three times during the academic year and are designed to capture what pupils have learned over a defined period, such as a term or the full year.
Crucially, our assessment system is not about accountability, but about ensuring that we have accurate, meaningful information that supports strong decision-making and high-quality teaching.
By combining frequent formative assessment with thoughtful analysis of summative outcomes, we ensure that our pupils’ learning journeys are clearly understood and effectively supported.
The aims and objectives of assessment at Nether Edge Primary School
- Enable pupils to demonstrate what they know, understand, and can do in their learning.
- Help pupils understand their next steps and how to improve.
- Allow teachers to plan learning that accurately reflects the needs of each child.
- Provide regular, clear information for parents and carers to support their child’s progress.
- Give school leaders and governors the insight they need to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching and the curriculum.
- Ensure that all assessment information is used to plan highly effective learning opportunities for every pupil.
Oracy
Oracy sits at the heart of our curriculum because we believe every child deserves the confidence and skills to stand shoulder to shoulder with their peers.
We empower pupils to articulate their ideas clearly and confidently so they can be the very best they can be, both now and in the future.
Our approach to oracy is explicit and inclusive: children are taught to speak in full sentences, adults model and recast incorrect speech, and pupils are encouraged to be loud and proud when sharing their thinking.
Through regular oral rehearsal and purposeful opportunities for debate woven throughout the curriculum, we ensure that all children develop a strong, confident voice and the ability to express themselves with clarity and conviction.
Reading
Reading is a cornerstone of our curriculum and a gateway to success across all areas of learning.
We teach the mechanics of reading through the Read Write Inc. programme, ensuring that all children develop secure decoding and word-reading skills.
As pupils become confident readers, they move on to rich anthologies carefully chosen to link with and deepen understanding of the wider curriculum.
Fluency is taught explicitly, with a strong focus on prosody, so children learn not just to read accurately, but to read with expression, understanding and confidence.
Through this structured and purposeful approach, we enable children to access learning, stand shoulder to shoulder with their peers, and develop a lifelong love of reading.
Foundation stage
The curriculum in our reception classes (Foundation Stage 2) is guided by the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. This sets out 7 areas of learning:
- Personal, social and emotional development
- Communication and language
- Physical development
- Literacy
- Maths
- Understanding of the world
- Expressive arts and design.
We also teach children to become confident, curious, determined and resilient learners who can solve problems and work independently.
Every day children will take part in:
- Phonics lessons (we use the Read Write Inc scheme)
- Maths (we use the Maths No Problem scheme)
- Writing skills
- Listening to stories
- Small group work
- Outside learning
- Independent play
The topic curriculum is built around books and stories and lays the foundations for subjects they will do from year 1, for example, history, geography and science.
The curriculum is carefully sequenced to build children’s skills ready for year 1. At the end of reception children are expected to have achieved a Good Level of Development (GLD). This includes:
- Being able to write a short phrase using carefully formed letters and the phonics sounds they know
- Recognise the first 30 phonics sounds and use this to read simple phrases
- Having a deep understanding of numbers up to 10 including remembering some number bonds to 10 and exploring patterns in numbers
Key Stage 1
In Key Stage 1, our curriculum builds securely on the strong foundations established in the Early Years. We place a strong emphasis on early reading, writing and mathematics to ensure children become confident, independent learners.
Learning to read remains a key priority. Children continue to follow the Read Write Inc. phonics programme, alongside carefully planned opportunities to build fluency, deepen vocabulary and develop a love of reading. Children also take part in dedicated prosody time, where they explore rhythm, expression and meaning in language, supporting their understanding and enjoyment of reading aloud.
Writing in Years 1 and 2 focuses strongly on developing the foundational skills children need to become successful writers. This includes secure letter formation, spelling, sentence structure and handwriting, alongside opportunities to write for a range of purposeful and engaging contexts. These core skills are carefully built and revisited to develop confidence, accuracy and independence.
In mathematics, learning is carefully sequenced to develop a secure understanding of number, arithmetic and early problem-solving skills.
Across all subjects, our curriculum is rich in language and vocabulary, with a strong focus on oracy. Children are encouraged to talk confidently, listen attentively and explain their thinking clearly as they prepare for the next stage of their learning journey.
Key Stage 2
In Key Stage 2, our curriculum builds on the knowledge, skills and confidence developed in Key Stage 1, enabling children to deepen their understanding and become increasingly independent learners.
Reading remains central to learning across the curriculum. Through high-quality guided reading sessions, children develop reading fluency, broaden their vocabulary and improve comprehension. A strong emphasis is placed on reading with prosody, supporting pupils to read with expression, accuracy and understanding, and to appreciate how meaning is conveyed through tone and rhythm.
In mathematics, we maintain a strong focus on arithmetic, including the development of rapid recall of times tables in preparation for the Multiplication Tables Check in Year 4. Alongside this, pupils are challenged to apply their learning through increasingly complex problem-solving and reasoning activities.
Alongside English and mathematics, children continue to develop their knowledge and skills across a wide range of foundation subjects, ensuring a broad, balanced and engaging curriculum that prepares them well for the next stage of their education.
Homework
Each year group follows a weekly homework grid for each cycle. The homework links to the wider curriculum.
Key Stage 1
In Key Stage 1, we place great importance on developing early reading skills, and our homework programme is designed to support this.
Children are asked to read regularly. All children are sent home a reading book that is closely matched to their phonic level. Children on the Read Write Inc program also take home the book they are reading in their daily lesson.
Key Stage 2
- A set of spellings to learn and practise
- Weekly practice on Times Table Rock Stars
In Year 6, additional homework is set online on the LBQ platform.
Homework is posted on Fridays on the Class Dojo page.