Curriculum Overview

The Lincewood Primary community is committed to providing the best possible inclusive education for all our pupils, to develop the full potential in each and every one of them and to provide that education in a safe and secure environment.

Through our values of Inclusive, Curious, Aspirational, Resilient and Enthusiastic (ICARE) children learn to work together to become the best learner that they can be.

Care is taken to ensure that the children are guided through work in Mathematics, English, Science, Design & Technology, History, Geography, Physical Education (including swimming), Computing, Music, Art and Design, Modern Foreign Languages (Spanish) and Personal, Social & Health Education in accordance with the requirements of the National Curriculum.

In addition the school teaches Religious Education by following ‘Explore’, the Essex agreed syllabus for religious education.

A variety of teaching approaches are used varying from whole class instruction to small groups and individual work as appropriate.

Topic Approach and Key Questions:

Learning across all year groups is based around a key topic, underpinned by a key question, with cross-curricular links embedded in areas that help to drive learning forward and enrich the children’s experiences.

The key focus for each subject area in each year group across each term, is outlined in the Year Group Curriculum Overviews, which can be accessed here: Lincewood Curriculum Overviews (EYFS - Y6)

Details of specific objectives and subject progression can be found in our individual Subject Curriculum Maps.

English curriculum:

The school follows the National curriculum for English. This is achieved through a daily, structured hour of English teaching involving whole class, group and individual work as well as other lessons covering phonics, reading and handwriting.

Reading

The teaching of reading takes place through the structured teaching of phonics. Phonics sessions are taught discretely using the Read, Write Inc Phonics approach (RWI). Click here for a Parents' Guide to RWI, and how you can support your child.
Teachers also teach reading through group guided reading lessons which focus on the next steps for children to make progress. This gives the children greater opportunities to learn the mechanics of reading and the understanding of reading and to discuss their responses to written material.
The school uses reading books that are banded by colour which the children take home.
Parents are encouraged to become involved in their children's reading by sharing books at home, discussing their reading, encouraging children to choose their own books and visiting the school and local library.

Refer to our Early Reading RWI Progress Overview for more information around what we teach, and the progress expectations for our children: Lincewood Early Reading Progression Overview

Writing

To support writing development the school uses Talk for Writing developed by Pie Corbett. This is an approach to teaching writing that encompasses a three-stage pedagogy: ‘imitation’ (where pupils learn and internalise texts, to identify transferrable ideas and structures), ‘innovation’ (where pupils use these ideas and structures to co-construct new versions with their teachers), and ‘invention’ (where teachers help pupils to create original texts independently). These tasks aim to improve writing ability by giving pupils an understanding of the structure and elements of written language.
Punctuation and grammar teaching form an integral part of the English teaching and are embedded with daily English lessons.
We follow the Penpals Handwriting Scheme which encourages the development of a clear handwriting style.
We follow the 'No Nonsense' spelling scheme of work
We seek to maximise children’s learning across all areas of literacy and therefore we include opportunities for cross-curricular literacy activities where ever possible. Our planning is creative and engages the children with key literacy texts that will excite and engage them in the literacy process.

Refer to our Writing Genre Overview to see what writing genre's we teach and when, across the school:
Lincewood Writing Genre Overview

Mathematics curriculum:

The school also follows the guidelines as set out in the National curriculum for mathematics.

A dedicated maths lesson every day. This will be between 45 - 60 minutes

Direct teaching and interactive work with the whole class, groups and individuals.
Weekly input on formal arithmetic methods.
Problem solving taught through units of work as well as discretely.
Opportunities are provided to enable children to show that they have mastered their learning.
Controlled differentiation, with all pupils engaged in mathematics relating to a common objective.
Year 6 pupils are arranged in "sets" for their lessons Mathematics lessons, with children split across three classes.
Children learn their times tables through a set of yearly ‘challenges’ which enable them to achieve certificates at various levels of attainment.
A weekly arithmetic challenge is given to all children which focuses on their knowledge and understanding of key maths strategies. From this teachers can identify areas of weakness and address these through their lessons.

You can see an overview of what we teach and when we teach it on the Lincewood Maths Yearly Overviews - Adopted from White Rose (Click)

Please also refer to the documents below to understand how we teach the 4 operations of Maths in the different Year Groups:

Parental Engagement

In order to support parents with their understanding of the methods we use to teach the 4 operations, we have been running various parent workshops. Please click on the link below for the relevant slides:

Calculations for Parents Presentation – Addition and Subtraction

Science curriculum:

The school follows the National Curriculum for Science. This is achieved through weekly science lessons involving knowledge acquisition, group work and scientific investigations.

Within our science lessons, our pupils are taught the key knowledge required to begin to understand the world around them which can be divided into three overarching topics;

Living Things (further divided into plants, living things and their habitats and animals including humans)
Materials and their Properties (including rocks and soils)
Physical Processes (further divided into forces, light, sound, electricity and Earth and Space)

Not only are our pupils taught the key scientific concepts, they are also taught essential scientific skills such as asking questions, making observations and measurements, performing fair and comparative tests, gathering and recording data in a variety of ways, and using results to make conclusions.

At Lincewood, we endeavour to foster a love for science and encourage our pupils to aspire to be the next generation of scientists, engineers and mathematicians. Curiosity is at the heart of our science curriculum as our pupils are encouraged to ask and answer questions.

Refer to our Curriculum Map for more information around what we teach, and when we teach, each area of Science: Lincewood Primary Science Curriculum Overview

Physical Education (P.E.) curriculum:

Physical education is an important part of children's education because it helps them to stay healthy and learn teamwork skills. In addition, it improves brain health, it helps to manage weight, reduce the risk of disease, strengthen bones and muscles, and improves children's ability to do everyday activities. It also provides cognitive content and instruction designed to develop motor skills, knowledge, and principles of physical activities.

At Lincewood, we provide opportunities for children to take part in a variety of physical activities. Physical Education lessons take place twice a week; an Outdoor Games lesson and either an Indoor PE or Swimming lesson, which are delivered by class teachers or specialist sports coaches. In these lessons, children learn a range of skills linked to a variety of sports, which they can then later apply in game situations or performances.

Across the school, P.E. learning is progressive, with basic motor skills developed in Reception, moving onto more fundamental skills in Key Stage 1, and then more complex sport specific skills in Upper Key Stage 2.

Refer to our Curriculum Map for more information around what we teach, and when we teach, each area of PE: Lincewood Primary Physical Education Curriculum Overview

Computing curriculum:

ICT and Computing in Primary Schools now a much greater emphasis on learning about computers and teaching children how to use code. Within our Computing Curriculum, our pupils get practical experience of designing and writing computer programmes so that they understand the basic principles of computer science.

We use the online Purple Mash sequence of learning to facilitate our Computing provision. Within this scheme pupils learn about Animation, game design, blogging and coding, as well as key information technology skills such as word processing and using email. Alongside this we deliver up-to-date, relevant Online Safety sessions every half term, helping children to understand safe ways to interact with others, use social media and express themselves online.

Click here more information about the Computing Curriculum in Primary Schools.

Click here for our dedicated page to Online Safety.

Music curriculum:

At Lincewood Primary School we believe that music education should be fun and engaging for all concerned, and that every child is a born musician. Our Music lessons are based on the Charanga Scheme of Work, which encourages full and active participation, and enjoyment of all children, regardless of ability.

Lincewood holds music in high regard and the range of additional musical opportunities in which the pupils can be involved reflects this. These include school productions, assemblies, concerts, special events and the annual Lincewoods' Got Talent Show! We also offer a range of Extra Curricular Music Opportunities for pupils, which include:

One-to-one Music Tutoring on Guitar, Drums, Keyboard, Piano and Violin
Christmas Choir
Young Voices Choir
The Rocksteady Band Club (see below for impact of this club)

From 2024, All schools should have a music development plan, as set out in the DfE's national plan for music education. We are very proud of the music provision at Lincewood Primary School and we encourage you to look through our Development Plan to gain further insight into what fantastic opportunities the children at our school have in offer:

Lincewood Primary School Music Development Plan 2024-25

Religious Education (R.E.) curriculum:

R.E., at Lincewood, aims to develop children's understanding of the world's religions. Through religious education, children will learn about different religions and their traditions, practices and beliefs. R.E. gives our pupils valuable insights into the diverse beliefs and opinions held by people today. It helps with their own personal development and supports an understanding of the spiritual, moral, social and cultural questions that surface again and again in their lives.

Within our R.E. curriculum, we aim for our children to know about and understand a range of religious and non-religious worldviews by learning to see these through theological, philosophical and human/social science lenses. Topics are built upon as children progress further up the school and knowledge grows and strengthens.

Refer to our Curriculum Map for more information around what we teach, and when we teach, each area of R.E.:
Lincewood Primary R.E. Curriculum Overview

Relationships, Sex and Health (R.S.H.E.) curriculum:

RSHE is lifelong learning about personal, physical, moral and emotional development. It is set in the context of clear values about the understanding of the importance of stable and loving relationships, respect, love and care, for family life. It should teach children and young people to develop and form positive values, attitudes, personal and social skills, and increase their knowledge and understanding of how to make informed decisions and life choices.

Content related to RSHE takes place throughout the school, from Reception to Year 6. An overview of our RSHE Intent and Implementation can be viewed by accessing our school policy: Lincewood RSHE Policy.

Positive Relationships Week

As part of statutory Science and Health Education, children learn, in an age appropriate way, about puberty and the associated physical and emotional changes, and about how reproduction occurs in some plants and animals. Sex education however is not compulsory in primary schools. We believe children should understand the facts about human reproduction before they leave primary school and therefore provide some non-statutory sex education, covering how human reproduction and conception occurs. This happens in Year 5 and 6 during Positive Relationships Week.

Click here for an overview of the objectives covered in Positive Relationships Week

We recognise that parents and carers are the primary providers of RSHE for their children. Our RSHE curriculum is designed to support and complement this, in-line with the parent consultation carried out in Summer 2022. As a result, we...

inform parents clearly of when positive relationships week will take place,
encourage parents to discuss this topic with their child at home either prior to the lessons, and during the week, so they are fully informed and supported throughout the unit.
Provide opportunities to view videos, lesson plans and resources used in the RSHE programme;
Answer any questions that parents may have about RSHE for their child

The Right to Withdraw - We believe that all of the content within our school’s PSHE curriculum, including RSHE, is of the utmost importance and relevance to all pupils. Parents however have the legal right to request that their child be withdrawn from non-statutory sex education, other than that which is part of the National Curriculum for Science.

If parents wish to withdraw their child from non-statutory sex education, this request must be put in writing and will be recorded. Suitable alternative arrangements will then be made for pupils during relevant lessons. The decision to remove a child from these lessons means that the parent/carer must assume responsibility for talking to their children about any related sex education themes covered outside of National Curriculum Science.