1. Curriculum aims

At Birchanger C of E Primary School we have developed a curriculum which is based around:

• the school’s Christian values of Love, Care, Courage and Truth
• a safe, happy, caring and inclusive environment in which every child is able to achieve their full potential by receiving the best possible education
• British Values to ensure children are equipped with the skills, concepts and attitudes needed to make a positive contribution to society
• a caring Christian community which promotes the spiritual, intellectual, moral, physical and social well-being of the children
• creating excitement and curiosity about the world around them through a rich, broad and values-based curriculum reflecting ‘life in all its fullness’ (John 10:10)
• meeting statutory requirements following the National Curriculum 2014 (Key Stage 1 and 2) and the Early Years Curriculum (Reception).

2. Intent

Our curriculum is driven by four curriculum aims and the skills which embody our vision and values. These areas are:

Vision and values

•  Embracing the pursuit of excellence and a love of learning.
• Committing to the expansion of spirituality through the Christian values of love, care, courage and truth.
•  Understanding and applying British Values.

Developing learning

• Becoming active learners inside and outside the classroom.
• Striving for challenge and building stamina.
• Developing a set of skills which can be applied across the curriculum.

Developing self

• Developing self-esteem, confidence and independence.
• Developing an understanding of keeping healthy.
• Developing an understanding of managing good mental health.
• Developing an excitement and curiosity for the world around them.

Developing relationships

• Being able to work as a team.
• Developing an understanding of the local community.
• Developing an understanding of the culture of the wider world at regional, national and international level.

These four areas have provided the foundations upon which our curriculum has been developed to ensure a holistic approach is taken to the children’s learning.

3. Implementation

At Birchanger C of E Primary School our curriculum has been designed to optimise every learning experience that we give our children - it is implemented with our intentions as the drivers behind our actions.  The school’s population is monocultural with few EAL children, hence our curriculum is broad, balanced and values-based and provides children with the opportunity to form links, embed Christian values, and cultivate experiences with the church, local community and wider-ranging society.  The curriculum design has focused around the culture of the school and reflects the need to: develop children’s cultural capital, provide a nurturing environment, develop the children’s stamina (particularly in test situations), increase confidence, ensure good health and mental wellbeing as well as equipping them with ‘tools for life’.  Our implementation of the curriculum is based on our curriculum intent.

Enrichment Activities

The enrichment opportunities that we have been able to offer the children has been curtailed to support the school's approach to creating a covid19- secure school. You will see that we have been able to continue with some activities whilst others are not possible at the current time. We have left some of the highlights of 2019 20 on our website to give you some indication of our school life before corona virus.

Music lessons

Music lessons continue to be offered this year and it is an integral part of our school life. Pupils are offered individual music tuition from Essex Music Services and our children have the opportunity to choose from a range of musical instruments. This year we hope to continue the class music lessons where children are taught to play the ukelele  by a member of the Essex Music Services Team. 

Our children visit lots of different places as part of their class topic work as well as sports and music events during the year:

Young Voices 2020
In February the Years 5 & 6 children travelled to London to take part in the Young Voices Concert at the O2 Arena. This event involved thousands of children forming a mass choir, conducted and accompanied by professional musician and dance groups. This event gave our children a super memory of a being part of a  large choir.
 

Pantomime Visit 2019 - Sleeping Beauty 
Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 travelled to the Rhodes Centre, Bishop's Stortford to see Sleeping Beauty. This year the whole school will be seeing Aladdin.

School of Rock!
Years 3,4 and 5 travelled to London to see the musical School of Rock! 

Reading and phonics

At Birchanger C of E Primary we recognise that reading is the golden ticket to children being able to access all areas of the curriculum which is why reading is at its heart. Our aim is for every child in the school to make the best possible progress, along with engendering a love of reading and a breadth of knowledge about quality literature. 

The children in Reception and Key Stage 1 (and some in Key Stage 2) follow the DfE Letters and Sounds Phonics Programme and our sequence of reading books is arranged in phonic phases to reflect the programme taught in school.  Please click on the link below for further details on phonics at Birchanger.

In order to support children in their love of reading our children have a daily story time where members of staff read stories from our reading spine. This spine brings together high quality books that reflect British Values and allow staff to share engaging story lines that the children can discuss and enjoy.