1. Curriculum aims
At Birchanger C of E Primary School we have developed a curriculum which is based around:
2. Intent
The intent is reflected throughout the curriculum with 'Life in all its fullness' (John 10:10) at its heart.
The school’s Christian values, and British values, are threaded throughout the whole curriculum. Underpinning it is the development of excellence through tenacity and the five ways to well-being. This is supported by a broad and balanced curriculum, through a programme of enrichment, to enable our children to become happy, healthy, life-long learners who take an active role in the development of our modern society.
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.
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.
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.