Velmead Junior School

At Velmead we aim to instil children with an enthusiasm for learning and prepare them for their future schooling and adulthood beyond.

Introduction

We want all of our children to experience success and enjoy their learning whilst at school. We aim to achieve this through high standards of learning and teaching within a happy, structured and caring environment. Our school motto is ‘Excellence with Care.’

Our curriculum is planned in line with the content of the National Curriculum for Key Stage Two pupils. Follow this link for more information: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-primary-curriculum

To provide high quality learning we use a variety of teaching methods and strategies, ranging from whole class ‘teacher-focussed’ sessions to individual personalised programmes of study. The approach we take for each lesson is chosen to best meet the needs of the task or skill being focused upon.

During the course of the year, the children will encounter a range of teaching methods. They will mainly be taught by their own class teacher. However, each week the children will receive specialist language teaching for an hour. Periodically, they may work with other teachers in their Year TEAM and / or our Deputy Headteacher or Headteacher.

Through our curriculum we strive to ensure breadth and balance. Subject areas are linked together into ‘topics’. Children learn faster and more effectively when skills and concepts can be linked through different subjects. We plan topics carefully so continuity and progression are smooth and aid development. Working within topics enables us to identify skills, concepts, knowledge and ideas from individual subjects and bring them together in a cohesive way.

Information about the learning in each term is sent out to parents, in the first few weeks of each term, by Year Group Learning Co-ordinator. There is more information on the individual Year Group Curriculum pages on our website (www.velmead.hants.sch.uk), you can find these in the A – Z listing or on the Curriculum tab.

Our children are generally taught in their mixed ability class groupings, with all children studying the same area. However, work is appropriately differentiated (either simplified or extended) to match all ability levels. Pupils’ progress is tracked carefully throughout the year, so that we can celebrate achievement and intervene rapidly when a barrier to progress arises.

To ensure high expectations and intellectual rigour we use a ‘teach, practise, apply (for ever more) approach.’ Having received quality first teaching in subject content, the children are then given opportunities to practise their skills, before being expected to apply that skill, knowledge and understanding for ever more.

Children with Additional Educational Needs

All children are valued, respected and welcomed to the school whatever their additional educational needs might be. We will support their learning and ensure they are fully included in all school activities, making full use of externally provided resources and expertise where appropriate.

The 0-25 SEND Code of Practice (2015) identifies four broad areas of special educational need and support:

• Communication and interaction
• Cognition and learning
• Social, emotional and mental health
• Sensory and/or physical needs

We identify and assess the special needs of individual children through a TEAM approach. This may involve all or some of the following: pupils, parents, school staff and external agencies.

We are able to provide an environment which enables access to high quality learning experiences for all pupils regardless of their current needs. Our Disability Access Plan and Equality Scheme enable optimum participation in the school community for pupils, and prospective pupils, with a disability.

Gifted, Able and Talented

Our school will have, at any time, a number of able, talented or gifted pupils. We recognise academic and practical performance as well as those who show outstanding artistic, musical and creative talent, physical skills, leadership qualities and the ability to process ideas and information quickly and accurately.

Some of our work in this area has been used to develop learning in other schools across Hampshire and beyond!

English as an Additional Language (E.A.L)

We build on the children’s cultural and linguistic experiences to develop their understanding and use of English.

National Curriculum: Core subjects

English

We use English to communicate in both written and spoken form. We use language to build our view and opinion of the world and our community and at Velmead we recognise that the further we develop our children’s language skills, the more powerful their voices will be in the world they grow into. We continue to learn, develop and enhance our knowledge and understanding of English throughout our lives.

English is taught daily with work appropriately differentiated to match all abilities.

Working in partnership with parents, we want all of our children to:

• speak clearly and confidently in any situation.
• listen actively and respond appropriately, developing knowledge and opinion.
• read fluently for both pleasure and information.
• write clearly and with confidence in any given genre.
• use spelling rules, phonics and grammar accurately.
• be able to proofread their own work and make amendments and improvements.

With all of our children’s work in English, we aim to nurture a love of literature and language, and the confidence to continue reading and writing throughout their lives.

Mathematics

Maths is used every day whether we realise it or not! For example, we check our change when out shopping, estimate the cost of a new carpet or decide what time we need to leave the house to get to the train station.

We aim to provide our children with a wide mathematical education taught in an enjoyable, relevant and creative way. We use ‘real life’ experiences so children begin to understand the importance of applying maths skills in order to solve problems and engage them for future learning. We often talk about starting our Maths learning in the real world, then going to the maths world for vocabulary etc., before returning to the real world again to apply our skills.

Maths is taught daily based on the content of the National Curriculum. Children move through the Key Stage building on existing skills and developing their knowledge and understanding.

Pupils explore all four number operations and are encouraged to try different strategies that best suit their learning style / preferences. We have a Maths Calculation Documnet that sets out the key stages of learning in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division as children move through the school.

Pupils explore shape and space and develop their measuring skills in a range of contexts.

To encourage our children’s rapid recall of their table facts and to speed up other aspects of their mental arithmetic we operate a ‘Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond’ scheme. Details are in the Pupil Planner.

A lot of our application of skills in Maths is through mathematical reasoning where children are given opportunities to discuss their methods and encouraged to use the appropriate mathematical vocabulary, when communicating their findings to others. We want our children to know and understand mathematical concepts, skills, facts, relationships and strategies and be able to apply and communicate these in a confident way.

Science

Every child has a natural curiosity about living things and the way the world works. Science at Velmead enables your child to find out how they can get answers to scientific enquiry questions such as how best to separate materials, what conditions are required for seed germination and plant growth and why the sun appears to move across the sky.

Science is a systematic investigation of the physical, chemical and biological aspects of the world, which relies on first hand experiences and on other sources of information. Work on the scientific processes and investigative activities will be used to deepen your child’s understanding of the concepts involved.

At Velmead we aim to develop pupils’ enjoyment and interest in science and an appreciation of its contribution to all aspects of everyday life. We wish to build on pupils’ curiosity and sense of awe of the natural world through the use of a planned range of investigations and practical activities. At the same time, the children will be able to develop their ability to plan fair tests, make predictions, record results using computing applications, diagrams, graphs, tables and charts and to make generalisations about their learning.

We also value the use of scientific vocabulary and model this with our children, encouraging them to use it to explain their scientific thinking; word lists for Science and many other subjects are included in our Pupil Planners.

Religious Education

At Velmead, as state school in Hampshire, RE is taught, as required from the Hampshire Agreed Syllabus. Parents’ wishes concerning both religious education and worship are met, as specified in the 1988 Education Act, and children may be withdrawn on religious grounds at parental written request. In line with legislation, we aim to encourage a moral and predominantly Christian ethos through school assemblies.

RE lessons offer a chance for children to explore beliefs and practices of major world faiths. Visits to places of worship, handling artefacts and visits from practising members of different faiths enhance children’s understanding of our multicultural society. Children consider the influence of the teachings of different faiths on their followers as well as responding to the big questions of life from their individual viewpoint, thereby valuing the beliefs of all children while developing their understanding, tolerance and respect for the beliefs of others.

Foundation Subjects

Computing

This is the fastest moving part of our school curriculum; just think how your own use of technology has changed in the last five years. Modern technology is forever changing the way we live and work. Our children need to learn how to manage it all – to get hold of information, evaluate its suitability, store it, share it with others and tailor it to meet their own needs. That’s where their computing lessons come in!

In our computer areas, or by using netbooks in the classroom, the children learn how to safely navigate the internet and communicate through emails, develop digital photography skills, use sound and video recording equipment and access a wide variety of software.

Interactive whiteboards throughout the school, along with visualisers, sensor equipment, digital cameras and voice recorders, to name but a few available resources, ensure that computing can be used as a learning tool across the whole curriculum.

We aspire for our children to confidently and independently use and apply information technology skills to support and extend their learning. We hope to develop a culture where the use of computing becomes second nature to our pupils, thus ensuring they are ready and able to embrace the technological advances of the future.

The safeguarding of our pupils has the highest priority. This includes our ‘SMART’ rules and our ‘Learning Platform - Code of Conduct.’ These safety rules can be found in the Pupil Planner.

Geography

We want the children at Velmead to develop their knowledge of people and places and to understand the physical, social and economic forces which shape those places and the lifestyles of the people who live there. Our geographical studies cover the local environment and issues of immediate relevance to the area. The children then extend their knowledge of the physical and human features of the wider world. They use a wide variety of sources, including maps, the internet and photos to establish the location of countries, cities, mountain ranges, rivers and seas or oceans.

Children are also introduced to the economic and environmental factors which affect development and sustainability. We use an enquiry-based approach to learning which enables the children to explore geographical questions as independent researchers. The children are encouraged to make links across the curriculum, and use skills learned in English, History, Computing, Mathematics and Science to further their learning. Field trips are also an important means of connecting the children with their locality.

We hope that exposure to the cultural and environmental diversity of the world will help the children develop into the caring and well informed adults of the future.

History

We don’t view History as simply facts and dates here at Velmead, but see it as a chance to become a detective and explore the past in an exciting way. History is taught mainly through a topic-based approach and gives the children a chance to explore a wide range of sources from which the past may come alive.

History allows our children to compare and contrast the present and the past, to examine how and why things have changed, to learn about historical characters and expand their research skills and speculate about how things might be in the future. Children investigate and record their findings using a variety of media and links with other subjects for example Literacy, Drama, Art and Computing.

We want our children to be open minded and enquiring thinkers understanding cause and effect. We want them to understand how people have lived in the past and begin to make links between the past and modern times. We encourage first-hand experience wherever possible; field work visits, interactive workshops and visiting experts play an important role in the learning programme for all year groups.

Design and Technology

Design Technology helps children to become problem solvers through practical tasks, using creativity and imagination.

Children take everyday or familiar objects and investigate how they actually work and who they are really aimed at. Working with a variety of materials and through the new skills they learn, children are given the opportunity to design, make and evaluate a range of products. Design Technology is a subject all children can enjoy individually or as part of a team, and it gives them the opportunity to become innovators.

Music

Music at Velmead is rich and varied; it is creative and exciting.

Singing is a key part of our music making, both in class lessons and during whole school assemblies. Children have the opportunity to join a number of music based clubs, recent examples include choir, our school ensemble, hand chimes, ukulele and recorder group. All of these groups have performed for special events in the school diary. Periodically, children can ‘sign up’ to play as the school gathers in / leaves the assembly hall. Other music lessons, provided by members of the county peripatetic staff, including drum, piano, guitar, violin and keyboard, are available for a fee (subsidised by the school). We encourage our children to take part in local events outside of school and also invite professional singers and musicians from a variety of cultures to perform and work with the children.

Art and Design

Art, craft and design stimulates creativity and imagination. We provide a rich environment in which we encourage our children to communicate through the use of colour, texture, form, pattern and materials. We use the local environment to stimulate ideas and do some aspects of our artwork outdoors.

Investigating lines, shapes, colours and textures helps our children with the basics and enable other work such as 3D modelling and printing to happen. We inspire our children in art by using the skills and talents of professional artists to work alongside us, and enjoy getting involved in community projects.

Modern Foreign Languages

Learning a foreign language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience in preparation for future life. French is the main language taught here. Unusually for a junior school we employ our own MFL specialist teacher; giving the children the best quality of language learning experience. In addition to French, other language learning may be offered through an after school club; German is currently available to our Year 5 and 6 children.

Personal, Social, Health Education (P.S.H.E.)

At Velmead we aim to promote the benefits of our children becoming healthy, independent and responsible members of society. We encourage our pupils to play a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community. Our children are given opportunities in P.S.H.E. lessons to develop confidence, self-motivation, an understanding of British values and their rights and responsibilities within our diverse 21^st Century society. The P.S.H.E. curriculum is taught both discretely through the delivery of Safe4Me units of work and in a variety of other ways: through other subjects such as Literacy or History, as part of RE, through ‘circle times’, science topics and outdoor educational visits and activities.

Relationship and Sex Education

Our children are given opportunities to consider and reflect on the wide variety of different relationships they have with others. Across the school, children build on their relationship and social skills through our PSHE curriculum. Aspects of puberty, reproduction and sex education are taught in accordance with the government guidelines as an integral part of our science curriculum. Parents are invited into school ahead of the lessons on human reproduction to view the content of lessons and discuss our approach with the teachers.

PE and Games

An active, healthy lifestyle is vital for a child’s well-being and keeping fit is an important part of this. In Physical Education, children learn about the need to warm up in preparation for, and cool down after, exercise. All children receive a range of PE and Games activities developing skills, techniques and rules for the following games: football, netball, cricket, hockey, rounders, tag-rugby and athletics.

Our annual Sports Day showcases the skills that our children have learnt from our PE curriculum, blending TEAM games with individual competitive events.

The school hall is equipped for gymnastics, dance and movement and also houses some of our after school clubs such as gymnastics and judo. The school offers a range of clubs for the children to join using both staff strengths and the skills of external sporting coaches.

As well as enjoying a wide range of activities in PE and Games in school, we participate in inter-school competitions and tournaments outside of school and have enjoyed much success over the years. Recently, in partnership with other local schools, we have been able to offer our children experience of some of the less mainstream sports, for example Handball.

Enriching Learning

We provide a wide range of activities that our children can participate in both at lunchtime and after-school. Children who attend after-school clubs need to obtain written permission from parents by completing a club letter from school. These letters are available from the Reception Area. The current programme of clubs is available elsewhere on our school website (see Clubs in the A-Z).

In addition, we also offer our Year 5 and Year 6 children a Homework Club where extra support can be provided to aid the completion of homework tasks. Children from all years have a chance to develop their confidence and self-esteem through attendance at Rock Steady.

Outdoor Education and Residential Visits

Our extensive grounds are used to bring learning alive for the children and we aim to plan as many opportunities to ‘take our learning outdoors’ as we can. During their time at Velmead the children will regularly visit our area of Wet Heathland, a habitat rarer than rainforest! Within the children’s Pupil Planner they record their outdoor learning on the ‘Trailblazer’ pages.

Residential trips are a great way of building self-confidence and increasing independence as well as allowing children to develop teamwork skills and friendships. We aim to provide all our children with a residential experience whilst they are at Velmead. Both our opportunities for residential visits are in Year 6. We currently go to ‘Little Canada’, a PGL site on the Isle of Wight in the Autumn Term and France in the Summer Term.

Educational Day Visits

First-hand experience and real life scenarios are also hugely beneficial to creating exciting, quality learning and we value the role they play in school life. Over the last academic year we have visited many different places including:

• Wisley Gardens
• The Natural History Museum
• Dapdune Wharf
• Hampton Court Palace
• Butser Ancient Farm
• Local places of worship

 

We also invite a variety of visitors into school to help enhance our curriculum. Visitors bring with them a passion and expertise in what what they do, which can be used positively to support our children’s learning.

Recent visitors include:

• Step-by-Step, who work with young adults who are homeless
• Iron Age Day
• Space Dome
• Problem-solving workshops
• M&M Productions, pantomime
• Parents talking about their job during Careers Week
• Life Education Centre
• Circus Skills Workshop