School Curriculum

The school follows a curriculum which includes all the requirements of The National Curriculum. Our aim is to make learning stimulating, purposeful and exciting for our pupils.  We support our curriculum with visits out of and visitors in to school.  We also include theme days where we focus on a topic or subject area, either within a year group or for the whole school. We aim to prepare our pupils for life in modern Britain by embedding our work on spiritual, moral, social and cultural development within our curriculum.

There are 2 mixed ability classes in each year group. Learning is undertaken by a variety of methods, employing group and class teaching with individual programmes as appropriate. Pupils are set for maths in order to further support their development.

Curriculum Intent Statement

At Bottesford Junior School, we aim to provide an exciting and challenging curriculum, with stimulating extra curricular activities.  We understand that change is a driving force in school improvement and are committed to being the best we can be. Our dedicated staff have high expectations of both pupil behaviour and attainment so that every child is given the opportunity to achieve. We work together with parents to ensure the very best outcomes for our pupils. Our aim is that when they leave Bottesford, pupils are confident, happy and resilient learners, ready to face the challenges that life brings them.

At Bottesford, we strive to provide a curriculum for our children that offers a rich and wide range of learning opportunities whilst promoting personal growth and enriching the experiences of our children. We believe in making learning exciting and fun, making use of links across subjects to ensure lessons are purposeful and have true meaning. We believe that lessons should be connected so that children can engage in deep and meaningful learning over time. Topics are carefully chosen to enthuse and engage learners, but also to ensure good coverage and progression so that pupils develop secure understanding and a range of transferable skills.

At the heart of our curriculum is a commitment to nurture a love of reading as this opens the door to all learning; books form the foundations of topics and all pupils are encouraged to read widely, developing an extensive vocabulary, sound comprehension skills and a voracious appetite for books.  Through our Reading Shed on our playground to our Book Swap Shed. Similarly, we aim for all pupils to develop fluency and confidence in mathematics, in order to achieve mastery and succeed across the curriculum.

We provide a wide extra-curricular programme, developing expressive arts and a love of sporting activities. Educational visits out of and visitors in to the school are encouraged, to further inspire and motivate learners. Our school is an inclusive environment, where the majority of pupils enjoy their education make good progress in most subjects and areas of learning. 

Our curriculum aims…

• To ensure the curriculum is carefully planned and structured so that learning is progressive, continuous and that pupils make good progress from their individual starting points.
• To teach our children how to grow into positive, responsible people who can work and co-operate with others while developing their knowledge and skills, so that they achieve their full potential.
• To increase pupil's knowledge and understanding as they grow and develop and become more aware of the world around them.
• To make learning meaningful, by putting it into context - both locally and globally.
• To listen to pupils and involve them in the development of the our school in order to engage their interest, encourage and motivate pupils to want to learn.
• To be exciting and offer pupils first-hand experience to reinforce their learning and to underpin their growing knowledge, skills and understanding.
• To equip pupils with secure basic skills for life in English, Maths & Computing within a relevant, varied and rich skills-based curriculum.
• To bring learning to life through visits, visitors and theme days.

Our Specific Drivers Are:

• Independence  
• Enabling our children to make independent decisions, to explain and justify their decisions considering the implications for themselves and others. We encourage pupils to have the courage to persevere and confidence to take risks, try out different approaches, to learn from their mistakes, developing resilience.
• Exploration
• We encourage a spirit of curiosity and participation in learning about our ever-changing world. We learn about our immediate locality and extend our knowledge of the wider world.
• Growth Mindset
• In growth mindset, we believe that all abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work creating a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.

Foundation Subjects

We teach foundation subjects (history, geography, art etc) in a thematic way. This means that the curriculum areas are intertwined together into a theme that runs for a half term. The themes that your child will follow will be communicated to you at the beginning of each term. 

Sex and Relationship Education

This forms part of the curriculum for all of our pupils. Some of the content is taught within PSHE and science lessons and there are also some lessons aimed at specific topics around growing up and the way that the human body changes as a person enters puberty. A specialist provider, 'Big Talk', come into school annually and deliver some aspects of Sex and Relationship education and sessions. A parental meeting is organised prior to the sessions with Big Talk and we are happy for them to withdraw their child from these session if they so wish (although there are some significant safeguarding reasons why this is no advisable). 

Assemblies

We have a daily assembly or act of worship which is broadly Christian in its character but also includes focus on other religions and philosophies. Much of the school’s ethos is reinforced during our assemblies with a focus on caring, sharing, respect for others, co-operation and self discipline. British Values are often a focus of assemblies, especially during Monday assembly.

We have a full-sized puppet theatre and a wide range of puppets that are often used within assemblies to help relay messages to pupils.

Parents are reminded that they have the right to remove their children from participation in school assemblies and lessons in Religious education. 

Assessment and Testing

Throughout their time with us the children are continually assessed.  This may be based on performance in class and by formal tests.  Ongoing assessment is a tool used by the teacher to inform the next steps in learning, while tests indicate the learning that has taken place. 

Children in their last year at this school will take tests in English, Mathematics and possibly Science.  Recent years have seen various changes made to these tests.  Prior to taking these tests they will be made familiar with the testing process.  They will experience the types of exercises and questions which appear in these tests during the normal course of lessons.  Nearer to the time we will of course give you more details explaining what these tests involve.

Reporting to Parents

We hold 3 Celebration Evenings during the year with a further optional meeting following receipt of the Annual School Report at the end of the Summer Term.  These provide opportunities for you to discuss your child’s progress with the class teachers.  For pupils in Year 6 and Year 4 respectively, the end of Key Stage 2 test results and Multiplication test results are expected during the same period as the annual reports are issued. You are, however welcome to discuss your child’s progress at any other time by prior arrangement with the class teacher or myself.

Special Educational Needs

Our teacher with responsibility for children with special needs is Mrs. R Ogle who oversees our S.E.N.D policy and procedures. The Governor with responsibility for S.E.N.D is Mrs C Holmes.

During their time at school, a child may have special requirements in order to fulfil their potential or to support their learning. The need may be medical, behavioural, emotional or learning. Every child is different. Within the constraints of our resources we endeavour to give each child with special needs as much help as is possible, and to make the appropriate provision for any child who has a specific need.

In terms of admission arrangements, we follow the North Lincs admission arrangements. For more details, please see the admission page on this website.

For more detail of our SEND provision, please refer to the SEND section of our website under the 'Parents' tab.

If you have any questions about our curriculum, please contact Mr Brown in school via the main office.