Our Curriculum

Parent comments 2022

"A good mix of interesting subjects and reading books.  Art Week is brilliant!!" 

"Good range of lessons in different subjects. Offering music lessons, theatre trips and excursions."

"Extra  Curricular activities is extensive compared to other primary schools"

To find out about individual subjects in more detail, please follow the link where you will find pages for each area of learning. 

At Gawber, our curriculum is constantly evolving. It exceeds the requirements of the National Curriculum in many areas, ensuring that it is bespoke to the needs of Gawber children.

Reading

We are a reading school and Gawber children love reading!

Reading is the key to all learning and we know that if children have a secure understanding of the written word and a love of reading, then they have the essential tools for lifelong learning and success.

Children learn phonics through “Read Write Inc.” Our staff have had access to high quality external training so that they are consistently delivering the validated scheme. In 2022, 100% of Gawber children in both Year 1 and 2 successfully passed the phonics screening check. Alongside RWI, children are introduced to high quality texts through whole class reading and shared stories.

Once children have completed the phonics programme, they independently read a wide range of quality books (poetry, plays, fiction and non-fiction). Children also have regular opportunities to borrow a book from our school lending library. Children are encouraged to read for pleasure throughout the day. At play times and lunch times children can choose a book from our outdoor book boxes, encouraged by our school Reading Leaders. Story time is an important part of the day and children love to listen to the books that have been carefully selected by the adults. Successes in reading are celebrated weekly in our celebration assembly.

Writing

Our writing curriculum has been devised by our two English leaders, both of whom are, or have been, Lead Writing Moderators for the Local Authority for both Key Stage 1 and 2.

Children at Gawber are given many different purposes for writing. They are taught what is needed to successfully write for this purpose and are then given the opportunities to independently and creatively write. At Gawber, our high quality writing is evident across the curriculum.

Maths

Together with experts from the South Yorkshire Maths Hub, we have planned and are delivering a mastery approach to Maths at Gawber. We use NCETM Ready to Progress statements to structure our granular approach to the teaching of mathematical concepts. All children are taught to have a deep, conceptual understanding of maths so that they all make the best progress possible. Children at Gawber love maths!

5 minute maths and SPaG

To help our children know more and remember more, daily recap sessions are used to revisit key concepts in maths, spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Science

Our passionate Science leader has created a knowledge rich sequential curriculum where knowledge builds incrementally over time. Our children are able to demonstrate, through talk and other means, their secure understanding of the concepts, ideas and related vocabulary. Children are taught the 5 areas of enquiry and how to develop their own scientific questions. Children at Gawber are excited about the ‘magic’ of science!

Wider Curriculum

At Gawber, we provide a broad, balanced and knowledge rich sequential curriculum. Every subject at Gawber either meets or exceeds the requirements of the National Curriculum. After extensive research, carefully chosen schemes have been put in place to structure the granular approach for some of our subjects. Often, these are supplemented to exceed the requirements of the NC and to meet the particular needs of our children. In other subjects, e.g. History, our passionate subject leaders have used their own expert knowledge alongside support from other experts and nationally accredited associations to create a bespoke offer specifically for Gawber children.

At Gawber, we teach subjects as discreet subjects with the aim of preserving the unique nature of each subject. However, our curriculum is planned carefully so that our children can make connections both within and across subjects.

We have given a great deal of thought to the difference between the substantive knowledge (information and concepts) and the disciplinary knowledge that focuses on what historians/ scientists/ geographers/ artists etc actually do in order for them to preserve the discipline in each subject.

Children at Gawber study key concepts that grow and develop from EYFS to Year 6. Below is an example of some key concepts in our history curriculum.

Ensuring that our curriculum has impact

To make sure that our intended curriculum is to be well-remembered by our children, we make sure that our staff are provided with clear granular steps where each unit builds on the knowledge from other units, providing children with essential opportunities to retrieve knowledge from their long-term memories. Here is an example from our art curriculum.

Over a two-week cycle, children access every subject area, enjoying a wide variety of learning experiences. Children leave Gawber with a secure understanding and appreciation of all subjects and with evolving passions for their future learning. 

Please visit our twitter page @GawberSchool or arrange a visit to school to see our curriculum in action. To look at particular subjects, please use the hashtag #Gawber followed by the subject name e.g. #GawberHistory

For further information about our curriculum subjects, please visit the subjects section on this website by clicking on the link below. 

Measuring Curriculum Impact

At Gawber, we capture attainment points against age related expectations throughout the year. This is a useful way for us to see the progress that our children are making in comparison with their peers. We do understand however, that this is not always the most effective way of understanding what progress a child is making in learning a specific body of knowledge. In order for us to effectively assess this, we directly assess what each child knows. We make judgements on progress based on how much of the curriculum the children have learned.  The more carefully we have specified what we intend to teach, the more easily we can assess if our children have learned and remembered it.

Our curriculum related expectations are used to specify, teach and assess the knowledge we expect our children to acquire. These are all directly linked to what is taught.

At Gawber, we use different ways of assessment to help us to understand what our children know and remember.  Detailed planning provided by our leaders helps our teachers to plan and deliver high quality sessions.

Our curriculum adopts a vertical, horizonal and diagonal approach to progression

• VERTICAL – Concepts are built upon from year to year, starting with EYFS.
• HORIZONTAL – Lessons in each year group are sequential and planned using detailed granular steps provided by the subject leaders.
• DIAGONAL – The opportunities to revisit knowledge is interwoven throughout the curriculum, allowing the children to reignite their knowledge of different subjects throughout their time at Gawber.

Equality Act 2010

In all areas of our curriculum we endeavour to fulfil our  statutory duties in line with the Equality Act of 2010 . We are committed to ensuring that all children have fair and equal access to the curriculum. We maintain strong communication with parents and carers so that they too understand this commitment. Our curriculum is designed so that all children learn about a wide range of viewpoints, cultures, traditions and religions. Our aim is that our children have a clear understanding of the wider world and that they appreciate and celebrate diversity.

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014.

Our curriculum is appropriately adapted and personalised to meet the needs of all children regardless of their special educational needs or disablity. Our SEND lead supports all staff to produce high quality school focussed plans and provision maps to ensure that any barriers to progress are effectively removed with appropriate provision and resources.

For more information please see our Equality and Diversity and SEND policies in the policies section highlighted below.

To access the long term plans for each class, please follow the above link and click on the class page.