Our Curriculum
'To prepare our children for a happy future'
Our ambitious and inspiring curriculum aims to develop the whole child as a unique, intelligent learner by developing curiosity to ensure they become lifelong learners. By creating knowledgeable, intelligent thinkers that engage with issues both locally and globally. We want our children to express themselves confidently; acting with integrity, honesty, and dignity with a strong sense of fairness and justice.
Our children appreciate their own cultures and histories as well as the values and traditions of others. They show empathy, compassion, and respect and strive to make a difference by working independently and with their peers demonstrating a determination to explore new ideas and to face challenges.
To do this, we offer a broad and challenging curriculum in every subject.
Please see below for details about the different curriculum areas.
If you would like more information, please contact the school office via office@vaughan.harrow.sch.uk who will forward your enquiry to the curriculum lead.
English
Reading
Reading is always a key focus at Vaughan Primary School. It is taught from day one and is at the heart of our curriculum. We want to enable all of our children to become skilled and confident readers.
We use the Twinkl phonics programme to teach early reading. Phonic skills are essential for the decoding of and spelling of words. The children are taught to discriminate and produce sounds of speech, to develop their knowledge of spelling patterns and how to apply grammar rules during daily, systematic and enjoyable sessions. It is our aim that by the end of Key Stage 1 the children will have developed fluent word reading skills and have a good foundation in spelling and comprehension.
Comprehension skills are a huge aspect of reading and these skills are developed through one to one reading, whole class story sessions and sessions using the Literacy Tree scheme of work. Adults read with all children on a regular basis to help them secure their word reading and comprehension skills. During reading sessions, pupils are given the opportunity to secure the core elements of reading: summarising, vocabulary work, question asking, prediction and question answering.
All children take home reading books. Children at Vaughan are encouraged to read at home daily and we use own personalised school reading record ‘Star Readers’ to record the reading that they do at home. We have recently purchased a wide range of new reading books to match the needs, ability and interests of the children at Vaughan Primary School. We want our children to become proficient readers to enable them to access all areas of the curriculum and so that the children can develop a lifelong passion for reading.
Reading for pleasure is promoted throughout the school and our pupils are encouraged to read on a daily basis in school either through class reading sessions or independent reading time. Our school library has a wide genre of books available for pupils to explore and all classes visit the library regularly to develop their reading interests.
Writing
At Vaughan Primary School, it is our aim for the children to develop the necessary skills needed in order to communicate effectively in their spoken and written language. We aim to teach these skills by providing experiences in speaking and writing opportunities which engage and excite our children to communicate both verbally and in the written form, whilst also opening them up to experience and value different cultures and history, and ignite curiosity in the world around them.
Each term, each year group focusses on a range of rich and diverse texts in order to create opportunities for cultivating a rich vocabulary and both technical and compositional skills in writing, ensuring that all our children write for a range of different purposes and audiences.
This aim for our pupils is supported by the links between the English curriculum and the wider curriculum on offer at Vaughan Primary School.
Handwriting
Our children are taught handwriting through the use of the Twinkl programme. The children are encouraged to write neatly and present their work to a high standard in all curriculum areas. Early attempts at writing are always encouraged and praised. Children that have developed their own consistently neat style of writing are awarded a pen license in Key Stage 2.
Speaking and Listening
Having good communication skills are an important life skill and enable the children to better access all areas of the curriculum. Speaking and listening skills are taught and integrated into our English lessons where speaking frames are used, when necessary, to help children formulate appropriate and well-structured verbal responses as well as ‘good’ listening skills being referred to and encouraged within lessons. Drama is used to support and encourage the speaking and listening skills our pupils are taught.
Please see below further documents about our English curriculum.
English Policy
Spellings
English Writing Curriculum
English Reading Curriculum
Maths
At Vaughan Primary School, we use a variety of planning resources to provide a bespoke teaching and learning experience that is designed to educate and inspire our children. We have developed our own Programme of Study based on the National Curriculum 2014 for KS1 and KS2 and Development Matters and the Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework in EYFS. Our teaching is underpinned by the ‘five big ideas’ in Maths Mastery. These are: fluency, mathematical thinking, representation and structure, variation and coherence. When considering the ’five big ideas’ we follow a concrete pictorial - abstract method of looking at mathematics.
Teachers systematically build maths knowledge, skills and understanding through carefully constructed plans and activities. Our goal is that all pupils are fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, are able to solve problems and can reason mathematically.
Pupils are encouraged to make connections between the different aspects of mathematics which encourages clear connections between distinct areas. Pupils should therefore be able to use their previous learning within new topics rather than treating each area of maths as separate and unconnected.
Science
The Science Curriculum at Vaughan teaches our children the knowledge and skills they need to encourage curiosity and provoke questioning in order to find out about the world and how it works. This curriculum is written with focus on developing different types of scientific enquiry and embedding deep, detailed understanding of scientific concepts over time. There are opportunities to take part in science focused trips to museums and outdoor learning areas, manage the school allotment and have access to local High School science laboratories.
Physical Education (PE)
At Vaughan Primary School, Physical Education plays an important part in the physical, mental and social development of the child. All children are given the opportunity to participate in a broad, balanced programme to develop key skills, in line with National Curriculum requirements. The emphasis is on giving each child an opportunity to experience enjoyment and success at their own level as well as developing life skills and values such as co-operation, responsibility and resilience. We aim to establish an ethos where respect is demonstrated, fairness is at the forefront of participation and teamwork is celebrated whilst always nurturing a positive sense of self from keeping active and healthy which will be sustained throughout their lives.
Art & Design
At Vaughan we offer a highly effective art and design curriculum that develops the knowledge, skills and techniques needed across art disciplines to allow for the exploration of ideas, designing and creating. Children acquire the vocabulary required to expand their visual literacy to respond to their creative work and that of others, including current artists from different cultures and backgrounds and those of the past. We enjoy celebrating children’s learning and our annual art exhibition is a chance for children to feel proud of their creative journey,
‘A fabulous exhibition of creativity and imagination. Some wonderful ideas brought to life with colour and enthusiasm’
Parent Comment, Visitors Book
We actively promote a lifelong love of learning and enjoyment for the arts and culture and through our inspiring art and design provision, develop transferable life skills that will equip children in their futures to become confident, creatively minded individuals.
Computing
The Computing curriculum at Vaughan aims to equip our children with the necessary knowledge and skills to safely access and understand the digital world. We aim for the children to know how to use a range of technology to engage with our modern world. At our core, we want to empower our children to think critically, solve problems using reasoning and use digital skills in a positive and effective way.
Design & Technology (D&T)
Design and Technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. Our goal is that all children should achieve the highest standards possible in Design and Technology and benefit from a broad, rich curriculum. In our Design and Technology curriculum we strive to create opportunities for children to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ values and opinions. Design and Technology encourages children to learn and think creatively to solve problems both as individuals and as members of a team. Every child will have the opportunity to learn and extend their understanding, experience and application in the use of technology, including I.C.T, along with other valuable cross curricular links. Overall, we strive to provide enjoyable, practical and enriching learning opportunities to all children.
Modern Foreign Languages (MFL)
All children in Key Stage Two, in line with the National Curriculum, are required to learn a modern foreign language. At Vaughan Primary School we learn French from Year Three to Six, using a range of engaging activities such as song, mime and games which the children enjoy. Our aim is to promote a love of language learning and encourage the children to make connections between French, English and other languages they know. French has many similarities to other Modern Foreign Languages as it is a Romance Language which originates from Latin, and is also taught to pupils at local Secondary Schools, meaning our pupils have a head start when it comes to their future learning.
Geography
At Vaughan, we understand the importance of children being prepared to successfully navigate the world and develop an understanding of their place in it. Our geography curriculum aims to develop children’s geographical thinking and imagination through fieldwork and encourages them to question and enquire about different societies, people, cultures and the natural world. Through teaching these skills pupils are supported in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development to promote respect for diversity and the world we live in.
History
History lessons at Vaughan will inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Each lesson taught will focus on at least one historical skill. Teaching should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments and develop perspective and judgement.
Music
At Vaughan Primary School, we provide opportunities for all children to create, play, perform and enjoy music. Our curriculum aims to engage and inspire our pupils through listening, composing and performing as well as helping them to develop an awareness of musical traditions and developments from a variety of cultures. At Vaughan we use the Charanga curriculum to inspire a love of music in all our pupils.
Religious Education (RE)
At Vaughan School we follow the Harrow Agreed Syllabus for RE and it aims to contribute to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our pupils. We intend to ensure that our RE curriculum will engage, inspire, challenge and encourage pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to answer challenging questions, explore and develop an understanding of the different religious and non-religious beliefs, values and traditions. Through this learning, they will be able to show sensitivity and respect for the beliefs and practices of others and in particular those whose faith and beliefs may differ from their own, across our multi-cultural society. The pupils will know how religious education promotes discernment and enables pupils to combat prejudice, enabling them to participate and contribute positively to society.
All parents have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of RE lessons. Please speak to your child's class teacher should you wish to excercise this right.
PSHE
We believe that our personal development program ensures that our pupils leave Vaughan as confident, caring, intelligent, respectful global citizens- tools which will prepare them for a happy future.
It is essential to support pupils through their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development from the moment they enter the school by learning about ourselves and the world around us in early years. As we progress through the school, we learn across the curriculum and are encouraged to question the world around us and be inspired to be the best version of ourselves. At Vaughan, we use the ‘Jigsaw’ Scheme of Work to support the teaching and learning of PSHE and RHE.