THE CURRICULUM AT HEBDEN ROYD
Hours spent on teaching during a normal school week
Key Stage One - 20 hours 15 minutes
Key Stage Two - 23 hours 10 minutes
Education for Early Years (Nursery & Reception Age Groups)
Work for these children will be planned around the areas of learning identified in The Foundation Stage but will also recognise the future requirements of Key Stage One of the National Curriculum and the needs of individual children.
SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS (SEN)
Twenty per cent of children during their education will encounter some form of learning difficulty. The Staff and Governors have adopted the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice and aims to identify pupils’ education needs at the earliest opportunity who have been on roll since Nursery and within one term for pupils transferred from other mainstream settings. To do this, staff se a range of assessments. School maintains an SEN Register, which is updated each half term and is monitored by the SEN Co-ordinator. All children on School Action and School Action Plus have an Individual Education Plan which is reviewed with parents on a termly basis. The school nurse, speech therapist and educational psychologist to enhance children’s learning. Funds are allocated for SEN provision and these are used for staff training and resources. It will be the class teacher’s responsibility to ensure the needs of the most able pupils are met.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND COLLECTIVE WORSHIP
Religious education and a daily act of collective worship will be provided for all our children in line with the requirements of the 1988 Education Reform Act, the spirit of the school's Trust Deed and Mission Statement which requires that pupils receive a religious and moral education based on the principles of the Church of England. In religious education and collective worship there will be no suggestion of religious or cultural superiority.
Religious education at Hebden Royd will be planned using the Wakefield Diocesan Syllabus for Religious Education. Children will be sensitively encouraged to develop their own beliefs and values through the exploration of a range of religious beliefs and practices related to life experiences. Children will be encouraged to encounter a 'living faith' and develop a spiritualistic approach to life in general.
We believe the daily coming together of children and adults for an act of collective worship will provide an ideal opportunity to enrich school life, develop the overall ethos of our school and offer further opportunities for spiritual development. Collective worship will help our school to become a living community in which, looking to Christ as our example, we learn to develop a reflective approach to life, to identify, affirm and celebrate Christian values and to grow together in mutual respect and love. Children, staff and parents join together in St. James' Church at the end of each half term for a celebration led by the children.
Arrangements will be made for parents who wish to exercise their right of withdrawal of their children from religious education and collective worship. Alternative provision will only be made upon receipt of a written application from the parents or guardians.
MUSIC
Peripatetic music teachers from the Calderdale School of Music currently teach violin and piano to groups of children on a weekly basis (maximum size of group - 4). Parents are given the opportunity to enrol their child for music tuition at the beginning of each school year. A fee is charged by the Music Centre.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
A scheme of work for information technology has been developed to support the National Curriculum requirements and incorporate teaching of specific skills at all levels within the school. All classes are networked and children can access the internet. All classrooms except Nursery have an interactive Smartboard which enhances teaching and learning across the whole curriculum.
SPORTING AIMS AND PROVISION FOR SPORT
The overall aim of competitive and non-competitive sport at Hebden Royd is on participation and enjoyment for all. Children in Years 3; 4 & 5 have swimming lessons in accordance with the requirements of the National Curriculum and L.E.A. policy.
Within the curriculum, children are taught a variety of skills, which are adaptable to a number of traditional team and partner sports. Rounders is played by Key Stage Two classes during the summer months. Towards the end of the summer term our annual sports day is held and once again the emphasis is on participation and enjoyment.
Each year, Year 6 children are given the opportunity to taken part in a residential outdoor pursuits/I.T. week. This is a chance for children to take part in sports and activities (for example abseilling, orienteering, canoeing, archery, quad biking, assault course),which are new to them. Many children return from this week with increased independence and self esteem.
PERSONAL, SOCIAL, MORAL, CULTURAL AND CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION
The school seeks to deliver a programme which encourages mutual respect, support and collaboration within the whole school community. The Rewards and Recognition Policy plays an important part in this area of the curriculum. The school also has a scheme of work for Health Education (including drug awareness), which is incorporated into the two year topic plans and we hold the Calderdale Healthy Schools Award.
Each Year Group has a pupil representative on the School Council, who meet regularly to input into School Policy.
HEALTH EDUCATION (INCLUDING SEX EDUCATION)
Health education begins in the earliest stages and continues throughout a child's time with us. It is taught through the curriculum, the whole school environment and the personal example of all who work at the school in line with the Health Education Authority's project book 'Health For Life'.
At all stages, the scheme will include relevant references to the teaching of sex education, in such a manner as to encourage pupils to have due regard to moral considerations and the value of family life. Detailed sex education will be offered to all Year 6 children at the parent's discretion. Parents will have access to all relevant teaching materials before they are introduced into the classroom.
PUPILS' PROGRESS AND ATTAINMENT
The Class teachers regularly assess progress of the children through the appropriate levels of the National Curriculum. National Standardised Tests and Teacher Assessments are carried out towards the end of Year 2 and Year 6 and the results are reported to parents. In addition, standardised tests in Literacy and Numeracy are administered in each of the Key Stage Two years. Reading levels of attainment are assessed annually throughout the school from year one. Reception children are involved in Baseline Assessment through the Foundation profiles.
Each child has individual targets set with them in September and parents are informed of these. We hold a parents consultation evening each term and a final written report is given in July.
Any parent wishing to discuss his/her child's progress may make an appointment to see the Headteacher and/or Class teacher at any mutually convenient time.