Curriculum - Morley Memorial Primary School

At Morley Memorial Primary School we offer our pupils a rich and engaging curriculum that:

provides opportunities for all children regardless of their starting points, to build knowledge and develop the skills needed for future success
covers all aspects of the Early Years Framework and National Curriculum as well as learning about things which are important to our community
facilitates the development of effective learning dispositions
is ambitious, relevant and engaging
is coherently planned and sequenced
is successfully designed, adapted and developed for all pupils (including pupils with SEND)
makes good use of first hand experiences

Feedback from our children tells us we are getting it right for them.

‘93% of children find the topics interesting and enjoyable’

‘90% of children find the work suitably challenging’

(MMPS Pupil Survey 2023)

We have high aspirations for all pupils and want them to progress well across all subjects. We want our pupils to have a love of learning, gain the knowledge and skills to realise their full potential and be ready for the next stage of their education. We want all of our pupils to take advantage of every opportunity available to them, be good citizens with the ability to succeed in life. This is why our curriculum has been designed to go beyond the national curriculum and incorporate the things we value too.

Our curriculum is planned, sequenced and taught to ensure there is a logical progression. This enables pupils to acquire the intended knowledge and skills across all subjects and build on what has been taught before and towards clearly defined end points.

Class Teachers use a range of different teaching strategies to support learners, and recent professional development has focused on ‘teacher clarity’ so that teachers and learners are clear about what they are learning as well as how and why. We have also been developing ‘guided practice’ activities and regular verbal feedback throughout our lessons to support children to gradually take on more responsibility for their learning.

Learning is organised in topics, which may have a particular focus on a certain curriculum area. The topics are often presented under catchy titles such as ‘Into the Wilderness’ or ‘Up and Away’ and children are asked to consider a key question for the topic: Why does the earth erupt and quake? Could a polar bear survive in the Sahara? Were the Vikings really vicious?

Topics are introduced through ‘Wow’ days, where the children get to be involved in an exciting and engaging activity to stimulate their thinking and get them excited about the topic and the learning. Children have discovered dinosaur footprints in their class room, met scientists and created playdough bacteriophages, modelled their own canopic jars complete with preserved contents, dressed and eaten as the Romans and have been ‘evacuated’ like children in the 1940s – all designed to bring the curriculum to life and provide children with rich and memorable learning that deepens their knowledge and understanding.

Children are supported in developing their reading skills through the use of phonics-based books which support children’s acquisition of key reading skills. Daily systematic phonics sessions are conducted in Reception and Key Stage 1 using the Floppy’s Phonics Programme and Y1 children undertake the Phonics Screening check in the Summer Term. Any children in Y2 who did not attain the pass mark when they were in Y1 will also undertake the phonics screening check. As children progress in their reading journey, they are introduced to an extensive selection of books and authors – from Naughty Bus to Beowulf and from Neil Gaiman to Shakespeare – as part of shared class reading. Children also take part in daily reading activities including a weekly guided reading session with their teacher. Children are also encouraged to practise their reading at home, building fluency, comprehension and enjoyment through repeatedly revisiting texts.

Writing is a core component of the English curriculum which is based on high quality, engaging texts and a wide range of genres which enhance and complement the topics covered. Children have opportunities to practise and refine their writing skills for a range of different purposes, for example, balanced arguments, newspaper reports and job applications as well as narrative, poetry and detailed explanation texts.

We follow a Mastery approach in Maths, making use of resources from the National Centre of Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics and the White Rose Maths Hub. The maths curriculum provides strong foundations for children’s mathematical thinking, fluency and understanding through practical small steps that lead to more complex abstract concepts using a range of models, images and processes.

Further details on the curriculum for each year group can be found under ‘Classes’ tab and selecting the required Year Group.

Curriculum information by subject can be found below

Art

Art Curriculum Map

Art Progression Document

Computing:
Progression Document
KS1 curriculum map
KS2 curriculum map

D&T

D&T Progression Document 23-24

23-24 Whole School Curriculum Map for DT

English

English Whole School Curriculum Map

English progression document (rubric)