Our visions and values are the core of everything we do.  They underpin our teaching and learning, and provide an environment which prepares our pupils as confident, happy citizens.

At Tansley Primary School our vision is:

‘to provide a well-balanced and excellent standard of education in which all our children can reach their full potential, achieve success and develop personal responsibility in the happy, caring, positive learning environment of our village school’.

At Tansley Primary we aim to:

• develop independence and responsibility in the individual
• nurture social and emotional security
• promote positive relationships with all members of our school and local community
• develop the use of new technologies that stimulate and extend boundaries of learning
• promote enjoyment and exciting experiences in all areas of school life and beyond the classroom
• give every child the best educational start in life that we can
• actively seek to develop our professional skills and take on new challenges

Curriculum Intent

At Tansley Primary School we have developed a curriculum which:

• Develops our learner’s learning where everyone can learn and be included
• Will include creating a culture of creativity and inspiration
• Develops behaviours and habits to become effective learners

At Tansley Primary School our curriculum has a clear purpose and is focused around excitement and love for learning so that the pupils become learners for life with a thirst to develop their knowledge further and deepen their understanding.   We aim to deliver a curriculum that sets high standards whilst being hands on, engaging and inspiring, where children can both ask and answer questions to develop their learning. We aim to ensure that learning is bespoke to the needs of each class in order that the children understand about specific skills and values to help them succeed at their level and be ready for the next step in their learning journey. 

Our curriculum has the children at its core and we believe that it is important that the curriculum considers the development of the whole child.  We aim to develop appropriate subject-specific knowledge, skills and understanding as set out in the National Curriculum and beyond, so that children can each individually flourish, and reach their potential so that they become learners for life.  

We aim to develop learners that have a set of values that prepares them for life in the modern world in a diverse and ever changing community and engages them both within the culture they live in and to understand the cultures of others.

To develop the behaviours of a lifelong learner, we believe the pupils need to be encouraged to develop values to help them enjoy success at their pace and level no matter what stage of their learning journey.  We believe these values are challenge and resilience, cooperation, celebration, care, creativity and curiosity, consideration and community.

Challenge & Resilience

We set our expectations high for our children and in order to reach their potential, we encourage children to persevere when faced with challenges or experiences that take them out of their comfort zone. At Tansley, we aim for our curriculum to develop children who are resilient in the face of adversity and welcome challenges.

Co-operation

Through our curriculum, we aim to develop children who are independent thinkers and learners. We also aim to equip our children with the skills they need to work collaboratively with others, as we believe that a balance between independence and collaboration leads to excellent learning and the development of life-long skills.

Celebration

Through our curriculum, we provide children with a wide range of opportunities for success. Our children are extremely proud to be part of Tansley Primary School and we aim to develop this further through developing a sense of pride of not only their own achievements but also the achievements of others.

Care

We aim to develop a strong sense of caring and understanding in all children and appreciate that this can take many forms. We are very proud of our school and expect the children to uphold this through showing the value of care and responsibility. Through taking on specific roles and responsibilities and also through their day-to-day conduct.

Creativity and Curiosity

Through our spiral curriculum, we aim to develop children’s curiosity, thinking, enquiry, research and creativity skills. We believe that it is necessary to develop engagement and curiosity so that the children can communicate, apply, select, present and question the knowledge that they have acquired allowing them to deepen this knowledge further.  

Consideration 

At Tansley Primary we aim to ensure that all our relationships throughout the school are based on the value of respect. We believe that this starts with the standards set by the adults in the school. Through the way in which we communicate the highest levels of respect for the children, we expect the same to be shown back. We appreciate that our children are unique, and what binds us together are the compassionate and respectful relationships that are developed throughout the school community.

Community

At the very heart of our school is the value of community. At Tansley, we believe that building strong links with our community is vital to the success of our school. We understand that our collaborative work with the wider school community helps to provide every child with the opportunity to succeed. Through these links, we are able to organise visits and visitors to the school and days of discovery to further the children’s learning experiences.

Curriculum Implementation

We use the National Curriculum as a starting point and at Tansley Primary, we place great value on the wider curriculum and ensure that links are made our values and beliefs. The curriculum gives the children the opportunity to achieve the highest possible standards of numeracy and literacy whilst ensuring they can become confident in physical, artistic, practical and social skills.  Our curriculum plans and overviews are planned to suit the changing needs of our children and classes, provide a broad and balanced education allowing for the individual needs of each child, and take into account pupil voice alongside reflecting what happens locally, nationally and globally.  This means that the curriculum journey can be subject to changes.

Due to Tansley Primary being a 16 in take, mixed year group classes are a logistical feature of our school. Therefore, our Wider Curriculum is taught in via a three-year rolling cycle where subjects are Key Stage specific. Subjects that are Year group specific are taught yearly. Each class follows a Long-Term Plan that has been carefully developed by our staff to ensure sequence of learning, progression of skills building upon previous knowledge and thorough coverage of the curriculum. 

By ensuring we think about what we learn, who we are when we are learning, how we act when we learn and who we are in the world, the children are exposed to a range of learning experiences.  Parents and members of the community that come into school and help at regular opportunities reinforce our curriculum and deepen the children's experiences. 

Please see the document below that highlights the curriculum plan for classes this academic year. 

All the themes promote research and project-based learning whilst being linked to an author or related book to develop and extend vocabulary. Vocabulary and language is tiered throughout the school in all subject areas.  We value the importance of language and the use of vocabulary as a key skill and aim to ensure that our children are exposed to not only expected language but also language that inspires them as it allows the children to be aspirational. 

Planning for the delivery of the curriculum is a 3 stage process – long term (annual), medium term (each theme) and short term (weekly).  We plan themes throughout the year.  The topic themes allow for cross-curricular links to be made so that the children are immersed in their learning for the half term.  During each half term learning links together as a part of our board and balanced curriculum, which demonstrates continuity and progression across the whole of the school.

A range of teaching methods are used. The class layout, location of learning, resources, length of lesson and the type of teaching is tailored to ensure the desired outcomes.

• English and Mathematics are taught daily. Reading (and phonics where appropriate), handwriting, spelling and rapid recall of number facts also takes place each day. Science and Computing is usually taught weekly.

• An ‘enrichment’ activity is planned for each theme to enhance learning and to engage the children. This could be a visit to a museum or a visitor into school, a theme day, class assembly or an open morning for parents.  This gives a real meaning and value to the children’s work.
• Each theme also links with homework so that children can expand their learning in a direction which interests and inspires them, whilst giving value and reflection to the learning they do outside of school.  Homework also includes reading, phonics, spelling, learning number facts (number bonds and times tables), as well as activities related to the theme the children are currently learning in class.
• A foreign language (French) is taught within Sycamores class

• Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education (PSHCE) is delivered through the PSHE Matters Scheme. Activities such as ‘Circle Time’ are also used in the classroom to support PSHE. We stress the importance of being an ‘Active Citizen’ and have a special award for children who make a real contribution to the school and the wider community on a weekly basis.  The school understands the importance of Nurture and Well-being and therefore also incorporate a Nurture Programme (the Willow Group) and Positive Play into the curriculum to support those children who are in need.

• Specialist teaching is used wherever possible; a specialist PE teacher is provided using Sport Premium funds (along with a sports coach during two lunch times each week).  Across the school, the children have the opportunity to access private guitar or piano lessons from music teacher who visits the school once a week.   Year 4 and 5 also take part in wider opportunity clarinet lessons once week. 

• We offer after school clubs for multi-sports.
• In Religious Education we follow the Derbyshire RE scheme of work. We also have a ‘comparative’ approach to celebrating and learning about the similarities and differences between cultures and religions. The children regularly take part in services at the local church.   

• There are a number of additional curriculum events throughout the year which complement the planned curriculum and assist in the delivery of the National Curriculum. These include Faith Week, Internet Safety Day, Anti-Bullying Week, Number Day, Sports Day, Mental Health Day, Black History Week and Science Week.
• Regular curriculum events are held for parents who are kept informed through the website and school or class newsletters, about activities taking place in each specific class. There are also 3 parent consultation events throughout the year, an annual school report and opportunities to visit the school such as Grandparents Harvest Lunch, for church services, plays and for open mornings to celebrate a theme week.

Curriculum Impact - what difference is our curriculum making to our children?

Our curriculum puts the children at the centre of what we do as a school and promotes a culture of learning together and allows our children to question and want to take their learning towards the next step and new experiences.  This allows children to feel a purpose for what they are doing.  It provides them with the opportunity to care, to be considerate, to be curious, to problem solve, to co-operate, to be hands on and to be inspired, preparing them for the next stage in their learning so they develop a love of learning for life.

At Tansley Primary School the impact of our curriculum will be measured by the success of our learners.  It will be the measure of how well our intent has been realised and how confident our children are at being able to demonstrate the knowledge they have retained over time.  We will use a variety of monitoring and assessment methods throughout their learning journey at Tansley Primary to ensure children know what they are meant to know at specific points during their education.

If you would like further information relating to our school curriculum, please contact the school office on info@tansley.derbyshire.sch.uk