What does your child learn at school each day? Find information about our curriculum here.  Also see specifics of what your child's year-group will be learning this year by looking at our class pages.

Curriculum Intent 

The curriculum at PSJ is designed with our children in mind. Building on our school vision and values, it aims to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum exposing pupils to a range of enriching activities.

Its purpose is to excite, empower and engage pupils and make them inquisitive leaders of their own learning whilst enhancing their knowledge equipping them for today, tomorrow and the future.

Our curriculum aligns with the aims and intent of the National Curriculum 2014

For details about the national curriculum for parents, take a look at the guide linked below... it breaks down each area of the curriculum, by year group, and offers tips for parents

Curriculum Overview

At PSJ, building on and developing essential knowledge (using Big Ideas) is an integral part of our wider curriculum. We encourage children to make links in all areas of their learning such as looking at power and civilisation in different periods of History, comparing different religions and their beliefs and values in RE or working scientifically through investigations. We know, at Peasedown, we are excited to offer a variety of topics for your children to explore and develop their understanding and language around different contexts. 

Please see our two year overview below where you can find out what your child will be learning.

Early Years Foundation (EYFS)

Maths at PSJ Primary

Early Years Maths: 

Children in the early years develop the concept of maths mastery through maths talk, practising the skills they’ve learned during play, and developing number sense. Our nursery environment and continuous provision, such as block play, sand and water,  supports all children to develop their understanding of mathematics and strengthens the development of mathematical vocabulary and talk  through play. Alongside this, Number is taught through practical, relevant play based activities. Number names are learnt in order, children learn to count up and count back and sing lots of rhymes and songs to reinforce this. 

In Reception, Teaching for Mastery supports the teaching and learning in Maths,  emphasising  number facts, precise mathematical language and full sentences.

Maths at PSJ in Years 1 - 6

We use the White Rose Maths Hub plans across school to ensure that there is appropriate breadth and depth in our maths curriculum.  Pupils have many opportunities to practise the basic skills and memorise key number facts such as number bonds and times tables to help them develop greater fluency in their mathematical development.  There are also many opportunities for children to develop their mathematical reasoning and problem solving.  For further information on the White Rose Maths Hub scheme and how parents can support their children please visit the White Rose Maths Hub website here - WHITE ROSE MATHS HUB WEBSITE.

Writing at PSJ Primary

Writing progression from Reception to Year 6 at PSJ

By the time children leave Peasedown  in Year 6, they need to be able to write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences.

Early Years

Before children can write, they need to develop physical core strength and dexterity by developing both fine and gross motor skills. This, alongside building language and supporting communication through stories and nursery rhymes, helps our youngest children develop and learn. However, Writing is not just about the technical aspects of the process. As a writer , we encourage children to  engage with the act of writing, be motivated to communicate their ideas, and think about what those ideas might be and how to share them.

Year 1 - Year 6

At PSJ Primary,   we have adopted "The Write Stuff" by Jane Considine to bring clarity to the mechanics of writing. "The Write Stuff" follows a method called "Sentence Stacking" which refers to the fact that sentences are stacked together chronologically and organised to engage children with short, intensive moments of learning that they can then immediately apply to their own writing.  An individual lesson is based on a sentence model, broken into 3 learning chunks. Each learning chunk has three sections:

1.Initiate section – a stimulus to capture the children’s imagination and set up a sentence.

2 Model section – the teacher close models a sentence that outlines clear writing features and techniques, thinking out loud to model the writing process.

3. Enable section – the children write their sentences, following the model. They than change aspects of the writing, drafting , editing and improving their own pieces of work.

Children are challenged to ‘Deepen the Moment’ which requires them to independently draw upon previously learnt skills and apply them to their writing during that chunk. "The Write Stuff"  uses three essential components to support children in becoming great writers

The three zones of writing :-

• IDEAS -  The FANTASTICs uses a child friendly acronym to represent the nine idea lenses through which children can craft their ideas.
• TOOLS - The GRAMMARISTICS. The grammar rules of our language system and an accessible way to target weaknesses in pupils' grammatical and linguistic structures.
• TECHNIQUES - The BOOMTASTICs which helps children capture 10 ways of adding drama and poetic devices to writing in a vivid visual.

Reading at PSJ Primary

Here at PSJ Primary we recognise that the ability to read, both for information gathering and for pleasure, is the fundamental key that unlocks life-long learning. Alongside daily guided reading, each class has story time read by the teacher or, in older classes, undertakes the Book Quest. This encourages book talk based around the key concepts of reading. 

Building the Reading Culture at PSJ

To find out more about the rationale behind reading practise, reading interventions, reading assessment and the reading culture at PSJ, take a look at our Building the Reading Culture document.

Phonics and Early Reading at PSJ: Read, Write, Inc.

Early Years: 

A child’s reading journey starts in Nursery here at PSJ. ‘Stories and Songs’, ‘Talk Time’ and ‘Marvellous Me’  are daily sessions that help build our children’s love of communication and reading. Single letter recognition is introduced in Nursery/Pre-school  (Phase 1) and in Reception children begin to learn the sounds that letters make (phonemes), Phase 2. 

Read Write Inc. 

Read Write Inc Phonics is a DFE-validated systematic synthetic phonics programme with a whole school approach to teaching early reading and writing, designed to ensure progress for every child. 

RWI begins in Nursery where children are introduced to pictures that match the initial letter sounds. This is the first building block to reading when the children get to Reception. When children start in reception they are re-introduced formally to all the initial letter sounds.

They learn to recognise each sound individually before learning to blend them into simple words.

Once children know all of their initial sounds, they are introduced to digraphs  using some each to remember phrases.

Alongside the sounds, children learn to read coloured books matched exactly to their ability and what they have been learning. 

Children from Reception to Year 2 are grouped according to their phonic ability and are assessed termly to ensure they are reading the most appropriate books.

As well as reading books in school, we encourage children to read at home. All children In Reception and KS1 will bring home a phonics “Book Bag Book” linked to their reading ability as well as a sharing book. 

In Reception, we have our own mini-library so parents can come in, read with their child and choose the sharing book alongside their child. 

https://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents-copy-2/    Parents, click on this link to find out more about how we teach your children to read and write in school. It also gives ideas for how to support your child at home. 

Children who require additional support with letter knowledge, phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, or comprehension receive additional support both in class and interventions.    

Guided Reading

‘VIPERS’  is an acronym to aid the recall of the 6 reading domains as part of the UK’s reading curriculum.  They are the key areas which we feel children need to know and understand in order to improve their comprehension of texts.

We have a Literacy Spine of quality texts which are used throughout school,  that builds children's knowledge of literature and their reading ability in a structured way. We study a range of modern and classic fiction including books such as Skellig in Y6, I am David in Y5, Charlotte’s Web in Y4, The Iron Man in Y3,  The Hodgeheg in Y2, The Tiger who Came to Tea in Y1, The Colour Monster in Reception and The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Nursery.

Follow the link to our book spine:

Literature Spine

Click here to see a list of some of the books that children at PSJ Primary are reading in class through the school.

The literature spine choice have been partly formed by research, including 5 Plagues (Doug Lemov), Talk for Writing (Pie Corbett), and teachers own choices for must reads. 

Children will be given a reading book to take home each week and  we expect children to bring their reading books into school every day. All children in Reception are given a free book bag, if you would like to purchase a new one they can be bought from the school office.

Reading for Pleasure
When children have worked through the coloured bands of RWI, they begin on our ‘Accelerated Reader’ programme. This enables children to be matched to books that are exactly pitched to their reading level. Children in KS2 bring home a matched reading book each evening alongside a sharing book. We expect children to bring their reading books into school each day. Developing confident readers is one of our school priorities.

We are very fortunate to have a well-resourced and welcoming  library where children can come and change their books,  as well as dip into books that spark their interests. We have a large range of books that help children to explore and understand our school values and drivers through stories. Additionally, our 50 inspirational people all have books so children can find out more.  For avid readers, we have some specially selected challenging reads, and for less confident readers accessible texts. 

Each classroom has its very own book corner. This is full of carefully chosen, wide ranging  books that help meet the needs and interests of the individual class. Teachers are skilled at selecting books that inspire, challenge and motivate their pupils. Children are encouraged to recommend and review books in order to inspire each other with their love of reading.

Phonics at PSJ Primary

Phonics and Reading Schemes:

As soon as children start primary school, they will have at least 20 minutes daily dedicated phonics teaching, learning letters and sounds to build words and the necessary skills to decode for meaning.

This is taught through step by step scheme, called Read, Write Inc which is based on Letter and Sounds, which works alongside learning to write.  Fred the Frog puppet plays an important part of our Read, Write in lessons.  Fred is only able to speak in sounds, not words - we call this Fred Talk.

Watch this short You Tube clip to see how Fred blends his sounds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEzfpod5w_Q

The document linked below gives more information about the Read Write Inc scheme, as well as further resources for you to follow with your children at home.

PSHE stands for Personal, Social, Health and Economic education 

It is an important part of your child's national curriculum learning. So what does it cover and how can you support your child at home?

Schools have an important part to play in helping kids become well-rounded individuals.

PSHE, aims to give children the knowledge, skills and understanding to lead confident, healthy and independent lives.

There are three core themes of primary school PSHE:

1. Health and Wellbeing
2. Relationships
3. Living in the Wider World: economic wellbeing and being a responsible citizen.

PSHE isn’t a statutory subject in primary schools. This means that there is no set programme of study or learning objectives that pupils have to fulfil.  Take a look at our approach to learning  the core themes of PSHE throughout your child's time through Peasedown St John Primary School.

We use Jigsaw to deliver our PSHE curriculum around Relationships and Health Education, in a spiral, progressive and fully planned scheme of work.

Following the PSHE core themes, this gives the children relevant learning experiences to help them navigate their world and to develop positive relationships with themselves and others.

Experiences are built into everyday learning, both in and outside the classroom.

Here are some of the tools we use to deliver an impactful PSHE curriculum in school:

...the mindful approach to PSHE.  Jigsaw provides a whole school approach to teaching PHSE / RSE health and wellbeing for children in our Nursery through to year 6.  it is a progressive and effective scheme of work, aiming to prepare children / young people for life, helping them know and value who they are and understand how they relate to other people in this ever-changing world. 

Here at PSJ Primary, we also support these sessions through phase and whole school assemblies, making links to our 50 inspirational people, and exploring ideas around global citizenship.

Our Citizenship and Character Awards allow children and families the opportunities to work towards and celebrate a passport of achievement.  For example, Global me, Local Me, Developing Me.

Take a look at the free resources available on Jigsaw for activities to do at home.  There are some free audio stories and calm me time sessions available.

If you have any questions about our PSHE and RSE curriculum, please contact the school office 

We work with outside agencies to run workshops within school, supporting children with various aspects of socio-emotional health.  Including, SARI, Stand Against Violence, NSPCC and the BANES Mental Health Support team.

Within school, we have a team dedicated towards supporting children's mental health and wellbeing.

As part of our school values we ensure all individuals in our community and the wider world are treated fairly and equally, no matter their race, gender, age, disability, religion or sexual orientation. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Alongside these are our school drivers. These underpin what we learn about here at PSJ, especially designed to influence our children and the community for the better. We choose to weave these into lessons, assemblies , books we read and inspirational people we aspire to be like. This year, in preparation for being global citizens of the world, our drivers are: Inclusion and Diversity.

Mini Police

At the beginning of Year 5, children are given the opportunity to apply for a role in the Mini Police.

The Mini Police scheme is an interactive volunteering opportunity for 9-11 year olds, which follows our 3 step approach, Education, Community and Reward. The objective is to introduce these children to a positive experience of policing and to get them involved in the local community.

Working with the local PSOs, children have been taking part in litter picking, tree planting and are becoming strong ambassadors on the pathway to becoming year 6 captains.

At Peasedown St John we acknowledge and highly value the importance of parents and families spending quality time together, alongside  pupils' physical and mental well-being and their right to play. We want to make sure that the amount of homework should not impinge on this.Therefore, we aim to establish a sensible and effective diet of great homework.

Types of homework set: 

There will be two main types of homework set: 

Expected:  A) Weekly routine - regular practice, revision, questions and exercises around Reading, Phonics/ Spelling and Maths.

Optional : B) Once per short term ( 6 x a year) - research, open-ended projects or experiences linked to our Citizenship and Character.Citizenship  homework is varied and can include specific experiences or activities. It may include collecting or finding things, speaking to a grandparent/adult about their experiences etc. Work will be celebrated in a gallery style exhibition for all to visit in the hall. 

Timestable Rockstars/ Reading Plus/ Purple Mash are all additional online tools, accessible at home, to help support children should they/you choose to use them. They may be used to set homework too, so please make sure your child has their login and password.

Time spent on homework: 

It is expected that children will spend at least the following time weekly working on their expected homework.  If after this time, your child hasn’t finished it let the class teacher know and we can adapt the amount/type moving forward. 

Year 1 =                 20 minutes

Year 2 =                 30 minutes                    

Year  3 and 4 =     40 minutes    

Year 5 =                 50 minutes                 

Year 6 =                 60 minutes 

Please take a look at the full Homework Guidance below for details.