Teaching and learning

Policy details

• Date created - September 2025
• Date reviewed - September 2025
• Date approved - September 2025
• Next review date - September 2026
• Policy owner - C Robinson

Introduction

At Coop Academy Grove, we aim for every child to experience the very best, broadest education, so that regardless of background they excel academically, develop as a whole person socially and have magical experiences to enjoy every opportunity in life.

We aim for our teachers to create an environment that focuses on children and embeds character education, to ensure important core ethical values such as caring, honesty, fairness, responsibility and respect for self and others is developed. We want our children to ‘live’ the academy’s MAGIC learning behaviours, Motivation, positive Attitude, Gumption, Independence and Communication, which are intertwined within our curriculum. We want our children to demonstrate a love of learning and ensure they are eager to contribute to all aspects of school life.

Aims and objectives

We will:

• Promote our ethos to ensure high standards of academic success, by ensuring our teaching is such that it challenges every child to reach their full potential
• Ensure consistency across year groups, key stages and subjects to enable the children to successfully build on their prior learning
• Ensure all children are inspired, to use their Motivation, positive Attitude, Gumption, Independence and Communication in their learning
• Not accept the children's background as a limiting factor on their potential
• Ensure that pupils receive high quality first teaching, ample time to consolidate key skills and develop secure knowledge.
• Ensure that there is high quality feedback from all staff to ensure learning progresses, allowing pupils to self-correct their work and deepen their learning
• Achieve all the aims above in a passionate and caring way that celebrates the joy of childhood.

We want children to:

1. Be MAGIC learners by receiving a curriculum that enables them to become motivated, independent learners who take risks and aspire to achieve their dreams.
2. Be secure in their learning environment through resources, work and assessment in order to ensure they all make accelerated progress.
3. Have ample opportunities to deepen learning through time to practise whilst having the confidence to self-correct, enabling knowledge to move to their long-term memory.
4. Excel through high quality feedback from staff, peers as well as themselves in order to accelerate their learning and achieve success.
5. Above all we want children to be able to read well, decode and understand what they have read.

Learning Motivation

As an academy we believe, in line with the work of Professors K. Anders Ericsson and Professor Carol Dweck, that learning is a result of:

• Ignition – that pupils have to be inspired to learn and excited by their learning
• High pitch deep practice – that provided the inspiration is personal and powerful enough, pupils will be prepared to work for much longer at something that is much harder
• Feedback from an adult – that any adult can help a child look for the one thing that will improve their work immediately
• Feedback from the child –that if pupils know what “better” looks like through modelling and success criteria they will be able to improve their work

Effective teaching

When teaching we focus on supporting children to develop ‘MAGIC’ learning behaviours (Motivation, Attitude, Gumption, Independence and Communication) and ensure they build on their prior knowledge and skills, enabling them to reach their potential in learning and personal development.

1. Magic learning behaviours are reinforced through every lesson
2. Overlearning underpins every lesson
3. Knowledge underpins every lesson and sequence of lessons
4. Each lesson is focussed on teaching the children a new piece of knowledge, vocabulary and or a skill

Planning

The senior leadership team has developed learning sequences for all subjects based on White Rose Maths, RWI, Kapow and other schemes of work, which teachers follow. Our teachers plan inspiring, motivational lessons that ensure children learn and know a new piece of knowledge and vocabulary every lesson. They ensure their lessons make learning memorable by creating links between texts and subjects. We recognise that planning is essential to the delivery of high quality teaching and effective learning. All of our teachers complete a weekly overview plan which clearly shows their lesson sequencing and planned content. These plans are completed a week in advance to give teachers enough time to personalise learning and resources for all children in their class. We ask our teachers to ensure they are fully prepared for their lessons, planning their use of Teach like a Champion (TLaC) strategies, and are knowledgeable of the core learning within each lesson and know where the learning is heading (end of unit outcome) before they begin teaching a lesson. Our teachers are encouraged to plan open ended tasks and activities in all subjects that promote independent thinking and a deeper understanding. We want to see children's own work at all times. We ask our teachers to be flexible and adapt their planning as the need arises, in response to formative and summative assessments, ensuring the curriculum is accessible to all children.  

Curriculum

We offer an inclusive, skills based curriculum, which aims to give EVERY child the opportunity to fulfil their potential, remaining focused on quality first teaching as a basic entitlement for all pupils. Our curriculum complies with The National Curriculum (2014) and offers much more too. Our school curriculum motivates, excites and enthuses our children because it is broad, balanced and linked to their interests. Children are taught to work both collaboratively and independently and they are encouraged to explore, think, predict, question, enquire, explain, debate and challenge. (Also see our curriculum intent statements on our Academy website).

When designing our curriculum, we researched a number of schemes of work and carefully selected high quality schemes of work which ensure there is clear progression across the year groups and core knowledge is clearly identified in all subjects. Our schemes of work form the backbone of our curriculum; however, we adapt our curriculum accordingly to meet the needs of the children within our academy and our community. We use film/media and quality, engaging books to contextualise, stimulate and enthuse the children's curiosity for learning. Our curriculum is underpinned by a rigorous approach to the teaching and learning of essential basic and technical skills. Our schemes of work include White Rose Maths, RWI and Grammarsaurus for Reading, The Literacy Tree, Kapow for Art and Design and Design Technology, Charanga for Music, Primary Languages for Spanish, Jigsaw for PSHE/RSE and The PE hub. For more information, see our Academy website.

Mathematics

Intent

At Co-op Academy Grove, we believe that Maths is a skill for life. Through the teaching of maths, we intend to provide a curriculum that caters for the needs of all individuals and sets them up with the necessary skills and knowledge for them to become successful in their future.  We aim to prepare them for a successful working life. We incorporate sustained levels of challenge through varied and high quality activities with a focus on fluency, deepening understanding and reasoning.

Pupils working at Greater Depth are required to explore maths in more depth, using mathematical vocabulary to reason and explain their workings. A wide range of mathematical resources are used and pupils are taught to show their workings in a concrete, pictorial and abstract form wherever suitable. They are taught to explain their choice of methods and develop their mathematical reasoning skills. We encourage resilience, flexibility, curiosity and determination as necessary steps in learning.

Implementation

Every class follows the White Rose scheme of learning, which is based on the National Curriculum. Lessons may be personalised to address the individual needs and requirements for a class but coverage is maintained. In order to further develop the children’s fluency, reasoning and problem-solving, we  deepen their understanding by using a range of resources to support the  White Rose lesson content.

We implement our approach through high quality teaching delivering appropriately challenging work for all individuals. To support us, we have a range of mathematical resources in classrooms including Base 10, place value grids, part – whole representations and counters (concrete equipment). As children develop as mathematicians, there is a progression from them using concrete equipment to images and diagrams (pictorial), moving to abstract methods. Abstract maths relies on the children understanding a concept thoroughly and being able to use their knowledge and understanding to answer and solve maths without equipment or images.

Through our teaching we continuously monitor pupils’ progress against expected attainment for their age, making formative assessment notes where appropriate; end of unit assessments are also completed and used to inform teaching. Summative assessments are completed at the end of each term; these results from discussions in termly Pupil Progress Meetings. The main purpose of all assessments is to always ensure that we are providing excellent provision for every child.

Long term

The senior leadership team took the curriculum objectives from the National Curriculum 2014 and those within White Rose Maths and developed a set of objectives for each year. It is the expectation that every teacher covers all of the objectives. The subject leader and SLT have cross referenced the programs of study to ensure they comply with the National Curriculum 2014. SLT and subject leaders monitor curriculum coverage, pitch and challenge.

Medicum term

Teachers' medium term planning follows the White Rose Maths objectives that are set out in the scheme and it is an expectation that every teacher covers all of the objectives. Within each unit, the objectives are sequenced and built upon prior knowledge and skills. SLT and the Mathematics subject leader ensures; through  monitoring, that the expectations are high to match the curriculum; CPA is used effectively, uses the appropriate methods detailed in the calculation policy and ensures the depth and breadth are evident in the children’s work.

Short term

At Co-op Academy Grove we deliver daily mathematics lessons, alongside daily Arithmetic lessons.

Daily maths lessons

Every daily mathematics lesson ensures that concepts build upon small, progressive steps through an interactive, whole class teaching approach with a focus on high level questioning.

Our daily mathematics lessons are structured as follows:

Overlearning (5-10 minutes) 

• Teachers use the maths overlearning PowerPoint to ensure that children regularly revise learning from previous units of maths (previous lessons, previous units from that year group and knowledge from the previous year groups.) This is recorded on individual whiteboards and used for assessment for learning purposes.

Vocabulary (1 minute)

• Unit vocabulary is taught and revisited each day to enable children to use it confidently and in the correct context.

AFL (4 minutes)

• Children independently work out assessment questions set by the teacher. This indicates what teaching input the children require, if any.

Explanation and practice session (20 minutes)

• Whole class teaching, children work in groups/pairs with mini whiteboards and concrete apparatus using an ‘I do’ (teacher modelling), ‘We do’ (collaboration between teacher and pupils) and ‘You do’ (teacher assessment using AFL for whole class/group misconceptions). If there are whole class or group misconceptions, the teacher remodels  Mathematical concepts. If individual misconception support is provided by staff.

High pitch deep practice (25 minutes)

• Children work independently to complete questions set by their teacher. Teacher’s questions are planned in line with White Rose.
• Questions follow small steps of progression to deepen learning and challenge thinking
• Every lesson includes arithmetic and reasoning style questions and questions increase in difficulty as the children complete them.
• Teacher circulates the class providing effective feedback with a continual focus on high level questioning
• CPA is used as required.

Reflection (5 minutes)

• Whole class reflection
• Teacher uses AFL to check misconceptions
• Remodel if necessary
• An opportunity to check how deeply children understand the target concept

Daily Arithmetic lessons (15 minutes)

Daily arithmetic lessons focus on developing children's core knowledge and fluency within the four operations as well as developing their fluent recall of times tables. Lessons are carefully planned and delivered and links are made to children’s daily arithmetic homework. TT Rockstars is also used to support children's recall of their times tables and weekly competitions take place.

Impact

At Co-op Academy Grove we aim to ensure all children are able to talk positively and enthusiastically about maths, using acquired vocabulary and they will take pride in their work. Children will be open minded, flexible and logical about problem solving and have the skills to use methods independently. Children will demonstrate a quick recall of facts and procedures, including the recollection of the times table. Teachers will ensure children’s progress in maths is tracked through termly summative assessments. Data from assessments will be analysed to ascertain areas for whole-class improvement and teachers will ensure their planning is adapted to close gaps in learning, as well as identifying groups of learners who may require targeted support.

English

Intent

At Co-op Academy Grove, stories underpin all that we do and we encourage and instil a love of reading and writing through immersing children in high quality texts, which show diversity and are carefully planned across the school, ensuring children are exposed to a variety of age appropriate genres. Stories and high quality texts are used within all English lessons as a catalyst for developing children’s imagination and for inspiring a love of literature.

Within English lessons, we strive to help our children to write with confidence and accuracy for a variety of purposes and audiences whilst developing their own individual flair, regardless of background, ability or gender. We want our children to be able to write with grammatical accuracy and be able to apply spelling patterns correctly using a neat handwriting style. We aim for our children to apply all of these English skills to all areas of the curriculum, ensuring ambitious vocabulary can be applied in their learning.

Implementation

Long term

All classes follow the Literacy Tree Writing Roots scheme of learning, using the Teach Through a Text approach. Objectives within the scheme are based on the National Curriculum. Lessons within the sequence of learning may be personalised where appropriate to ensure that children are fully immersed in a text. Senior leaders and the English leader have mapped out a progressive curriculum map, ensuring both fiction and non-fiction genres are carefully planned across the year groups. During the Spring term in Year 6, classes use a planned unit of work linked to the National Curriculum standards which prepares them for End of Key Stage 2 expectations. Senior leaders, alongisde the English leader, monitor curriculum coverage, pitch and challenge regularly.

Medium term

To ensure that all children have a secure understanding of the basics of how to write a sentence and to ensure they are ready to write for different purposes, all children are taught, ‘The Place Value of Punctuation and Grammar’ unit of work from Grammarsaurus at the beginning of every academic year.. Teachers plan daily lessons, over 3 weeks, teaching children the grammatical skills they will need to write effectively. The English leader has mapped out the sequence of lessons to follow for each year group.

Once children have a secure understanding of the basics, teachers then deliver inspiring writing lessons linked to quality texts. Three to four texts are carefully selected for each year group to inspire them to write effectively, covering a range of genres (fiction and nonfiction).

Each unit of writing lasts for three-four weeks with each block allowing for writing opportunities in a range of contexts. Each unit culminates in a final written piece, which follows the following writing sequence:

• Planning
• Drafting and revising
• Editing
• Publishing (completed routinely in Years 5 and 6 and when applicable in Years 3 and 4)

Short term

At Co-op Academy Grove we deliver daily writing lessons, alongside grammar, punctuation and skills lessons, spelling lessons and handwriting lessons.

Our daily writing lessons are structured as follows:

Pre-writing lesson (introduction of the text)

Starter (10 minutes)

• Launch the text in an enthusiastic way, this could be through media, visual images or prompts.

Teacher Input (20 minutes)

• Introduce and model read the text using intonation and expression.
• Provide children with their own copy of the text (and any differentiated texts where required). Encourage children to follow along.
• Teachers may also plan opportunities for echo reading or partner reading.
• Drama activities may also be used to further understand character motivation etc (freeze frame, conscience alley, hot-seating, prop-box, thought tapping, etc).

Independent application (20 minutes)

• Children complete an independent read of the text, identifying any unfamiliar vocabulary or punctuation.
• Teachers work with targeted children, reading their differentiated text in a small group.
• This could also include planned drama activities.

Review (10 minutes)

• Complete a class based discussion e.g. 5 finger summary, unfamiliar vocab, text features, text genres, audience, purpose, etc.
• Ensure children are familiar with the text and vocabulary.

Pre-writing lesson (teaching of key vocabulary)

Starter (8 minutes)

• Children independently read the class text (or identified chapters/sections of the class text), which will be differentiated to meet the needs of all learners.

Teacher Input (15 minutes)

• Create a mind map with the children and identify key and unfamiliar vocabulary.
• Teachers model correct pronunciation using ‘my turn, your turn’.
• Teachers model strategies of how to understand vocabulary e.g. word etymology, root words, reading around the words. This may also include teaching children to use a dictionary.

Independent application (20 minutes)

• Children complete a planned activity to independently apply taught strategies. Activities may include identifying synonyms using a thesaurus.
• Teachers work with identified, targeted children.

Review (15 minutes)

• Teachers lead a discussion to build a word bank, which will be displayed on the working wall for future use.
• Encourage collaborative learning.
• Teachers to ensure vocabulary is targeted to the text and includes tier 2 vocabulary.

Vocabulary (2 minutes)

• Teachers will revisit pronunciation using ‘my turn, your turn’ based on teacher assessment during the lesson, encouraging the children to use it in context.

Planning lessons *This will be different depending on the genre taught

Starter (8 minutes)

• Children independently read the class text (or identified chapters or sections of the class text), which will be differentiated to meet the needs of all learners.

Vocabulary (2 minutes)

• Key vocabulary is revisited and rehearsed to enable children to use it confidently and in the correct context.
• Key vocabulary is displayed on working walls and is visible and legible for all pupils to use.

Teacher Input (15 minutes)

• Teachers lead a discussion around text features linked to the text, ensuring children are aware of the key concepts/chronology of the text.
• Draw up success criteria of key grammatical and compositional features (structure and language devices)
• MODEL how to generate a plan using a pre-prepared format e.g. story map, story mountain, box plans, etc

Independent application (25 minutes)

• Children create their own plan, following the agreed template.
• Encourage children to add in additional details.
• Teachers work with identified, targeted children.

Review (10 minutes)

• Share generated ideas with the class and orally rehearse (where appropriate).
• Children to uplevel their plans with magpied ideas or additional vocabulary.

Writing skills lessons (year group expectations are taught)

Starter (8 minutes)

• Children independently read the class text (or identified chapters or sections of the class text), which will be differentiated to meet the needs of all learners.

Vocabulary (2 minutes)

• Key vocabulary is revisited and rehearsed to enable children to use it confidently and in the correct context.
• Key vocabulary is displayed on working walls and is visible and legible for all pupils to use.

Teacher Input (15 minutes)

• Explicitly teach children a new skill and model this in context. Follow an ‘I do’ (teacher led), ‘We do’ (collaboratively), ‘You do’ (independent learning) approach.
• Opportunities for children to ORALLY REHEARSE sentence structures (ensure standard english)
• Teachers to ensure there are clear links to the upcoming writing.

Independent application (25 minutes)

• Planned tasks give children an opportunity to embed the new skill within their current writing context.
• Class based staff will use assessment for learning to identify individuals or groups of children who may require additional modelling. Adults will carefully plan their support for these children and they will deliver small group or individual teaching as required.

Review (10 minutes)

• Teachers will provide an opportunity for children to revisit the taught skill by;

• Further modelling
• Asking children to share examples
• Providing an extra challenge.

Drafting and revisiting lessons

We expect our teachers to model high expectations of presentation (writing on the line, correctly joined, letter sizing, ascenders, etc). Children to ‘write a line, miss a line’ in their books. Teachers to model this, using the IWB or visualiser.

Starter (8 minutes)

• Children independently read the class text (or identified chapters or sections of the class text), which will be differentiated to meet the needs of all learners.

Vocabulary (2 minutes)

• Key vocabulary is revisited and rehearsed to enable children to use it confidently and in the correct context.
• Key vocabulary is displayed on working walls and is visible and legible for all pupils to use.

Teacher Input (15 minutes)

• Teachers MODEL the day’s section of writing against the success criteria, modelling ORAL REHEARSAL of each sentence using the class planning tools. The teacher will do this in real time (thinking out loud), so that pupils can see the way that the teacher overcomes difficulties and so that they can contribute ideas. At times, teachers may share a pre-prepared model if this will better support the learners to address misconceptions.  Opportunities for children to engage through SUPPORTED COMPOSITION (chn have opportunities to contribute their written ideas)
• Teachers’ inputs will be carefully planned to ensure they are revisiting new learning, consolidating previous learning or addressing misconceptions.
• Teachers modelling will be written to a high standard, showing excellent presentation skills.

Independent application (25 minutes)

• Opportunities for children to ORALLY REHEARSE sentence structures (ensure standard english)
• Children will be provided with an opportunity to write at length.
• Class based staff will use assessment for learning to identify individuals or groups of children who may require additional modelling. Adults will carefully plan their support for these children and they will deliver small group or individual teaching as required.
• Class based staff will also ‘mark on the go’ and will regularly stop learners for a mini-plenary. The aim of mini-plenaries is:

• to provide an extra level of adaptive teaching
• to magpie ideas for pupils to use in their own writing
• to share examples of sentences to provide a peer model for writing
• as an opportunity for self and peer assessment against the success criteria

• As an opportunity for pupils to refer to their individual targets, success criteria will be stuck into books so that pupils can self-assess and know what is expected of them. Success criteria will be adapted based on the needs of the children.
• Scaffolding such as knowledge organisers, phonics prompts, word banks, etc are available to support those children who may need it.

Review (10 minutes)

• We believe that the editing of writing is an important skill that should be incorporated into every English writing lesson. Editing improves not just the piece of writing that is being edited, but also future writing, by embedding good practice and providing strong self-feedback.Teachers will explicitly teach and model how to edit and improve.
• Teachers will model how to edit using their own example of writing or using a pupil's writing.
• Children will be provided with time to re-read their work and make edits.

Detailed written feedback is provided after the draft to enable children to focus on aspects for improvement, these should address BOTH transcriptional (spelling, grammar and punctuation) elements and compositional elements (e.g. improving word choice, sentence structure, order and cohesion).  

Editing lessons

Starter (5 minutes)

• Children will complete a planned activity, modelled by the teacher, which will address a previously taught skill or common misconception for the unit of work.

Teacher Input (15 minutes)

• Teachers will MODEL how to edit using their own example of writing or using a pupil's writing, this can be done through the use of a visualiser.
• Teachers will model how to edit directly against the success criteria.

Independent application (30 minutes)

• Pupils will re-read their work, as well as their detailed written feedback.
• Pupils will edit directly against their success criteria.
• Pupils will improve their work (vocabulary choices/grammar/spelling and add passages to improve their content).
• Class based staff will use assessment for learning to identify individuals or groups of children who may require additional modelling. Adults will carefully plan their support for these children and they will deliver small group or individual teaching as required.

Review (10 minutes)

• Children will peer assess their work.
• Teachers will identify clear expectations for this support.

Publishing lessons (Completed routinely in Years 5 and 6 and when applicable in Years 3 and 4)

To ensure children have ample time to publish their work to the highest standard, there will be no planned starter for this lesson.

Teach (5 minutes)

• Teachers will revisit features of specific genres to support the children with publishing their writing.
• Teachers to set out the expectations for the lesson:

• Children will use their previous work to create a final published piece. Children should continue to make independent edits to ensure their writing addresses all previous errors, improves in line with the success criteria and celebrates all previously taught learning.  
• Teachers should ensure the highest standards of presentation are maintained.

Independent application (45 minutes)  (write on every line in publishing books)

• Class based staff will use assessment for learning to identify individuals or groups of children who may require additional modelling. Adults will carefully plan their support for these children and they will deliver small group or individual teaching as required.

Review (10 minutes)

• Children will be provided with time to re-read their work and make final edits.

Grammar, punctuation and skills lessons

At the start of the academic year, teachers deliver ‘The Place Value of Punctuation and Grammar’ unit of work from Grammarsaurus, over 3 weeks. This unit of work covers the foundations of sentence structure and punctuation.

Following this, teachers plan and deliver lessons using a progression of skills document, which strongly links to our writing curriculum and identifies year group specific objectives. Teachers plan lessons which address misconceptions identified through formative and summative assessments. New concepts are modelled clearly to children during lessons using an ‘I do’ (teacher led), ‘We do’ (collaboratively), ‘You do’ (independent learning) approach. After explicit teaching of skills, children are then encouraged to explore and apply taught concepts in all aspects of their speech and writing across the curriculum.

Spelling lessons

Teachers plan and deliver spelling lessons using the no nonsense spelling scheme. This programme helps children develop a range of skills that support their writing proficiency. Children learn spelling patterns and rules as well as learning about statutory words and common exception words. Children are then encouraged to apply this within their writing.

Spellings are also sent home every Friday for children to practise at home. Children are then tested on these spellings in school each week.

Handwriting lessons

At Co-op Academy Grove we have high expectations of presentation and believe that encouraging, developing and teaching legible handwriting takes place in every lesson. However, we plan and deliver discrete handwriting lessons and interventions to ensure children are taught the correct pencil grip, seating position and paper position and have an opportunity to practise and develop a legible, cursive handwriting style. These discrete lessons are planned using the ‘Teach handwriting’ scheme and take place during the start of an English lesson. During the first three weeks of Autumn 1, handwriting sessions will last for 20 minutes to embed high expectations. Following this, the lessons will last for 5 minutes.. The English leader has mapped out a sequence of letter formations and joins to follow throughout the Autumn term. Following this, teachers will select misconceptions in letter formations to address in handwriting sessions.

Handwriting lessons should follow the same format:

• Short date underlined
• A short warm-up pattern to focus children
• Teacher modelling of new letter formation or join. This will include use of animations from Teach Handwriting scheme and teacher modelling
• Child practice (where the class teacher will circulate the room and address any misconceptions and errors in letter formation

Impact

We aim for our children to become confident, competent writers, who enjoy writing for a range of purposes. Our children will take pride in their writing and this will be celebrated. Teachers will use assessment for learning to ensure they are carefully planning and delivering lessons to meet the needs of all children and moderation will be used to support teachers with making summative judgements at each assessment point, using the evidence from each writing unit.

Reading

By the time children leave Co-op Academy Grove, they will have read, listened to and been inspired by a wide range selection of children’s literature. Regardless of ability, gender or background, all children will know, understand and have the confidence to discuss a broad range of high-quality texts and vocabulary to cultivate a love of literature. We have high expectations for all children and expect our children to leave primary school as avid readers. We want them to read for pleasure, having had access to a wide range of text types, genres and authors in order for them to make informed opinions about their favourites. We aspire for our children to read fluently and widely and be able to express preferences and opinions about the texts that they read. We aim to expose our children to a wide range of vocabulary so that they are able to decipher new words and then use them when speaking both informally and formally.

Implementation

Long term

We use a ‘Phonics first’ approach to teaching reading through Read Write Inc. This systematic approach reinforces a consistent, high quality method to the teaching of phonics and reading. Once secure with Phonics, a whole school approach to reading is delivered using Grammarsaurus Comprehension Crusher reading scheme. This scheme of work has been carefully designed to ensure vocabulary, concepts and knowledge are encoded into long term memory. Each unit encompasses a range of fluency and vocabulary activities to improve reading comprehension.

Senior leaders have taken the objectives set out in the National Curriculum 2014 programmes of study for reading and have developed a programme of study for each year, ensuring both fiction and non-fiction genres are carefully mapped out. The English leader and SLT have cross referenced the programs of study to ensure they comply with the National Curriculum 2014. SLT, alongside the English leader, monitors curriculum coverage, pitch and challenge regularly.

Medium term

Phonics

We teach phonics to children with gaps in their learning through the ‘Read, Write, Inc’ Ruth Miskin phonics programme. It is a systematic, fast-paced approach to teaching phonics. This intervention is used to close gaps in learning quickly.  RWI groups are organised into different abilities following half termly assessments. Sessions are focussed on learning missing sounds, applying these in word reading and reading decodable books that match their phonics knowledge to build confidence with fluency and accuracy. Teachers are expected to follow the correct RWI timetable for their group (3 day rotation for teaching green, purple, pink, orange, yellow, blue and grey) which is found in the reading leader and teachers handbooks. Where the teacher identifies fluency as a gap in the group's learning, the teacher will repeat day 2 (once) to address this. To also support fluency, teachers will plan and deliver review lessons (within the daily speed sounds lesson) on two days of the week.

Whole class reading

We teach reading using the Grammarsaurus Comprehension Crusher scheme of work. A 3 day, two weekly cycle unit of work has been created to ensure the essential components of reading are embedded. Each reading unit focuses on two or three of the content domains and the units have been arranged to ensure complete curriculum coverage. Each unit also includes three different question formats, one for each focus area. The format of the questions presented within each domain varies across the units. This ensures a variety of question types are practised throughout the year.

Short term

Whole class reading lessons take place over three days, following a two week unit of work. This sequence of lessons includes the teaching of:

Prior knowledge

Prior knowledge is discussed to help contextualise the text. A general prior knowledge slide is provided within the teaching slides and teachers can edit this to include specific prior knowledge from previous learning. Sometimes, further background information must be explained for the text to make sense, teachers will plan for this.

Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary

Tier 2 words are high-frequency, versatile words that appear across various contexts and genres. They are crucial for building a robust vocabulary foundation, improving reading comprehension, and enhancing overall language proficiency. Tier 2 words, such as “analyse,” “compare,” and “predict,” are more likely to be encountered in a wide range of texts, making them more relevant to everyday reading and learning experiences. Tier 3 words are domain-specific and rarely used outside their particular fields. Spending too much time on these specialised terms can limit students’ exposure to the broader vocabulary needed for general reading comprehension and language development. Therefore, balancing the teaching of tier 3 words with a stronger emphasis on tier 2 words is essential for fostering a well-rounded and effective reading improvement strategy.

Fluency grids

The following types of words may hinder a child’s ability to read fluently: Phonetically irregular words (e.g. yacht), polysyllabic words & compound words (e.g. fieldwork), words with silent letters (e.g. knight) complex consonant clusters (e.g. twelfth), foreign borrowings (e.g. genre) and morphologically complex words (e.g. uncharacteristically). Therefore, we plan opportunities within reading lessons for children to practise reading these words.

Layered reading

Layered reading is like unlocking the layers of a text one by one. On the first reading, students will learn the main idea and the details; on their second and third readings, they will get more out of the story and learn more about what the author put into it. We have planned opportunities within our reading sequence for children to re and re-read texts.

Echo reading / Time modelled reads

Teachers use echo reading/modelled reading of a section of the text to model and practise good reading. The teacher will time themselves reading a part of the text as a storyteller and ask children to do the same back with the objective to meet the time. This is repeated throughout the week to promote fluency.

Comprehension questions

Teachers will  identify the focus of the lesson, choosing a different focus each day. They will follow an ‘I do’ (modelled question), ‘We do’ (shared question), ‘You do’ (independent practice) approach to the teaching and practice of question types.

Unseen text

At the end of the unit, children will be provided with an unseen text to answer a new set of questions so that they can apply the strategies learnt. Teachers will mark the answers with the children and will analyse the common mistakes to decide if further practice is required on a specific question format.

We also use ‘In the moment of reading’ to ensure all children have the necessary reading skills to understand the text they have read.  Different ‘In the moment of reading’ skills are taught and referred to within reading lessons.

Reading for pleasure

We encourage our children to read often and widely and to support this our teachers read to our children every day, modelling fluency, intonation and expression. During this time children are able to listen to both pre-selected class novels and literature of their classes choice. Whole class reading for pleasure is timetabled for 10 minutes every day.

Reading at home

We use Accelerated Reader to motivate, monitor, and manage students’ independent reading practice at home and support their stamina and skill growth through wider reading opportunities. Accelerated Reader motivates students to read through engaging quizzes, goal setting, and personalised recommendations. As students increase their reading volume, they develop greater reading stamina, word recognition, and language comprehension skills.

Children who access RWI phonics, take home a phonetically decodable RWI book so they can practise their fluency.

Impact

Children will develop skills in listening, oracy and higher-order thinking which will allow them to express themselves fluently in class discussions about a range of texts. We promote a love of literature and expect that children will understand and appreciate the value of reading.

Children’s progress in reading is tracked through termly, summative assessments. Data from these assessments is analysed to ascertain areas for whole-class improvement and feeds into teachers planning, as well as identifying groups of learners who may require targeted support. A Reading Race is displayed outside every classroom where children’s word count from Accelerated Reader is tracked. Children are awarded certificates linked to their word count and these are celebrated in class (for 5,000; 10,000; 25,000; 100,000 and 500,000) and in weekly celebration assemblies (50,000; 250,000; 1,000,000).

Science

At Co-op Academy Grove, our children access a science curriculum that is rich in scientific enquiry and stimulates an inquisitive mind.

Our Science teaching offers opportunities for children to:

• Develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
• Develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of Science through different types of scientific enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them.
• Be equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of Science, today and for the future.
• Develop the essential scientific enquiry skills to deepen their scientific knowledge.
• Use a range of methods to communicate their scientific information and present it in a systematic, cross-curricular manner, including ICT, diagrams, graphs and charts and a variety of written text types.
• Develop a respect for the materials and equipment they handle with regard to their own, and other children’s safety.
• Develop an enthusiasm and enjoyment of scientific learning and discovery.

We use the National Curriculum 2014 to plan the learning of pupils and the expectations for each year group. The Science subject leader alongside SLT ensures, through monitoring, that the expectations are sufficiently high to match the curriculum, include chemistry, biology and physics and cover all elements of scientific enquiry.

Children are given opportunities to learn about career links related to each unit throughout the Science curriculum. This enables them to explore potential careers that are available to them.

Science is taught weekly, following the Co-op Academy Trust’s Science curriculum, which is based on the National Curriculum. It is organised in sequentially planned units, to ensure that children have an immersive and comprehensive learning experience. Science is progressive and built upon to support retention and recall. Teachers use science overlearning PowerPoints at the beginning of every lesson to ensure that children regularly revise learning from previous units of science (this is also an opportunity to revisit misconceptions and gaps in learning which have been identified by end of unit quizzes). This is recorded on individual whiteboards and used for assessment for learning purposes.

Units consist of a balance between acquiring knowledge and working scientifically: planning experiments, gathering data, scientific enquiry and evaluating experiments. Practical learning opportunities are planned within every lesson to embed scientific concepts: these are based on the Primary Science Teaching Trust enquiry types. All lessons are adapted to meet the needs of all learners and work is recorded in a child’s science book.

Post assessments are used to check the retention of knowledge. These are stuck into books and marked by the teacher.

Lesson Structure

Assessment

Disciplinary Knowledge

TAPs assessments are used once in every science unit to assess children’s understanding of working scientifically. Teachers will record children’s TAPs outcome in books with the assessment indicators highlighted to show whether a pupil has not yet met, has met or is going further with their learning.  Clear criteria is provided for staff to assess children, and the assessment criteria will be evidenced in books.

Substantive Knowledge

Children will complete the end of unit quizzes (substantive knowledge), which will enable summative teacher judgement. Any misconceptions or gaps in knowledge will inform the overlearning powerpoints for the following half term.

History

At Co-op Academy Grove, our history curriculum is designed to help children develop a passion for history. Our pupils will explore the past, build on previous learning and develop their own historical curiosity and understanding of why the past can be interpreted in different ways. They will enjoy learning about a range of periods from history, gaining an understanding of a variety of historical concepts, vocabulary, processes and chronology. They will learn to challenge their own and other’s views and preconceptions through historical inquiry; using a range of sources including quality teaching and enriching activities.

We use the National Curriculum 2014 to plan the learning of pupils and the expectations for each year group. The History subject leader alongside SLT ensures, through monitoring, that the expectations are sufficiently high to match the curriculum, and include an understanding of key concepts (such as trade, empire, invasion), substantive knowledge (people, events, dates), disciplinary knowledge (how historians learn about the past) and chronology.

History units across each year group are chronological and build on prior knowledge and are taught in alternate half terms, which allows children to understand key components to support their conceptual learning. Children are taught how historians learn about the past and when, who and where events occurred.

Lessons are planned using Focus Education alongside BBC Bitesize. Over the half term, History lessons allow opportunities for children to ask questions, research, acquire knowledge and develop perspective and judgement.

Teachers use history overlearning PowerPoints at the beginning of every lesson to ensure that children regularly revise learning from previous units of history (previous lessons, previous units from that year group and knowledge from the previous year groups.) This is recorded on individual whiteboards and used for assessment for learning purposes.  

Unit vocabulary is taught and revisited each lesson to enable children to use it confidently and in the correct context. Knowledge organisers should be used in every lesson to support learners in class during all History lessons.

Teachers will model expected outcomes and examples of asking questions and research within lessons and all work is recorded in a child’s topic book.

Lesson Structure

Geography

At Co-op Academy Grove, our geography provision is designed to develop a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will stay with our children long beyond their time at school. Geography teaching at Co-op Academy Grove develops the children’s knowledge of their local community, and what makes them unique and special, as well as developing their knowledge and understanding of the wider world. Our children will enjoy learning about how people live in different locations and they will develop geographical concepts, knowledge and skills, enabling the children to develop a love for geography.

We use the National Curriculum 2014 to plan the learning of pupils and the expectations for each year group. The Geography subject leader alongside SLT ensures, through monitoring, that the expectations are sufficiently high to match the curriculum, and include an understanding of substantive knowledge (place and locational knowledge, human, physical and environmental knowledge and geographical skills) and disciplinary knowledge (encouraging children to think geographically).

Geographical units across each year build on prior knowledge and are taught weekly in alternate half terms, which allows children to understand key components to support their learning. Lessons are planned using our bespoke curriculum over the half term. Geography lessons allow opportunities for children to ask questions, research, acquire knowledge and develop geographical concepts. Children are taught how to read maps, conduct field work and exemplify geographical concepts.

Teachers use Geography overlearning PowerPoints at the beginning of every lesson to ensure that children regularly revise learning from previous units of Geography (this is also an opportunity to revisit misconceptions and gaps in learning which have been identified by end of unit quizzes). This is recorded on individual whiteboards and used for assessment for learning purposes.  

Unit vocabulary is taught and revisited each lesson to enable children to use it confidently and in the correct context. Knowledge organisers should also be used in every lesson to support learners in class during all Geography lessons.

During lessons, teachers will model expected outcomes and examples of asking questions and research. All work will be recorded in a child’s topic book. A large class map will be displayed in each classroom and referred to when appropriate. Staff will also support this using digital maps and using technology.

Post-assessments are used to check the retention of knowledge. These are stuck into books and marked. The misconceptions that arise from the post assessments are then used to inform the overlearning slides for the next unit.

Lesson Structure

PE

At Co-op Academy Grove, we recognise the importance of Physical Education to a child’s physical, cognitive, social and emotional development as well as the role it can play in a child’s spiritual, moral and cultural development.

Physical Education develops the children’s knowledge, skills and understanding of sports and exercise, so that they can perform with increasing competence and confidence in a range of physical activities. Physical Education promotes an understanding in children of their bodies in action: it involves thinking, selecting and applying skills and promotes attitudes towards a healthy lifestyle. Thus enabling them to make informed choices about physical activity throughout their lives.  We aim, regardless of, gender, ability or background, for children to develop skills that are transferable within other curriculum areas. Varied opportunities will provide enjoyment for all and will in turn develop paths for children's future.The curriculum we offer ensures opportunities for pupils to enjoy communicating, collaborating and competing with each other. They develop an understanding of how to improve in different physical activities and sports and learn how to evaluate and recognise their own success.

Pupils are taught to:

• use running, jumping, throwing and catching in isolation and in combination
• play competitive games, modified where appropriate [for example, badminton, basketball, cricket, football, hockey, netball, rounders and tennis], and apply basic principles suitable for attacking and defending
• develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance [for example, through athletics and gymnastics]
• perform dances using a range of movement patterns
• take part in outdoor and adventurous activity challenges both individually and within a team
• compare their performances with previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best

We follow the National Curriculum 2014 using a scheme called ‘The PE Hub’ which offers . Curriculum coverage is broken down into units, which are taught two per half term. Lessons covering these two units take place twice weekly, ensuring children receive the opportunity to engage in 2 hours of PE per week. The scheme ensures that all areas of the National Curriculum are covered and our PE leader, alongside senior leaders, ensures monitoring of high expectations and coverage.

Within the PE Hub scheme, units are broken down into progressive sequences of lessons. The outcomes of each session are explicit and progress towards a final unit outcome such as a competitive tournament or presentation of skills.

Lesson Structure:

• Warm up: Children always complete a warm up activity at the start of the lesson to prepare their bodies for exercise. This will be taught consistently throughout children’s time at Grove leading to confident learners able to lead their own and small group warm ups with the knowledge they have gained.

• Starter activity: Following the warm up, a starter activity will take place. This will draw on previously taught skills and provide the foundations for the key learning outcomes within each session.

• Skill development: Specific skills are taught within this section of the lesson. Pupils’ physical learning is supported with videos and diagrams of sporting practice to develop their understanding. We are continually investing in high quality equipment to support pupils in participation.

• Activity: The skills developed are now brought into an activity such as a small team game/ partner based activity where pupils are able to apply their skills into context.

• Cool Down: As with the warm up, cool down activities are taught progressively throughout pupil’s PE journeys ensuring they are able to complete and understand the purpose of this important part of physical activity clearly.

Swimming:

We ensure the requirements of the National Curriculum are met by providing the opportunity for children to participate in swimming instruction at a local provider. This takes place in one block of lessons over a 4 week period during Year 4.

Assessment: 

Using our PE scheme, The PE Hub, teachers use specific success criteria to assess children’s progress within lessons. Units within the scheme culminate in a final assessment opportunity where children are able to showcase their learning. We utilise both teacher based assessment and feedback, and self and peer evaluation.

Art

At Co-op Academy Grove, our children access an art curriculum that nurtures pupils’ creativity, imagination and visual literacy, encouraging them to think like artists and designers.

Our art teaching offers opportunities for children to:

• Develop an appreciation of art as a powerful form of human expression, helping pupils to understand its role across different cultures, time periods and creative industries.
• Develop appreciation of art as a powerful form of human expression, helping pupils to understand its role across different cultures, time periods and creative industries. It encourages children to value originality, take creative risks and reflect critically on their own work and that of others.
• Develop the need to value originality, take creative risks and reflect critically on their own work and that of others.
• Develop subject knowledge and pedagogical confidence.
• Develop the skills and techniques pupils use when making art, including methods, materials and formal elements.
• Develop a knowledge of artists, art movements and contexts that help pupils understand and interpret creative work.
• Develop an understanding of how art is studied, discussed and evaluated through critical reflection and questioning.
• Develop the contextual and conceptual understanding that helps pupils make sense of art, how it is created, interpreted and situated within different cultures, time periods and artistic movements.
• Develop how pupils think like artists, critics and curators, questioning what art is, why people create it and how meaning is communicated or interpreted.

We use the most updated version of Kapow which supports the National Curriculum (2014) to plan the learning of pupils and the expectations for each year group. The Art subject leader alongside SLT ensures, through monitoring, that the expectations are sufficiently high to match the curriculum, including focussing  on developing skills in drawing, painting, and sculpture using diverse materials, fostering creativity and experimentation, learning about great artists and art history, and using sketchbooks to record and refine ideas, all while building visual vocabulary to analyze and discuss art.

Children are given opportunities to learn about career links related to each unit throughout the Art curriculum. This enables them to explore potential careers that are available to them.

Art is taught weekly in half termly blocks, following the Kapow Art curriculum, which is based on the National Curriculum. It is organised in sequentially planned units, to ensure that children have an immersive and comprehensive learning experience. Art skills are taught progressively. Art and design skills and knowledge are developed to support pupils in reaching the key stage outcomes as outlined in the National curriculum. New learning is weighted toward the start of each key stage, allowing ample opportunity for it to be revisited and applied in later years -  revisiting skills taught year on year supports retention and recall. As a result, knowledge accumulation may appear heavier in some year groups than others.

The four main skills Drawing, Painting and Mixed Media, Sculpture and 3D, and Craft and design - are accessed throughout each year group from EYFS up to Year 6 - whilst we are a Junior school, our Infants school uses the same programme ensuring progression. As pupils revisit these areas each year, they become increasingly confident and proficient in selecting, combining and applying techniques, enabling them to bring their ideas to life with control, creativity and personal intent. All lessons are adapted to meet the needs of all learners and work is recorded in a child’s Art book.

Post assessments are used to check the retention of knowledge. These are stuck into books and marked by the teacher.

Lesson Structure

Assessment

Disciplinary Knowledge

• Formative assessment is embedded throughout Art and design lessons to ensure that teachers can gauge pupils’ understanding in real time and adapt their teaching accordingly.
• Questioning – lesson plans include targeted and open-ended questions to check understanding, promote critical thinking and address misconceptions.
• Observation – teachers are supported to observe pupils during tasks, noting how they approach activities, collaborate and apply Art and design skills.
• Discussion and peer interaction – pair and group discussions are built into lessons, providing opportunities for pupils to articulate their thinking and for teachers to assess understanding through dialogue.
• Lesson pauses – plans include strategic pause points for checking comprehension, summarising learning and addressing any common errors before progressing.
• Retrieval practice – recap activities such as short recall tasks and oral explanations are embedded to reinforce prior knowledge and assess retention.
• Use of success criteria – success criteria are shared within lessons, allowing pupils to self-assess or peer-assess their work and reflect on their progress.
• Short reflections in the Wrapping up – lessons end with brief written or verbal reflections, enabling pupils to consolidate learning and teachers to gauge understanding.

Substantive Knowledge

Children will complete the end of unit quizzes (substantive knowledge), which will enable summative teacher judgement. Any misconceptions or gaps in knowledge will inform the overlearning powerpoints for the following half term.

Design and Technology

At Co-op Academy Grove, our children access a Design and Technology (D&T) scheme of work which aims to inspire pupils to become curious, creative and innovative thinkers with a broad understanding of how products are designed and made, in other words, to think like designers and engineers.

Our D&T teaching offers opportunities for children to:

• Develop the confidence to identify problems, generate ideas, plan and create products and evaluate their outcomes.
• Aims to raise pupils’ awareness of how design and technology shape the way they live, work and interact with the world.
• Encourages pupils to become resourceful, enterprising individuals who have the skills to contribute to and improve the world around them.
• The curriculum is designed to be both accessible and ambitious, ensuring all learners’ full participation and potential achievement.

We use the most updated version of the Kapow scheme of learning which supports the National Curriculum (2014) to plan the learning of pupils and the expectations for each year group. The Design and Technology subject leader alongside SLT ensures, through monitoring, that the expectations are sufficiently high to match the curriculum. Children are also given opportunities to learn about career links related to each unit of work, which enables them to explore potential careers that are available to them. Design and Technology is taught every term in blocks, which allows children to understand key components to support their conceptual learning.  

The Design and Technology national curriculum outlines the three main stages of the design process:  Design, make and evaluate.  Each phase of the design process is underpinned by technical knowledge which encompasses the contextual, historical and technical understanding required for each strand.  

Design and Technology is organised into five subheadings:

• Design
• Make
• Evaluate
• Technical knowledge
• Cooking and nutrition

Kapow has a clear progression of skills and knowledge in the five strands across each year group. Through the spiral curriculum, key areas are revisited again and again with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revisit and build on their previous learning.

Through Kapow’s Design and Technology scheme, pupils respond to design briefs and scenarios that require consideration of the needs of others, developing their skills in six areas:

• Mechanism
• Structures
• Textiles
• Cooking and nutrition
• Electrical systems
• Digital world

Each of the key areas follows the design process (design, make and evaluate) and has a particular theme and focus from the technical knowledge or cooking and nutrition section of the curriculum.  Kapow is a spiral curriculum, with key areas being revisited again and again with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revisit and build on their previous learning.  

The teaching of Design Technology is broken into three main parts: designing, making and evaluating.

Designing

• Children will be provided with a design brief.
• Children will explore existing products and think about the features these products can offer and will create a specification based on real life examples.  
• Children will use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups.  
• Children will be taught about the design process, refer back to and develop their ideas over time.  
• Children will draft and improve their ideas over time and evaluate their reasons for this.  
• Children will generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design.

Making

• Children make their final product.  
• Children will develop design skills that they will need to use to complete different products.  These skills will include cutting, shaping, joining and finishing.
• Children will use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities.  
• During their time at Grove Academy, children apply their understanding of how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce more complex structures; understand and use mechanical systems in their products like gears, pulleys, cams, levers and linkages; understand and use electrical systems in their products like series circuits incorporating switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors; and apply their understanding of computing to program, monitor and control their products.
• Children will prepare and cook a variety of predominantly savoury dishes using a range of cooking techniques.

Evaluating

• Children will be expected to present their final product and evaluate it against their design criteria.  
• Children will suggest future improvements.
• Children will have opportunities to evaluate the work of others and receive feedback on their own work.

Every child will experiment with, develop an understanding of and become skilful in a range of techniques such as cutting, shaping, joining and finishing. Teachers will use artefacts and good examples of work to engage children in their learning

Lesson Structure

Formative assessment is embedded throughout our D&T lessons to ensure assessment of pupils’ understanding in real time and adaptation of teaching takes place accordingly. Examples of formative assessment in D&T include:

• Questioning – Lesson plans include targeted and open-ended questions to check understanding, promote critical thinking and address misconceptions.
• Observation – Teachers are supported to observe pupils during tasks, noting how they approach activities, collaborate and apply design skills.
• Discussion and peer interaction – Pair and group discussions are built into lessons, providing opportunities for pupils to articulate their thinking and for teachers to assess understanding through dialogue.
• Mini plenaries – Plans include strategic pause points for checking comprehension, summarising learning and addressing any common errors before progressing.
• Retrieval practice – Recap activities, such as short recall tasks and oral explanations, are embedded to reinforce prior knowledge and assess retention.
• Use of success criteria – Success criteria are shared within lessons, allowing pupils to self-assess or peer-assess their work and reflect on their progress.
• Short reflections in the Plenary – Lessons end with brief written or verbal reflections, enabling pupils to consolidate learning and teachers to gauge understanding.

Music

At Co-op Academy Grove, we value music as a powerful and unique art form. Music enhances creativity and supports the development of social skills, self-discipline and confidence. Through high-quality teaching and learning, we provide a music curriculum that enables children to develop a secure understanding of the interrelated dimensions of music through the skills of performing, composing and appraising.

Children experience a broad and balanced range of musical styles, including classical, rock, folk, jazz and popular music from different times and cultures. In addition, specialist weekly provision is provided by City Music School, with Year 6 pupils receiving brass tuition, and Years 3 and 5 pupils learning to play the ukulele, further enriching their musical experiences.

Music teaching and learning is planned in line with the National Curriculum (2014), ensuring clear progression of knowledge, skills and vocabulary across the school. The Music Subject Leader, alongside SLT, monitors teaching and learning on a half-termly basis to ensure expectations remain high and that the curriculum is delivered consistently and effectively.

Music is taught weekly through carefully sequenced units of work with a clear learning focus. We follow the Charanga scheme of work, which supports an integrated, practical, exploratory and child-led approach to musical learning. The scheme fully meets the requirements of the National Curriculum and provides progressive, week-by-week lessons, clear assessment opportunities and engaging resources that support high-quality teaching.

All music lessons provide opportunities for children to listen to at least one new piece of music per session. Pupils apply their understanding of the interrelated dimensions of music across a range of genres, including gospel, reggae and blues. Each term, children listen to, appraise and learn about the work of at least one iconic singer, musician, composer or band from different historical periods and cultural backgrounds, supporting the development of pupils’ cultural capital.

Music lessons are structured around three key elements: Listen and Appraise, Musical Activities and Perform and Share. Through these elements, children engage in a range of musical activities, including:

• Games that embed the interrelated dimensions of music through repetition and rehearsal
• Singing, which lies at the heart of all musical learning
• Playing tuned and untuned percussion instruments
• Improvising using voices and instruments
• Composing and recording musical ideas

Children regularly perform and share their learning, building confidence and musical understanding, and are given opportunities to work towards performing for an audience.

MFL

At Co-op Academy Grove, we believe that the learning of a language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for our pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. It helps them to develop communication skills, including the core skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. The children’s knowledge of how language works, phonology and elements of grammar will be developed and extended. Lessons will enable pupils to make substantial progress in one language. The transferable language learning skills gained will assist and lay foundations for further language learning. It will provide pupils with the confidence and independence to explore and be able to attempt manipulation of the structure of language. Learning another language gives children a new and broader perspective on the world, encouraging them to understand their own cultures and those of others.

We follow the Primary Languages Network scheme of work. It is a live scheme which is continually updated and revised in order to meet current curriculum standards. It holds at its core the Intent, Implementation and Impact of MFL whilst maintaining a ‘primary’ focus. Alongside the planning provided, the scheme is supported by accompanying videos, PowerPoints, audio files (spoken by native speakers), links to authentic literature, songs, games, cultural points of reference, seasonal events and cross-curricular links.

The children in KS2 build up their knowledge and skills by working through the language learning stages from Stage 1 in Year 3 to Stage 4 in Year 6. The scheme of work is progressive, with the foundations being laid in Stages 1 and 2, ready for further development and challenge in Stages 3 and 4.

To promote an active learning of languages a range of teaching methods are implemented to ensure that the children are developing their linguistic skills through listening, speaking, reading and writing in order to be secondary ready. Activities can consist of actions, rhymes, stories, song, drama, grammar focus, video clips, air writing, sentence structure, dictionary work, book making and many more creative ways to extend, embed and combine language skills. Written work is completed on worksheets, although formal writing is not the outcome of every lesson. The skill of writing is developed through use of whiteboards and air writing leading to writing in books.

Teachers ensure that lessons are accessible to all children. Knowledge organisers are integrated into MFL lessons as essential memory aids; staff actively facilitate and encourage their use to support pupil independence.

PSHE (Personal, Social, health and Economic Education)

At Co-op Academy Grove we firmly believe that our Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education curriculum will give our pupils essential skills, knowledge and understanding that they need in order for them to become confident, healthy and independent members of modern society. Alongside our Jigsaw scheme of work, we also use resources from the PSHE Association and resources that support local events to help supplement our curriculum. Our aim is to prepare all our pupils for life in modern Britain, with a deep understanding of the British values of democracy, individual liberty, rule of law and mutual respect and tolerance. At Co-op Academy Grove, we aim to ensure that all our pupils develop resilience, communication, teamwork and respect, so that they are prepared for the challenges they may face throughout their life.

We use the ‘Jigsaw’ scheme of work to plan the learning of pupils and the expectations for each year group to ensure progression. The PSHE subject leader alongside SLT ensures, through monitoring, that the expectations are sufficiently high to match the national curriculum expectations.

PSHE is taught weekly, as a discrete lesson, using the Jigsaw curriculum and all of our year groups focus on the same theme at the same time. Units are completed in the order outlined below:

• Being Me in My World
• Celebrating Difference (including anti-bullying)
• Dreams and Goals
• Healthy Me
• Relationships
• Changing Me (including Puberty and Human Reproduction Education)

Through the sequence of lessons, children will have the opportunity to discuss and debate ideas, reflect on their own way of thinking, and learn to express themselves in a respectful way.

At Co-op Academy Grove we also want to ensure pupils have the opportunity to discuss their own experiences and understand how these might link back to our important topics in PSHE, therefore we also use Picture News resources to support our delivery and teaching of PSHE, including British Values and if issues arise during the day, at playtimes or lunchtime, staff will also take this opportunity to complete more work as necessary. This may be with individual children, small groups or the whole class as needed.

During PSHE lessons our pupils will;

• learn about key important national events, for example, Children in Need, Remembrance Day and other key dates that celebrate different cultures, religions, traditions, and allow pupils to reflect on their own traditions and why they have them, and to develop a compassionate, respectful and tolerant approach to our community.
• be encouraged to recognise that we are all different and unique, and that this should be celebrated. Pupils learn that we all have a place in society and can make valuable contributions. They have an opportunity to reflect on their own actions and decisions, and develop an understanding of consequences.
• be taught the age of criminal responsibility in an age appropriate way.
• be taught ways to improve their mental health and strategies to develop their resilience when things don’t go according to plan.
• develop an understanding of different cultures and religions, reflect on their own feelings and values, and engage in respectful dialogue with others.
• encourage our children to understand that there is often not a right or wrong answer, but different opinions or beliefs.
• be taught about the democratic systems in place and why it exists.
• be taught the fundamental British Values: Liberty, Tolerance, Respect, Democracy and the Rule of Law. These values are taught as part of the curriculum, and in assemblies.
• learn how their actions can affect the wider world- recycling, sustainability, walking to school etc
• learn how to keep healthy and well - physically, mentally and emotionally. Healthy relationships are also promoted through the curriculum and assemblies.
• learn how their digital footprint is formed and recognise the dangers of inappropriate online activity.

Safeguarding

Our PSHE curriculum may prompt pupils to make disclosures to staff relating to safeguarding or child protection. Our staff have received the relevant training to report these disclosures to the DSL or DDSL within the academy, so that they can be dealt with according to our Child Protection policy and processes.

Statutory Curriculum Updates (Effective September 2026)

From September 2026, Co-op Academy Grove will implement updated statutory PSHE and RSE guidance to ensure our curriculum remains responsive to modern challenges. This includes an intensified focus on digital risks and the addition of mandatory safety content regarding the physical world, specifically fire safety and travel safety around roads, railways, and water. Furthermore, the curriculum will introduce age-appropriate content designed to help pupils recognise and challenge misogyny, toxic online subcultures and violence against women and girls. These updates reinforce our commitment to safeguarding and ensuring our pupils can navigate both the digital and physical world with confidence and respect.

Religious Education

At Co-op Academy Grove we have adopted the Local Authority agreed syllabus for Religious Education. We are passionate about Religious Education and the contribution it makes in forming the minds of future generations. Through our curriculum, our pupils learn about different religions and beliefs in a range of contexts, and explore key questions whilst considering their own beliefs and values. We aim to equip our pupils with the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding to engage in a positive dialogue with other members of society, reflecting on their own beliefs and ways of doing things, whilst respecting the views and feelings of others.  

The three core elements of our curriculum aim to ensure that our pupils can:

1. make sense of a range of religious and non - religious beliefs
2. understand the impact and significance of religious and non - religious beliefs
3. make connections between religious and non - religious beliefs, concepts, practices and ideas studied.

At Co-op Academy Grove, we use the locally agreed syllabus (2021-2026) to plan the learning of pupils and the expectations for each year group. The Religious Education subject leader alongside SLT ensures, through monitoring, that the expectations are sufficiently high to match the curriculum.

Religious Education is taught weekly and lessons allow children to explore a range of religious and non - religious beliefs and revisit key principles. The agreed syllabus is a ‘spiral curriculum’ which builds on prior knowledge. Assemblies complement the RE syllabus and celebrate various important religious festivals.

Teachers plan lessons using the key question/unit from the yearly overview. They carefully select learning outcomes suitable to the age and ability of the pupils, ensuring all 3 elements are included. (Make sense of belief, understand the impact, Make connections). Teachers develop teaching and learning activities to enable pupils to achieve the intended outcomes and they consider ways of recording how pupils show their understanding. Pupil books contain post it notes, mind maps, photographs, children’s written work and clearly evidence debate opportunities where children can reflect on their own point of view. Pupils' work will be celebrated in their books.

Within lessons, pupils are encouraged to ask challenging questions about religious and non-religious beliefs, values and views, they are encouraged to engage in healthy, respectful debate in order to allow them to reflect on their own opinions, beliefs and traditions and they learn about key sacred texts, artefacts, and explore various religious sources.

Computing

Computing and technology is an area in which we as a school are pushing forward with to give our children the best possible start in life, through our computing curriculum and the whole school approach to using technology effectively across the curriculum.

We have developed a specific IT strategy which incorporates computing and wider use of technology.

Taken from our IT Strategy:
“At Co-op Academy Grove, our IT strategy focuses on creating a dynamic and future-ready learning environment. We will utilise the new IT suite for high-quality, structured Computing lessons, as well as integrating the flexible use of Chromebooks for practical application of digital skills. This will mean that all pupils have access to a range of high-quality devices for learning and developing their skills. Crucially, we are committed to embedding technology across the entire curriculum, encouraging the use of digital tools as standard practice in all subjects. iPads have been utilised, within some year groups, as personal devices to develop teaching and learning. The long-term plan is to provide all children with a 1:1 device, which will ensure every pupil has their own device to support blended learning opportunities both in school and at home, facilitating personalised, continuous, and equitable learning.”

Our computing curriculum ensures skills are taught enabling children to be confident, creative and independent learners who can stay safe online.  

Computing is taught weekly using the ‘Teach computing curriculum’, which is designed by the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) and linked to the National Curriculum. The scheme is taught through units of work. These units for key stage 2 are based on a spiral curriculum. The Teach Computing scheme of work which is informed by the latest pedagogical research and developed by subject experts. In this computing scheme, unit themes are revisited and developed in every year group. This allows children to build upon prior knowledge, develop their curiosity and embed essential knowledge into their long-term memory. The units covered each year are: Computing Systems and Networks, Creating Media, Data and Information and Programming. Throughout these units, all strands of the national curriculum are covered and children learn the main aspects of the overarching computing curriculum themes which are:

• Information Technology – word processing, data handling, presentations, animation, video creation, photography and digital art, augmented reality, sound, create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve digital content
• Computer Science – Computational thinking, coding/programming, computer networks
• Digital Literacy (including Online Safety) – self-image and identity, Online relationships, Online reputation, Online bullying, Managing Online Information, Health, wellbeing, Privacy and Security, Copyright and Ownership
  
  Lessons are taught following the scheme, with teachers adapting them as needed for their class and the needs of the children

https://teachcomputing.org/curriculum 

Online Safety

As we move towards a digital age, teaching our pupils about being safe online is a fundamental skill.

As a school, we have adapted the computing curriculum to include a lesson around online safety each half term, as well as class assembly /  PSHE session if required. These sessions are mainly discussion based, with activities related to each topic. Giving children a chane to voice their opinions and steering them in the direction of how best to stay safe online, what support is available and how to access that support should they need it.

Our E-Safety lessons follow the Project Evolve toolkit which is based on the UKCIS framework “Education for a Connected World” (EFACW). This framework covers knowledge, skills, behaviours and attitudes across eight strands of our online lives from early years right through to eighteen. These outcomes or competencies are mapped to age and progress. The statements guide educators to the areas that they should be discussing with children as they develop their use of online technology.

https://projectevolve.co.uk/about/ 

Our learning environment

To ensure consistency, equity and effectiveness we have outlined the expectations we would like to see on our working walls. Our classroom boards will be backed with hessian and purple/black borders to ensure our boards are inclusive and help to build a calm, non-stimulating and rich learning environment. They will also include subject specific support materials, outlined below.

English

We expect to see, displayed clearly with no overlapping, the following at all times:

• Handwriting prompts which include correct letter formation for capitals and lower case, correct pencil grip, exemplar handwriting sentence and the essential writing habits.
• Genre, Purpose and audience displayed and updated in line with current unit of work
• High value, non-negotiable spellings which are specific to your class (not necessarily linked to weekly spellings - they can be text specific e.g. character names, a spelling rule or common missed spelt high frequency words)
• Colourful semantics display of at least who, what doing, what and where, with visuals
• RWI complex speed sounds chart. (This will be displayed somewhere in the classroom but may not be on the English working wall).

We expect to see the following resources as required in line with the sequence of learning:

• Prompts to be accessed, for the unit and/or lesson including word banks , examples of taught skills for children to refer back to, modelled writing, unit planning templates, etc
• Individual resources for children to use as required such as RWI sound mats, word banks (with widget as required), spelling lists to support, etc

Reading

We expect to see, displayed clearly with no overlapping, the following:

• Reading repair strategies
• Vipers prompts
• Vocabulary exploration sheets (removed when not required)

We also expect to see the following:

• A reading race, which is used and understood (this may be displayed outside the classroom)
• An appealing, tidy, lending book corner (where loaning of books is tracked by an adult). All books are labelled with ZPD stickers and will be of good quality.
• The current story time novel, displayed

Maths

We expect to see, displayed clearly with no overlapping, the following:

• Number formation posters
• Vocabulary relevant to the topic taught (including pictorial prompts where appropriate)
• Representations relevant to the topic e.g. bar models, numberlines, part part whole models. These will show CPA pedagogy.
• Procedural written methods - step by step instructions.
• Sentence stems that are referred to and used (these may be changed daily in line with the white rose lesson planning)

We also expect to see the following, to be used where relevant:

• Access to manipulatives including counters, part part whole charts, place value grids, times tables grids, numberlines, etc. (If not out on tables, all children will know where and how to access these resources)

Other

We expect to see, displayed clearly with no overlapping, the following:

• Visual timetable which is displayed at the front of the class, with picture cues (This must be used daily by children)
• SLANT, be ready, be respectful and be safe posters to be displayed on the behaviour working wall
• A world map
• Well being scale used daily by children (as part of daily meet and greet)
• Wider curriculum related support prompts which are current to the unit of work being taught

We expect to see the following:

• Knowledge organisers 1 between 2 in every science, history, geography, art, DT and RE lessons
• Resources trays clearly labelled (with widget prompts)
• Tables with all resources accessible to the children