Curriculum
The starting point for our provision at Saxon is always the child. We believe primary school plays an essential part in a child's future success and are committed to working in partnership with their parents to make this aspiration a reality.
We see 'success' as a rounded concept and understand truly effective provision seeks to ensure opportunities for success on many levels are part of that provision. Whilst never veering from our absolutes that children must leave primary school with excellent literacy and numeracy skills (which will in turn enable their success at Secondary school), we also seek to offer a curriculum that is broad and full of enrichment opportunities - both in school time as well as after school - so that the chance to be successful comes in many ways.
Saxon follows a curriculum which mainly mirrors the content of the National Curriculum 2014. The content and expectations for each year group and each subject area can be found in the right hand menu.
Learning both in and out of the classroom is designed to develop the children’s knowledge, skills as a learner and their social and personal qualities. This year, the staff are excited as we begin re-designing our curriculum to ensure the approaches that underpin the learning are carefully incorporated with the enrichment opportunities we offer.
One of the key approaches to learning at Saxon, which threads through the whole curriculum, is our ‘5Rs’; a mindful approach to teaching and learning.
We are passionate about helping children develop a repertoire of learning powers so they will be ready, willing and able to face the constant challenges of learning in the 21st Century. We want children to be inclined to learn, to question, to find out more, as well as to have the grit and determination required to persevere with their learning. This all comes under the umbrella of the 5Rs – resilient (emotional), resourceful (cognitive), responsive (social), reflective (strategic) and responsible (ethical) which we have proudly displayed within the school.
Children in Reception class follow the Foundation Stage curriculum which is divided into 2 key areas known as Prime and Specific.
The Prime areas of learning cover;
- communication and language
- physical development
- personal, social and emotional development
The Specific areas cover:
- literacy
- mathematics
- understanding of the world
- expressive arts and design
All through the school, children are taught in mixed ability classes. They progress through the classes according to age and the teachers ensure the learning provision is planned in such a way to keep each child stretched and keen to learn more.
Year groups are categorised into what is known as Key Stages, with Year 1 and 2 being Key Stage 1 and Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 being Key Stage 2. The National Curriculum for both key stages consists of the core subjects: Mathematics, English, Science and Computing; and the foundation subjects; History, Geography, Design & Technology, Art and Design, Music and P.E. The Surrey Agreed Syllabus is used for the teaching of Religious Studies (RS).
The Power of Reading programme provides the foundation for our English curriculum and supports with meaningful links across the curriculum through the use of high quality children's texts.
When children begin Saxon, they will follow the Little Wandle Phonics and Reading Programme until Year 2. This will be supplemented by our coloured and numerical banded book schemes. A wide variety of books are available for all of our children, regardless of age or ability, to ensure that every child develops their reading skills and enjoyment to the best of their abilities.
Our compulsory start and end times for the school day are as follows:
| EYFS | KS1 | KS2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official start time of the compulsory school day | 8.50am | 8.50am | 8.50am |
| Official end time of the compulsory school day | 3.15pm | 3.15pm | 3.20pm |
| Total time (hrs) this amounts to in a typical week, including breaks but not after-school activities | 32.08 | 32.08 | 32.50 |
