Curriculum

Reading is at the heart of the curriculum at Moorside. Throughout school, a love of reading and an appreciation of books is fostered through highly engaging learning opportunities and immersive experiences that are linked to high quality texts. It is these carefully chosen class texts which drive learning in other areas of the curriculum.

Reading for Pleasure
The children at Moorside are encouraged to read for pleasure. Our children understand what it means to read for pleasure and the importance that it has. Alongside the high-quality Power of Reading texts, children also have access to an assortment of interesting books. Each class has its own set of high quality ‘class reads’ for children to access as well as access to the school library. Our school library is a beautiful, calming environment in which children can explore, engage in book talk with their peers and read for pleasure. Teachers read to the children, along with the children and at the same time as the children to model good reading practices. We also have a group of children in school who are our Reading Champions. Once these children have been selected, the pupils have the opportunity to meet three times a year.. They gain information, have opportunities to discuss their achievements, share ideas with other schools and be inspired to develop ownership of reading for pleasure. 

Reading at home

We track all reading – home and school – on a digital reading record on Boom Reader. There is no limit to how much the children read. This is monitored in school and children are encouraged to read daily. We support parents to support children in their reading by running workshops, providing parent guidance and having open communication. 

Watch this helpful video for support with the Boom Reader app

Reading Plus

At Moorside, we are committed to enabling children to become motivated, independent readers. Reading Plus is an online resource which is used in Key Stage 2 to develop silent reading, fluency and stamina as well as providing the opportunity for each child to develop their own vocabulary and comprehension skills. As students work to develop the skills and stamina required for extended reading with good comprehension, they are presented with personalized scaffolding to build independent reading skills. Students who demonstrate mastery are progressed to increasingly higher levels of practice and instructional rigor. 

Reading Plus Video

Other Useful Resources

 Tameside Digital Library Service

Story Online

Book Trust

Sooper Books

Teaching of Maths

At Moorside, our approach to Maths is underpinned by the Journey To Mastery model, where all students are fluent in the unfamiliar and can apply their skills in any new situation. Mastery of the curriculum requires that all pupils:

-Use mathematical concepts, facts and procedures appropriately, flexibly and fluently;

-Recall key number facts with speed and accuracy and use them to calculate and work out unknown facts;

-Have sufficient depth of knowledge and understanding to reason and explain mathematical concepts and procedures and use them to solve a variety of problems.

Our pupils begin their Journey to Mastery in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), where mathematics is taught through practical play activities based on the EYFS curriculum. Opportunities are planned to cover numbers, counting, calculating, shapes, measures as well as lots of investigative and problem-solving experiences. These crucial early experiences provide the foundations on which future mathematical learning will develop. 

Maths

Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. A high-quality art and design education should engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.

Art

Intent

At Enquire Learning Trust, we believe that it is vital for all our pupils to learn from and about Computing and Technology, so that they can understand the world around them. Through teaching our computing curriculum, we aim to equip our children to participate in a rapidly changing world where work and leisure activities are increasingly transformed by technology. It is our intention to enable children to find, explore, analyse, exchange and present information as well as having the skills to manipulate, develop and interpret different forms of technology in an ever-changing world.

In such a fast-moving curriculum, we are constantly looking at new ways of delivering relevant and exciting activities, while still delivering the fundamental skills needed for computing. Using technology safely and responsibly is a main priority and ensuring all pupils are able to use the internet and equipment appropriately is of paramount importance. We encourage our pupils to make links across the curriculum, the world and our local community, to reflect on their own experiences, which are designed in our curriculum, allowing horizontal and vertical links with previous year groups.

The core of computing is computer science, in which pupils are taught the principles of information and computation, how digital systems work, and how to put this knowledge to use through programming. Building on this knowledge and understanding, pupils are equipped to use information technology to create programs, systems and a range of content. Computing also ensures that pupils become digitally literate – able to use, and express themselves and develop their ideas through, information and communication technology – at a level suitable for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world. 

Our ambitious computing curriculum is now structured in 3 areas that allow all pupils from EY to year 6 to progress through different categories of knowledge.

Implementation

The Enquire Learning Trust bespoke computing curriculum offers a cross curricular scheme of work for EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 which matches the expectations of the National Curriculum. The curriculum looks at the progression needed for all pupils to develop and embed skills and knowledge within the strands of: computer science, information technology and digital literacy. The curriculum is designed to support teaching and learning and the acquisition of subject knowledge in all areas. Children will have the opportunity to explore and respond to key issues such as digital communication, cyber-bullying, online safety, security and social media.

Impact

The impact this curriculum will have shows that:

• Children will be confident users of technology, able to use it to accomplish a wide variety of goals, both in school and at home. 
• Children will have a secure and comprehensive knowledge of the implications of technology and digital systems which is important in our ever-evolving society. 
• Children will be able to apply the British Values of democracy, tolerance, mutual respect, rule of law and liberty when using digital systems. 
• Solve problems in computational terms, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems 
• Can evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems 
• Are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.

Computing

Design Technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject, which makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation. In design technology, children build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users.

As pupils progress, they will acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as mathematics, science, computing and art, whilst taking risks and becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens.  Using creativity and imagination, pupils develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and participate successfully in an increasingly technological world.

DT

A high-quality geography education should inspire a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with children for the rest of their lives. Geography at Moorside gives the children the knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s physical and human processes. As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environment. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shapes, interconnected and change over time. The geography curriculum at Moorside gives our children the knowledge and skills base to develop into a conscientious and knowledgeable global citizen aware of some of the challenges and complexities of our modern world.

Geography

We endeavour to share the rich tapestry of history with our children and help them to see the narrative of the passing of time and their place within it. The teaching of chronology and historians’ accounts of the past underpins all our sequences of learning. We introduce children to stories and events from regional, national, and international history to develop their historical thinking. We appreciate that history is a discipline of critical thinking and embellish children’s understanding of significant aspects of history through our ‘core concepts.’ We will guide children to critique historical sources, appraise artefacts, and make links when evaluating and communicating their ideas as apprentice historians. We hope that investigating history will nourish children with pride, a sense of place and prepare them for their future historical studies. Above all: history will be purposeful, engaging and fun.

History

We endeavour to provide our children with the skills and confidence to listen to, understand and communicate in Spanish, whilst giving them awareness of the value of learning a foreign language.  Through mediums such as story, song, games and role-play, our children will find language learning stimulating and enjoyable.  We strive to embed the key skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing in every lesson to enable children to apply their learning.  The curriculum is designed to also develop children’s love of learning a language and curiosity and awareness of other countries and cultures. Whilst understanding the importance of communicating with others in our multi-cultural society.

Modern Foreign Languages

Music is all around us. It is the soundtrack to our lives. Music connects us through people and places in our ever-changing world. We believe all children should perform, listen to, review and evaluate music, be taught to sing, create and compose music and understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated.  At Moorside, our intention is that children gain a firm understanding of what music is through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing, and composing across a wide variety of historical periods, styles, traditions and musical genres.

Music Progression of Skills

At Moorside Primary Academy, we recognise the importance of physical education to promote a positive attitude towards an active and healthy lifestyle. We aim to provide a broad and balanced curriculum, giving all children the opportunity to develop their physical competence and confidence. The intent of our PE curriculum is to provide every pupil with high quality PE and sport provision. It is our vision that all children succeed and achieve their full potential. We aim to ensure all of our children leave primary school with the passion, knowledge, skills and motivation necessary to equip them for lifelong participation in physical activity and competitive sport.
We intend:
•    To develop skills in a wide range of different sports
•    To develop and apply a range of physical skills and be able to use them in different ways – extending their balance, control, co-ordination and agility, which develops as the children grow physically and emotionally.
•    To understand some of the basic rules of different sports.
•    For all children to have the opportunity to take part in competitions.
•    All children understand the importance of teamwork – and know the 6 key schools games values: respect, self – belief, passion, honesty, teamwork and determination
•    For children to develop an understanding of the importance of rules in order to keep safe.
•    For children to develop an understanding of how to live a healthy lifestyle – and how regular exercise contributes to physical and emotional well – being.

Progression of Skills PE

Personal Development Curriculum Overview

Our structured framework enables each child to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others, and to learn how to form positive and respectful relationships within the school community and in each child’s home community. We introduce children to stories and events from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hindu and non-religions to develop their religious education thinking. We appreciate that RE is a discipline of critical thinking and embellish children’s understanding of significant aspects of RE through our ‘core concepts.’ These include: Believing – religious beliefs, teachings and questions about meaning, purpose and truth; Expressing – religious and spiritual forms and questions about diversity and identity; Living – religious practice. We will guide children as they begin their journey towards understanding and valuing the differences between individuals and groups, whilst developing their emerging moral and cultural awareness.

RE

EYFS Curriculum Information