Our aim is for children to become life-long readers who read through childhood and adulthood for pleasure and with confidence and accuracy. Teachers and Learning Support Assistants teach children to read in guided reading sessions each week. We focus on decoding new words, reading with expression and comprehension.
Children may borrow books to take home from their classroom or from the well stocked school library. In addition, the children may also read electronic books assigned by their teacher from the same scheme as our guided reading books. We expect children to read at home at least 4 times per week and we have a whole school Reading Challenge in place to reward the children for their efforts.
We place great importance on children learning to spell. We believe that it is more useful and efficient for children to learn skills that are transferrable from word to word, rather than memorise a list each week. However, in each year group the children do have a set of words to focus on each week which reflect the aspect of spelling that is being taught in class; the words usually relate to the unit of English work that is being covered. We tailor our teaching to the preferences in learning styles that the children may have and this is reflected in the homework that we expect in, so children often have a choice in how they complete their spelling task.
We want children to be confident spellers and support a ‘have a go’ attitude but we also provide a range of resources in class to promote accuracy of spelling. We believe it is a key aspect of all work and this is reflected in our Marking and Presentation Policy.
Our aim is to encourage children to become life-long mathematical thinkers with a deep-seated conceptual understanding of mathematical processes and their application in formal situations. Through our teaching of the National Curriculum objectives we aim to instil a confident understanding of the practical maths skills that the children will use in everyday life (such as time and money); as well as the formal and theoretical skills (such as written methods and algebra) that will enable them to develop further in their academic journey. In addition to this, we place a strong emphasis on logical thinking and reasoning: which we believe are widely-transferable life-skills. Work carried out in class is reinforced with related weekly homework which is designed to embed the learning that has occurred in school. In addition, the children may also carry out electronic learning games and activities assigned by their teacher in our online learning platform.
Times tables underpin many of the mathematical skills that the children encounter in class. Consequently, we place great importance on children learning their times tables. We recommend that children practise their focus times table daily and use a wide range of methods to embed the information and understand its application in different contexts. For example, verbal repetition (including songs); visual representation of arrays; use of other number facts, e.g. doubling / halving, to work out unknown multiplication facts; and inverse multiplication facts for division. Throughout the school, children undergo a Times Table Challenge each week and receive certificates rewarding them for progress made.
At Brackley C of E Junior School we are very proud of our outstanding musical activities. Music is taught by a specialist Music teacher each week. All pupils across the school learn about notation through the recorder and ukulele as part of their weekly music lesson. In year 5 all children have the opportunity to learn a brass or woodwind instrument through the First Access project in conjunction with the Northampton Music and Performing Arts Service. Singing is wonderful and important part of the life of our school and our children sing with joy and enthusiasm during Collective Worship and in music lessons. We have a strong choir and an orchestra, and peripatetic music teachers provide lessons in string, woodwind, guitar and brass. In lessons pupils enjoy using a range of percussion instruments to compose, play and perform in groups and as a class. We have an amazing collection of high quality instruments including enough djembe drums, glockenspiels and xylophones, ukuleles, recorders and hand held percussion for a whole class to play together. They use their voices and play musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control. They appreciate the music of different composers and listen to music from different times, places and cultures. All pupils are given the opportunity to perform in concerts, church services and the whole school productions at the end of the school year.
Our RE curriculum follows the Northamptonshire Agreed Syllabus, Growing Together, which allows pupils to explore their own beliefs and traditions and those of others in a meaningful and engaging way. We encourage pupils to grow individually and together with sensitivity and respect towards people of all faiths and none. The curriculum for RE consists of units based on Christianity and other worldwide religions and contains clear clinks to the children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development as well as their understanding of Christian and British Values.
A daily act of Collective Worship takes place as a whole school and as a class. Following discussion with the Headteacher parents have the right to withdraw their child from Religious Education and Collective Worship. We are very proud of our status as a Church of England Voluntary Controlled School. We pride ourselves on our links to the church, especially, St.Peter’s Church Brackley, our history and tradition and our distinctively Christian Values. These support our commitment to the Christian Faith and the high standards of the school. A weekly Act of Worship is led by the vicar or his representative and the school celebrates Christian events throughout the year with special services at the church.
We know that children learn best when they are fully engaged in their activities. Therefore we teach , Art, DT, Geogrpahy and History through a thematic based project known as ‘creative curriculum’. We take our themes from the Cornerstones Curriculum which is built on the four-stage learning philosophy: Engage, Develop, Innovate, Express. Over the course of the year the children will explore 5 or 6 different projects which include themes such as ‘Heros and Villians’, ‘1066’, ‘Traders and Raiders’, ‘Peasants, Princes and Pestilence’, ‘A Child’s War’, ‘Darwin’s Delights’ ……
At Brackley Junior School, we aim to nurture an enjoyment and love of science for all of our children. Our aims are to:
The children also engage in science through other enrichment activities throughout the year, such as: British Science Week, outdoor learning and educational visits.
Science Programmes of Study
Science at Brackley Junior School is often taught discretely but where possible, it is linked to each term’s topic in each year group. Cross curricular links are embedded whenever possible. Included in the document below, you will find a breakdown of which science is covered in each term by each year group within those topics.
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