Key Stage 2

In the British Curriculum, Years 3-6 make up a complete key stage of learning known as Key Stage 2. Year 6 is the most important year in the entire key stage during which the children use all the knowledge, understanding and skills they have acquired over the previous years in primary school.
In Key Stage 2 we continue with an integrated approach to teaching. The children investigate theme topics which, depending on the topic, may cover any or all of the curriculum areas. The complexity of concepts and skills covered increases from Year 3 to Year 6.

Literacy

Our English or Literacy activities follow the National Literacy Strategy, part of the British National Curriculum.
Our daily literacy lessons are made up of 3 strands;
word level work which involves phonics, spelling and vocabulary.
sentence level work which covers grammar and punctuation
text level work which involves reading and responding to a range of fiction and poetry as well as non-fiction texts. The important skills of comprehension and composition (writing) are developed.

Numeracy

The main strands in the Numeracy or maths curriculum are:
Shape and space:
measurement, – volume, distance, weight and time
properties of shapes
metric units – km to m etc
estimation and selecting the correct equipment for measuring.
translation and rotation, learn metric and imperial units

Number:
Fractions
Decimals

• Percentages
• Probability, ratio and proportion.
• Calculations - Various techniques for multiplication and division.
• Place value, large numbers,
• Rounding

Problem solving

Two and three step problems – using all the other skills

Data handling

Draw and interpret graphs –tally, Venn Carole, bar, line

Science

The children develop their knowledge and understanding from Year 1 to Year 6 in 4 main areas;
Life and living processes
Physical processes
Materials
Scientific investigation
Each of these strands is made up of specific units of learning. We believe children learn science better by participating, experimenting and investigating so our science programme has many practical elements.

Geography

The Geography curriculum covers the following areas:

• Landscape and people – how people interact with the environment.
• Map skills – physical features – rivers, high ground, low ground,
• Human features – jobs, factories, cities
• How one feature affects the others.
• Disasters
• Mountains – what are they like etc
• Weather/climate
• How people live – village live compared to city life
• Water and how precious it is.
• How we should preserve and care for our environment.

History

The History curriculum imparts the following skills:

• Research using a variety of resources.
• Analysing evidence from various sources and drawing conclusions – eg looking at lifestyle from Greek vases,
• What evidence has survived and why
• See how lifestyle changed, especially for children.
• How do the rich and the poor live in history – has this changed
• How did people travel.
• How our lives are influenced by war.
• The same skills are used to explore different places and periods of time.

ICT

Physical Education

The curriculum areas cover dance, invasive games, gymnastics and swimming. The children travel to a well equipped local gymnasium and to a nearby swimming pool for these parts of the curriculum.

Design & Technology

The children investigate how things work and participate in designing and making things for a specific purpose with materials they have chosen.

Music

The children sing and play instruments with increasing confidence. They are able to respond to music from different times and cultures. They can compose, show creativity and perform independently. They participate in regular school assembly performances and in our annual Christmas Concert.

Art

The children develop their creativity and imagination through producing increasingly more complex art work. They use many different media and materials to express themselves and create a range of different art and craft projects.

PSHE and Citizenship

The children continue to develop their interpersonal skills. They recognise their important role in the world around them and how they can make a difference. They participate in community service projects to help local communities.