Curriculum
Our curriculum is built around opportunity. We strive to give every child in the school the opportunity to explore and develop as a learner. At River Beach Primary School, we want our children to be responsible, independent individuals that have a lifelong enjoyment of learning together.
To support this, our ambitious curriculum is designed to be dynamic, creative and fun, building on the skills and key learning that the children have previously acquired. Each subject area has specific strands that our children will encounter as they journey through the school. This gives them the opportunity to see such elements as how key people have influenced our world and how the local area features in what we are learning about.
Our curriculum is supported by a range of educational visits and visitors to the school. On immersion days, children really get to experience an aspect of their topic as well as residential trips into the great outdoors! The creative arts, such as music, drama and art, are highly valued and further enrich the children’s learning experience. Through this, we always integrate these subjects into many areas of learning.
We insist on only choosing high quality texts in order to instil in all children a love of reading and to expose them to rich and extended vocabulary. Our texts are chosen to expose children to a range of literature, from Shakespeare to modern classics and to develop the cultural capital that children need to succeed in life. We also have a focus on broadening vocabulary alongside creating a strong culture of reading for pleasure.
Our key learning for each subject is carefully selected through a sequenced curriculum and shared through the use of knowledge organisers that allow both children and adults to see the specific vocabulary and key learning statements that the children will be learning during each topic focus.
Please look here to see our curriculum overview for the whole year.
Below are statements about all our curriculum areas.
Art
The art curriculum at River Beach has been designed with the ultimate goal to 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.
We aim to provide an environment where every child will make progress and develop skills in a meaningful way. Our arts provision is ideally placed to inspire and develop creativity across the curriculum and is an essential component in the planning of learning opportunities for all children at River Beach.
Pupils develop skills across many disciplines, working in both two and three dimensions. From their initial experiences in Early Years Foundation Stage, where they are encouraged to explore different media and materials, to work developed over time using specific skills and inspiration.
Pupils are encouraged to respond to stimuli and develop ideas through drawing. Each child has a sketchbook where they can practise mark making and observational skills to build up their visual vocabulary.
They learn about the skills they will need to create images and objects in a specific way and when they have had the opportunity to develop these skills, are able to create their own unique pieces.
In order to develop pupils’ critical eye and appreciation of art, pupils discover and learn about great artists, architects and designers in history and develop their understanding of the historical and cultural development of their art forms. Through discussions, self and peer assessments, pupils develop their ability to describe the differences and similarities between different practices and disciplines and make links to their own work.
To complement the teaching and learning that the pupils experience in class, we have established our Art Studio, a large and vibrant space. Here, classes take part in lessons taught by our Art specialist teacher, and have the opportunity to develop skills and pieces of work over time and on a larger scale.
The art created at River Beach is celebrated by regularly highlighting specific pieces on display around the school and on the RB Gallery on our website. We also have our team of Arts Ambassadors, taken from Year Six, who visit children across the school on a weekly basis to reward them for particular pieces of work that they like.
We have developed ongoing working partnerships with professional artists through our links with local arts organisations, where children are inspired to see creative careers as real and achievable.
Above all, the teaching of art at River Beach is full of enthusiasm and love for the subject.
To view our Art Overview, please click here.
To view our Art Key Learning Sequence, click here.
Computing
At River Beach Primary School we have a clear and simple vision: the children should be:
Safe with technology
Confident with technology
Inspired by technology
At River Beach Primary School, we will provide all of our children with the knowledge, creativity and enthusiasm to live and thrive in a world increasingly dependent on computing systems and technology.Technology is an integral part of our everyday lives and will play an immeasurable part in our children’s futures.
We meticulously plan our computing lessons to enhance and extend our children’s learning across the whole curriculum, as well as providing our pupils with the opportunities and skill set to aspire to have a career in computing.
We carefully ensure that within our computing curriculum, we provide opportunities for pupils to gain an understanding of:
- How computing systems and networks function.
- The World Wide Web and search engines.
- 21st century technology.
- Data collection, logging, presentation and analysis.
- Digital painting, animation and 3D modeling.
- Photography skills and photo editing.
- Digital writing.
- Making music and audio editing.
- Creating graphs and charts.
- Robotics - Algorithms and coding.
- Programming games.
Together, we aspire to broaden our children’s knowledge of computing whilst providing equal opportunities for everyone to use technology, develop their computing skills, communicate effectively and become both digitally literate and future digital natives.
To view our Computing Overview, please click here.
To view our Computing Key Learning Sequence, please click here..
To view our E Safety Progression document, please click here.
Design and Technology
At River Beach Primary School, Design and Technology is intentionally planned to develop an enquiring mind with regards to how things work, how they are built and their ultimate purpose. We have established our curriculum to give children opportunities to evaluate and deconstruct existing designs and products. This enables them to creatively design and make their own products that solve real and relevant problems. Children design products, considering the needs, wants and values of the end user.
We consciously make links between Design and Technology lessons and, based on the context, introduce children to the wide range of careers, trades and life-skills to which our children can aspire.
We provide opportunities for children to develop their own solutions to design briefs, meeting specific criteria and selecting appropriate materials for their product. We also make sure children have the necessary skills to use tools effectively to create a functional end product. We make sure that children are given the opportunity to evaluate their handiwork.
To view our DT Overview, click here.
To view our DT Key Learning Sequence, click here.
To view our DT Skills Progression, click here.
English
Reading
At River Beach we aim to foster a deep and lifelong love of books and enjoyment of reading in every child. Our goal is for children to leave us not just as fluent readers but also with a deep-rooted passion for books and literature.
We believe that a child’s ability to read confidently and proficiently will empower them across all areas of the curriculum and their wider life and so consider reading as central to everything we do.
For more information on our approach to reading, please follow this link.
To read more about the Accelerated Reader Programme at River Beach follow this link.
To view our ‘book case’ of books that children will encounter during their time at River Beach follow this link.
Writing
We see fluency and proficiency in writing as a vital skill with which we must empower our children for their future learning and employment. We recognise the crucial importance of building within our children the ability to effectively and coherently communicate through writing to a range of different audiences and for a variety of different purposes.
For more information on our approach to writing, please follow this link.
Geography
At River Beach, we provide opportunities that inspire a curiosity to discover the world and its people through our geography curriculum.
We encourage the use of a variety of maps, both digital and book based, to discover the world and compare places both now and over time. We carefully ensure that prior learning supports progression of the skills and key learning, inciting independent exploration of geographical studies.
In depth knowledge of the human and physical geography of the local area is deliberately used in order to deepen the children’s understanding of where they live, in order for them to make effective comparisons to the rest of the world.
We take full advantage of being in a unique location near both a river, a beach and the South Downs, leading to great opportunities for tangible field work within the local area where the pupils of River Beach can investigate the geographical features, both human and physical, first hand.
To view our Geography Overview, please click here.
To view our Geography Key Learning Sequence, please click here.
History
The history at River Beach has been carefully planned to encourage and facilitate children's curiosity of the past, enabling them to understand how it has influenced the present. Our curriculum explores different areas of society and how they have been represented and remembered over time. Using a variety of historical sources such as artefacts, site visits, museums and pictorial evidence the children are able to deepen their knowledge of a particular period or key figures.
We have intentionally chosen to incorporate local history into our sequence of learning, investigating how the local community responded to national and international events and the effect these had on everyday life. We ensure that the past and experiences of people of modern Britain are represented and explored as well as focusing on the achievements of a diverse range of significant historical figures. These historical figures that the children will meet in their learning at River Beach are prominently displayed around the school.
As well as our focus on British history, children at River Beach have the opportunity to explore the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece and Rome and their impact on the western world. As chronology can be a difficult concept to understand, the school has created a timeline illustrating the periods of history studied at the school and significant people and events in that time period.
Our history curriculum enables our pupils to examine the past and begin to understand ways in which it has influenced the world we live in today.
To view our History Overview, click here.
To view our History Key Learning Sequence, click here.
Maths
River Beach follows the Maths - No Problem programme of study. It is a spiral curriculum that continuously builds and consolidates knowledge as children move up the school. Maths - No Problem challenges children to achieve and go beyond the national curriculum expectations, emphasising the mastery approach.
It is a curriculum that builds firm foundations and a deep understanding of mathematical concepts through a concrete-pictorial-abstract
approach. Our maths lessons promote discussion and exploration with a strong emphasis on mathematical language and reasoning. With carefully structured questioning and varied, frequent practice, the children at River Beach are able to develop fluency and build mathematical confidence.
Please follow this link to view Our Whole School Approach to Maths.
Please follow this link to find informative parent videos about Maths - No Problem.
MFL (Modern Foreign Languages)
At River Beach Primary School, our vision is that all children become enthusiastic, motivated language learners through their study of French in Key Stage 2. Our carefully planned sequence of learning provides opportunities for children to develop their reading, speaking, listening and writing skills, along with a grounding in the grammar, vocabulary and phonics of the French language.
We understand the importance for all children to develop a sense of achievement as they progress on their own language learning journey, and to develop the skills and confidence to become curious and interested in other countries and languages. Our high expectations ensure we prepare each child for their language learning journey to continue in Key Stage 3, where they will be able to transfer the specific skills and discipline required for learning languages, regardless of what language they go on to study.
We are passionate about celebrating the different cultures that we are fortunate to have within our school and local community. We believe in the importance of celebrating different ideas and traditions and provide opportunities, such as our annual whole-school International Week celebration, to help broaden our children’s horizons, and bring the wider world closer to home.
To view our MFL Key Learning Sequence, click here.
Music
At River Beach, we recognise that music can be a way of exploring, communicating and responding to experiences. We aim to give all children the opportunity to explore various instruments, genres and styles of music, as well as different musical periods in order to foster a love of music within the children.
All vocal communication is comprised of musical elements such as pitch, rhythm and timbre, demonstrating that musicality is an intrinsic part of being human. Music is a universal mode of human expression and a core artistic and social activity for many people. At River Beach, we see music as a critical component of children’s learning and are committed to providing a rich range of musical experiences and opportunities for all of our children from Nursery through to the end of Year 6. We are committed to developing a curiosity for the subject, as well as an understanding and acceptance of the importance of all types of music and the part it plays in people’s lives.
Throughout their education, pupils are introduced to key musical figures and genres from history. Where possible, our curriculum encourages cross-curricular links and topic-based learning. For example, in Year 2 during their pirate topic, ‘Ship’s Ahoy!’, the children have the opportunity to write their very own sea shanty. In Year 5, during the ‘Swinging 60s’ topic, the children are introduced to Motown Music and discuss the cultural impact this genre has had on modern music.
Music lessons are well-sequenced, ensuring that the key skills are taught, revisited, embedded and built on each year. Therefore, we have designed our curriculum to give every child the opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills needed to become musically literate through four core elements: singing, listening, composing and performing. Where possible, we encourage topic-based learning, leading to cross curricular links with other subjects across the school. We also work with outside music hubs, West Sussex Music, to provide specialist music provision to each child during their education.
We understand that good music teaching can help children to establish the foundations of essential life skills, such as expressing oneself and communicating clearly and confidently. Most importantly, we want the children at River Beach to leave primary school with a love of music, realising that it is something they can be part of too.
To view our Music Overview, please click here.
To view our Music Key Learning Sequence, please click here.
To view our Music Development Plan, please click here.
PE
We ensure children will experience and repeat skills with a range of equipment, environments and challenges to help them work as an individual and as a team player. The PE Curriculum is delivered by specialists and class teachers using the STEP (space, task, equipment, players) approach in any physical activity the children take part in.
We encourage children and staff to have active and healthy lifestyles through inspiring discussions, exploring sporting values and using real life examples. We intend for the children to continue this positive relationship with sport, diet and exercise into their adult life.
Our intent is to give as many children as possible the opportunity to participate in locality festivals during their time at River Beach and involve their parents and carers by celebrating achievements via displays and social media.
We provide for our higher achieving pupils with specific chances to shine at competitions and shows whilst also ensuring we support inclusion through events within school and our Sports Partnership.
In addition, throughout the school year, we are proud to provide over 400 places a term for children to take part in extracurricular sporting activities with our dedicated staff.
To view our Indoor PE Overview, please click here.
To view our Outdoor PE Overview, please click here.
To view our Indoor Key Learning Sequence, please click here.
To view our Outdoor Key Learning Sequence, please click here.
To view our PE Skills Progression, click here.
Phonics
At River Beach Primary school we are passionate about reading. We are determined that every child will learn to read as this underpins our whole school curriculum and as a key life skill, it will enable all of our children to flourish.
We recognise that children who can read confidently and proficiently will enjoy reading.
Reading for pleasure, from a wide range of texts, enables children to develop emotionally, intellectually, culturally, spiritually and socially.
To ensure our children have the necessary phonetic skills to become lifelong readers we follow the Read Write Inc (RWInc.) programme developed by Ruth Miskin. RWInc. is a phonics programme which helps all children to read fluently and at speed, thus developing their interest in and passion for reading. The programme is designed for children aged 4 - 7 years old. However at River Beach we begin to introduce the children in Nursery to the skills that will help them access the taught phonics programme in Reception. We continue using RWInc. resources and terminology with children beyond the age of 7, as we believe in a stage not age approach to phonics.
Please follow this link to view our school approach to teaching phonics
Please click on this link to view a parents meeting about teaching phonics at River Beach
Please click on this link to listen to the pronunciation of all the sounds your child will learn in the RWInc phonics programme.
Lessons for Life (PSHE)
At River Beach Primary School, we strive to provide an engaging, fully-comprehensive Lessons for Life curriculum that is real, relevant and responsive to the needs of our children. We will equip children with vital skills and knowledge that will support them as they journey through life.
Pupils will be taught through three underlying core themes; health and wellbeing, relationships and living in the wider world. Our curriculum exceeds statutory responsibility to support pupils' spiritual, cultural, moral, mental and physical development and will endeavor to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life.
We provide our children with a strong understanding of the diverse world around them and support them in playing a positive role in contributing to the school and the wider community.
To view our Lessons for Life Overview , please click here..
Religious Education
Our enquiry based approach to Religious Education deliberately builds on children’s prior knowledge and understanding whilst promoting respect, empathy, self-awareness and reflection. Religious Education provides the opportunity for the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of all children and their understanding of life in modern Britain and in particular, the diversity of the local community.
It is a vitally important part of each child’s education, enabling them to intentionally reflect on their own beliefs, values and opinions and those of others. It helps them to consciously understand the place of religion in the world, and how this shapes the way people live their lives. We pride ourselves on how we have forged close links with the local religious communities, including visiting at key celebrations throughout the year. Church leaders visit the school regularly to deliver assemblies to children.
To view our RE Overview, please click here.
To view our RE Key Learning Sequence, please click here.
Science
At River Beach Primary School, our vision is to provide a science curriculum which enables our pupils to have as many opportunities as possible to foster curiosity for the world around them. This interest obtained allows for learners to raise questions and gives them the investigative tools in order to answer them. Fostering this love of learning comes through hands-on, practical, exciting experiences which encourages this curiosity.
Our well-thought out curriculum ensures that children are exposed to key scientific vocabulary and skills which allow for progression in school and in their everyday lives. They are given the opportunity to generate their own scientific lines of enquiry and can explore using a variety of investigative skills, building on each scientific method as they progress through the school. These include skills such as: developing their own lines of enquiry, making predictions, observing changes over time, drawing conclusions from their observations, collecting results in a variety of ways, analysing results and evaluating their own method and the reliability of their results. Our ambitious curriculum ensures that children’s understanding can be extended whilst still consolidating prior learning.
Situated between the South Downs National Park and the English Channel, we are lucky to have a range of science focused venues and opportunities for practical field work on our doorstep. We’re constantly looking for new and meaningful experiences that will enrich the scientific understanding and investigative skills of the children we teach. At River Beach, we actively encourage children to continue their investigations at home within the local environment, and even try some new ones.
To view our Science Overview, please click here.
To view our Science Key Learning Sequence, please click here.