white horse logo with values Love, Hope, Community
Stanford in the vale CE Primary SchoolStanford in the vale CE Primary School
High Street Stanford In The Vale Faringdon Oxon. SN7 8LH
Tel: 01367 710474 Fax: 01367 718429
Headteacher: Mrs Amanda Willis
Siams Outstanding and Ofsted Good Provider
Siams Outstanding and Ofsted Good Provider
Page Updated 10.02.24

Curriculum

Curriculum Intent

Our Curriculum meets the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum and the Primary National Curriculum. It is delivered through high quality sequential, subject specific learning. The themes of Community, Global Learning and Christian Values weave throughout our curriculum. Each child’s unique gifts are recognised and nurtured in order to prepare them to be educated with the knowledge to become successful citizens in a global world.

Curriculum Implementation

The principle of our curriculum is to teach all pupils through a mastery approach. This provides them with the opportunity to keep up with the pace of learning and gaps are addressed immediately. Teaching for mastery means that all pupils are taught together as a whole class through a high quality, inclusive teaching approach.

Our curriculum:

  • Meets the needs of individual pupils.
  • Ensures all our pupils are exposed to the whole curriculum.
  • Is scaffolded and resourced in a way to make it accessible for all to learn.
  • Allows retrieval of prior learning, exposure, production, then lots of practice.
  • Allows our children the opportunity to record their work and externalise their thinking.
  • Encourages the development of fluency over time.
  • Encourages independence and resilience to deal with complexity and new contexts.
  • Teaches all pupils the same objective through scaffolding and challenge.
  • Allows all children to achieve some degree of mastery.
  • Ensures children will work at broadly the same pace, with gaps being plugged immediately.
  • Ensures oracy is key.
  • Exposes pupils to an environment enriched with subject specific vocabulary.
  • Ensures formative assessment is key.

Curriculum Impact

The impact of the curriculum is monitored though triangulation of outcomes: pupil voice, test/data outcomes, planning, monitoring of books and displays, learning visits, discussions with teaching staff, pupils and parents.

Pupils leave Stanford in the Vale CE Primary School with a secure understanding of the academic content; with the understanding of how to be socially, morally, spiritually and culturally responsible and aware; how to make positive contributions to the local community and how to endeavour to be the best that they can be. We aim for all of our children to leave Stanford respectful, knowledgeable, ambitious and with a thirst for life and all it has to offer.

Equality Duty Statement

The curriculum complies with the duties outlined in the Equality Act 2010. We are committed to ensuring that the approaches and methods used to teach a range of issues do not subject individual pupils to discrimination.

Our curriculum also complies with the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Regulations 2014. Information about the school’s policies for making provision for pupils with special educational needs (whether or not pupils have EHC Plans) is explained in more detail in the SEND Information report.

Curriculum Policy

Curriculum Overviews 2023-2024

Click links in blue to read the Curriculum Overviews


Autumn 1

Autumn 2

Spring 1

Spring 2

Summer 1

Summer 2

Foundation Stage

All About Me

Who am I and who are my family?

Let's Celebrate

How do people celebrate at this time of year?

Now and Then

What toys did my family have when they grew up?

Growing

What grows in our garden?

Amazing Animals

What happens to caterpillars and tadpoles?

Welcome to Our World

How is life different for children around the world?

Year 1

Seasons / Weather

How do I know what season it is?

Stanford in the Vale

What is in our village?

Our School

I wonder if I would have liked Stanford School a long time ago?

Transport

How has transport changed over time?

Castles – Kings and Queens

Who is the monarch and where do they live?

The Seaside  

Why isn't there a beach in Stanford?

Year 2

Hot and Cold (Deserts and Antarctica) & Continents

Why would a polar bear not live in the desert?

Our Village Church

How is St Denys important to the history of the village?

The United Kingdom

How are the countries of the UK different from each other?

Kenya

I wonder what Nairobi has in common with Stanford?

Brunel

How did Isambard Kingdom Brunel change the lives of other people?

Great Fire of London

Who was to blame for the Great Fire of London?

Year 3

Stone Age-Iron Age

What are the secrets of White Horse Hill?

From Normandy to Oxfordshire

Would I rather live in Oxfordshire or Normandy?

The Romans

How successful were the Romans with invading Britain?

Plants

How do plants thrive?

London

Why would you want to live in London?

Light & Shadows

How are shadows useful?

Year 4

Anglo-Saxons

What changes did the Anglo-Saxons bring to British society?

Electricity

How does flipping a switch turn on a light bulb?

Volcanoes & Earthquakes

How do volcanoes and earthquakes impact the settlements of humans?

Countries in Europe

-Traditional Foods

Where does our food really come from?

Rivers and the Water Cycle (focus on the River Thames)

Where does our water come from?

Vikings

Were the Vikings ruthless killers or peaceful settlers?

Year 5

Ancient Egypt

Why was the Nile the source of Ancient Egypt's success?

Earth and Space

Why is the Earth's position in the solar system important?

Our Changing World –Environmental

Are our actions damaging the World we share?

Properties and changes of Materials

Are all changes reversible?

Ancient Greece

What did the Ancient Greeks do for us today?

Greece - today – trade links / economic activity

I wonder why Greece is a popular tourist destination?

Year 6

WWII

What was it like to be a child during WWII?

North America

Where would you visit on an American road trip?

Evolution and Inheritance

What links Mary Anning and Charles Darwin?

The Ancient Maya

Savages or Civilised? What were the Ancient Maya really like?

South America

Why are the South American rainforests key to earth's survival? 

Reach for the Stars

What makes a good performance great?


Curriculum Overviews 2022-2023

Click links in blue to read the Curriculum Overviews


Autumn 1

Autumn 2

Spring 1

Spring 2

Summer 1

Summer 2

Foundation Stage

All About Me

Who am I and who are my family?

Let's Celebrate

How do people celebrate at this time of year?

Now and Then

What toys did my family have when they grew up?

Growing

What grows in our garden?

Amazing Animals

What happens to caterpillars and tadpoles?

Welcome to Our World

How is life different for children around the world?

Year 1

Stanford in the Vale

What is in our village?

Our School

I wonder if I would have liked Stanford School a long time ago?

Communication

How did people communicate without Wi-fi?

Castles – Kings and Queens

Who is the monarch and where do they live?

Seasons / Weather

How do I know what season it is?

The Seaside

Why isn't there a beach in Stanford?

Year 2

The United Kingdom

What is special about the UK?

Our Village Church

How is St Denys important to the history of the village?

The Story of Swindon – Brunel

What did Brunel do for Swindon?

Kenya

I wonder what Nairobi has in common with Stanford?

Great Fire of London

Who was to blame for the Great Fire of London?

Hot and Cold (Deserts and Antarctica) & Continents

Why would a polar bear not live in the desert?

Year 3

Stone Age-Iron Age

What are the secrets of White Horse Hill?

From Normandy to Oxfordshire

Would I rather live in Oxfordshire or Normandy?

Plants

How do plants thrive?

The Romans

How successful were the Romans with invading Britain?

London

Why do so many people live in London?

Light & Shadows

How could we live if it was always light?

Year 4

Anglo-Saxons

What changes did the Anglo-Saxons bring to British society?

Electricity

Should electrical cords have metal plugs?

Volcanoes & Earthquakes

How do volcanoes and earthquakes impact the settlements of humans?

Countries in Europe

-Traditional Foods

Where does our food really come from?

Rivers and the Water Cycle (focus on the River Thames)

Where does our water come from?

Vikings

Were the Vikings ruthless killers or peaceful settlers?

Year 5

Ancient Egypt

Why was the Nile the source of Ancient Egypt's success?

Earth and Space

Where is our place within the Universe?

Our Changing World –Environmental

Are our actions damaging the World we share?

Properties and changes of Materials

Are all changes reversible?

Greece - today – trade links / economic activity

I wonder why Greece is a popular tourist destination?

Ancient Greece

What did the Ancient Greeks do for us today?

Year 6

WWII

What was it like to be a child during WWII?

North America

Where would you visit on an American road trip?

Evolution and Inheritance

What links Mary Anning and Charles Darwin?

The Ancient Maya

Savages or Civilised? What were the Ancient Maya really like?

South America

Why are the South American rainforests key to Earth's survival?

Reach for the Stars

What makes a good performance great?

In our phonics teaching, we follow the accredited SSP programme: Twinkl Phonics.

We use a range of reading schemes which we have aligned with Twinkl Phonics including: Oxford Reading Tree, Songbirds and Floppy's Phonics.

Early Years Foundation Stage

Follows the 2021 Early Years Foundation Stage, which is a statutory framework that sets standards for development, learning and care of children from birth to five.

There are seven areas of learning and development, three prime areas and four specific areas:

Three Prime Areas
  • Personal, social and emotional development
  • Communication and language
  • Physical Development
Four Specific Areas
  • Literacy
  • Mathematics
  • Understanding the World
  • Expressive Arts and Design

Children engage in a range of 'child initiated activities' (things they have chosen to do) and 'focused practical tasks' (activities undertaken with an adult). During these activities and tasks, children are observed and these inform staff judgements and next steps.

Children always have access to the inside and outside classroom.

The children are assessed against the Early Learning Goals at the end of their time in Sunflower Class. See these Goals HERE...