Curriculum
‘Creating Irresistible Learning’
At Benthal, we create a learning experience that is “irresistible”, inclusive and cross-curricular which inspires and captures curiosity, bringing learning to real life.
We want our pupils to become well-rounded, valuable contributors to society by applying their skills, knowledge and understanding to new contexts and being solution-focused. We want them to be able to make connections and links between areas of learning.
We acknowledge the wide range of abilities of our pupils and actively encourage teachers to take positive risks with their teaching. We encourage lessons to start with a hook to create irresistible and memorable learning with an emphasis on reading and widening children’s vocabulary.
Creativity and academic excellence is at the heart of our curriculum.
Benthal’s Creative Curriculum
We teach a wide and varied curriculum consisting of the National Curriculum core and foundation subjects. Benthal’s creative curriculum is organised into topic areas, where learning knowledge and skills in different subjects can be brought together. This approach allows teachers to deliver either cross-curricular lessons or stand-a-lone lessons such as Phonics and Mathematics.
Our topic curriculum overview and academic achievement drives our provision and ensures that all pupils are provided with a clear progression of knowledge and skills in each subject. In this way we can ensure that Benthal’s rich, varied and comprehensive curriculum reflects the interests and diversity of our school community and the wider national & global communities.
The Core Subjects are:
Literacy (Reading or Phonics & Writing), Mathematics, Science, Religious Education, PSHE and Computing
The Foundation Subjects are:
Art, Design & Technology, History, Geography, Music, Spanish and Physical Education
Most of the Core subjects are taught in the morning with the Foundation subjects in the afternoon. At the start of each term, the class teachers send out a curriculum newsletter explaining the work and topics to be covered and ways parents and carers can support their children’s learning.
At Benthal High Quality Teaching & Learning takes place when:
Skills Builder Partnership
The children are given opportunities to experience the ‘work place’ at different points in the year. We have linked our curriculum to the Skills Builder Partnership (Enabling Enterprise) where termly Task Days are undertaken by the children allowing them to follow a specific process to complete by the end of the day. Our children also have opportunities to visit large businesses & corporations in the city through the Partnership. The children find these days aspirational.
Music
Our music curriculum offer is one of our school strengths that we are immensely proud of. Every year group from Nursery to Year 6 has a weekly music lesson taught by qualified music teachers. In addition to this Year 3 children learn to play the recorder. Year 4 work with the ‘Apollo Music’ team with stringed instruments, this is a year-long project and we have been running this for a number of years.
We also offer our KS2 children the opportunity to learn to play the Ukulele, trumpet, saxophone, trombone, clarinet, flute and violins; using peripatetic music tutors from Hackney Music Services.
We also offer lessons for Keyboards, African Drums, Steel Pans and on a Drum Kit as part of our after school club offer.
Singing and music is always going on at Benthal, either as vocal concerts, instrumental concerts, seasonal shows and end of year performances.
IT
Children have access to laptops and iPads to support them in their lessons either learning a specific computing skill or to present work. We use Purple Mash to support the computing curriculum. We also have a number of Kindles that are used as part of a reading intervention.
Both halls have an interactive whiteboard as well as all the classrooms.
Forest School
‘Forest School is an inspirational process that offers ALL learners regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in a woodland or natural environment with trees’ Forest School Association
Benthal is fortunate to have many large outdoor areas; our wild life areas, the secret garden, pond area and green spaces for children to learn & play in as well as our two large playgrounds. We offer weekly Forest School experiences with all Early Years children and some older children as part of additional provision. These sessions occur in all weathers and children wear appropriate clothing in order to participate. The intention is to increase the children’s use of our outdoor space to support an appreciation of the natural world and support everyone’s general wellbeing. Forest School sessions are delivered by a fully qualified and certified Forest School practitioner.
Trips and Visits in London and beyond!
We welcome visitors into the school and all classes have day trips linked to their topics. As a Hackney school we are privileged to have such close access to all art galleries and museums in central London. We use them frequently in order to enhance our creative curriculum and give our children wider opportunities and experiences.
In KS2 we also offer residential trips:
Residential to Madrid
We have been running this residential trip to Spain for a number of years and are one of a few primary schools in Hackney to offer such an opportunity to its children. A small group of children with school staff have the opportunity to practise their Spanish with children in our partner school in Madrid and out and about when buying the groups breakfast cereal in the local shop!
We ensure that all children are offered trips and residential experiences and heavily subsidise the cost for those families that are entitled to Free School Meals.
Assessment
In the Early Years:
In Key Stage 1:
In Key Stage 2:
At the start of each term, class teachers send out Curriculum letters explaining the work to be covered and ways parents and carers can support their children’s learning at school and at home. This letter also gives information about Focus Authors for reading, PE times and any trips and visits during the term.