Curriculum Statement of Intent

Our aim is to nurture and educate children ‘towards a better life’ by providing a richly inspiring curriculum, suitable for all. They will be motivated by their school experience to achieve their personal potential, in readiness for the next chapter in their lives. We challenge children to strive for academic, creative, sporting and personal accomplishment within a broad and balanced curriculum. Our twelve core Values underpin everything we do within our inclusive school, where diversity is celebrated and children are taught to be members of the local, national and international community.

In a fast-paced world, we believe in nurturing happiness, resilience and success in children.

Curriculum Statement of Implementation

Our curriculum has been designed to create a balance between the National Curriculum statutory requirements and a range of experiences which allow our pupils the opportunities to broaden their life experiences. Our curriculum provides pupils with experiences and opportunities which best meet their learning and developmental needs. The acquisition of knowledge and the development of skills is carefully planned to create a purposeful and exciting learning journey for every child, ensuring that milestones are met at key stages throughout their primary education.
Our vibrant and rich curriculum is designed so that the subject specific skills are scaffolded within a cross-curricular theme or context each term. In order to ensure that progression and balance is maintained, the programmes of study are then developed into medium term plans which clearly highlight the learning objectives, assessment opportunities, differentiated tasks as well as links to other subjects. Teachers plan and tailor units of work and lessons to address the specific individual needs of pupils.

Curriculum Statement of Impact

Our curriculum ensures that pupils are well prepared for the next stages of their lives. Through a range of assessment opportunities, we are able to see that pupils make good progress from their individual starting points and reach their full potential ready to move on. Most pupils at Maulden Lower School reach the nationally expected levels for core and foundation subjects.

For more information about how we assess and monitor the impact of each subject, please see the relevant subject areas on the website.

British Values

At Maulden Lower School we recognise our responsibility to prepare children for life in modern Britain. We ensure that the fundamental British Values are introduced, discussed and lived out through the ethos and work of the school. All curriculum areas provide a vehicle for furthering understanding of these concepts and, in particular, our RE and PSHE lessons provide excellent opportunities to deepen and develop understanding. Children embrace these concepts with enthusiasm and demonstrate a good understanding of their application to their own lives.

Phonics and Reading

Phonics is taught using the Read Write Inc scheme. Pupils in Early Years and KS1 are taught Phonics daily and children in all year groups read regularly to their class teacher and teaching assistants in school during the daily Reading Half Hour. The Reading schemes we use include Oxford Reading Tree, Rigby Rockets and Collins Big Cat.   Further details can be found in the Curriculum section of our website, under English.  

Early Years Curriculum in our Pre-School and Reception Classes

In the Early Years we have broad themes e.g. ‘What a wonderful world’ or ‘Let’s explore’ which also allow us to follow our children’s interests.  We place a high priority on the interactions with children during planned and child-initiated play and activities and the skills our children are learning. We model language and provide a narrative for the activity and play.

We follow the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage 2021. Within this, there are 7 areas of learning and development:

Prime Areas

• Communication and Language
• Physical Development
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Specific Areas

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

Three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are:

Playing and exploring

Children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’

Active learning

Children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements

Creating and thinking critically

Children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things

Early Learning Goals

The level of development children should be expected to have attained by the end of the EYFS is defined by the early learning goals (ELGs).

Communication and Language ELG: Listening, Attention and Understanding; Speaking

Personal, Social and Emotional Development ELG: Self-Regulation; Managing Self; Building Relationships

Physical Development ELG: Gross Motor Skills; Fine Motor Skills

Literacy ELG: Comprehension; Word Reading; Writing

Mathematics ELG: Number; Numerical Patterns

Understanding the World ELG: Past and Present; People, Culture and Communities; The Natural World

Expressive Arts and Design ELG: Creating with Materials; Being Imaginative and Expressive

For more information about the Early Years Foundation Stage, please see the What to Expect When parent guide.

The Curriculum in our Year 1-Year 4 Classes

At Maulden Lower School, we follow the National Curriculum in England, 2014. The Key Stage One Programmes of Study apply to Year 1 and 2. The Key Stage Two Programmes of Study apply to Years 3 and 4 and continue into Years 5 and 6 at Middle School.

Please see the Our Classes section to read Curriculum Overviews for each term of learning in every year group.

We cover the following subjects using a creative, topic-based approach to learning:

Core Subjects

• English
• Maths
• Science

Foundation Subjects

• Computing
• History
• Geography
• Art and Design
• Design and Technology (DT)
• Music
• Physical Education (PE)
• Languages (KS2 only)

Statutory Subjects covered by an Agreed Syllabus

• Religious Education (RE)

Non-statutory Subjects

• Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE)

Should you have any questions about what your child will be learning, please contact your child's class teacher or the Deputy Headteacher, Mrs Katie Westwick.

For examples of weekly timetables, please click on the following links:     

• Early Years  
• Year 1   
• Year 2   
• Year 3   
• Year 4