Subject Information
Please click on a subject title below to find out how each subject is taught in each year group.
Curriculum Overview by Year Group
Art
Computing
Design Technology
Geography
History
Maths
EYFS and Key Stage 1
Key Stage 2
Music
Physical Education
Personal Development - The Hidden Curriculum
School Council / Eco Council
We want to listen to our children! We listen to them every single day as they share their ideas and thoughts about a myriad of things! We think it is really important that even from such a young age that they start to learn about how they can have an even more powerful “children’s voice” through a School Council. This is, indeed, an early part of their understanding about democracy and citizenship.
Our school council comprises of one member per class. These members are elected by their classmates. The school council then meets once per half-term.
What does the school council talk about? Anything and everything to do with helping make our school better. They might talk about playground activities, about ICT resources, about trips they would like and the quality of their lunches.
You can see the wide range of issues they consider from the notes of their meetings.
Anti-Bullying Ambassadors
Anti-Bullying From The Diana Award
Supported by HRH The Duke of Cambridge, The Diana Award Anti-Bullying Campaign engages young people, parents and teachers to change the attitudes, behavior and culture of bullying by building skills and confidence to address different situations, both online and offline. We have used this training and have implemented our own strategies to support the children at Beacon.
Our Anti-Bullying ambassadors are a specially selected group of children who are chosen for their qualities in supporting others. They have special lanyards so they are easy to spot while around the school and supporting in the playgrounds at breaktimes. They help by setting up and playing games, helping children who are upset and they support children in forming new friendships.
School Therapy Tortoise
Herbie is our resident emotional support tortoise, who lives in our inclusion room. The children are able to come in to feed him, help clean his enclosure, bath him and stroke his shell.
Tortoises are quite symbolic. They take slow and steady steps reminding us to be mindful and to slow down sometimes in this very busy world we live in.
There are many benefits to having a therapy pet in school. Research has shown some of the benefits to be as follows:
- They help to build skills around empathy and interpersonal skills.
- Sessions with therapy animals can help to develop trust and social skills.
- Being around animals can decrease anxiety and stress.
- It has shown to improve school attendance.
- It can help to improve motivation and attitude towards learning.
Sometimes it's hard for children to express their feelings, and Herbie loves to listen. Having a school pet ties into the curriculum of emotional and social needs and encourage a child's learning needs, especially in reading. For children with disabilities of all kinds, animal therapy can be hugely beneficial. Therapy animals can be used for interventions aimed at improving children’s memory retention through play and responsibility, and can be a helpful tool in helping a child's ability to self-regulate their emotions.
Reading
At Beacon Academy, we use the ‘Read Write Inc’ phonics programme designed by Ruth Miskin to teach early reading. The structured programme helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling. At the core of the programme is the lively and vigorous teaching of synthetic phonics. Children learn the 44 common sounds in the English language and how to sound-blend words for reading (decoding) at the same time as developing handwriting skills and spelling (encoding).
We have found that by using the Read Write Inc. programme, children experience success from the very beginning of their reading journey. Lively phonic books are then closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and as children re-read stories their fluency increases. The stories include prompts to support thinking out loud and discussions, helping children develop the skills they need to be successful storytellers.
Read Write Inc. lessons are fun and engaging and all staff who deliver the reading sessions are fully trained. The lessons are taught daily and pupils are regularly assessed and grouped to enable appropriate challenge and pace throughout the programme.
Religious Education
Science
Writing
Shine Brightly As Writers
