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Curriculum

At the Olive School we recognise that all knowledge is sacred and worthy of pursuit and that lifelong learning is a tradition of Islam and other world faiths.

The curriculum at the Olive School is designed to foster thought, curiosity and a desire for learning in all children regardless of their backgrounds, strengths and needs. The curriculum will provide a solid foundation for future learning ensuring that the key skills in English and Mathematics are taught well through creative and enjoyable lessons.

The curriculum will operate at three levels and will address all pupils’ academic, personal and social development.

Educational Excellence

Educational excellence is fundamental to our educational philosophy. We are committed to providing a rich, sequential curriculum that will provide our pupils with an outstanding foundation preparing them for their secondary education.

Alongside the National Curriculum, the ‘Core Knowledge Sequence UK’ (CKS) will be used as a springboard for learning in English, Mathematics, Science, History and Geography. The CKS outlines all the topics and content that should be covered in each year. By explicitly identifying what children should learn each year, the CKS will ensure a coherent and cumulative approach to building pupils’ knowledge across the curriculum as a whole. This will equip them to make sense of the world around them, enabling them to become resilient independent learners, problem-solvers and critical thinkers and therefore preparing them for the important exam years at secondary school.

We use the well-known Read Write Inc approach to phonics. This whole school literacy programme is designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers.

Character Development

Pupils also pursue the character development element of the curriculum. This includes a programme of PE, sport, cultural, creative and other activities. The character development curriculum helps pupils develop key personal skills and aptitudes including leadership, oral communication, self-confidence, personal effectiveness, entrepreneurship, self-actualisation, problem-solving and enhanced emotional intelligence. These dimensions of learning are at the heart of the school.

Service to Communities

The curriculum for this element will be structured to help the development of citizenship, social enterprise and community service and will be delivered using a ‘project based learning’ approach. Older pupils will be expected to support the development of younger pupils in their phase group which would prepare them for a wider understanding and engagement in society as they move to the secondary phase of their education. A planned programme of circle time activities, reciprocal teaching, reading buddies, assemblies, class council meetings and peer support activities will provide insights into social education and experiential community activities.

Curriculum Information

Wordlists
Reception
Year 1 & 2

Curriculum Overviews
Reception
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5

Homework

At the Olive School, homework tasks are set for pupils with the purpose of supporting ongoing progress and achievement of all pupils.

We view the purpose of homework as:

Developing the home school partnership.
Consolidating and reinforcing skills and understanding.
Exploiting resources for learning in the home.
Developing skills of organisation and self-discipline.
Preparing pupils for the demands of secondary education.
Extending school learning.

Homework is issued every Friday and must be returned by Wednesday. Pupils will receive one literacy and one numeracy based homework each week. Children must read at least 10 minutes per day.