At Selwyn Primary School, we continue to develop both the content of our curriculum, and its delivery. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, we have ensured that we use Google Classroom (and related G Suite applications) to deliver learning online to those who are not able to come into school for reasons related to the pandemic.
We have developed a whole school policy which outlines the way in which we have developed this provision, which is available as a document to download on this page.
At Selwyn we follow the National Curriculum. Additional information regarding the primary curriculum is also available on this page of the Newham website, which describes a curriculum as ‘a set of courses or subjects for study. It describes the knowledge, skills and understanding that your child needs in each subject’.
As outlined in the links provided above, all children from Year 1 to Year 6 are taught: English, Maths, Science, ICT, PE, Music, Art & Design, Design and Technology (DT), History and Geography. The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum (for Nursery and Reception children) has its own curriculum page on the website.
We follow the Newham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education (RE) and have reflection time every week to develop children's Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship (PSHCE) skills and understanding. Details of how we teach RE, and the link to the understanding of British values, are provided in a document to download on this page.
The Parent Resources page of our website provides a link to our Curriculum Action Plans, which describe the way in which we plan, teach and assess each area of our curriculum to ensure that the children develop their knowledge of each subject area as they progress through our school.
We aim to provide every child with access to a broad and balanced curriculum, that is taught in an interesting and stimulating way. All the subjects above are taught as either part of the core curriculum (English, maths, science and computing), or as part of the wider curriculum (all other subjects).
All aspects of our curriculum are supported by a programme of educational visits/school trips and extra-curricular events (a mixture of events held at school, in London and across the country). Examples of both are provided below.
Walking around our school, visitors notice it is a calm and focused learning environment. This is especially important for our children who are hearing impaired - although we believe that all children benefit from a purposeful and tranquil setting.
At Selwyn there is a clear homework timetable and children are expected to practise and consolidate their learning from school at home, supported by their parents and carers. Newsletters are sent home to inform parents and carers about the term’s learning, school events and planned educational visits.
We all have high expectations of our pupils. High standards of presentation and individual commitment are paramount at Selwyn. We believe that the classroom should reflect and celebrate the learning and teaching through large, bright and visually stimulating display
An overview of our curriculum, by year group and by subject, for the academic year, is provided as a document to download on this page.
Additional details re our teaching of English and maths are provided below. Further information regarding our curriculum and the way in which it is taught is provided in our subject policies, copies of which are available under our Model Publication Scheme. Please contact the school office for further information.
The teaching of the National Curriculum for English at Selwyn consists of the following:
At Selwyn, 90% of our children use English as an additional language (EAL), and there are over 40 different languages spoken across the school. In addition, we are the provision for deaf and hearing impaired children in Newham, with the capacity to admit up to 32 children with such needs.
Our high expectations and quality teaching ensure that scores in all aspects of literacy (reading, writing and spelling/grammar) are above both Borough and national levels at the end of Year 6 (see the Results page on the website for further detail).
The teaching of National Curriculum maths at Selwyn is designed to:
Teaching methods and approaches
Children learn about measures, number and how to apply their numeracy skills. This is in addition to focussed teaching time that is set aside to reinforce the learning of times tables and mental arithmetic.
In Reception, the aim is to have prepared the children for a daily 45-minute maths lesson by the end of the Autumn term.
In lessons, children engage in:
Throughout school, we have incorporated the Maths No Problem Schema to support and supplement the teaching and learning of mathematics.
Key areas covered by the end of key stage 2
Areas covered in the new primary curriculum (as at September 2014) are:
At Selwyn, we believe that targeted homework is a useful tool to support and consolidate basic skills in maths and English.
To this end, homework is set each week on a Friday and consists of tasks set to consolidate learning in class in order to support the development of literacy and maths skills. Homework tasks are differentiated to ensure that all children are given challenges appropriate to their current abilities. Further information is provided in the document available to download on this page.
Homework should be completed by the child at home and then handed in the following Wednesday. Parents are asked to supervise homework and guide where necessary, but we do encourage pupils to be as independent as possible as they progress through their primary school. If your child is struggling with his or her homework, please speak to the class teacher: it should not become a battleground at home!
We also ask that parents and carers sign off reading homework in the home/school reading book that is provided.
Working in partnership with parents
At Selwyn, we believe that children learn best when supported by school and home, working in partnership. We thus encourage the following:
Current Selwyn parents can log in to the Parent Area on the website, where further ideas re supporting and encouraging learning at home are available.
Finally, NPW (Newham Partnership Working) has put together a selection of websites that support the learning we do at school.
This page was last updated in December 2020.