Curriculum

As a small school with dedicated Early Years, Key Stage 1, and Key Stage 2 learning environments, we embrace mixed-age learning as a unique strength. This approach nurtures collaboration, independence, and a genuine love of learning. We carefully link learning to all areas of the National Curriculum, ensuring every child enjoys a broad and balanced education. To provide structure and continuity, we follow a two-year rolling programme for Early Years and Key Stage 1, and a four-year rolling programme for Key Stage 2. We are currently in Year B of our rolling programme. Please see below for information about the curriculum and topics that will be covered during Year B.

At Shirwell Community Primary school, we use Read Write Inc. (RWI) Phonics as the foundation of every child’s reading journey. This proven programme provides a structured and systematic approach to early literacy, ensuring that children develop the essential skills to read confidently and fluently. Through engaging lessons and carefully sequenced activities, RWI helps children build strong phonics knowledge, blending and segmenting skills, and a love of reading from the very start.

 
After mastering phonics, children move on to our comprehensive reading programme, designed to nurture a lifelong love of books and develop confident, fluent readers. Our approach focuses on three key priorities: fostering enjoyment, encouraging children to read widely across a range of genres, and building deep comprehension skills.

Every day, children take part in a dedicated reading lesson where they explore a rich variety of texts, including timeless classics, modern literature, and high-quality non-fiction. These sessions develop vocabulary, strengthen understanding, and teach analytical skills. The texts we select follow a carefully planned progression, increasing in complexity of language, structure, and literary techniques. This progression is guided by our ‘Plagues of Reading’ framework, inspired by Doug Lemov’s work.

To further promote a love of reading, we incorporate daily story time and use Accelerated Reader to support independent reading. Teachers model fluent, expressive reading during story sessions, inspiring children to read with confidence and enthusiasm. Accelerated Reader helps personalise each child’s reading journey: after a short online assessment, pupils are matched to an appropriate book band, ensuring their chosen texts are both accessible and challenging. Once a book is completed, children take a fun online quiz to check understanding—something they always look forward to!

We want every child to develop a love of mathematics and the confidence to succeed. Maths is taught daily from Early Years through to Year 6, with lessons designed to build fluency, reasoning, and problem-solving skills. Teachers use the National Curriculum and White Rose Maths as the foundation for planning, adapting it to create a bespoke curriculum that meets the needs of our children and ensures full coverage.

Our approach combines structured progression with opportunities for revisit and retention, helping children secure key concepts over time. In Key Stage 1 and 2, pupils enjoy mathematics each day, while Early Years children learn through a mix of adult-led and play-based activities. We also use engaging resources such as Times Table Rock Stars and maths.co.uk to make learning fun and interactive.

While maths is usually taught discretely, we make cross-curricular links where appropriate, particularly through subjects like computing. Differentiated learning, targeted interventions, and high-quality teaching ensure that every child is supported and challenged to achieve their best.

 
Our aim is to equip children with key, transferable writing skills that build progressively year on year. These skills can be applied across all subjects, preparing children for success in secondary school and beyond. We teach children to write for a wide range of purposes and audiences, making writing exciting and meaningful through engaging hooks that spark imagination. By providing varied reasons for writing, we not only inspire creativity but also enable learners to apply their skills in different contexts, producing high-quality outcomes.

Across Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, we use Literacy Tree as the foundation for our English curriculum. Literacy Tree carefully maps high-quality texts to a range of writing outcomes, ensuring children experience rich literature while developing essential skills. This approach immerses children in stories and themes that encourage deep thinking, creativity, and purposeful writing.