Our Curriculum

Our Curriculum at Holbeach Bank Academy is all about us.

Our Curriculum Intent

Our Curriculum is designed to inspire our pupils enthusiasm for learning, to ensure their achievement through building knowledge sequentially fostering curiosity and ensuring this is built on at each stage across a well planned curriculum of rich opportunities. It supports their wellbeing and happiness as they move on their journey across the primary phase of their education.

First hand experiences encourage our children to develop interpersonal  skills and build resilience . Our cross curricular knowledge rich  approach enables our pupils to make meaningful links in their learning.

A love of reading is promoted which is fostered through a well organised phonics and early reading approach leading into reading for both meaning and pleasure enabling full access to the curriculum . Our approach to reading is rigorous in ensuring all our children are able to access reading activities and enjoy reading areas for fun reading together and information sharing through a rich range of inviting books.

To celebrate the identy of our academy our curriculum provides unique experiences relevent to our pupils lives now and beyond , for their local area , wider community and world. Our menu of rich and varied opportunities engage the learning of all.

Our Curriculum builds strong relationships, celebrate diversity, encourages respect and helps us to play a real role in our academy and local community. Our pupils all have their own talents which we respect of each other.

It prepares our pupils well for the next phase in their education and in building their cultural capital to succeed in their future lives.

At HBA our pupils are taught in three classes, small groups and sometimes individually . We always seek to  inovate and  achieve higher and higher standards to be the best we can be.

We Hope, We Believe and We Achieve.

Our Curriculum Implementation

Knowledge maps are produced for each year group ensuring clarity of coverage with a strong emphasis on progression of knowledge and skills.  Our Foundation curriculum is taught through termly topics where the skills and knowledge of the National Curriculum are delivered.  The skills that are taught throughout the school are progressive.

When planning knowledge, we refer to the National Curriculum requirements but have an awareness of the context and demograpics of our Academy and we ensure we expand on previous learning.  For our core subjects, we use a variety of planning resources as we believe that following one programme does not provide a bespoke teaching and learning experience that we want for our pupils.

Using prior knowledge as a starting point for all future planning and teaching, we plan lessons which are required for all pupils to make progress.

We use both formative and summatice assessment to ensure pupils are assessed accurately and any gaps are identified.  Our live marking opportunities and distance marking sheets help to inform daily assessment for learning which supports in addressing gaps and pupil progression.

Summative assessments of foundation subjects are completed through the use of Integris and for the core subjects we use  standardised tests and other materials to ensure teacher assessment is accurate.

Carefully selected enrichment opportunities are key to providing all pupils rich experiences to enhance their learning.  Developing an understanding of the fundamental British values infiltrates aspects of the curriculum and assembly themes.

Our curriculum design is based on evidence from principles of learning, ongoing assessment and organisation and cognitive research. (EEF research, Cognitive Science, Psychological Science).

These main principles underpin this:

  • Start from a learner’s existing understanding
  • Involve the learner actively in the learning process
  • Develop the learner’s overview i.e. metacognition – this requires that students have a view of purpose, have an understanding of the criteria of quality of achievement, and self-assess.  (EEF Metacognition and Self-regulation of learning).
  • Emphasis the social aspects of learning (i.e. learning through discussion) as these make a unique contribution to learning. (EEF research Collaborative Learning)

Curriculum organisation and timetabling enable learners opportunities for constant recapping of knowledge and skills with well-spaced reviews. (interleaving and addressing the forgetting curve).

Our Curriculum Impact

Pupils leave Holbeach Bank Academy with a secure understanding of the academic content; with the understanding of how to be socially, morally, spiritually and culturally responsible and aware, how to make positive contributions to the local area and how to endevour to bee the very best they can be.

We aim for all our pupils to leave Holbeach Bank Academy respectful, skillful, ambitious and with a thirst for life and all it has to offer.

Remote Learning

‘Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” 

       Benjamin Franklin

Our remote learning is a key aspect of our success with children. Work set is bespoke and inclusive for every child in our care.

Remote learning is where children who are unable to access school in person are provided with the same learning experience at the same time as the children who are present in school. This learning is a combination of live and recorded lessons accessible through Google Classroom, on a variety of platforms in children’s own homes.

Blended learning is a combination of remote learning at home and prearranged days in school. Children can receive one to one support whether at home or at school to overcome any barriers in their learning.

Children learning remotely will submit work set and receive feedback as if they were in class.

Pupils have free access to learning materials such as online books, through Oxford Owl and Reading Eggs, Purple Mash, TT Rockstars and are encouraged to supplement these with Government directed resources such as Oak Academy.

This is a collaborative understanding between our school and home community which supports all family units. It demonstrates our ethos of working with everyone through the current crisis ensuring that no child loses out. We consider that as this embeds into our curriculum ethos it would provide a tool for the future.

We are proud of our response to the needs for remote and blended learning and are constantly reviewing and updating our practise based on the latest guidance and the circumstances of our community.

REMOTE LEARNING PROVISION HBA JAN 21

Remote Learning Codes

HBA Pupil Remote Learning Code

HBA Parent Remote Learning Code

HBA Staff Remote Learning Code

Google Classroom Helpsheet for Holbeach Bank Academy

HBA Google Classroom Helpsheet

Remote Learning Policy

Remote Learnng Policy HBA REVIEWED JAN 21

Outdoor Learning

Outdoor Learning at Holbeach Bank Academy

The Outdoor space at our academy is evolving since we became an academy. We are fortunate to have space to create new areas and aspects which we are bringing new life back into.  Wild – life shares our outdoors from birds nesting in the quadrangle to signs of an owl on the field or smaller birds which swoop for remnants of our snacks as we head in for more learning. In addition to play we experience hands on learning opportunities across our three classes with class one having their own outdoor enclosed Early Years and Year one space. Classes two and three are recreating a range of opportunities out on their veranda space and beyond.

The classroom and beyond are very important to us all, what can I learn indoors that I can’t take out? The addition of ducklings and hens enhance our opportunities to own and share in the caring and responsibility of our own birds.

The expanse of field offers climbing of walls and trees, allotment areas used for crops in the summer and autumn and space to run fast and be ourselves whatever we are feeling.

The quadrangle holds the weather and is always a still safe haven. Our Gardening clubs over the last few years have successfully nurtured plants and flowers for us all to enjoy in a variety of containers. The welcome addition of the outdoor tap is ideal to ease constant summer watering.

What about our Curriculum for outdoor learning ? This is evolving and will begin gto embed across each week and term as we reopen the woodland area for young birds, music making, reading in the outdoors and exploring over the mountain and under the sea……

The Class one area is the perfect outdoor classroom for our Early Years and Year one pupils to experience a rich variety of early learning and national curriculum richly themed opportunities to learn through their senses, explore what ifs and why, make marks and be out no matter what the weather.

Classes two and three have active Outdoor learning books evolving from their different learning experiences across these five year groups linking themes and curriculum areas bringing their vertical concepts to life. What next, the experiences of visiting the other academy grounds for a tasty cooked snack or drink, sharing ideas and making sessions for both sites from wind chimes to raffia collages.

We are keen to get the local community more involved in the outdoors of our academy especially as we step beyond the refines of the pandemic. Pebbles are a part of what we share with the community around our ancient tree where we both remember and celebrate.

Keep - Up

Keep-Up and Intervention

At Holbeach Bank Academy,  attitudes to learning continue to delight us and and pupils are keen to work busily.

We are all moving forwards recognising that as we continue to reconnect with the curriculum, our knowledge and our classroom learning we also need to build on what we know our children have retained, revisit what we experienced previously and what we missed during school closure.

We are continuing to plan for providing a full curriculum, recognising what was not covered for certain year groups, what may need consolidation and where learning is ready to drive forward now.

Our next step, underway now, is to prioritise to address the gaps in our pupils knowledge.  Curriculum planning is all about the educational needs of our pupils with assessment of our pupils starting points and addressing the gaps in their knowledge and skills.  Equally, our focus is on the wellbeing of all pupils in our care.  We recognise the valued work of our Pastoral Team with those families who need support.

The secure curriculum knowledge of our teaching staff is vital in knowing what our children should have covered, where they are and what to address.

Our curriculum intent is shaping how we are prepared for subsequent learning.  We are providing opportunities for pupils to keep- up on learning , forgotten or not experienced.  We are identifying aspects of the previous year’s curriculum to support the current aspects for the learning for this academic year and linking this to most effectively drive our Academy curriculum.  A combination of high quality teaching, keep – up, intervention and review will enable our pupils to fulfill their next steps in knowledge and learning opportunities.

Following initial formative assessments, keep-up groups and intervention programmes  are supporting pupils  to establish their knowledge and skills and enabling them to acquire their next steps in their learning.

Tutoring

Tutoring

We are preparing to set up tutoring which will directly link with the ongoing catch-up work to further secure addressing identified learning needs and progress.

Pupil Wellbeing

Pupil wellbeing was monitored consistently for pupils both at home and those accessing school during the lockdown period. This was monitored through video chats, weekly care calls, risk assessments and on occasions distanced conversations. Any meetings that needed to be completed were facilitated through either Google Meet or Microsoft Teams to ensure that professionals were kept up-to-date and liaised with.

The Academy has ensured that PSHE and pastoral support are at the heart of our curriculum. Staff use Jigsaw to deliver effective PSHE lessons and specific Covid lessons within this scheme were provided during lockdown where the majority of pupils were working from home to further support their understanding and mental wellbeing.

The regulation toolkit is a key resource that staff utilise to support pupils with settling back in to routines and learning expectations.

We have a strong pastoral team who support pupils and families and tailor resources and support around what families need.

Resources are regularly updated on the website for families to access and from September programmes such as Draw and Talk and Lego Therapy were resumed to support pupils.

Toolkit For Regulation

Contact Us

Address
Holbeach Bank Academy
Roman Bank
Holbeach Bank
Spalding
PE12 8BX
Phone 01406 423375 Email Us