Key Stage 2

Curriculum Statement

At Harlands, Key Stage 2 comprises of eight classes across Years 3-6:

• Year 3: Elm and Hazel
• Year 4: Chestnut and Hawthorn
• Year 5: Acer and Birch
• Year 6: Lime and Maple

Teachers work closely within and across year groups to ensure that learning is progressive and cross-curricular through planning, resourcing, assessment and moderation; linking these to our school values, Moral Purpose and Golden Threads. 

Intent

“Striving for excellence, valuing everyone and our world”

Throughout Key Stage 2, we intend to prepare our children to become global citizens through the range of topics taught; through expanding their horizons; through linking our school’s Golden Threads to their learning and through challenging their ideas with diverse and issues from the past and present.

We strive to ensure that our children leave Key Stage 2 as resilient, regulated and independent learners ready to take on challenges that they will face in Key Stage 3 and beyond through the use of the Learning Pit model, Zones of Regulation and Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction.

Implementation

In Key Stage 2, we use a topic based approach which we link to our Golden Threads of creativity, choice and community to teach the children to be well-rounded citizens who are prepared to face any challenge and question decisions in the world around them.

We want our children to build on prior knowledge so that the curriculum is sequential and progressive; this will ensure that the children leave Key Stage 2 ready for the next stage of learning.  To enable this we have a strong focus on working memory and ‘sticky learning’ within our lessons through the use of the Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction.

Another key focus for our children is emotional regulation and developing a growth mindset so that they become increasingly more resilient and independent in their learning throughout Key Stage 2.  Within the classrooms children are encouraged to use both the Zones of Regulation and The Learning Pit model when faced with challenging and difficult situations – emotionally, socially and academically.

In Key Stage 2, learning is brought to life through regular trips, experiences and through developing links with our local and global community through our partnership with schools across the LAB Schools network.  We also encourage links with our school community by inviting parents and carers to talk about their experiences or to support children’s learning both within school and at home.

Impact

We strive to ensure that our children’s attainment in the core and foundation subjects is in line with age-related expectations and builds upon their prior learning whilst considering their varied starting points. We measure this using a range of materials and methods including:

• Termly summative assessments to track progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Ongoing formative assessments through the use of verbal or written feedback.
• Peer and self-evaluation.

Children are also set bespoke targets to help develop them personally, socially and academically thus preparing them for their next phase of learning and development.

Updated January 2024