English
At Wellesley we teach the key elements of reading, writing, spelling, grammar, punctuation and handwriting through daily lessons and with additional class reading sessions. We believe that learning to read is central for all areas of development and is a vital skill for life. We encourage children to read as often as possible through a range of reading activities throughout the school year such as our Book Week, National Poetry Day, Roald Dahl Day and Black History Month. We also have a key text for each term that links to our topic work and engages the children. In Key Stage 1 the children read a wide selection of decodable reading books to support their Read Write Inc phonics learning. They read Read, Write Inc story books and Book Bag books. All book bag books include notes for parents and carers on how to help their child with reading at home. They read Non-Fiction book bag books to extend their reading experience. They also take home 'enrichment' books from schemes such as Oxford Reading Tree and Ginn books to develop their vocabulary, comprehension and fluency. Every child has a library book that is changed weekly as reading for pleasure is important for developing a love reading. We aim for pupils to leave Wellesley Primary School as lifelong readers who have a love for reading. Children are encouraged to read widely and to read a variety of genres. In years 2 to 6 we use Herts4Learning spelling scheme daily. This underpins children reading and writing development. Children are encouraged to become independent, confident writers who are able to write for a variety of meaningful purposes for example writing to our local MP, entering competitions or writing to authors. In all aspects of work children are taught to use correct grammar and punctuation. In addition, the development of language and oracy is encouraged, developed and planned for throughout our topics.
Maths
At Wellesley, we aim to encourage our children to have a positive attitude towards mathematics, enjoying both the fun and challenge it brings. We believe that allowing our pupils to develop their knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts through concrete and pictorial experiences gives them a secure start in their learning, enabling them to reason and problem solve. We have a carefully planned progression of methods to teach calculation which are taught from Reception to Year 6 (see calculation policy) and teachers use this alongside White Rose maths documents to form the structure for their planning. We give all children the opportunity to explore problem solving activities at the level they are working at and encourage independence and ‘having a go’. We place high value on the learning of key number facts and encourage frequent practice of these, such as times tables, at home.
Foundation
Although we base our teaching on topics, subjects are taught separately so children learn the specific skills for each one. Some units of work cannot be listed and so are taught discreetly. Some subjects are also taught as separate entities e.g. PE and Languages.
All of our lessons are planned and taught following the National Curriculum programmes of study.
Topic
At Wellesley we want to develop creative, independent children who enjoy learning. In order to achieve this, the majority of our subjects are taught through topics or through quality books that motivate and interest the children, e.g. Ancient Greece, The Iron Man, Anglo Saxons/Vikings/Mayans, Supertato and Meerkat Mail. Each topic involves opportunities to be creative through art, dance, music, science or DT.
