Curriculum Overview
At Southmere Primary Academy, our curriculum is carefully designed to ensure that children acquire the knowledge and skills needed for life beyond primary school. We build strong foundations in our Early Years Foundation Stage, which are built upon throughout children’s time at Southmere due to our carefully sequenced and progressive curriculum.
Our curriculum over-emphasises the key means of learning that children need to develop automaticity in, as we know that they are essential for children to access the curriculum and the wider world. We are aware that for learning to take place there must have been a change in a child’s long-term memory, therefore we use a range of strategies to enable pupils to remember what they have learned.
Reading is at the heart of our curriculum as it unlocks doors for our children; no matter who we are or our background, if we are able to read, we will acquire knowledge. Our curriculum gives children the opportunity to read for practise, purpose and pleasure. Practise is vital as our intent is that all children become fluent and confident readers. Reading for purpose excites our children to ask questions and learn new knowledge and skills. Reading for pleasure aims to make our children develop a love of reading that will last a lifetime.
To find out more about our Reading Enhanced Curriculum, click the link below.
Zones of Learning
At Southmere Primary Academy we use Zones of Learning in our teaching sequences to ensure children are able to connect their learning from a previous session, link this to new learning, have an opportunity to practise the new learning and then apply this independently. The independent part of the learning is called the Purple Zone and this is where we assess what children have learnt and respond by using our Feedforward approach to address any misconceptions.
The Red Zone – Connecting Learning
•Here in the Red Zone you are remembering what you have already learnt – we call this activating your prior knowledge.
•You may have learnt this last lesson, last week, last term or last year.
The Yellow Zone – New Learning
•Here in the Yellow Zone you will discover your New Learning.
The Green Zone – I do, You do
•Here in the Green Zone your teacher will model a task then you will complete a task.
The Purple Zone – Independent Work
•Here in the Purple Zone you will complete this work independently.
•All the work you have done in all of the other zones will help you to complete your work.