By law, all UK state primary schools have to teach within the framework of the government’s National Curriculum, which lays down guidelines concerning what subjects are taught, how they are approached and the standards children at different ages are expected to reach. Within this framework, however, individual schools and teachers spend a lot of time thinking up new, creative and exciting ways of teaching that make use of their school’s particular interests and resources – at DKH, for example, we are proud of how multicultural we are, and we use the diversity of our backgrounds to enrich our lessons. We also use the school garden a lot, and our fantastic new art room, and the enthusiasm of our parent volunteers.
The national curriculum divides primary-school children into three main stages according to age.
Early Years Foundation Stage (EFYS)
Nursery and Reception classes. The Foundation Stage co-ordinator is Denise South: you can look at materials she has developed for her Introduction to Phonics workshops here.
We also use the Letters and Sounds scheme to teach Phonics, and teach reading with our own colour-banded system, which includes “real” books and books from schemes such as Dandelion and the Oxford Reading Tree.
Reception.
Reception Spring Curriculum Outline
Parent topic overview Summer 2013
Key stage one (KS1)
Years 1 and 2. The KS1 Phase Leader is Marion Cranmer, and you can find Years 1 and 2 curriculum outlines here.
Year 1 Autumn Curriculum Outline
Year 2 Spring Curriculum Outline
Year 2 Summer Curriculum Outline
Key stage two (KS2)
Years 3, 4, 5 and 6. The KS2 Phase Leader is Katherine Nicholls, and you can find KS2 curriculum outlines here.
Year 3 Autumn Curriculum Outline
Year 3 Spring Curriculum Outline
Year 3 Summer Curriculum Outline
Year 4 Autumn Curriculum Outline
Year 5 Spring Curriculum Outline
Year 6 Spring Curriculum Outline
Year 6 Summer newsletter
Assessment
KS1 assessment is done by teachers against national standards at the end of year 2. KS2 standards are assessed in a series of formal tests, the National Curriculum Tests - known colloquially as SATs – which pupils sit at the end of year 6.
Curriculum areas
Each of the main curriculum areas at Dog Kennel Hill is managed by a subject leader, who is usually also a class teacher. In the list below, you can follow links to read the national curriculum’s subject guidelines, and find out how subject leaders at DKH approach their curriculum area.
Literacy
The Subject leader is Wayne Cooper, who is also Deputy Head (Curriculum).
EFYS: The Subject leader is Denise South, the Foundation Stage co-ordinator.You can look at materials she has developed for her Introduction to Phonics workshops here.
We also use the Letters and Sounds scheme to teach Phonics, and teach reading with our own colour-banded system, which includes “real” books and books from schemes such as Dandelion and the Oxford Reading Tree.
Maths
The Subject Leaders are Marion Cranmer – who is also KS1 Phase Leader – in KS1 and Ross Orton in KS2. Find out more about how maths is taught at DKH.
Science
The Subject Leader is Katherine Nicholls, who is also KS2 Phase Leader.
PHSE & RE
The Subject Leader is Sabiha Hussain.
ICT (Information and Communication Technology)
The Subject Leader is Jackie Davey. Find out more about how ICT is taught at DKH
Music
The Subject Leader is Daniel Monte. Find out more about how Music is taught at DKH.
Modern Foreign Languages (MFL)
The Subject Leader is Fátima Duerden. Under her leadership, the school has recently won an International School Award from the British Council and School of the Year Award from the Spanish Embassy. As a result, the school now has an International School policy. The school also has links with two schools in Spain.
Art and design
The Subject Leader is Lindsey Wales. Find out more about how Art is taught at DKH and look at our gallery of recent work by pupils here.
Physical Education (PE)
The acting Subject Leader at the moment is Wayne Cooper.