Intent

Sedgeberrow was graded Outstanding by Ofsted in 2014 and Excellent by Worcester Diocese (SIAMs inspection) in 2019. Our intent is to consistently maintain those standards for the children and our community. At Sedgeberrow C of E First School we pride ourselves in offering our pupils a broad, rich and varied curriculum. Our school Vision and Values are at the core of everything we do and underpin our teaching and learning.

Our School Vision

Our vision is to ensure that every child achieves happiness, emotional and physical wellbeing and the opportunities to develop an understanding of their own spirituality.  Through this vision our children will flourish with kindness as individuals and achieve their best.  All children will grow a lifelong love of learning, a love for others and our world and a love for themselves.

‘Live life in all its fullness’ John 10:10

We know that children learn best when they are offered exciting and engaging activities.  We believe that learning should be fun, interactive and focused on children's own personal needs. We are committed to raising standards and providing the best education for every pupil in our school.

We provide a creative and enriched curriculum that is tailored to pupils needs, interests and experiences. Our staff at Sedgeberrow all work hard to make learning relevant and fun. We provide our pupils with stimulating and awe-inspiring experiences. We believe that our pupils learn best when they experience active learning and are immersed in experiences that will enrich their minds and create memorable experiences. We offer our pupils an exciting range of trips, visits and activities that provide unique opportunities and motivate learning to enhance personal development and cultural capital experiences.

We are committed to developing the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of each child enabling them to thrive and equipping them with the skills to become positive, thoughtful and caring children in school and citizens in the wider world. Through our Reflection, Well-being and having an in-house dedicated Play Therapist we concentrate on every aspect of each child, Body, Spirit and Mind. As a school we have a long-standing commitment to the Creative Arts. We believe in giving our pupils every opportunity to express themselves and perform. This experience not only serves to enrich the curriculum, but helps to develop confidence and make learning more enjoyable and memorable. We have a strong relationship with our community. The children take part in fund-raising events, we have links with African schools and always look for opportunities to give thanks to the world we live in. Special days are a real hit at Sedgeberrow from World Kindness Day to our annual Talent Show we take pride in creating different opportunities which allow every individual to thrive.

We want all our pupils to be outstanding learners; to be happy, take risks and enjoy all the prospects that our school offers.

Implementation

At Sedgeberrow C of E First School we have a passionate and dedicated team. We have strong curriculum leadership that promotes and monitors high quality teaching. The wealth of experience enhances our rich curriculum. We have strong Middle Leadership that include very effective Lead for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, Lead for Wellbeing, with trained counsellors and a play Therapist on site. We excel in sporting activities and you will always see the staff engaging with the children at lunch time, providing extra clubs and enabling them to have the skills to become Young Leaders.  We want to equip all children with the tools they need to become successful in the wider world, to develop a love of learning which will last a lifetime.

We start with the National Curriculum which we split carefully ensuring that there is chronological and progression through the year groups. As our school ends with Year 5 we liaise with the Middle School to ensure that this progression is built upon.  Each foundation subject has a clear progression of disciplinary and substantive knowledge which aid the teachers when planning.

At the end of each academic year we have a meeting to evaluate the topics we have taught, we gather feedback from the children to find out what they particularly enjoyed and this informs the future planning of our topics. We then discuss which topics we would like to teach, allowing teachers to be creative but also ensuring progression over the year groups. This then forms our Long Term Plan for the next academic year as the topics are split over the terms.

The next step is for the teacher to map out the half term, to show clear progression of skills in each subject and to think about a school visit or workshop. From this, the teacher then prepares differentiated activities for each of the subjects and through on-going assessment and record keeping, addresses the needs of all the children. 

Although we do teach through topics, it is also necessary at times to teach an aspect of a sub­ject area outside a unit of work, to allow for further emphasis and depth.  This is up to the teacher in consultation with the Subject Leader and Curriculum Leader.

The Headteacher, leadership team and curriculum subject leaders undertake a programme of regular monitoring of the planning, delivery and organisation of learning across the school. Each term every class teacher completes a Monitoring Sheet for all subjects. Book scrutinies, learning walks, lesson observations, Pupil Voice all take place across each term to continually develop teaching and learning. The Governing Body are an integral part of the monitoring team and regular Standards and Achievement meetings take place.

We all have high expectations of the children; we give them praise and encouragement; we aim to deliver a full curriculum which is aimed to develop the whole child. The emphasis is always upon what the individual child can achieve.

Impact

We have high aspirations for every child and it is our aim that each child is equipped with the skills, knowledge and confidence to independently take the next step in their educational journey. 

 a)   Foundation Stage.   At the end of Reception, based on classroom observations, a Foundation Stage profile will be completed for every child in line with statutory requirements. This helps teachers plan appropriately for each child’s next phase of learning. The children consistently achieve significantly higher standards that national and local authority standards in GLD.

b)  Key Stage 1.   At the end of Key Stage 1, children are assessed as part of the Statutory Assessment Tests (S.A.T.S.) (summative). This will take place in their last term of Year 2, within their normal classroom environ­ment, and will consist of assessment by their own teacher and a varie­ty of tasks externally set, but implemented by their teacher. The children consistently achieve significantly higher than national standards and local authority. In 2019 the children’s achievement was the highest in Worcestershire County in Reading Writing and Maths combined.

During the summer term, over a week specified by the Department for Education, children in Year 1 are given a phonics screening check to assess their progress in this aspect of reading. The children consistently achieve significantly higher than national standards and local authority.

c)   In order to ensure progression in learning and the development of skills, data from end of Key Stage 1 assessments is used to plan each child’s work as they begin Key Stage 2 programmes of study.

d) Key Stage 2 - At the end of Key Stage 2, children will be assessed as part of the Statutory Assessment Tests (S.A.T.S.) – This takes place at the next school as our children leave us at Year 5.

During the summer term, children in Year 4 are given a times table check – this is to start in 2020.

Reading, Writing and Maths are key areas for assessing the children’s progress and monitoring their development. At Sedgeberrow C of E First School we have also devised assessment tracking systems to include all subjects. RE, Computing and Science are assessed at the end of a unit. This has supported the teaching and had a positive impact on the delivery of lessons and the progress of the children.

At the end of each year we also assess the children for each of the Foundation Subjects, this allows the next class teacher to gain a clear picture of each child. Meetings are also held at the end of each year to discuss the needs of each particular child.