At Richard Taylor Primary School, we believe that every child is an artist, and our curriculum is designed to nurture their imagination while developing key artistic skills, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). We believe that art is a powerful tool for fostering creativity, self-expression, and cultural awareness. Through a rich and varied art curriculum, we aim to inspire pupils to think critically and confidently explore their own ideas.

What we teach:

Our curriculum spans various forms of art which come under three headings, these are;

• Drawing Skills and Sketchbooks
• Surface and Colour
• Working In 3D

Pupils are introduced to a variety of artists, both historic and contemporary, as well as art from different cultures and traditions, broadening their understanding of the world. Our art curriculum offers opportunities for children to collaborate with local artists, visit galleries, and work on community projects to enrich the children’s learning experience.

Art in the wider curriculum:

Art is integrated into our wider curriculum at Richard Taylor primary School. From illustrating stories in English, designing posters in Science or creating scenery for a school performance, art enriches the wider curriculum and deepens pupils’ understanding of other subjects.

This year each will be working with Winston Plowes, a land artist who connects nature and art, to create some original pieces.

Our computing curriculum equips students with essential digital skills, fostering creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Pupils learn how to use technology safely and responsibly, exploring coding, digital literacy, and online communication.

Through fun, interactive lessons, they develop confidence in using computers and other devices, preparing them for the digital world while understanding the importance of online safety. The computer curriculum focuses on three different strands of learning:

• Familiarity – Lessons follow similar patterns and involve aspects that appeal to various learning styles
• Participation – Activities involve group or paired working with valuable roles for each member which encourages peer learning
• Physical Activities – Unplugged activities makes it much easier to explore the concepts involved and to ask questions. This can be really beneficial to learners with communication or learning difficulties who find abstract concepts difficult and require a multimodal approach. Unplugged activities can include a range of sensory approaches, from physical movements, and from manipulating objects to drawing pictures. These types of activities enable the use of familiar contexts to teach new concepts and knowledge.
• Progression – Tasks are structured into smaller steps that build towards achieving an overall objective, which form part of progressive units of work providing full coverage of the National Curriculum for Computing at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
• Flexibility – All units provide support videos and challenge/extension activities allowing teachers to cater for the individual needs of their pupils.
• Range – A range of teaching approaches and material enable pupils to access learning e.g. colourful support materials/worksheets; video screencasts and unplugged activities support pupil’s learning enabling them to achieve.
• Variety – A wealth of free software and online tools allow SEND pupils to demonstrate skills and progress, express ideas, improve digital literacy and boost self-confidence.

Design and Technology combines imagination and practical skills and provides the opportunity for children to work safely in a variety of problem solving activities. They will be able to use a wide range of materials and equipment and develop skills that are useful in everyday life. Design Technology puts learning in the hands of the child as they learn through the planning, making and evaluation of their own work.

We use the resource, “Projects on a Page” to ensure coverage and progression in our teaching which encompasses, structures, textiles, food technology. We also make relevant links with the art and science curriculum to enrich the subject.

We aim to develop children’s curiosity in local places as well as the wider world. We endeavour to create well-rounded children who understand the links between people, places and cultures and understand how these are all interconnected and can change over time both naturally as well as as a result of human intervention. 

Children are provided with the opportunity to develop their geographical skills and take part in their own geographical fieldwork; collecting, analysing, understanding and communicating a range of geographical data both inside and outside of the classroom. 

At the end of their learning journey at Richard Taylor School, the children will be able to share their Geographical learning in a coherent manner and show secure Geographical knowledge enriched with memorable experiences, opportunities and challenges.  

To support children with SEND to achieve in Geography, we offer: 

• A spiral curriculum (revisit and revise) – At the start of the lesson, children will be revisiting the vocabulary and keys facts they have learnt from previous lessons/years. This will give children with SEN more time and opportunities to understand the concepts and vital knowledge they need to access the learning.   

• Visual word mats – Where appropriate we create a visual word mat for children with SEND. These can be used to pre-teach new vocabulary prior to the lesson, to help children visualise the concepts they are using in class and to help with spelling and writing activities.  

• Learning is planned to engage different learning styles including plenty of visual prompts and hands on experiences where appropriate.  

• Cloze exercises may be used to reduce struggles in writing being a barrier to learning.  

• Working walls – Vocabulary, images and facts are displayed on working walls and referred to these regularly.  

• Is your child colour blind? Map reading is a critical part of the geography curriculum. Amendments can be made to the maps children work with based upon what colours they can perceive.  

Intent

At Richard Taylor Church of England Primary School, we aim to deliver a high-quality history curriculum, which is carefully sequenced to enable the development of a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and its association to the wider world. We aim to inspire our pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past by bringing it to life in exciting ways.

By providing a high-quality history curriculum, we aim to inspire curiosity within our pupils, to enable them to begin to think and act like historians: to ask perceptive questions; think critically; consider evidence; and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups. We want our children to enjoy and love learning about history by gaining knowledge, understanding and skills, not just through experiences in the classroom, but also with the use of fieldwork and educational visits, enabling them to deepen their understanding of who and what has shaped their world today.

Implementation

In ensuring high standards of teaching and learning in history, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. History is taught following the knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum – starting with the EYFS Early Learning Goals and progressing through the KS1 and KS2 curricular.

Historical concepts allow pupils to develop a deeper understanding of the past by exploring key ideas such as religion, chronology, citizenship, and power, particularly in relation to invasion and warfare. By examining these themes, pupils begin to think critically about how events and beliefs have shaped societies and influenced our world today.

Children’s key substantive knowledge in history is consolidated by regular retrieval practise which helps them strengthen their memory, deepen their understanding of historical concepts, and make connections between different time periods and themes.

Impact

At the end of their time at Richard Taylor School, our pupils with have developed a comprehensive understanding of key historical events and people, from the periods of history covered by our curriculum. They will be able to recall and apply knowledge confidently, with a firm grasp of chronological timelines and significant historical themes such as power, religion, citizenship, and warfare. They will be able to evaluate evidence, consider different perspectives, and ask thoughtful questions about the past; improving their ability to articulate historical ideas and arguments, both in written work and through verbal discussion.

The skills and knowledge acquired through the history curriculum will provide a strong foundation for their education in KS3 and beyond.

SEND Provision in History

At Richard Taylor School, we are committed to ensuring that all pupils, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), have full access to a rich and engaging history curriculum. We recognise the diverse needs of our learners and strive to create an inclusive learning environment where every child can succeed.

Quality First teaching approaches are used to support all learners including modelling, explicit teaching of vocabulary, visual aids, examples and non-examples and planned mistakes.

Most children will work towards the same learning objectives as their peers with adaptations made for those children who require modifications to be able to succeed in learning. These scaffolds are usually available to all children who need them regardless of their SEND needs.

Some scaffolds used for support

• simplified texts and resources
• learning steps broken into smaller ‘chunks’ of knowledge
• writing frames, sentence stems, modelled writing, group writing
• use of technology – word processing, predictive text, speech-to-text software
• peer work in mixed ability grouping

At RTS we believe that learning another language gives children the valuable opportunity to develop positive attitudes to and respect for languages and cultures other than their own. We believe that learning another language is an important part of their education, allowing them to develop self-belief as well as building their communication skills in a creative and exciting way 

Although our MFL curriculum is taught in KS2, all children celebrate “The European Day of Languages” each year.

We aim for our children to become confident communicators of French, laying firm foundations for future language learning. Our children are encouraged to read, write and speak French with confidence, accuracy and fluency as well as having opportunities to explore the culture and traditions of French life. 

We aim to develop a lifelong love of learning languages, through engaging and fun activities, including rhymes, songs and stories, enabling our children to have the knowledge and skills to communicate in French with others. 

French is taught throughout KS2 using the NYCC scheme of learning. It is organised into 3 units of work for each year group, based on different themes including food, animals, people and hobbies. Each unit reinforces language previously taught and also introduces new language structures. 

We celebrate the many diverse languages spoken at RTS and aim to deepen their understanding and knowledge of the wonderful world created by God and promote an awareness of different cultures. 

Strategies for supporting pupils with SEND in French language lessons. 

• Pictures and word banks are provided in lessons to support learners.

• Extra time is given for learners when listening to spoken French  and time is built into lessons for practising pronunciation of key French words and phrases. 

• Our scheme of learning provides a mix of activities to suit a range of learning styles, especially kinaesthetic activities. 

• Repetition is key! Vocabulary from previous French lessons is built into each lesson to revisit and revise key language words and phrases. It helps to solidify new information and build muscle memory. New words, phrases and grammar structures are repeated through songs, games and interactive activities.  

• Visual aids (eg flashcards, charts, word banks, video clips) are used throughout our French lessons to embed new vocabulary and aid recall. Gestures and miming supports understanding of key vocabulary in the target language. 

• Children are seated so that they can see others in the class (where possible) and he teacher’s  face is clearly visible at all times when speaking. Sitting directly opposite the child whenever possible will assist with lip reading if required. 

• Scaffolds, word banks and cloze procedures are sometimes used to support learners as well as writing frames .

• We colour-code masculine and feminine nouns so that children can differentiate between them at a glance.

The school has a rich history of promoting music beyond the curriculum. We have a very active choir consisting of children from Year 3 through to Year 6, led by Mrs Mills. which meet every week.  They regularly perform both in school and at events in Harrogate.  Last year, performances included concerts at the International Centre and the Royal Hall.

Our year 5 and 6 pupils have the opportunity to attend Young Voices every other year, performing at Sheffield arena.  It is a very memorable event! Our Music curriculum is supported by the “Sing Up” curriculum, to ensure coverage and progression throughout the key stages.

We offer peripatetic music lessons in a wide range of instruments, including keyboard, violin and woodwind instruments. We also work in partnership with ‘Rock Steady’ to offer children the opportunity to learn electric guitar and drums in bands, which perform for parents through the year. Details of music lessons can be accessed via the School Office.

RTS has achieved ‘Gold’ in the School Games Mark in recognition of the commitment of the development of sport across the school and into the community. Participating in this process allows us to evaluate our PE provision and assists us in developing an action plan for future progress.

In P.E. our aim is that all the children should be physically active and develop flexibility, strength and skills. The children are encouraged to respond to tasks, apply themselves to activities and develop confidence in managing their bodies. All children have opportunities to lead parts of lessons and are encouraged to share ideas and opinions to improve their skills. Children are enabled to explore, select, modify, adapt and perfect movement to achieve a particular task. In P.E. all children have the chance to take part in athletic activities, dance, games and gymnastics and in year 2 and 3 are also given the opportunity to go swimming. Pupils are encouraged to be responsible members of a team and demonstrate sportsmanlike behaviour. In addition to this, they are also encouraged to make improvements to their personal best target.

During the year, we enter a wide range of sporting events allowing children to experience and enjoy the opportunity to play competitively against other members of the primary community.

At the start of the year, the children are invited to apply for the position of Sports Ambassador using a process devised by the children. Once selected they provide a valuable pupil voice to enable our children to be more active in the decision making process for competitions, intra and inter games and PE.

Orienteering, cycling proficiency and outwards bounds activities – such as our year 6 residential – also support physical education in school.

For further information and our policies relating to PE, pleases click the below link.