A happy, caring, secure, stimulating and loving Christian community.
At the heart of Syresham Primary School is a simple ambition: for every child to grow and thrive, not only in their learning, but also in their friendships, confidence and character. We offer a curriculum that is thoughtfully planned, rich in knowledge and full of engaging experiences that spark curiosity and a love of learning.
Our vision is rooted in strong values about what truly matters. We want every child to have access to meaningful knowledge, to take joy in discovering new ideas, and to use what they learn in positive and purposeful ways as they grow up.
We hold high hopes for every child. Our curriculum is carefully mapped so that learning builds step by step, supporting all pupils — especially those who may face additional challenges — to flourish and succeed. We recognise that, for some children, school may be the main place where they encounter the knowledge that helps shape their future, and we take this responsibility seriously. From the earliest years, we nurture understanding, curiosity and imagination; helping children develop the thinking skills and creativity that will carry them forward on their learning journey.
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Please use the tabs below to find out more about our curriculum here at Syresham Primary School. If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact the school.
The teaching of English at Syresham School follows the statutory guidance of the National Curriculum.
WRITING
It is our intent to provide pupils with a high-quality education in English that will teach pupils to speak, read and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others effectively. We want to equip our pupils with the skills and knowledge of an excellent writer who:
During their time here, pupils will explore and write within a range of different genres, exploring the grammatical features and punctuation required to create their own. We want our pupils to develop a real love of writing and be able to demonstrate this within any subject.
Writing is a crucial part of our curriculum. All children from Foundation Stage to Year 6 are provided with many opportunities to develop and apply their writing skills across the curriculum. Writing lessons happen almost daily throughout the school. Our curriculum drives our writing and often trips, visitors and immersive launch days act as a stimulus. Where pupils have not had the experiences to write, we provide engaging and memorable ways to ensure they develop their vocabulary, equipping them with a key skill to write.
Our writing curriculum links closely to our reading, with each year group having access to a high-quality modelled text or stimulus. This provides conversation and scaffolding at the first point of our writing journey: reading. From here, pupils learn to plan, revise and evaluate their writing. To be able to do this effectively, teaching focuses on developing core composition skills. The pupils also use purple editing pens which help them to check their work throughout the writing process and changing as they see fit.
At Syresham School, we develop an awareness of the audience, purpose and context, and an increasingly wide knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. Our success criteria, which is used throughout the school, allows the children to do this. There are four key purposes that our writing links to: entertain, persuade, inform and discuss. Every piece of writing links to one of these purposes, and staff have been supported in training on this from the literacy lead and school improvement director.
Phonics is taught daily in Early Years and Key Stage 1 and is embedded throughout our curriculum. During our discrete sessions, children follow the Little Wandle scheme. This teaches them the ‘pure sounds’ in a carefully ordered way. More detailed information for parents can be found here: For parents | Letters and Sounds
In KS2, children follow the National Curriculum expectations for spelling. These are taught within our English curriculum for reading and writing. We incorporate the teaching of spelling across the wider curriculum where necessary and pre-teach disciplinary specific vocabulary within each unit of work.
At Syresham School we use a scheme called White Rose Maths. This mastery-based approach aligns with the National Curriculum and is designed to help all children understand and succeed in maths, based on the belief that every child can achieve.
The scheme promotes a positive attitude towards learning by encouraging perseverance, regular practice, and viewing mistakes as opportunities to learn. With engaging, interactive resources and high-quality materials, White Rose supports children in developing a deep and lasting understanding of maths. Built on strong evidence and developed alongside practising teachers, it is well suited to the needs of pupils in the UK.
The programme clearly outlines what children should learn at each stage of the academic year, with learning carefully sequenced so skills build progressively in line with the National Curriculum. Content is organised into blocks, which are further broken down into small steps to ensure concepts are fully understood.
This flexible approach allows teachers to adapt lessons and resources to meet the needs of their class, providing pupils with plenty of opportunities to practise key skills while also encouraging reasoning and problem-solving to deepen their mathematical understanding.
Further information on the screen and advice on how parents can support at home can be found at Advice and guidance for parents | White Rose Education.
The teaching of science at Syresham School follows the statutory guidance of the National Curriculum.
We recognise the vital part that Science plays in igniting children’s curiosity and wonder about the world around them. Scientific investigation satisfies that curiosity with knowledge and can engage learners on so many levels.
During lessons, we encourage all children to work scientifically and collaboratively to investigate different scientific concepts and ideas. Teachers plan enjoyable, engaging and inspiring practical activities that offer the children lots of opportunities for hands-on experience and build upon the skills and knowledge gained in previous years. Lessons frequently link science concepts to everyday life so the children can come to an understanding of natural phenomena and events in the world around them. In line with our ‘Growth Mindset’ approach, science lessons also aim to develop our children’s resilience, open-mindedness and independence.
The teaching of computing at Syresham School follows the statutory guidance of the National Curriculum.
Technology is now a huge, ever changing part of everyday life.
As well as teaching the children key skills in computer science, information technology and digital literacy, we recognise the increasing need to ensure children understand how to stay safe online. We build online safety into our computing curriculum and raise the status of this by sharing key information with families.
RE vital for pupils’ intellectual, moral, spiritual, and cultural Development. The Statement of Entitlement for Church of England Schools sets out the aim for young people to leave school with a rich and well-informed understanding of Christianity.
Aims and objectives of RE in Church Schools should enable pupils to:
As a Church school we ensure that our curriculum is carefully adapted to our local context in a way that ensures this statement of entitlement is fully met. We follow the Northamptonshire agreed Syllabus and Understanding Christianity. Our Big Picture covers exactly what is taught under the headings of Theology, Philosophy and Human/Social Sciences.
The teaching of history at Syresham School follows the statutory guidance of the National Curriculum.
Along with acquiring knowledge linked to significant individuals and events, we enable the children to explore and embrace the ‘history-ness of history’.
We recognise that knowledge needs to be meaningful and progressive in order to maximise the understanding for pupils and so we plan purposeful, cohesive learning experiences.
The teaching of Geography at Syresham School follows the statutory guidance of the National Curriculum.
Geography at Syresham School promotes and sustains a thirst for knowledge and a love of learning. It is hoped that what they learn in their lessons about the world and the people in it will stay with them for the rest of their lives, evoking an interest with a natural sense of awe and wonder in the world around them.
ART
The teaching of art at Syresham School follows the statutory guidance of the National Curriculum.
We would like our children to become critical thinkers and develop their understanding of art and design. We provide our children with the opportunity to develop their skills in:
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
The teaching of Design and Technology at Syresham School follows the statutory guidance of the National Curriculum.
In addition to the knowledge and practical skills that children acquire within our curriculum, we also provide opportunities for children to find out about designers within and across a range of professions.
MUSIC AND PERFORMING ARTS
The teaching of music at Syresham School follows the statutory guidance of the National Curriculum.
Music is a universal language. A high-quality music education engages and inspires pupils to develop a love of music. Music also has the potential to make a huge difference to children’s development. It can increase confidence, promote team working, improve concentration and enhance social cohesion within the school and wider community.
Music lessons are fun and inspiring, engaging the children with songs, practical activities and movement. Our long-term planning overview links to National Curriculum objectives and ensures that the children experience a wide variety of musical genres and a steady progression of knowledge and skills. This will be through listening and responding to music, composition, performing and evaluating.
Further opportunities throughout school include weekly singing sessions and singing during collective worship times. The children also gain knowledge of the history and origins of music through our ‘around the world’ music journey during our whole school worship sessions.
Children are also encouraged to learn to play a musical instrument through visiting peripatetic staff from the Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust.
Christmas performances and topic based- celebrations also give the children a chance to demonstrate their music and performing abilities to audiences.
The teaching of PE at Syresham School follows the statutory guidance of the National Curriculum.
We recognise the importance of high-quality physical education and opportunities for the children.
We are proud to have a Sports Coach and Mentor from Northampton Town Football Club who supports the delivery of sport and PE at Syresham.
Children in Key Stage 2 get the chance to learn French as part of their broad curriculum.
To get a balanced, progressive approach to learning a new language, we use the Kapow scheme of work.
In addition to our values based approach to school life, we use a carefully planned PSHE curriculum to help the children develop into well rounded individuals who can be proud of who they are and contribute well to the world around them.
