Curriculum
Music at Spring Bank
Music plays an important part in life at Spring Bank. All classes have a weekly music lesson. In addition to this, music is
experienced across the school in many ways.
Singing
A wide variety of songs are sung enthusiastically in a whole school singing assembly every week, with some songs including actions, Makaton signs and percussion instruments. Singing can also be heard in many classes supporting every area of the curriculum from Science to History.
Listening
Children are exposed to a wide variety of musical styles through carefully selected assembly music which is played on the way into and out of assembly every day. This music is changed weekly and introduced by the Head teacher in Monday morning’s assembly.
After-school clubs
A variety of free after-school clubs are available at different times throughout the year. These have included:
Year 3 and 4 – glockenspiel, djembe and boomwhackers
Reception and Key Stage 1 – musical games and composing music for a story
Year 5 and 6 – lunchtime ICT music club using GroovyCity
Years 1 – 6 – Christmas choir
Musicians in school
Year 6 are working with Victoria Jaquiss from Artforms every week on a project involving steel pans, tuned percussion and drums. This is sounding fantastic and the children are really benefitting from the specialist tuition and enthusiastic approach!
This half term we have had students from Leeds College of Music working with Year 3 each week, exploring songs, rhythms and music from different countries.
As part of their topic on St Lucia, Year 4 are taking part in a steel pan workshop in school.
Instrument lessons
From Year 3 or 4 children have the opportunity to learn instruments in small groups. At the moment we are able to offer guitar, trumpet, flute and clarinet lessons. These are provided by peripatetic teachers from ArtForms and subsidised by the school although there is still a charge for lessons.
Outside performances
Musicians from our school joined with musicians from Shire Oak to perform at Headingley Music Festival’s Youth Music Day in the summer. A group of guitar players from our school also performed, including some of their own compositions.
Some children from Years 5 and 6 have taken part in a Schools’ concert at LeedsTown Hall at Christmas this year as part of a choir.
Children learning instruments in school have the opportunity to perform with children from other schools at Development days organised by ArtForms.
Our Christmas choir has sung carols outside in Headingley to raise money for Shelter.
Art at Spring Bank
The arts play an important role in the education of all our children and all of them have access to the arts. At Spring Bank the arts foster imagination and creativity, promote intellectual and aesthetic development, develop practical and perceptual skills, encourage the explorations of values and promote excellence and enjoyment.
The arts encompass art and design, music, dance, drama, literature (poetry and script writing) also media studies.
Through the teaching of arts we aim:
* to promote personal, social, physical and cognitive development
* to develop confidence and self esteem
* to ensure that all children have access to the arts curriculum
* promote an awareness of our diverse cultural heritage
* provide enjoyable learning experiences which value first hand experiences
* maximise the expertise of specialist teachers and visiting artists.
All children experience using materials, techniques, skills and media, expressing feelings, ideas, developing thoughts and evaluating and appreciating. Learning experiences are in many cases cross curricular promoting excellence and enjoyment. The arts provides all children with the opportunities to learn skills and knowledge, explore/express their feelings and evaluate and appreciate their own and others work.
Our approaches are many and varied. These may include whole class, individual or small group work, teacher directed activities, sketchbook work, outdoor work, visits to galleries, trips and contact with artists. We have a cross curricular approach to the curriculum and the arts is used as a tool to explore other curriculum areas.
In addition, time is allocated over the school year to specific events like Harmony Week, Black History Month, Health & Sports Week, class assemblies and school productions when pupils experience a wealth of timetabled arts experiences.
Children are given opportunities to initiate, plan, develop, present and evaluate their own work, work on collaborative activities, including whole school initiatives so encouraging unity and partnership. Children are also given opportunities to take part in artist led activities. Children of all abilities are encouraged to present aspects of their work and achievememts in arts through participating in workshops, competitions and assemblies. Through arts we aim to establish links with the local community. Those children identified as talented in the arts are encouraged to participate in arts opportunities especially those related to a particular talent.
We offer extra-curricular learning opportunities such as a lunch time art club for Y5/6 paired with KS1 children.
Within art there is access to a wide range of resources. These include ICT, specialist materials and equipment for class use. We have lovely school grounds which we use for art. Over the past few years we have worked with Karen Babayan (artist and parent) to produce a KS2 mural also Glynis Dixon, (teaching assistant and specialist art teacher) to create a KS1 mural. Both works of art are on permanent display.
Languages at Spring Bank
Children begin to learn French when they move into KS2. The language is taught through songs, action rhymes, games, role-play, stories, ICT and art. Children look at some of the countries where French is spoken and compare everyday life, festivals and traditions with those inEngland.
In KS1 children’s awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity is heightened by activities such as taking the register in other languages and participating in whole school concerts with songs and stories from around the world.
We have been lucky in the past few years to have been able to run lunch time language clubs – French, Spanish and, at one point, Mandarin – facilitated by language students from the University.
History at Spring Bank
At Spring Bank Primary pupils enjoy learning about people’s lives and lifestyles in the recent and more distant past.
Key Stage One
Pupils enjoy learning about how children’s toys and homes have changed over time. They learn about seaside holidays in the past and significant events such as the Fire of London. They enjoy listening to stories, using CD Roms and learn how to ask questions using historical sources.
Key Stage Two
People enjoy learning about changes in their own area, in Britain and in other parts of the world. They enjoy studying aspects of British History such as the Vikings, Tudors, Victorians and Britain since 1930. They also study the civilisations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt. They learn how to use dates and vocabulary to describe the passing of time and use a range of sources of information including ICT to find out about the past, communicating their findings in different ways.
Geography at Spring Bank
In Geography at Spring Bank Primary School children enjoy asking questions and finding out about different places in the world.
In Key Stage One children learn about Headingley and the city of Islamabad in Pakistan. They begin to use resources such as maps, photographs and ICT to find out about the environment in these two areas and the people who live there.
In Key Stage Two pupils investigate different places in the world through studying the topics of weather, St. Lucia, rivers and mountain environments. They learn about physical features eg. the different parts of a river and human features eg. how settlements change. They also learn how people affect their environment in different ways eg. by reducing water usage. Children find the answers to the questions they pose through using resources such as maps, atlases, aerial photographs and ICT.
DT at Spring Bank
Children are involved in Design and Technology activities throughout their time at Spring Bank. They acquire and develop skills in a range of areas and apply these to situations where they need to design, make and evaluate their own products. Areas covered include:
- Food technology – from fruit salads in Year 1 through to biscuits in Year 5.
- Textiles – including designing and making Joseph’s Coats in Year 2 and bags in Year 6.
- Mechanisms – creating moving pictures and moving books.
Where possible these projects are linked to other curriculum areas such as Science, Literacy, Art or Music.
Children are encouraged to explore a variety of tools and materials (both specialist products and found objects) and to make decisions about how these are used. Through careful evaluation of their work they consider any changes that were made to their original plans and how effective their product is.
ICT at Spring Bank
At Spring Bank the ICT curriculum is designed to develop our children’s skills in the following areas:
- Text and Graphics
- Data Handling
- Digital Media
- Control
- Internet/web2
- Presenting
Right from Reception the children will be taught skills within each area and then be given opportunities to use and develop them throughout their school life.
Each year group is designed to build upon the previous years experience allowing the children to progress through each strand and achieve a good understanding of current ideas and equipment.
Text and Graphics
This strand covers things like using a basic word or picture bank, creating text and images for a specific audience, capturing images from a variety of sources and manipulating them for effect and making more sophisticated linked presentations to include images and sounds.
Data Handling
This strand covers things like collecting basic data and using ICT to present it as a pictogram, inputting data into a data-base and interrogating it, creating spreadsheets and adding formula to calculate specific outcomes.
Digital Media
This strand covers things like taking
photographs, recording sounds, downloading images and adding captions, basic storyboarding and animation with a script and narration, manipulating sounds and filming techniques.
Control
This strand covers things like using simple remote control and programmable toys, creating a series of simple instructions, testing and amending a series of instructions, using an on-screen robot to give directional instructions, using simple procedures, combining sequences of instructions and procedures to turn devices on/off or to control events.
Internet/web2
This strand covers things like clicking on hyperlinks or pictures, talking about online safety, using the forward/back buttons, emailing with safety, using a keyword search, contribute to a class Blog, downloading and uploading from/to a website.
Presenting
This strand covers things like talking about a teacher made sequence of images, creating a class presentation, making a presentation for a specific audience, creating non-linear links, preparing and presenting appropriate digital resources from a variety of sources, personal presenting skills.
PE at Spring Bank
During the Spring Term each class will continue to enjoy at least two hours of curriculum time P.E. as follows:
Reception, Years1 & 2 will experience a variety of Gymnastics, Dance & Games sessions.
Year 3 – Invasive Games, Fielding & Striking Games also Gymnastics & Dance.
Year 4 – Swim each week at Kirkstall Sports Centre and enjoy Dance & Gymnastics.
Year 5 – Cricket at the Headingley Cricket School also multi- sports at Lawnswood High School. Dance & Gymnastics.
Year 6 – Cricket at the Headingley Cricket School, Invasive Games, Gymnastics.
Extra Curricular PE
Spring Bank Primary School offers a variety sports clubs throughout the year. During this term the following clubs will run.
Gymnastics
Year 1 Gym Club
Key Stage 2 Gym Club for those preparing to enter the Leeds Schools Gymnastics Competition.
Our own KS2 School gymnastics competition will be held during the afternoon of Wednesday 28th March 2012.
Dance
Key Stage 2 – Zumba
Football
Year 4 Football Club
Year 5 Football Club
Year 6 Football Club
Throughout the year clubs change as do those invited to attend. We aim to provide opportunities for all children to attend extra-curricular sport at some time during the school year.