exe valley federation

Exe Valley
Federation

Curriculum Gallery

Our curriculum gallery documents the wonderful teaching and learning which goes on across the curriculum from early years to year 6. Please click the links below for more information and a gallery of pictures.

Early Years Curriculum

Literacy

It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension (necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing).

Transcription (Little Wandle)

 A Life-Long Love of Reading

Maths

Developing a strong grounding in number is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically. Children should be able to count confidently, develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers. By providing frequent and varied opportunities to build and apply this understanding - such as using manipulatives, including small pebbles and tens frames for organising counting - children will develop a secure base of knowledge and vocabulary from which mastery of mathematics is built. In addition, it is important that the curriculum includes rich opportunities for children to develop their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of mathematics including shape, space and measures. It is important that children develop positive attitudes and interests in mathematics, look for patterns and relationships, spot connections, ‘have a go’, talk to adults and peers about what they notice and not be afraid to make mistakes. 

Cardinality and Counting

The cardinal value of a number refers to the quantity of things it represents, e.g. the numerosity, ‘howmanyness’, or ‘threeness’ of three. When children understand the cardinality of numbers, they know what the numbers mean in terms of knowing how many things they refer to.

 Comparing Numbers

The children used manipulatives to explore the concept of 'more than' and 'less than'. 

 Representing Numbers

The children used Numicon, as well as buttons and tens frames to represent numbers in a variety of ways. 

Pattern Seeking

Children in The Burrow used objects to demonstrate patterns. They used different colours and shapes to explain their reasoning.

Understanding Shape

Children in The Burrow had great fun using peg boards and pins to explore 2D shapes.

 Children in reception had great fun investigating and working with different 2D Shapes. Through independent and collaborative work, they worked together to solve puzzles and challenges. 

Understanding The World

Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increases their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries and museums to meeting important members of society such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later reading comprehension. 

Theatre Alibi - The Parcel

Theatre Alibi visited us in school in the New Year and delivered their spectacular performance 'The Parcel'. The story took the children all over the world and allowed them to explore different places and many different artefacts. At the end of the performance, the children got to look inside the parcel at all of the wonderful artefacts.

Crediton Christmas Tree Festival 2022

The children from the nursery decorated a tree as part of the Christmas Tree Festival in Crediton. They got the bus to Crediton and went to look at the trees.

 Lunar New Year Celebration

The children in EYFS enjoyed learning about Lunar New Year Celebration. They shared stories and also tried some traditional Chinese food.

Remembrance Day

Children in The Burrow use their creativity to make special poppies which formed a display on the main window for parents to view. 

Expressive Arts and Design

The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity. It is important that children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. The quality and variety of what children see, hear and participate in is crucial for developing their understanding, self-expression, vocabulary and ability to communicate through the arts. The frequency, repetition and depth of their experiences are fundamental to their progress in interpreting and appreciating what they hear, respond to and observe. 

Painting and Colour Mixing

 The children looked at Van Gogh's sunflowers and enjoyed experimenting with colour, design and texture.

 Reception Art Club

The children in reception had a great time being part of art club. They explored drawing techniques using their whiteboards and pens.

Physical Development

Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives. Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co-ordination and positional awareness through tummy time, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. By creating games and providing opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being. Fine motor control and precision helps with hand-eye co-ordination, which is later linked to early literacy. Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practice of using small tools, with feedback and support from adults, allow children to develop proficiency, control and confidence.

Scrum Kids - Nursery Sessions 

We were delighted that Jared Evans from Scrums Kids returned to lead special PE sessions for our nursery children. His innovative and engaging teaching styles has been a huge success and the children thoroughly enjoy his sessions.

 Scrum Kids - Reception Sessions

The sessions for our reception children build upon what they did last year and further develops their core learning in physical development.

Communication and Language

The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. Children’s back-and-forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children's language effectively. Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive. Through conversation, story-telling and role play, where children share their ideas with support and modelling from their teacher, and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children become comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures. 

Role Play

Our role play areas, both inside and outside, are key to the development of communication and language. The role play areas change as new topics are covered and allow conversation, story-telling and idea sharing to happen on a daily basis.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives, and is fundamental to their cognitive development. Underpinning their personal development are the important attachments that shape their social world. Strong, warm and supportive relationships with adults enable children to learn how to understand their own feelings and those of others. Children should be supported to manage emotions, develop a positive sense of self, set themselves simple goals, have confidence in their own abilities, to persist and wait for what they want and direct attention as necessary. Through adult modelling and guidance, they will learn how to look after their bodies, including healthy eating, and manage personal needs independently. Through supported interaction with other children, they learn how to make good friendships, co-operate and resolve conflicts peaceably. These attributes will provide a secure platform from which children can achieve at school and in later life. 

Cooking and Baking

Children across the foundation stage unit thoroughly enjoy their cooking sessions, demonstrating a good level of independence, mixed with great communication with one another. 

Art and Design

Sketchbooks in KS1

Class 2 have been looking at printing. This included looking different forms of printing as well as using everyday objects to see which one makes the best print.

 They have also looked at mark making in the second half of term. The children explored different ways of drawing lines, created repetitive patterns and also experimented with paint.

Drawing with Tone and Colour - Year 3 and 4

Children from class 3 explored colour mixing and the creation of different tones in their sketch books. They used this to replicate a picture.

Observational Drawing of Fruit - Year 3 and Year 4

Children in class 3 took part in observational drawing using fruit and vegetables as a stimulus. They used water colours to draw the fruits and vegetables as realistically and true to life as possible.

Printing- Year 3 and 4

Class 3 looked at printing in the Autumn Term. 

 Their final piece is called 'The Wave'

Collage- A Child's War Y5 and Y6

Children from class 4 created their own war collages using a variety of materials. They used colour to represent mood and created portraits of people involved in the war.

Mosaics - Year 5 and 6

Class 4 spent time designing special mosaics using glass to create patterns and pictures. They were supervised by local artist Maxine Pople, who used her kiln to create their finished products.

 Drawing with Different Media - Year 5 and Year 6

Class 4 looked at the Rainbow Mountains in South America. Vinicunca, or Winikunka, also called Montaña de Siete Colores, Montaña de Colores or Rainbow Mountain, is a mountain in the Andes of Peru. Children used different media to replicate the mountains in their sketch books.

Computing

In school, we use Teach Computing, a programme found under the National Centre for Computing Excellence (NCCE). It provides teachers with a comprehensive range of evidence-informed, high-quality support, including free resources and training courses.

 

 

Programming - Year 5 and Year 6

Children from class 4 linked their topic of Shang Dynasty to create some games and challenges on the Scratch Programming platform. Click the link below to try Dylan's game and if you want to know how Dylan created it, click the link underneath to see his coding log.

Dylan's Shang Dynasty Linked Scratch GameShang Dynasty Scratch Log

English

 Non Fiction Writing - Year 5 and 6

Class 4 linked their English to the topic of South America.

Using the Rainforest Rough Guide as a stimulus, the children have created a collection of letters from an explorer based deep in the rainforest, which are full of facts and details about the life of an explorer and his exciting discoveries.

 

Explanations Texts - Cracking Contraptions - Year 5 & 6

Year 5 and 6 spent time looking at Wallace and Gromit's Cracking Contraptions Book as a stimulus for writing explanation texts. 

An Explanation Text is a non-fiction (real, not a story) piece of writing which is meant to describe something, such as how a car is made. 

The children created their own 'cracking contraptions' and wrote them in the style of a Haynes Manual.

 

Design and Technology

Food Technology - Healthy Eating - Year 1 and Year 2

Class 2 have been enjoying their summer term topic; healthy snacks. They have been looking at the nutritional values of fruit and vegetables and used them to create some special boats linked to their topic; Seaside.

Sculpture - Clay - Y3 and Y4

Class 3 looked closely at The Ancient Greeks. They used skills learned during their D&T sessions to build Greek pots using clay.

Geography

Theatre Alibi Visit - The Parcel

Theatre Alibi visited us in school in the New Year and delivered their spectacular performance 'The Parcel'. The story took the children all over the world and allowed them to explore different places and many different artefacts. At the end of the performance, the children got to look inside the parcel at all of the wonderful artefacts.

Sensational Safaris - Year 1 and Year 2

In geography, class 2 have been looking at sensational safaris with a focus on Africa. They were lucky to be joined by Dr. Jones, a parent at school who worked as a doctor in Malawi. Dr. Jones shared traditional African dress with the children as  well as specially crafted wooden artefacts. She also talked about African bead artwork and shared her experiences of living in Africa. The children then shared this in their celebration sharing assembly to parents.

Sensational Safaris - Year 1 and Year 2 (Part 2)

The children also had a special visit from Freya's grandma who brought in some African artefacts for the children to hold. She talked about where they came from and how special they were to the African people.

Our Local Area - Year 1 and Year 2

In geography, class 2 have been looking at their local area, thinking about the land use and green spaces. They visited the Arboretum and enjoyed an afternoon looking at the natural environment, making dens and creating artwork.

South America - Year 5 and Year 6

In Geography this term, class 4 have been looking closely at South America. Using their new format of learning questions, they have a clear focus which drives their learning each week. So far, they have looked at the countries and physical features of South America, the rainforest and it's layers and also deforestation and the wider impacts across the world.

Map Work Focus- Whole School

A focus area for NSC has been the use of maps. Whether this is through using an atlas, or globes, we have been trying to improve locational and place knowledge across the school. We have also been looking at geographical skills and giving children the opportunity to put their skills into practice through fieldwork.

Extreme Earth- Natural Disasters - Y3 and Y4

Class 3 have been looking closely at natural disasters and have focused on volcanoes. Part of the homework has been to investigate volcanoes and create your own model. These have been shared in school and celebrated. 

History

Transport Year 1 and Year 2

This history topic taught children about travel now and how it has developed over time. The children focused on trains, cars and planes and also linked to our assembly theme of community where we looked at Mary traveling to Bethlehem on a donkey and how different that would be today.

Romans - Year 3 and Year 4

Class 3 spent time learning about the Romans and looked closely at the Roman army. They created Roman Shields and then had a special visit from a Roman Soldier who spent the day telling them more about the army and how the shields would have been used.

Anglo Saxons - Year 3 and 4

Class 3 enjoyed an Anglo Saxon day as their memorable moment to kickstart their historical learning. Through a story teller, they were sent back in time to meet significant Anglo Saxon people as well as looking special artefacts. 

World War 2 - Class 3 and Class 4

In March 2023, the children from class 3 and class 4 had a wonderful day linked to their WW2 topic. They were joined by storyteller Steve Manning who helped them to be evacuated down to the Recreation Ground before they listened to stories from the war, sampled wartime food and played wartime games. 

Shang Dynasty - Year 5 and Year 6

This history topic looked at the leaders of the Shang Dynasty and the downfall of the Shand Dynasty. The children learnt about class structures and the difference structures for men and women. The overarching theme was thinking about how modern China has been influenced by the Shang Dynasty.

Modern Foreign Languages

At Newton St. Cyres, we use Language Angels to deliver French to our children in Key Stage 2. Language Angels is designed by foreign language teaching specialists and linguists and provides a comprehensive set of planning, lessons, resources and assessments. 

Last year, we looked at some of the basic skills in French which included map work and identifying France and its major cities, feelings and emotions, basic conversation and colours. We went on to look at numbers, animals and instruments. The children also created a fact file on a French city of their choice. French speaking was a key component of the teaching and children enjoyed interacting with each other and playing games in French. We also started looking at French phonics and grammar, looking at definite articles as well as the feminine and masculine form. 

Our MFL gallery details some of the work completed last year:

Maths

HERTS Maths Challenge 2023

Over 500 schools across the country took part in the annual Hertfordshire Mathematics Challenge. 

There were 4 rounds:

Round 1: General Maths questions

Round 2: Memory round (completed beforehand)

Round 3: Estimation round

Round 4: More general Maths questions

The mathematicians from year 5 worked well as a team, demonstrating an excellent growth mindset and determination to solve very difficult questions.

HERTS Maths Challenge- Memory Round Poster

Number work in EYFS and KS1

Numicon is an approach to teaching maths that helps your child to see connections between numbers. It supports your child as they learn early maths skills in nursery and primary school. It is a multi-sensory way of learning, which means your child learns by seeing and feeling.

 Maths Manipulatives - Whole School

Maths manipulatives are useful throughout the school. Manipulative materials are any concrete objects that allow students to explore an idea in an active, hands-on approach. Manipulatives can be almost anything – blocks, shapes, spinners or even paper that is cut or folded.

Recognising Equal Groups - Year 1 and year 2

The children in year 1 and year 2 have been working hard to recognise equal groups and have used maths resources around the room to support their learning.

Money - Year 1 and Year 2

The children in year 1 and 2 have been exploring money. They looked carefully at the value of money and what each coin represents. They then moved on to count money and add up different amounts.

Music

Taiko Drumming

Our music provision for the 2023 summer term is Taiko Drums. We had a brilliant day in May learning more about Taiko Drumming with the wonderful Lucy and Jan from Taiko South West. Here is a video from class 4 in an assembly performed to the school.

/i/video/Video.mov

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra- Midnight Magic

Children from KS2 were delighted to have the opportunity to travel to The Great Hall at The University of Exeter to watch the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Designed with KS2 students in mind, the thrilling and interactive concert was presented by award-winning composer and conductor, James Redwood.  

//www.youtube.com/embed/vfcEUkFVG-I#t=0.5

This opportunity truly inspires the next generation of musician and children from KS2 thoroughly enjoyed the concert and joining in with the band. 

Music Performance

In school we actively promote and celebrate musical performance. Each term we host a celebration music assembly where children perform to an audience of parents, friends and family. In March 2023, we had a plethora of performers which included piano, guitar, ukelele, singing and flute.

Whole Class Ensemble Teaching - Year 5 and 6 ( Woodwind)

Class 4 have been having expert music tuition from Alison Golby this term and they have made tremendous progress. Learning the flute, saxophone and clarinet, Alison has been very impressed with the children and it was great to showcase their talents to everyone in a special music assembly.

Whole Class Ensemble Teaching - Year 5 and 6 (Brass)

Our musical aim is centred around stimulating children’s interest in music and providing them with opportunities to enjoy playing a wide range of musical repertoire. We were lucky to have a set of brass instruments last term and with the expert tutelage of Adie Nuttall, children from class 4 played a variety of instruments to parents at our music assembly.

Physical Education

Pupils at NSC continue to apply and develop a broad range of skills, learning how to use them in different ways and linking them to make actions and sequences of movement. They  enjoy communicating, collaborating and competing with each other. 

GB Olympic Athlete Visit

In March 2023, we were delighted to welcome Rich Parker, a GB inline skater into school who talked to the children about elite sport. He shared his skating journey and talked about his involvement in the X Games. He then put the children through their paces with a fitness session which the year 6 children helped to facilitate.

Gymnastics- Year 1 and 2

Class 2 have been practising their balances as part of their gymnastics sessions in the hall. They have been concentrating on form and being careful when holding balances.

Gymnastics - Year 3 and Year 4

Class 3 have been doing gymnastics at Lords Meadow Leisure Centre. They have enjoyed using the apparatus to aid their gymnastics development.

Hockey - Key Stage 2

 Netball - Key Stage 2

 Gymnastics - Year 5 and Year 6

In our gymnastics sessions, we have been lucky to use our gymnastic equipment in the hall. Our focus last term was developing flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance.

Competitive Sports - Football - Key Stage 2

One of the benefits to working as a federation is that sporting events mean children are able to experience competitive fixtures on a regular basis. 

Our football teams from year 3,4,5 and 6 travelled to Cheriton Fitzpaine and played in some friendly matches after school.

 

Exmoor Challenge Practice Walk - Brampford Speke Circular Walk

Brampford Speke Circular Walk

Our year 6 children prepared for the Exmoor Challenge with a 10 mile circular walk around Brampford Speke and Thorverton. With challenging conditions due to the wet weather from earlier in the week, the children performed brilliantly completing the walk in the time allocated. They will now begin to think about the main Exmoor Challenge in May 2023.

Sport's Day - Whole School

Every summer, we host our annual sports day at the Recreation Ground. It is always a very successful day with children competing in a variety of events. In the morning we host our field events at school. This includes javelin, long jump and accuracy throws using rugby balls, hoops and tyres. 

Morning Events- Long Jump, Javelin and Throw Accuracy

 Afternoon Events- Running, Relay and Sack Races

In the afternoon, we host our field races which includes running, relay and sack races. Each child win points for their house teams with the overall winner being crowned at the end of the afternoon. 

PSHE

Feelings and Emotions

In school we follow 1 Decision, a PSHE package which supports children throughout the school. One of the areas we focused on is feelings and emotions and we linked this to work we have done on growth mindset.

Religious Education

Trip to Newton St. Cyres Church

Class 3 visited Newton St. Cyres Church to find out how the church prepares for Easter and to ask Sue Browne, our local pastor to help answer their enquiry question:
Why do Christians call the day Jesus died 'Good Friday?
Sue told the class all about what happens during holy week at the church and they also found out about the colours that are used in the church at different times of the year. As the children were exploring the church, they discovered a War memorial from WW1 and WW2, a memorial window in the Lady Chapel and panels of needlework that were made by school children who were evacuated to the Parish during 1939 and 1945. This linked well to the class topic WW2.

Hanukkah

We were lucky to be visited by Eran Hovav who led an amazing assembly talking about Hanukkah. He talked to the children about Hanukkah and created some special doughnuts (Sufganiyot) for the children to share. There was a light show as well as candle lighting and the staff and children were really inspired.

What does it mean to be a Hindu in Britain today? Year 3 and 4

In this unit, class 3 explored key aspects of Hindu belief and worship.  They focused on British Hindus, and the great diversity in British Hinduism as well as the origins of Indian Hinduism.  They find out some key Hindu beliefs, and how these are expressed in thoughts and actions. They also thought about being a Hindu in Britain today.  

What Does It Mean If God is Holy and Loving? Year 5 and 6

In this unit, class 4 explored what Christians believe about God and used biblical texts and technical terms to explain their answers. They answered key questions to have a better understanding about God and the meaning of being holy and loving.

The Nativity - Key Stage 1

At Christmas, children from KS1 travel to the church to put on a special nativity for family members. The children use their RE sessions during the autumn term to understand the meaning of the Nativity and the birth of Jesus Christ.

Christingle - Key Stage 2

At Christmas, the children from KS2 enjoy taking part in the Christingle. They visit the church and with the assistance from our local pastor Sue Browne, the children learn about the significance of the Christingle. During COVID, we hosted our own Christingle in school.

 

Science

Forces - Year 5 and Year 6

Class 4 have been looking closely at friction. They took part in an experiment, using materials to measure the time a moving object would run down a slope. They ensured that the test was fair and made conclusions using the data they collected.

Electricity - Year 5 and Year 6

Class 4 have begun their new topic on electricity this term. They reviewed their previous knowledge from when they covered this topic in year 4 and tested this by building circuits using all the components needed.

Animals Including Humans - Year 3 and 4 

 Class 3 have been looking at digestive systems and teeth as part of their science lessons. They have been looking at the functions of teeth and completed an investigation looking at tooth decay.

Sound - Year 3 and Year 4

In Class 3, children have been learning about sound in their Science lessons. They have used resources and practical skills to demonstrate how sound waves travel. 

 Earth and Space - Year 5 and Year 6

The children in class 4 worked hard explaining how the moon orbits the Earth and they also looked at the phases of the moon. They created a working model which was demonstrated in sharing assembly.