Cultural opportunities in our curriculum
Our curriculum is carefully designed to provide pupils with a wide range of cultural opportunities expanding their understanding of the world.
In all subject areas, pupils learn about significant individuals who made a life-changing contribution to our society. This includes scientists, inventors, athletes, composers, mathematicians and writers. We want our children to appreciate these achievements and understand the impact on our lives today.
Reading
Our library is full of amazing books! We have a fantastic range of fiction, non-fiction, magazines, comics and newspapers. Books are chosen by the reading coordinator to ensure pupils have the opportunities to read a wide range of authors including children’s classics, traditional tales and recent book releases. We want our children to experience different writing styles from Shakespeare to David Walliams.
Cracking Comprehension
Pupils study in detail extracts from the following fiction texts:
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Year 3 |
Year 4 |
Year 5 |
Year 6 |
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Fantastic Mr Fox Roald Dahl
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The children of Green Knowe Lucy Boston |
Stig of the Dump Clive King |
The Railway Children E. Nesbit |
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Grandpa’s Indian Summer Jamila Gavin
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The Diary of a Killer Cat Anne Fine
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The Cat Who Walked By Himself Rudyard Kipling
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Just William Richmal Crompton
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Mr Majeika Humphrey Carpenter
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Gangsta Granny David Walliams
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Skellig David Almond
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Shine Jill Paton Walsh
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The Lost Happy Endings Carol Ann Duffy
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Mackerel and Chips Michael Morpurgo |
Robert The Bruce and the Spider Geraldine McCaughrean |
The Tempest William Shakespeare |
There is a fantastic variety of male and female authors, across different time periods, writing in different styles. Pupils also study a range of poems and non-fiction texts.
Reading Avengers
Our Reading Avengers scheme is deliberately designed to challenge higher ability readers and increase pupils’ knowledge of authors including Children’s Laureates, children’s classical books and other renowned writers. Some examples are:
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Year 3 |
Year 4 |
Year 5 |
Year 6 |
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Ottoline and the yellow cat Chris Riddell
George’s Marvellous Medicine Roald Dahl
The abominables Eva Ibbotson
You’re a bad man Mr Gum Andy Stanton |
Winnie the Pooh A.A Milne
The firework maker’s daughter Philip Pullman
The Butterfly Lion Michael Morpurgo
Tom’s Midnight Garden (graphic novel) Edith |
The lion, the witch and the wardrobe C. S. Lewis
Charlotte’s Webb E. B. White
Asha and the Spirit Bird Jasbinder Bilan
Street Child Bernie Doherty |
Holes Louis Sacher
The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett
Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone J. K. Rowling
Graphic novels
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Comprehension through song
Comprehension is also taught by studying song lyrics. This engages children with comprehension as it is fun and active. Song lyrics contain a wide variety of poetic devices such as metaphors, similes, personification and often there is a hidden meaning to discover. Songs allow for acquisition of new, exciting vocabulary. In addition, pupils will experience a range of musical genres and listen to artists that perhaps they have never heard before!
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Year 3 |
Year 4 |
Year 5 |
Year 6 |
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Disney musical soundtracks from The Lion King, Moana, Frozen, The Little Mermaid and Peter Pan
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Disney musical soundtracks from Aladdin, Jungle Book, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and The Nightmare Before Christmas |
Ironic Alanis Morissette
Indian Sunset Elton John
Space Oddity David Bowie
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald Gordon Lightfoot |
Thriller Michael Jackson
Big Yellow Taxi Joni Mitchell
Pompeii Bastille
The Trooper Iron Maiden
What Is Truth? Johnny Cash |
Class books
Teachers are provided with a varied box of books to borrow and read to their class. These books are deliberately chosen to target particular cultural themes and to expose children to the very best picture books, short stories and poems.