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The inspiration: the PYP and the Creative Curriculum
In September 2007, Form 1 and 2 trialled the Primary Years Programme. This inquiry led programme encourages a child-centred approach to teaching and learning. It sees language as fundamental to learning, thinking, communicating, and permeates the whole curriculum. Learning best takes place in authentic contexts, and literature plays a special role in enabling this to happen. The strands of oral, written and visual communication are learned across and throughout the subject areas.
Teachers in such schools should strive to develop a caring language community, in which all students feel accepted and confident that they will be supported by others in language and in taking risks. Structured, purposeful inquiry is the main approach to teaching and learning language in such a curriculum model. Furthermore, learning that language and literature is a creative process encourages the development of imagination and creativity through self-expression.
During the year, pupils undertake 6 Units of Inquiry under the following headings:
- Who are we?
- Where are we in time and place?
- How we express ourselves
- How the World works
- How we organise ourselves
- Sharing the planet
It is acknowledged that experiences during the early years lay the foundations for all future learning. Teachers are therefore encouraged to support students' interests, build up their self-esteem and confidence, and respond to spontaneous events, as well as support the development of skills in all cognitive areas in relevant ways. The Lower School English curriculum provides a framework that gives crucial support for children to be active inquirers and lifelong learners.
The Future:
At Cranleigh Prep School, we have embraced wholeheartedly the ethos which underpins this inquiry led approach and have moulded it to suit our needs as a school. Using the expertise of our own staff and considering the needs of our children, we have developed our own inquiry led programme which cherry picks the best of what is promoted in the PYP approach and in the current government supported Creative Curriculum. With the children at the centre of what is being taught, our pupils are buzzing in the classroom and there is a genuine air of learning and achievement which permeates the Lower School.
Humanities Programme
In September 2009, Form 3 embarked on a new teaching initiative which combines the teaching ethos of an inquiry led curriculum and the Creative Curriculum, as studied in Forms 1 and 2, while exploiting the fantastic wealth of specialist teaching available at CPS.
The curriculum in Forms 3 and 4 has undergone a facelift . Our aim was to continue to promote the ethos of child-centred learning which underpins the Lower School teaching, with the buzz word, ‘creativity' remaining a central feature of this curriculum. Form 3 now runs a humanities programme which is enquiry based. There will be 6 inquiries during the course of the academic year:
- 2 led by a geography focus
- 2 for RS
- 2 for history
The core subjects, English, Maths and Science, along with the more practical subjects, are taught by a range of subject specialists. The reality of the Common Entrance syllabus is such that specialist teaching is required to build up the knowledge base essential to complete the CE course successfully. We believe that such a system allows the children to gain the best of both worlds; the teaching and learning in the enquiry based humanities programme is still child-centred and develops essential learning skills. However, pupils also benefit from high-class specialist teaching where acquisition of knowledge is key, in the selected subjects. This specialist approach is potentially just as creative and child-centered because teachers have the expertise and freedom to be flexible and extend the learning in exciting and new ways.
We believe that in Forms 1-3, learning to learn is as important as what is learnt. There is an emphasis on skills before content. We believe that it is not what you do that is important but the way you do it. According to recent research, we are preparing children now for jobs that don't yet exist; using technologies that have not yet been invented, in order to solve problems that we don't even know exist yet. In the 21st century, children have to be equipped with the skills and the ability to apply them in different situations.
Form 1 follow an Inquiry led model for Learning and whilst the backbones of English spelling, punctuation and grammar are studied independently, this programme allows literacy to be a regular feature in many lessons, as a transdisciplinary theme.
The Michaelmas Inquiries will be:
inquiry 1: Who are we, where are we - The Victorians
inquiry 2: Happy and healthy - Teeth and Eating
The Form 1 Michaelmas curriculum will include:
- autobiographical writing
- writing an invitation and a recipe
- how to write instructions
- using VCOP to improve creative writing (refer to BIG WRITING in main menu for more detail of this approach to writing)
- how to do a comprehension
- looking at recount texts
- stories with familiar settings
All pupils will follow the Oxford Reading Tree guided reading scheme and be given weekly spelling words and activities to complete.
The Lent Inquiries will be:
inquiry 3: How the World Works - Marvellous Magnets
inquiry 4: Sharing the Planet - Journey to the Rainforest
The Form 1 Lent curriculum will include:
- writing a recount about your holiday
- poetry-looking at different forms and conventions of poetry
- adventure and mystery stories
- report writing
- writing a letter
All pupils will continue to follow the Oxford Reading Tree guided reading scheme and be given weekly spelling words and activities to complete.
The Summer Inquiries will be:
inquiry 5:
inquiry 6:
The Form 1 Summer curriculum will include:
- a holiday recount
- shape poems/calligrams
- myths and legends
- non-chronological reports
- wordplay in poetry
- dialogue and plays
- comprehension practice
Form 2 follow an Inquiry Based model for Learning and whilst the backbones of English spelling, punctuation and grammar are studied independently, this approach allows literacy to be a regular feature in many lessons, as a transdisciplinary theme.
The Michaelmas Inquiries will be:
inquiry 1: What was life like growing up for our most recent generations?
inquiry 2: Heroes and heroines impact our lives in positive ways
The Form 2 Michaelmas curriculum will include:
- Character sketches
- powerful verbs and adverbs
- Stories set in WW2, including using story planning mountains
- Poetry, especially simile
- Diary writing
- newspapers
- stories set in imaginary worlds
- a book for younger children
- comprehension skills
- research/gathering information from different sources.
This term's spellings will focus on the following rules:
- double consonant
- homophones
- verb endings
- irregular tense changes
- suffixes al, ary and ic
- using suffixes to change word class
The Lent Inquiries will be:
inquiry 3: Energy exists in different forms and is changed, used and stored in different ways.
- Report writing: experiment style - imperative verbs
- Persuasive writing
- Information books/texts
inquiry 4: The importance of individuals giving to, as well as taking from others
- Letter writing
- Playscripts
The Form 2 Lent curriculum will include:
- Acrostic poetry
- Common and proper nouns
- Word order/sentence structure.
- Comprehension, once a week, either verbally or formally written
- Adjectives
- Verbs
- Exclamation marks
- Apostrophes
- Personal and possessive Pronouns
This term's spellings will focus on the following rules:
- Adding suffixes
- Adding suffixes to words ending in f - plurals
- Common word endings
- Prefixes al, ad and af
- Prefix round up
- Letter strings w +vowel, ss
The Summer Inquiries will be:
inquiry 5:
inquiry 6:
The Form 2 Summer curriculum will include:
- looking at the conventions of non-fiction texts
- persuasive writing
- writing to inform and explain
- comprehension practice
- creating stories with an issue or a dilemma
- Grammar - speech marks, imperatives, alliteration, prepositions
Form 3 will run a humanities programme and whilst the backbones of English spelling, punctuation and grammar are studied independently, these humanities inquiries allow literacy to be a regular feature in many lessons, as a transdisciplinary theme.
Here are some of the things Form 3 will study in the Michaelmas term:
Humanities Inquiry 1 - Geography - The World is your Oyster!
- Greek myths - Daedalus and Icarus
- novel study - 'Kensuke's Kingdom' by Michael Morpurgo
- creative writing - using speech and dialogue in stories
- writing a diary
- writing a book review
- continued work on comprehension skills
Spellings: all exercises completed in English Skills Books
- Plurals (rules for)
- Latin and Greek prefixes and suffixes
- Vowel endings o, a, i, u,
- Spelling Strategies
Humanities inquiry 2 : History - Shocking Shakespeare - the Tudors!
- Comprehension: Galore Park - ‘A Long Way from Home' and ‘A Historic Find'.
- Shakespeare comprehension
- ‘Learning about Language' - Capital letters and full stops exercises, Galore Park.
- Looking at Latin and Greek prefixes and suffixes
- Speech marks (exercises)
- Free/ Creative writing:
- Diary of a Penny Stinker - creative piece of writing
- Letter writing - writing a letter to the Globe Theatre to say thank you for our visit.
Spellings:
- Word root patterns
- Double consonants and ‘ful', c, g and y spelling patterns
- Common letter strings, different sounds
- Homophones (CPG workbook link, exercises to cover)
Form 3 spelling lists for the Michaelmas term are available here
Here are some of the things Form 3 will study in the Lent term:
- writing an informal letter
- writing a description of a setting
- focus on setting to write a story
- examine features of a newspaper article
- describing character
- writing a ghost story focusing on creating mood
- writing a factual account about the Titanic
- continued comprehension practice
Spellings:
- Homophones
- Possessive adjectives and pronouns
- Suffix Shun
- Long words - unstressed vowels
- Words ending in 'e'
- Words ending in 'y'
- i before e Suffixes and transformations
- Prefixes and transformations
- spelling strategies
- New Words
Here are some of the things Form 3 will study in the Summer term:
-
the Legend of King Arthur
-
writing a letter
-
character studies
-
looking at poetry
-
revision of story writing techniques
-
persuasive writing and advertising
Our class readers in the Summer term are:
'The Ghost of Thomas Kemp' by Penelope Lively
'Clockwork' by Philip Pullman
Spellings:
The Form 4 Michaelmas curriculum will include:
- Big writing including connectives, openers and ambitious vocabulary
- Sentence structure
- Dramatic writing for scary genre pieces
- Colons, semi-colons and commas
- Speech marks
- Spelling rules and weekly tests
- Comprehensions
- Adverbs and Adjectives
- Biography
- Journalism
The Form 4 Lent curriculum will include:
- Comprehension practice - studying texts
- Creative writing - short stories
- Poetry - writing and analysing
- Weekly spelling tests- dictionary work
- Punctuation - apostrophes, conjunctions
The Form 4 Summer curriculum will include:
- look at the language conventions and grammatical features used in stories and novels
- construction of complex sentences using methods such as the 'Big Writing' frame
- in depth planning of a story
- study of key features to write an extended story
- review and identify the skills needed to successfully answer comprehension questions
- analysis of poetic techniques
- continue with weekly spelling tests
In Form 5, students embark on the Common Entrance syllabus. To view the ISEB English Syllabus for Common Entrance at 13+ click here
The Form 5 Michaelmas curriculum will include:
- revising parts of speech
- looking at synonyms
- reading for meaning-comprehension practice
- using Point-Evidence-Explain to Prove (the PEEP chain)
- creative writing-using VCOP: Vocabulary, Connectives, Sentence Openers, Punctuation
- weekly SPaG lessons-Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar
The Form 5 Lent curriculum will include:
- looking at non-fiction texts using I.P.R.I.D.E. (texts to Inform, Persuade, Recount, Instruct, Discuss, Explain)
- learning how to recognise features of C.L.A.P.S. - content, layout, audience, purpose and style in non-fiction texts and explore how these affect the language the writer uses
- continued practice of comprehension skills and PEE
- further weekly SPaG lessons
The Form 5 Summer curriculum will include:
- further work on using PEEP for comprehension exercises
- revising V.C.O.P. as a way to improve creative writing
- studied literature - Through guided reading sessions, oral work and creative writing tasks, pupils will look at the relationships which develop between the characters in their chosen novel and examine how these affect the issues and underlying messages which the writers are trying to convey.
Form 6
English in Form 6 concentrates on preparing pupils for the Common Entrance exam in June. The paper examines pupils' reading and writing skills and is divided into four sections: non-fiction comprehension; unseen poetry; studied literature and creative, or free writing.
For the studied literature section, each class will study a selection of novels which explore the theme of Conflict. These will include:
- War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
- Coram Boy by Jamila Gavin
- The Wind Singer by William Nicholson
- Holes by Louis Sachar
- Noughts and Crosses -Malorie Blackman
- The Machine Gunners -
- exteacts from Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' and 'Romeo and Juliet'
- selection of war poetry
The Form 6 Michaelmas curriculum will include:
- reinforcement of the Conflict theme for Common Entrance
- war poetry
- Non-fiction texts - autobiography, reviews, travel writing
- comprehension skills - using Point-Evidence-Explain
- creative writing-how to create an original and engaging story line
- weekly SPaG sessions - (spelling, punctuation and grammar)
The Form 6 Lent curriculum will include:
This will be an area of focus for the first half of term with each set studying their Conflict themed novel (refer to introduction to Form 6 curriculum to check which novel each set is reading). Through guided reading sessions, oral work and creative writing tasks, pupils will look at the conflicts which develop between the characters in the novel and examine how these affect the issues and underlying messages which the writers are trying to convey.
We will continue our study of war time literature and look at a variety of writing from times of conflict. This will include non-fiction, fiction and poetry texts. Pupils will develop their understanding of how writers use language to convey their message and also build confidence to recognise such techniques and express their own opinions about pieces of writing. In terms of the exam, they will practise using PEEP to get their ideas onto paper effectively and eloquently.
A great deal of this term will be used practising and perfecting exam technique. Pupils will look at past paper questions to familiarise themselves with the paper layout and style and practise selected questions under timed conditions. Pupils will be expected to complete a number of these timed questions in their 35 minute prep sessions.
The Form 6 Summer curriculum will include:
The first half of the Summer term will be used to practise and perfect exam technique. Pupils will look at past paper questions to familiarise themselves with the paper layout and style and practise selected questions under timed conditions. Pupils will be expected to complete a number of these timed questions in their 35 minute prep sessions and in class under exam conditions.
The four areas which we will revise are:
- non fiction comprehension
- poetry comprehension
- studied literature
- free writing
Additonal studied literature texts are:
'Tulip Touch' by Anne Fine
'The Wind Singer' by William Nicholson
'Holes' by Louis Sachar
Refer to the Michaelmas and Lent term curriculum plans for more detailed information on the ISEB course content.
6Ho
The scholarship syllabus is based on the 13+ Common Entrance syllabus. Scholarship papers are designed to challenge the best students in the close analysis and imaginative interpretation of a variety of literary texts drawn from any genre and period. The paper itself is 1hour 45 minutes and consisits of two or more unseen, thematically-related passages with questions on content, style and structure. While inviting sophisticated answers, questions are sufficiently open-ended to encourage imaginative and personal responses.
The Form 6Ho Michaelmas curriculum will include:
- colours and connotations
- travel writing
- earth's wildest places
- analysing poetry - Seamus Heaney
- comparing thematically-related texts
- how to structure an essay
- weekly SPAG lessons to fine tune writing style
The Form 6Ho Lent curriculum will include:
The aim of this term is to explore as many different eras and genres of writing as possible and to build pupils' confidence to talk about the writer's technique, themes and ideas.
The key to producing a good scholarship paper - irrespective of which school you are sitting for - is to have confidence in your ability to express your opinions about the writing in front of you. Examiners want pupils who are willing to divulge their ideas, not regurgitate a set formula for writing about a poem or piece of literature, or write down a pre-prepared essay. Indeed, a number of texts used in these papers are taken from A Level or even university syllabi and while they are challenging, examiners do not expect an A-Level style response. A 12 or 13 year old does not have the knowledge and understanding of the context and historical time in which the text was written but moreover, the maturity of response based on personal experience.
Therefore, the sheer breadth of the scholarship syllabus should be seen as a challenge to enjoy and embrace. Pupils will become confident in their ability to produce structured, eloquent essays which will convey their own ideas effectively.
The Form 6Ho Summer curriculum will include:
We have reached the final two weeks before the exam and the aim of our English lessons are to reinforce good practice and to build pupils' confidence.
Following the exam, pupils will complete a number of mini projects which aim to explore how English is used for different purposes.
Refer to the Michaelmas and Lent term curriculum plans for more detailed information on the course content.
Click here for the ISEB English Syllabus
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