Curriculum

Art

At Mansel Primary our aim is to provide an art curriculum which will inspire pupils to explore, build on and record their own creative and imaginative ideas. Our curriculum aims to support children in learning and building on skills in drawing, painting and sculpture in order to express their experiences of the world and ideas as well as giving them the opportunity to engage in a process which helps in the development of self-esteem, self-discipline, cooperation, and self-motivation.

Many of our pupils do not have the opportunities to engage in wider arts experiences outside of school. As such we aim to introduce pupils to the work of at least 10 different artists/movements during their time at Mansel in order to show them the significance and place of art in the wider world as well as providing a stimulus for discussions around topics such as race, gender and historical events.

British Values

At Mansel we value and celebrate being part of Britain. In general terms, we celebrate traditions throughout the year. For example, Harvest festival, Bonfire Night, the Christmas Nativity and Easter etc. We also recognise and discuss national events such as Brexit, the Queen’s jubilee and the London Olympics.

Also, children learn about being part of Britain from different perspectives. Geographically, they learn about their local environment and compare it with different places all around Great Britain, celebrating the diversity of people, customs and landscape. Historically, the children learn about British history. This spans across many centuries and includes; the Viking settlers, the Tudors, The Great Fire of London, World War 2 and many famous British people, artists and inventors.

Computing

At Mansel we recognise the importance of computing and give it the profile it deserves. We ensure Computing is being used across the curriculum in a safe way. We have ensured that staff and children have a wide range of ICT resources to use in school to enhance learning. It is accessible to every child and teaches skills which are transferable across the curriculum, and enable further learning opportunities at home. We use the Sheffield eLearning Scheme of Work which allows children to develop skills in Computing, Communication, Multimedia and Data. This is all done with an emphasis on teaching children how to stay safe.

Covid Recovery

Following the closure of schools during the Covid 19 pandemic, we are fully aware of the need to recover lost education and close the subsequent gaps in learning, however our priority is to ensure that our children are emotionally ready to re-engage with school as only then will they be in a position to learn.

Our aim is to place priority upon planning for experiences that provide the space for
recovery; approaches that are concerned with the fundamental wellbeing, and secure
positive development of the child.

Dance

hildren from Y1 to Y6 have the opportunity to have 1 lesson of Dance per week. Many different genres of Dance are covered: Street Dance, Jazz and Musical theatre to name but a few. We use Dance to make our bodies and minds more responsive. It helps with balance, memory, expression and coordination. We improve muscle tone and core strength. We are more agile and flexible when we learn the art of Dance.

Movement allows a child to work their energy out and is a safe way for them to express their feelings. The artistry of dance gives the dancer the opportunity to speak another language: the language of movement. Dance is a fantastic way to learn discipline (memorizing a sequence of steps/body movements requires practice and perseverance.) Dancing improves spatial awareness, as well as raising the heart rate and causing the release of FEEL-GOOD endorphins into the bloodstream….Dancing makes you feel good because it makes you feel alive!!

At the end of each academic year the children are given the chance to perform: Sing, Dance and Act in our Summer Musical. We follow the National Curriculum and teach a broad and balanced range of subjects including PE, Music, History, Geography, Design Technology, Art, PSHE, Science, Computing and RE. We have a termly driving subject and aim to provide cross curricular learning linked to a high quality text where possible. We follow the Read, Write Inc. programme to plan and deliver high quality daily phonics lessons.

Design & Technology

At Mansel children are given the opportunity to develop their practical skills, knowledge and understanding of designing and making functional products, including food.

Design and Technology is taught as a discrete subject in Key Stage 1 and 2. Each Year group is given a project where they design, plan and make a product for a purpose. Through this process children acquire and learn new practical skills as well as learning to apply their knowledge and understanding of materials and components, mechanisms, electrical control and structures. They learn to critically evaluate their designs against criteria.

In Food Technology children learn about diet, nutrition and how to cook. They take part in practical food preparation and cookery sessions, safely using a range of small equipment.

EYFS

EYFS Curriculum Information
Vision – Build, Belong, Believe

At Mansel we recognise that the Early Years provides each ‘Mansel Learner’ with the essential foundations for all future learning. We strive to build positive relationships where all children belong to a nurturing and inclusive community. We believe that each child is unique and has a right to be valued as an individual.

Geography

At Mansel, we believe Geography inspires pupils to have a love and curiosity of the world around them. It develops their ideas and thinking of both the human and the natural world and consider the perspectives of others. It encourages children to develop a knowledge of places and environments around the world, an understanding of maps and how to use them, and their investigative skills both in the classroom and outside.

All of this together, prepares the children for future learning and adult life. Geography is taught for one term a year where it is the topic focus in all classrooms in the school. During this term, Geography is taught explicitly for one afternoon session a week, however, links are made in other curriculum areas throughout the week, and indeed throughout the year.

History

At Mansel, we believe our children deserve an engaging, relevant History curriculum, which informs, represents, empowers, and inspires curiosity. We aim to give our children a considered and critical knowledge of people and events which have contributed to our local and global context.

With a focus on skills and historical concepts, we develop children as reflective, responsible members of society with their own informed perceptions, giving them the ability to ask and answer increasingly complex questions of their own. Their curiosity and critical thinking will be carried with them into other subjects and prepare them for life beyond school.

Literacy

At Mansel Primary School, we are committed to delivering an engaging and innovative English curriculum, which inspires a lifelong love of reading and writing. We offer our children rich and varied learning opportunities that help them to become confident and enthusiastic learners. We want our children to have a positive attitude towards communication and to be able to independently express their emotions and their ideas.

At Mansel, we believe that every child should have the chance to become happy, fluent readers. Therefore, phonics is taught through a highly structured programme of daily lessons across FS and KS1. This takes the form of differentiated groups according to developmental need and whole class teaching. Each session gives an opportunity for children to revisit their previously taught sounds, be taught new GPCs, practice together and apply what they have learned. Our structured synthetic phonics programme is Read, Write Inc. Phonics.

Please click here to find out how to support your child with their reading. 

Maths

At Mansel Primary our aim is to provide a maths curriculum which is exciting, engaging and relevant for all children. Our vision is to ensure children leave Mansel with mathematical skills to enable them to succeed in life. We strive to enable fascination and an excitement to discover mathematical concepts and to broaden children’s knowledge and understanding of how mathematics is used in the wider world.

Throughout school from EYFS to Y6 we use a mastery approach to ensure children build up a depth of understanding for each mathematical skill through a concrete, pictorial and abstract approach. Solving problems using numerical fluency is the basis of our mathematical lessons and we also encourage children to make links between different areas of mathematics. We ensure that children leave Mansel with a logical and creative number fluency and with an ability to recall key number facts such as multiplication tables.

We aim to use high quality resources during learning time to enhance children’s mathematical understanding. The teaching and learning at Mansel is based around real life maths to ensure learning is relevant, engaging and exciting. At Mansel we ensure children have transferable skills, the ability to reason and solve problems, and a well-developed mathematical vocabulary in order to make links between different areas of maths.

MFL

At Mansel we believe in the importance of all children learning an additional language. We hope this will lead children to explore other cultures and become inquisitive about the world around them. Our KS2 children have weekly Spanish lessons which enables them to feel confident enough to engage with and communicate with people who live in our community and around the world. We celebrate success in Spanish lessons by giving out a weekly award.

Music

At Mansel Primary our aim is to provide a music curriculum which will inspire pupils to develop a love of music. Our Music curriculum is taught using the ‘Charanga’ music scheme. This scheme provides children with the opportunity to learn to sing and play instruments, whilst developing their understanding of pulse, rhythm and notation.

The lessons within the scheme also provide the opportunity for the children to compose their own pieces of music and perform in front of their peers. Where appropriate, we also provide opportunities for the children to perform in front of a wider audience. In addition to the class-based learning delivered by our own staff, the school receives high-quality sessions from Sheffield Music Service in the form of ukulele lessons.

To further develop their singing skills, the children take part in a weekly, whole school singing assembly. Through this, the children are taught a range of songs which may link to themes being studied, celebrations taking place within the world and the seasons. Sometimes the songs are of the children’s choosing in order to really encourage that love of music and the idea that music is something that we can all partake of in order to find pleasure and emotional well-being.

PE

At Mansel, we believe that PE is fundamental to contributing to a child’s physical and mental health and wellbeing. We believe that the opportunities children receive at Mansel Primary School provide a chance for children to develop and build their character which help to instill values such as leadership, fairness, respect, competiveness and resilience.

We believe the younger that children can become involved in physical activity, the more likely they will be to adopt a love of sport and fitness as they grow up. We believe that it is vital that the children enjoy all physical activity (including lessons, break, lunch and afterschool) in order to create healthy, confident and active young people ready for the next stage in their life.

Personal Development / PSHE

Personal Development at Mansel includes dedicated PSHE lessons, our wrap-around curriculum of breakfast provision and after-school clubs as well as wider school events, trips, celebrations and assemblies.

PSHE is essential to our children as it prepares them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences in later life. It promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of all pupils at Mansel Primary School. It enables children to discuss real life scenarios and situations in a range of context thus preparing for life during their time at our school and beyond. Our desire is that they leave Mansel as fully equipped for their next stage in life as possible.
We provide children with both the knowledge and skills to be good global citizens, who can maintain good personal health and forge strong, healthy relationships with others. We believe that PSHE cannot exist in isolation; it must be threaded through all of our practise at school.

The programme has been created based upon 3 key themes:

• Health and Wellbeing
• Relationships
• Living in the Wider World

R.E.

Our aim as a school is to have children who leave Mansel Primary to know about and understand a range of religions and world views and to be able to express their own ideas and insights into the significant human questions which religions address.

We want children to develop enquiring minds, and to think rigorously, creatively, imaginatively and respectfully about their ideas in relation to religion and world views. Our RE curriculum (taken from the Sheffield SACRE) encourages the children to learn about Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism through a range of exciting teaching activities.

Children will read stories from past and present based on inspirational leaders in order to build a wealth of knowledge and open- mindedness about the world and humans around them.

Consequently, helping them to become educated, rounded adolescents upon their departure from primary school.

Parents and carers have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of RE. This needs to be discussed with the headteacher.

Science

At Mansel Primary our aim is to provide a science curriculum which will inspire pupils to develop a love of biology, chemistry and physics. We understand how science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity. Many of our children show a sense of excitement and curiosity about the science subject so we believe science provides children with curiosity of the world around them and the science that underpins this. We aim to develop their knowledge, resilience and teamwork through the breadth of the science scheme and with a range of scientific activities to develop knowledge, skills and understanding.