Bethany School
Curriculum Policy
The Bethany School Curriculum is broadly based on nine themes found in the early chapters of the book of Genesis. Each theme provides the starting point for one term’s work, developed initially by parents and teachers and followed, as part of a three year cycle, at an appropriate level, by all pupils from Year 1 to Year 9.
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The themes are:
| |
Term 1
|
Term 2
|
Term 3
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| Year A |
Beginnings
|
Work
|
Water
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| Year B |
Dry Land
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Living Things
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People
|
| Year C |
The Earth In Space
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Communication
|
Nations
|
Working through the topics the pupils will see that God alone is eternal and that all things originate in Him. God’s activities involve making, sustaining, redeeming and renewing creation and by acting in this way God reveals His character to and through the created realms. The whole of creation declares God’s nature and attributes but people are especially the object of His desire to communicate with His creation. We look at God’s work in creating and ordering the world, the effects of our obedience to, or disregard for, God’s laws and the extent to which Christians can bring a measure of the redemption, achieved through Christ’s death, to this fallen world. In the nations topic the children investigate God’s dealing with Abraham, His covenant with His chosen people and the pattern modelled for us by Abraham as the ‘father of many nations’.
We do not follow the National Curriculum at Bethany School because we are committed to developing our own distinctively Christian curriculum, based upon biblical principles and led by God. However, we do continue to keep abreast of current educational thought, we evaluate new initiatives and we will always adopt examples of good practice. All the curriculum areas adopted by the National Curriculum can be found in the Bethany School Curriculum Plan. Subjects covered include: Literacy, Numeracy, Science, Art, Design and Technology, History, Geography, French, Spanish, Physical Education, and Drama. Areas such as Citizenship, PHSE, R.S., Music and ICT are threaded into our courses.
Also, Bethany School is able to prepare pupils for a range of G.C.S.E. examinations. Courses which may be offered include:
· Mathematics
· English – Language and Literature (two subjects)
· Science and Additional Science (two subjects)
· Spanish
· French
· Art
· Design and Technology
· Religious Studies
· History
· Geography
The GCSE Options booklet is available on request.
Biblical Conte
Planning for each term’s work begins during the previous half term when the biblical context is issued. This contains some relevant biblical passages which the staff can study, meditate on, think about and pray over.
Parents are given an ‘Ideas Web’ which they can use to focus their minds on the new topic and add to the pool of ideas available to the teaching staff. Parents can also use their ideas to build on the work done in school and devise some home education activities.
Curriculum Grid
An overview of the work which can be covered in a particular subject area is given in the Curriculum Grids. These have been completed for Topic and Science areas and are in various stages of completion for other subjects.
Schemes of Work
Each term the staff produce a scheme of work in the form of a weekly planner. This breaks down the content of the course into teachable segments and gives some indication of any particular emphases that will be made during the term. The schemes for the Topic lessons are shared and discussed at a staff meeting. Analysis and comment are invited and new ideas are suggested. On occassions, a Curriculum Day will be devoted to a particular curriculum area or theme. Off-site visits are usually planned at this stage. The schemes of work for the current term can be viewed in the Curriculum Folder in the office.
Lesson Plans
Appropriate lesson plans are produced by the teachers. We seek to provide the opportunities for all pupils to learn and make progress but, above all, to experience ‘joy in learning’.
The lesson plans should take into account:
· learning objectives
· length of lesson
· learning styles of the pupils
· resources needed / available
· type of activity
· differentiation
· assessment
· classroom management
· record keeping
We believe that whole school activities have great value and we can build into our plans activities such as; Open Mornings, World Book Day, Sports Day, Field Trips, School Camp.
Family Afternoon
This important curriculum area is planned, organised and delivered by the parents. The parents who comprise the Family Afternoon Team produce a programme of events which are usually topic related. Parents share their expertise with their own children and with other families. Families learn to learn together and adults gain skills in teaching their own children and often mixed groups of adults and children. The Family Afternoon Brochure gives further details of the role and responsibilities that parents have during the Family Afternoon
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