At King’s Academy College Park we recognise that Art and Design stimulates creativity and imagination. It provides visual, tactile and sensory experiences and a special way of understanding and responding to the world. It enables children of all abilities to communicate what they see, feel and think through the use of colour, texture, form, pattern and different materials and processes.

We encourage children to explore ideas and meanings through the work of a range of artists and designers. Through learning about the roles and functions of art, they can explore the impact it has had on contemporary life and that of different times and cultures. The appreciation and enjoyment of the visual arts enriches all our lives.

At King's Academy College Park, we believe that every child within our school will achieve a high level of digital literacy and computing competency. Our aim therefore, is to equip our children with the knowledge, skills and vocabulary needed for them to be confident in developing an understanding of the technological world around them. We want our children to enjoy and be inspired by technology, striving to understand and explore the developing digital climate, to ensure that they are prepared for life in a digitally reliant world.

The Computing curriculum within the school is delivered in dedicated weekly lessons, using Purple Mash and also in conjunction with other curriculum subjects, to support and enhance learning. This is linked to the progression of skills document to ensure a thorough and inclusive curriculum for each year group.

Design and Technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. At King's Academy College Park all children are given the opportunity to use creativity and imagination, design and make products that solve real and relevant problems, within a variety of contexts, considering their own and other’s needs, wants and values.

We feel it is essential that children acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and are provided with cross-curricular opportunities. Pupils learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, they develop critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world. Through cookery, the children should be taught crucial life skills that enable them to feed themselves affordably and well, now and in later life.

At King’s Academy College Park, we recognise that writing is integral to many aspects of life and enables children to communicate with themselves and others while recording and conveying their knowledge and ideas. We strive to help our children develop into imaginative and articulate communicators that have developed healthy, lifelong and enthusiastic attitudes towards writing whilst also providing them with the essential skills.

Our rich text-based curriculum ensures all of our children develop a genuine love of language and helps them to embed a broader level of vocabulary. Careful links are made across the curriculum to ensure other texts used and new knowledge acquired within other subjects are intertwined and that the children’s English learning is meaningful and relevant.  We ensure that children recognise how important and useful the skills they are learning are, through developing an understanding of how widely writing is used in everyday life. 

Our aim is to ensure children

• see themselves as real writers who write for different purposes and audiences

• take ownership of their writing

• view writing as an interesting and enjoyable process

Our writing journey starts with some sort of ‘hook’ to interest, motivate and ignite the children’s curiosity. We then immerse the children into the text and genre they are writing. This is done through things such as exploring texts, role play, investigating vocabulary and looking at how word choice can impact on our audience and purpose. Next, we focus on the necessary skills and formal structures needed to complete their writing task. We develop these skills and start to apply them whilst building on our learning so far. Finally, we pull together all the skills, vocabulary and knowledge learnt both in our writing journey and where appropriate, in cross curricular subjects, to write an unsupported piece of writing which we edit and if appropriate, publish. Throughout the writing journey, teachers will clearly model writing the necessary skills, document the learning journey using their working wall and use guided writing sessions to target specific needs of both individuals and groups. 

At King’s Academy College Park, we recognise the importance of reading as a fundamental skill that underpins all other aspects of learning. Our aim is to develop children’s love of reading, giving them the ability to express themselves as critical and creative thinkers in the wider world. We support pupils to become fluent, independent readers through a rich, text-based curriculum which is aimed to inspire and excite. We understand that reading impacts the child’s journey through the whole curriculum, and allows them to reach their full potential. 

Our aim is to ensure that children:

• develop a love of reading

• are equipped with the technical skills to be fluent readers

• engage with texts, enabling them to comprehend to a deeper level.

Phonics

The application of phonics is taught as the primary strategy in the teaching of reading. We use the scheme ‘Supersonic Phonic Friends’.

This programme allows our children to become competent and confident ‘word readers’.   Phonics is taught daily in small differentiated groups.  Those children that require extra support may complete a further phonics activity later in the day to reinforce their learning from the morning session.  Games and ICT programs to consolidate children’s phonic knowledge are used at other parts of the school day. Assessment is ongoing and recorded at least half termly on to OTrack.  This assessment informs future planning and identifies children that may require further support to become confident ‘word readers’.

You can read more about our phonics scheme here. 

Fluency

Children are heard to read individually by the class teacher and year group LSA over the course of a week. Texts for individual reading are carefully chosen at the instructional level which the children can read. In individual reading, children apply previously taught phonics skills, perfecting decoding and blending. They also apply other reading strategies working on speed and expression.

Children will move onto the scheme ‘Accelerated Reader’ once they have completed the Higher Five stage of Supersonic Phonic Friends and been assessed by their class teacher. 

Comprehension

Shared reading gives children an opportunity to explore a trickier text in more depth and stimulates discussion around language and literary features. This builds on children’s love for reading and extending vocabulary.

At King’s Academy College Park, we believe that every Geography learning experience should inspire our children with a curiosity and fascination about their local environment and the wider world they live in. We want them to be able to differentiate between the human and physical features of an area and make comparisons. Our curriculum provides opportunities for children to engage in fieldwork and geographical enquiries and develop their critical thinking. Our aim, therefore, is to equip pupils with the vocabulary, knowledge and skills to develop a deep understanding of this subject.  

At King’s Academy College Park, we aim to inspire pupil’s interest and curiosity to learn more about the past and how events influence lives today. Children gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s history, including locally and that of the wider world. Through exploring the local area’s rich heritage and that of the wider world, we enable pupils to develop a deep understanding of the past. We offer the children an opportunity to develop their historical knowledge in chronology and a cultural understanding based on not only their history but that of the world around them. We aim to create lifelong learners who can use their historical knowledge and vocabulary to ask questions, weigh evidence and make comparisons between the people and events they have studied.

At King’s Academy College Park, we believe that every child within our school will achieve a high level of numeracy and move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. Pupils are required to explore maths in depth, using mathematical vocabulary to reason and explain their workings. A wide range of Mathematical resources are used and pupils are taught to show their workings in a concrete, pictorial and abstract form, wherever suitable. We encourage resilience, adaptability and acceptance that struggle is often a necessary step in learning. Our aim therefore, is to equip our children with the knowledge and skills needed for them to be confident in applying and using Maths within school and for the future. We want our children to enjoy and be inspired in Maths lessons, built on the foundations of a deep understanding of the curriculum.

The intent of music at King’s Academy College Park, is for children to gain a firm understanding of what music is, through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing, and composing across a wide variety of historical periods, styles, traditions, and musical genres. We aim to ensure children understand the importance and value that music brings in the wider community and are able to use their musical skills, knowledge, and experiences to involve themselves in music, within varying contexts.

During in-class lessons, pupils are given the opportunity to practise and play instruments from all four main instrument groups of wind, strings, percussion and keyboards. They are also taught how to compose, read and perform different genres and styles of music. Music lessons engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and develop their talent as musicians, thus increasing their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement.

At King’s Academy College Park School, we believe that every child will achieve a high level of physical education. Our aim is to ensure every child has the opportunity to develop their well-being and fitness through skilled and inspirational professionals enabling high quality learning. We want our children to enjoy and be motivated in PE lessons. This is achieved through skilled teaching, extra-curricular activities and a variety of lunchtime provisions. In addition to this, we aim to provide opportunities for children to compete in sport and other activities in order to build resilience and embed values such as teamwork, resilience, responsibility and respect. 

Within Early Years, we provide daily ‘Squiggle Whilst you Wiggle’ sessions and within KS1, daily ‘Wake and Shake’ sessions occur. Additionally, skilled teachers provide specific provision in a variety of areas in PE, such as: weekly PE lessons (either indoor or outdoor), lunchtime provision and extra-curricular activities. Within KS2, we have weekly outdoor Games lessons run by Zuko Sports and fortnightly indoor PE lessons, as well as providing extra-curricular activities. We also have extra lunchtime provisions across the school.

At King’s Academy College Park, we believe that every child will be able to identify, discuss and deal with a range of issues they face in their everyday life.

Public Health England data analysis of Portsmouth City clearly outlines a number of issues, which may be faced by our pupils. Compared to national figures, in Portsmouth there is lower than average life expectancy, greater numbers of teenage pregnancies, higher levels of alcohol related hospital stays for under 18 year olds, and much higher rates of violent crime.

The Covid pandemic has highlighted a range of difficulties our children may have faced, from close family members falling ill and financial and personal lockdown pressures.

The planned programme of PSHE Education, along with our mental health and well-being provision, in our schools is designed to support our pupils when dealing with the difficult moral, social and health-related issues that they may face and help them to develop the knowledge and skills they need to live confident, healthy, independent lives as individuals, parents, workers and members of society. 

Section 2.5 of the National Curriculum framework document states that:

‘All schools should make provision for personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), drawing on good practice.’

At King’s Academy College Park, the purpose of Religious Education and World Views is to enable pupils to develop their own coherent patterns of values and principles to support their spiritual, moral and social development.  This entails encouragement of each pupil to interpret, respond to and respect a variety of concepts, beliefs and practices within religions and to their own and others’ cultural and life experiences.  

Through a comparative approach across two to three world faiths, using the concept wheel (as defined with Living Difference), children learn to communicate, apply, enquire, contextualise and evaluate concepts within these faiths. Across both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, Religious Education and World Views is taught discretely, but is often linked to other subjects such as RE, PSHE, Fundamental British Values and SMSC.

At King’s Academy College Park, we believe that every child will achieve a high level of scientific knowledge and skills. Our aim therefore, is to equip our children with the knowledge and skills needed for them to be confident in developing an understanding of the world around them.  We want our children to enjoy and be inspired by science, striving to understand and explain the phenomena of life using investigations, observations, research, comparisons, pattern seeking and identifying.