Subject Leaders: Maddy Parsons and June Grant

It is our aim at St Mark’s to develop children’s abilities to become competent, confident and effective communicators in English. We achieve this through the specific teaching of the key strands of:

• Reading

• Writing

• Speaking, listening and drama

• Spelling (including synthetic phonics)

• Handwriting

We aim to inspire children to read with deep understanding for both pleasure and the acquisition of knowledge; and to value our literary heritage. We strive to create a genuine love of language and enjoyment of the process of reading.

In the teaching of writing, children are encouraged to produce work of a high standard, taking care with grammar, spelling, punctuation and handwriting. The emphasis is on clear and relevant communication of ideas with a sense of audience and a control of language.

In order to encourage the use of whole texts in the teaching of literacy, we subscribe to the Power of Reading - an organisation providing cross-curricular resource materials for teaching good quality literature from Reception to Year 6.

Much of the children’s extended writing is done in the course of topic based work and may arise from a range of different curriculum subjects. Children are encouraged to draft, edit and re-draft longer pieces of written work.

Speaking and listening skills are developed in part through drama and role play. We encourage creativity, discussion, empathy with the ideas and opinions of others, positive listening and clarity of speech. These skills should begin to equip children for lifelong learning and effective functioning in a diverse and challenging modern world.

Each class has a daily English lesson with a strong emphasis on the further development of skills in the context of learning in other areas of the curriculum. Beyond the literacy lessons, there are daily reading sessions for individual, whole class, paired or group guided reading or spelling related activities.

Teaching of Phonics and Early Reading

Intent

We aim to develop the full potential of all our pupils to become confident, literate readers and writers.

In order to achieve this, we aim to establish consistent practice, progression and continuity in the teaching and learning of phonics with a focus on quality first teaching.

By the end of Key Stage 1, we aim for all children to understand the alphabetic code, master the skills of segmenting and blending and have a good understanding of how these skills are used when reading and spelling. We also aim for all children to be able to read and write the common exception words identified as appropriate for Key Stage 1 and use correct letter formation in line with the school’s handwriting font.

Implementation

To teach phonics in a structured and consistent way, we use Unlocking Letters and Sounds - a DfE accredited phonics programme. This scheme includes an agreed order for teaching phonics and common exception words for reading and writing development.

Consistency and fidelity to the scheme are achieved by all staff using the agreed phonics teaching programme, as well as the scheme’s display and assessment materials. Staff use the agreed vocabulary from the scheme’s glossary with children when teaching phonics. They model blending and segmenting skills, ensuring they accurately articulate the sounds represented by the letters .

Phonics is taught through discrete daily sessions. Outside the discrete daily phonics sessions, there are opportunities to develop the application of phonic skills, e.g. during classroom activities and guided/shared reading.

A meeting is arranged in the autumn term for parents of Reception aged children to explain the school’s approach to the teaching of phonics.

Nursery

Phase 1 phonics is taught in Nursery to embed listening skills, sound identification and an awareness of rhythm and rhyme. Emphasis is placed on developing speech and language skills. The teaching of Phase 1 continues into the Reception class for those children who need more support to develop their skills.

Reception and Key Stage 1

Phases 2-5 and some elements of Phase 6 are taught through the scheme from Reception to Year 2. Year 2 staff use additional materials external to the scheme to ensure all of Phase 6 is taught.

This approach enables children to:

• recognise, say and write all phonemes within each phase of Letters and Sounds (Phases 2-5);

• use their phonetic knowledge to blend and segment phonetically decodable words, including more complex words (e.g. compound words);

• apply and understand spelling patterns. (including suffixes and prefixes, at Phase 6);

• read and spell common exception words accurately;

• become confident readers who are able to use their skills to retrieve information and read for pleasure;

• become confident writers who are able to express their ideas clearly.

Discrete daily phonics teaching in Key Stage 1

Children in Reception, Key Stage 1 and lower Key Stage 2 (who are still in need of phonics development) participate in the daily phonics sessions. These sessions are organised into groups by the phonic phases the children are working within rather than by chronological age.

Teaching and support staff provide well-structured teaching which provides opportunities to:

• Revisit and Review – recap on previously taught sounds (phonemes), letters (graphemes) and common exception words.

• Teach – teach new sounds (phonemes), letters (graphemes) and common exception words.

• Practise – provide opportunities to practise saying, reading and writing sounds and words.

• Apply – apply the new skill to read and write words, captions and sentences.

SEND Support and Intervention

Through careful monitoring and tracking, teachers are able to identify children who are not making the expected progress and therefore need intervention to help close the gap and ensure progress is made. Depending on the needs of individuals, this may include additional one-to-one or small group tutoring, or extra support within a lesson.

It is vitally important that children who are struggling to learn to read make progress and catch up with their peers.

Where a phonetic approach is not deemed appropriate, school will consider alternative approaches to developing reading and writing e.g. a whole word approach.

Key Stage 2

If children in Key Stage 2 experience difficulty in reading and/or writing because they have missed or misunderstood a crucial phase of the systematic phonics teaching, additional support will be given. They may participate in the Key Stage 1 daily phonics groups or other intervention strategies and teaching tools (e.g. Toe by Toe or Word Wasps) may be considered and used to meet their specific reading development needs.

Tracking and assessment

Assessment procedures are robust. Children’s progress is recorded and assessed regularly by class teachers and all adults leading the discrete daily phonics groups. Groupings are fluid, enabling children to move from group to group so the teaching is appropriate and progression is provided for all learners.

Formative assessment occurs within lessons and assessment informs planning. Children in need of intervention are identified early to ensure their needs are met in a timely fashion.

Year 1 Phonics Screening Check

During the summer term, every Year 1 child will take the Government Phonics Screening Check. This is a phonics based check in which children will be expected to read 40 simple, decodable words, including nonsense words. This is a progress check to identify those children not at expected level in their reading. Results are sent to the local authority. Whether or not the child meets the expected level will be reported to parents in their annual school report. Children who fall below the expected level are invited to attend ‘Phonics Club’ to develop their knowledge and skills. Where appropriate, additional intervention may be put in place to facilitate catch-up.

Year 2 children who did not meet the required standard in Year 1 retake the Phonics Screening Test alongside Year 1 in the Summer term. Any child working below the level of the screen check may be dis-applied, with the acknowledgment of the parent/carer.

Impact

Through consistent, systematic daily teaching, children are expected to become fluent, confident readers and writers by the end of Key Stage 1.

Children will be equipped with the skills necessary to blend and segment letters, and the sounds they represent, for reading and spelling development. They will develop a good level of fluency and comprehension which will hopefully lead to a love of reading and allow them to explore and take pleasure in the rich literary world we live in with a firm phonetic basis to support them.

Supporting Learning at Home

Parents are encouraged to ensure their child is reading their reading books on a daily basis and regularly applying their phonics skills at home.

We recommend parents play common exception word games, phonic word games and sing nursery rhymes and songs to support the child’s reading development.

We recommend that parents read a range of books to the child to model good reading skills and develop a love of reading, including the ten core books identified for their class.

Parents are also encouraged to support their child by practising their spellings each week, using the correct letter formation for each letter.

Parents are welcome to contact their child's teacher for more information and ideas on how to support their child at home.

Subject Leaders: Laura Whittaker and Rachael Shone

The Maths curriculum is delivered based on the Primary National Curriculum (2014) and the framework for the EYFS.

We aim to provide all pupils with some significant direct teaching every school day which is oral, interactive, fun and stimulating.

The variety of teaching styles and lesson/group structures used provide opportunities for pupils to make connections, becoming fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, being able to reason mathematically and to solve increasingly sophisticated problems.

All children have access to concrete apparatus and each year group has a number of key number facts to learn with the aim of developing instant mental recall. These then give a foundation of facility with number to support learning in maths as children move through the curriculum for each year group.

Children are encouraged to reflect on their own learning and apply maths knowledge and skills in a real life context, in other lessons and, where possible, beyond the confines of the traditional classroom.

We use materials and resources from the White Rose Maths hub throughout the school, from Reception to Year 6.

Subject Leader: Katie Huddleston

Our science curriculum is based on the current EYFS Framework and the Primary National Curriculum (2014).

We aim to ensure continuity and progression from Reception to Year 6. We aim to develop the children’s scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding in biology, chemistry and physics.

We place a strong emphasis on working scientifically and use an enquiry based approach to ensure that children develop rigorous scientific skills while learning more about the world around them.

We teach about the lives and achievements of important scientists and aim to help the children understand the possible uses and applications of science today and in the future. Above all we endeavour to make learning science practical, exciting and fun!

Subject Leader: Justine Yarker and Sarah Robinson

RE is an essential subject at the core of all learning in school in that it encourages children to consider what it means to be human. By building on the school-wide development of the spiritual elements of life, RE takes children on a journey into the ways in which people have sought to answer the big philosophical questions at the heart of our existence.

As a Church of England school our emphasis is on the teaching of Christianity as a reasonable faith with a balance of narrative, thematic and doctrinal elements. We look at two other world faiths in detail in order to make comparisons and develop deep understanding and appreciation of difference. Judaism and Islam, in teaching, heritage and as monotheistic religions, have much in common with Christianity and thematic teaching will often draw on all three.

Our current syllabus is based on schemes of work produced by the Blackburn Diocese. - “Questful RE”. We are beginning to introduce concepts and units of work from the new Church of England sponsored Understanding Christianity materials.

We take an enquiry-based approach to the teaching of RE, encouraging the children themselves to raise questions for discussion, with a balance between ‘learning from’ and ‘learning about’ religion.

In all teaching we seek to provide opportunity for open dialogue and pupil self-expression in response to the ideas, issues and challenges raised.

In the current climate of fear of extremism and a fragile geopolitical context we seek to provide open, honest and challenging RE built on a shared set of Christian values.

Subject Leader: Hazel Cook

Geography, like History, is an enquiry-based subject which is designed to inspire curiosity, awe and wonder. Geography offers children a chance to investigate the world around them and gain an understanding of the people with whom they share it.

Units of study allow children to:

• discover and explore patterns and processes;

• ask why things are as they are;

• consider how places have changed;

• consider how places might continue to change; and

• begin to understand their own roles and place in in the modern world as global citizens.

We believe strongly that learning in Geography should be real and relevant and as a result much of our teaching has a link to our local area. The children have the opportunity to enjoy learning outside, developing field work skills and learning through hands on experience. This learning is recorded in a variety of ways and may be supported through work in other areas of the curriculum.

The curriculum for Geography offers ample opportunity for progression with the scope of places studied extending from the local area to the wider region, the country in which they live and the wider world.

Subject Leader: Quita Davies

In the teaching of History through an enquiry-based approach we aim to foster in children genuine curiosity and a long, lasting interest in the past.

We work to enable them to understand the details of significant events and to ask and research questions about how and why the world has changed over time. We try to develop inquiring minds that ask questions about different beliefs and cultures and the ways in which they have shaped the development of our country.

Through study of the past we hope that children will learn more about themselves as individuals and members of modern British society.

Subject Leader: Sarah Robinson

Children experience many opportunities to develop their understanding, knowledge, skill and appreciation of art, craft and design. They explore a variety of tools, media and techniques to create sculptures, drawings, paintings, collages, prints and textiles.

Children are encouraged to express their ideas and feelings using these skills and techniques, even in other areas of the curriculum. Over time they will have looked closely at, and responded to, the work of a large range of artists from many different cultures and backgrounds, past and present.

Each week there is a chosen piece of art that is displayed around the school and in the hall during collective worship. A short introduction to the artist and their work is given in the whole school assembly at the beginning of each week.

Subject Leader: Currently vacant

Design & Technology – Curriculum Overview

St Mark’s Primary School

Our Intent

At St Mark’s Primary School, Design and Technology enables pupils to become creative, practical and reflective problem-solvers. Our curriculum is rooted in the updated 2024–2026 guidance and the National Curriculum, with a strong emphasis on an iterative “design, make and evaluate” process.

Pupils design and create purposeful, functional and authentic products for real users and real contexts. They learn to consider user needs, purpose, functionality and innovation, developing the confidence to make informed design decisions and refine their ideas throughout the making process.

Design and Technology at St Mark’s develops creativity, resilience and independence, while strengthening links with science, mathematics, computing and the wider curriculum.

How We Implement Design & Technology

Our curriculum is structured around the three key activity types:

• Investigative and Evaluative Activities (IEAs)
  Pupils analyse existing products and systems to understand how they work, why materials are chosen and how designs meet user needs.

• Focused Tasks (FTs)
  Children develop essential technical skills and knowledge, including:

  • Structures and mechanisms

  • Electrical systems (circuits, switches, motors)

  • Textiles (joining, stitching, pattern work)

  • Cooking and nutrition (food preparation, hygiene, healthy eating)

• Design, Make and Evaluate Assignments (DMEAs)
  Pupils apply skills and knowledge to design and create products for a specific user and purpose, evaluating and improving their work at each stage.

Learning is underpinned by the six core principles of modern Design and Technology:
User · Purpose · Functionality · Design Decisions · Innovation · Authenticity

Children record their learning in design journals or ‘Big Books’, capturing sketches, plans, photographs and evaluations to evidence the iterative design process.

Health and safety is taught explicitly and reinforced consistently, ensuring pupils use tools, materials and equipment responsibly and confidently.

The Impact on Our Pupils

By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils at St Mark’s:

• Design and make functional products that meet clearly defined user needs

• Use a wide range of tools, materials and techniques safely and accurately

• Make informed design decisions and justify their choices

• Evaluate and refine ideas throughout the design process

• Use appropriate technical vocabulary to explain their thinking

Pupils leave St Mark’s as confident designers and makers, equipped with the practical skills, creativity and problem-solving abilities needed for future learning and everyday life.

Subject Leader: Quita Davies

While we currently follow the Lancashire Scheme of Work for PE we are actively looking to replace the scheme with a more up to date resource which incorporates online elements for teaching discreet skills and opportunities to support planning and assessment.

PE develops children’s physical competence and confidence and their ability to use these to perform in a range of activities. It promotes skill, agility, physical development and an understanding of the ‘body in action’. Children are encouraged to be creative and competitive and to face different challenges as individuals as well as in groups and teams.

Children can learn endurance, perseverance and resilience in the structured context of games and sports. We help them to learn how to lose with grace and learn from failure and making mistakes.

PE helps to promote the habits of a healthy lifestyle. In PE lessons children also learn useful skills that have applications in other aspects of learning: planning, performing and evaluating actions and ideas and improve on quality and effectiveness.

We have carefully structured schemes of work for gymnastics and games development. Elements of dance are included in these units.

Swimming

All children in Years 4 and 5 have a series of structured swimming lessons at Kendal Leisure Centre. The emphasis is on personal survival skills, based on the development of good basic strokes. Our aim is that all children achieve the KS 2 expectations for swimming before they leave the school. For that reason, children from Year 6 who have not yet achieved the standard may join the younger classes for lessons.

Children in Year 5 have an opportunity in the summer term to experience open water swimming in Windermere, in a session that also teaches the basics of safety at the water margin.

Competitive swimming is also encouraged in the fielding of teams to represent the school in the annual Kendal Primary schools swimming gala.

Competitive Sports

We encourage a mixture of individual skills development and competition. Within the KCP family of local schools and as part of the School Games programme organised by Active Cumbria, we are able to access a wide range of sports festivals and competitions.

Teams from St Mark’s have competed in Cross Country, Sports Hall Athletics, Football, Orienteering, Dodgeball, Tag Rugby, Cricket, Netball, Hockey, Rounders, Lacrosse and Swimming competitions in recent years.

We have also entered teams of children with SEND in local Panathlon events.

We regularly acknowledge the achievements of individual children who take part in sports out of school time by re-awarding cups, medals and certificates in our weekly Celebration assembly.

We have recently been successful in maintaining the Sainsbury’s School Games Gold Award for a third year, which recognises our participation and support in all areas of sport and physical activity.

For the last two years we have encouraged children in each class to walk or run 100 miles in the school year, as part of a national scheme to encourage fitness and fight obesity.

Subject Leader: Currently vacant

School Music Development Plan

St Mark’s Music Curriculum

Subject Leader: Anna Sykes

The overarching aim of the Computing curriculum is to transform children’s experience with IT from simply using computers to understanding how they work and learning how to write code and simple programs.

Our emphasis is on equipping young people with the skills and knowledge they will need for living in a modern and rapidly changing world. They need a wide set of skills to enable them to function in the digital world.

The computing curriculum aims to develop both skills and knowledge through three elements:

• computer science

• information technology

• digital literacy

These strands are developed discreetly as well as through learning in other subjects where ICT is used to enhance teaching and learning.

Children in Key Stage 1will have the opportunity to learn how to write and test simple programs. They will learn how computers work and how to program them to organise, manipulate and store digital content.

Children in Key Stage 2 will learn about computer networks (including the internet) and the services these networks are able to provide. Throughout their learning an emphasis is placed on the safe use of ICT equipping children with the knowledge they need to access the digital world confidently and safely.

We provide regular access to computers through the timetabled use of a portable bank of 16 laptops.

Subject Leader: Katie Huddleston

Teaching Spanish – Overview

Intent

At our school, the intent of teaching Spanish is to develop children’s curiosity about languages and cultures, and to provide a strong foundation for future language learning. We aim to foster positive attitudes towards other languages and cultures, helping pupils to understand their place in a diverse and interconnected world.
From Reception and Key Stage 1, pupils are introduced each term to different countries, languages, foods and cultural traditions, specifically focusing on France, Ukraine and China, to broaden their global awareness alongside early language skills. By Key Stage 2, pupils develop confidence in listening, speaking, reading and writing in Spanish, enabling them to communicate for practical purposes and understand key grammatical structures.

Implementation

Spanish is taught weekly across Key Stage 2 using a progressive and structured scheme that builds vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and cultural understanding over time. Lessons include songs, games, stories, speaking opportunities and written activities to engage all learners and support different learning styles.
In Reception and Key Stage 1, pupils receive a termly introduction to global learning through age-appropriate exploration of France, Ukraine and China, learning about languages spoken, traditional foods, celebrations and everyday life. This early exposure supports cultural capital and prepares pupils for formal language learning in KS2.
Cultural awareness is embedded throughout the curriculum, ensuring pupils understand not only the language but also the traditions and lifestyles of Spanish-speaking countries.

Impact

By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils are confident, enthusiastic language learners who can communicate in Spanish using a growing range of vocabulary and structures. They demonstrate accurate pronunciation, an understanding of basic grammar, and the ability to listen and respond appropriately.
Pupils leave our school with a strong awareness of other cultures, respect for diversity, and a positive attitude towards learning languages. The early cultural introductions in Reception and KS1 ensure that pupils see languages as meaningful and relevant, supporting a smooth progression into more formal language learning and preparing them well for secondary education.

Subject Leader: Louise Hinton

PSHE – Intent

At St Mark’s CofE Primary School, the intent of our PSHE curriculum is to support pupils’ personal development and wellbeing, enabling them to thrive academically and socially and to be well prepared for life in modern Britain. Rooted in our Christian vision ‘Where Courage Meets Grace’ and the Church of England’s Vision for Education, our curriculum promotes dignity, respect, wisdom, hope and community.

Our PSHE curriculum is ambitious and inclusive for all pupils. It is designed to ensure that children:

• develop the knowledge and vocabulary needed to understand health, relationships and life in the wider world;

• build resilience, self-awareness and emotional literacy;

• form and sustain positive, respectful relationships;

• understand how to keep themselves and others safe, including online;

• become responsible, informed citizens who understand democracy, equality and the rule of law.

The curriculum reflects local context and pupils’ lived experiences and actively promotes equality, inclusion and respect for difference, ensuring that all pupils feel safe, valued and able to flourish.

PSHE – Implementation

PSHE is delivered through a coherent, well-sequenced curriculum that builds knowledge and skills progressively from EYFS through to Year 6.

• The school uses the 1Decision PSHE programme, a PSHE Association quality-assured scheme, ensuring full coverage of statutory Relationships Education and Health Education. Learning is structured around the three core themes:

  • Health and Wellbeing

  • Relationships

  • Living in the Wider World 1decision-pshe-programme-of-stu…

• Teaching follows a spiral model, enabling pupils to revisit and deepen learning over time. Lessons are adapted appropriately to meet the needs of all learners, including pupils with SEND, ensuring equity of access.

• Assessment in PSHE is purposeful and meaningful, focusing on pupils’ starting points and progress over time. Baseline, formative and summative approaches support reflection, inform teaching and demonstrate impact without using grades.

• Relationships and Health Education are taught sensitively and in line with our Relationships and Health Education Policy (2026). Teaching reflects the Church of England’s emphasis on living well together, valuing difference and nurturing positive relationships. Relationships Education and Hea…

• PSHE learning is reinforced through a whole-school approach, including behaviour expectations, collective worship, pastoral support and day-to-day interactions. Real-life situations are used as learning opportunities, enabling pupils to apply strategies in meaningful contexts.

• Pupils are given authentic opportunities to develop leadership and civic understanding through School Council, House Captain elections and engagement with local democracy, including visits from the local Member of Parliament.

• Safeguarding is fully embedded within PSHE. Sensitive issues such as bullying, discrimination, online safety and inappropriate language are explicitly addressed, challenged and recorded in line with school policy.

PSHE – Impact

The impact of our PSHE curriculum is evident in pupils’ strong personal development, behaviour and attitudes.

• Pupils are articulate, reflective and respectful, able to express their views and feelings using appropriate language.

• Children demonstrate positive relationships, empathy and kindness, contributing to a calm, inclusive and supportive school culture.

• Pupils have a secure understanding of how to keep themselves safe, including online, and know how and where to seek help.

• Children show increasing independence, resilience and emotional regulation, supporting their readiness for the next stage of education.

• Pupils understand democracy, equality and British values and participate confidently in school decision-making processes.

• Incidents of bullying, racism or discriminatory language are very rare, and pupils report feeling safe, listened to and supported.

Overall, pupils leave St Mark’s well prepared for life beyond primary school, with the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to contribute positively to society and to live life in all its fullness. The PSHE curriculum makes a strong contribution to safeguarding, wellbeing and pupils’ long-term outcomes.