The curriculum for Paradigm
- prepares pupils to lead fulfilling lives and to play an active, positive and productive role in our democratic society;
- is based on the National Curriculum;
- enhances pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development;
- promotes fundamental British values;
- makes provision for pupils to develop their literacy and numeracy skills so that they can access all areas of the curriculum;
- is responsive to both the current and future needs of pupils;
- accommodates future examination and assessment reforms;
- ensures that pupils will be equipped with the correct qualifications to gain access to future study and employment;
- is well organised and staffed appropriately throughout all year groups;
- prioritises all year groups equally;
- meets the needs of learners with special educational needs and disabilities;
- encourages pupils to master skills and deepen knowledge and understanding;
- prepares pupils for an ever changing, wider world of work;
- encourages the use of environments and expertise beyond the classroom including immersive learning;
- provides interesting and varied extra-curricular activities and educational visits to broaden pupils’ experiences;
- has local, national and international dimensions;
- ensures that pupils have the background knowledge to interpret new information from sources including texts and images.
Early Years
Pupils in Reception are taught in accordance with the Department for Education’s early years foundation stage guidance. Topics are chosen to reflect pupil interests and needs.
Further information relating to curriculum is available on request – please contact the academy.
In the EYFS stage we learn about:
- Self-portrait
- Painting
- Collage
- Food Technology: Fantastic fruits
- Textiles D&T unit:
- Let’s look at hats
- 3 bears picnic blanket
- Mechanical Systems: Hinges and catches
Each year we cycle through the following units at increasing depth:
- Productivity
- Programming
- Computational Thinking
- Creativity
- Networks
- Communication/collaboration
Learning to Read
Children in the early years who are learning to read (decode) follow the Read Write Inc, synthetic phonics program.
This enables them to work to decode a book appropriate for their phonic knowledge, to begin to develop reading stamina and fluency. At this point, children take part in our Oral Shared Reading program, so they can work on their comprehension skills using a shared text, read by an expert teacher.
Over the course of the year we will study:
- Marvellous me – different places in my life (UK and other countries)
- Rainforests
- Journeys and holidays
We study two History topics in EYFS:
- Marvellous Me – a chronology of my life.
- Dinosaurs – In the past / change.
To teach maths we use Maths Mastery from EYFS to KS2.
Children cover a range of subjects over the year:
- Early mathematical experiences
- Pattern and early number
- Numbers within 6
- Addition and subtraction
- Measures
- Shapes and sorting
- Calendar and time
These lessons involve training the children to learn a range of foundational physical skills:
- Getting changed
- Gymnastics
- Dance
- Games – hand eye coordination; Rolling a ball (manipulate); Running (speed, agility and travel); Ball skills (cooperation and problem solving); Spatial awareness (coordination).
Pupils in the EYFS are taught that people have different needs, views, cultures and beliefs and everyone needs to be treated with respect.
Pupils are taught about all of the five major religions (Christinanity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism) and worldviews (Humanism). Pupils learn about how different religions celebrate festivals such as Easter, Christmas, Eid, Holi, Hanukkah and Humanist day.
Paradigm primary schools follow the Jigsaw programme.
In EYFS we cover the following topics:
- Being Me in My World
- Celebrating Difference
- Dreams and Goals
- Healthy Me
- Relationships
- Changing Me
- Spring 1 – Dinosaurs – living things
- Spring 2 – New life – eggs and chicks, living things.
- Summer 1 – Rainforests – habitats, climate, animals and plants.
Year 1
At KS1 and KS2 we follow a two year sequence:
2024/2025 and 2026/2027
Autumn 1 – Painting
Autumn 2 – Mechanical Systems (Sliders and Levers)
Spring 1 – Collage
Spring 2 – Food Technology
Summer 1 – Portraits, including mixed media
Summer 2 – Textiles – weaving
2025/2026
Autumn 1 – 3D: Clay
Autumn 2 – Food Technology
Spring 1 – Printing
Spring 2 – Mechanica | Systems (axles and wheels)
Summer 1 – Portraits, including mixed media
Summer 2 – Structures
Each year through KS1-2 we cycle through the following units at increasing depth:
- Productivity
- Programming
- Computational Thinking
- Creativity
- Networks
- Communication/Collaboration
Learning to Read
Children in the early years who are learning to read (decode) follow the Read Write Inc, synthetic phonics program.
This enables them to work to decode a book appropriate for their phonic knowledge, to begin to develop reading stamina and fluency. At this point, children take part in our Oral Shared Reading program, so they can work on their comprehension skills using a shared text, read by an expert teacher.
Children in Year 1 learn about the following subjects:
The living world
- Biomes
- Hot and cold climates
- Rainforests
The economic world
- Food, water and energy
- The changing economic world
- Tourism and ecotourism
- Case study: Cambridge
We cover two topics a year for History in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. In Year 1 we look at Childhood, then Buildings and Towns.
Our school uses Maths Mastery to teach the subject.
In Year 1 we cover:
- Numbers to 10
- Addition and subtraction within 10
- Shape and patterns
- Numbers to 20
- Addition and subtraction within 20
Autumn 1 – Getting to know you! Singing.
Autumn 2 – Introduction to musical elements 1
Spring 1 – Introduction to musical elements 2
Spring 2 – Introduction to musical elements 3
Summer 1 – Introduction to musical elements 4
Summer 2 – Reflect, Rewind and Replay Summer concert/production
- Gymnastics
- Dance
- Attack/defend/shoot
- Hit/catch/run
- Send/return
- Run/jump/throw
We follow a three-year cycle (see below) covering the major world religions as well as worldviews.
The programme is designed so that each previously taught religion is reviewed and comparisons are drawn between the content. Over six years, each child will have studied each identified religion/non-religion twice, studying in greater depth and making connections between religions.
Pupils are taught key substantive knowledge for each religion and worldview and each lesson is broken down into one of 3 disciplines: Theology, Philosophy and Human/Social Science.
2024-2025: Christianity and Islam
2025-2026: Judaism and Humanism
2026-2027: Hinduism and Sikhism
Parents/carers have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of RE – please contact the principal if you wish to explore this as an option.
The Paradigm primary schools follow the Jigsaw programme.
From September 2019 we have allocated 45 minutes per week to PSHE at KS1 and KS2.
- Being Me in My World
- Celebrating Difference
- Dreams and Goals
- Healthy Me
- Relationships
- Changing Me
Autumn 1 – Plants and Seasons
Autumn 2 – Materials and Forces
Spring 1 – Animals including Humans
Spring 2 – Plants
Summer 1 – Materials
Summer 2 – Living things and their habitats
Year 2
At KS1 and KS2 we follow a two year sequence:
2024/2025 and 2026/2027
Autumn 1 – Painting
Autumn 2 – Mechanical Systems (Sliders and Levers)
Spring 1 – Collage
Spring 2 – Food Technology
Summer 1 – Portraits, including photography/digital
Summer 2 – Textiles – weaving
2025/2026
Autumn 1 – 3D: Clay
Autumn 2 – Food Technology
Spring 1 – Printing
Spring 2 – Mechanica | Systems (axles and wheels)
Summer 1 – Portraits, including photography/digital
Summer 2 – Structures
Each year through KS1-2 we cycle through the following units at increasing depth:
- Productivity
- Programming
- Computational Thinking
- Creativity
- Networks
- Communication/collaboration
Learning to Read
Children in the early years who are learning to read (decode) follow the Read Write Inc, synthetic phonics program.
This enables them to work to decode a book appropriate for their phonic knowledge, to begin to develop reading stamina and fluency. At this point, children take part in our Oral Shared Reading program, so they can work on their comprehension skills using a shared text, read by an expert teacher.
Children in Year 2 learn about the following subjects:
The living world
- Biomes
- Hot and cold climates
- Rainforests
The economic world
- Food, water and energy
- The changing economic world
- Tourism and ecotourism
- Case study: Cambridge
We cover two topics a year for History in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. In Year 2 we look at Food and Trade, then Punishment and Medicine.
Our school uses Maths Mastery to teach the subject.
In Year 2 we cover:
- Numbers within 100
- Addition and subtraction of two digit numbers
- Addition and subtraction on word problems
- Measures: length
- Graphs
- Multiplication and division 2, 5 and 10
Autumn 1 – Film Music
Autumn 2 – African Music
Spring 1 – Folk Music
Spring 2 – Bhangra
Summer 1 – Samba
Summer 2 – Reflect, Rewind and Replay
- Gymnastics
- Dance
- Attack/defend/shoot
- Hit/catch/run
- Send/return
- Run/jump/throw
We follow a three-year cycle (see below) covering the major world religions as well as worldviews.
The programme is designed so that each previously taught religion is reviewed and comparisons are drawn between the content. Over six years, each child will have studied each identified religion/non-religion twice, studying in greater depth and making connections between religions.
Pupils are taught key substantive knowledge for each religion and worldview and each lesson is broken down into one of 3 disciplines: Theology, Philosophy and Human/Social Science.
2024-2025: Christianity and Islam
2025-2026: Judaism and Humanism
2026-2027: Hinduism and Sikhism
Parents/carers have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of RE – please contact the principal if you wish to explore this as an option.
The Paradigm primary schools follow the Jigsaw programme.
From September 2019 we have allocated 45 minutes per week to PSHE at KS1 and KS2.
- Being Me in My World
- Celebrating Difference
- Dreams and Goals
- Healthy Me
- Relationships
- Changing Me
Autumn 1 – Plants and Seasons
Autumn 2 – Materials and Forces
Spring 1 – Animals including Humans
Spring 2 – Plants
Summer 1 – Materials
Summer 2 – Living things and their habitats
Year 3
At KS1 and KS2 we follow a two year sequence:
2024/2025 and 2026/2027
Autumn 1 – Textiles – batik
Autumn 2 – Painting
Spring 1 – Mechanical Systems: Pneumatics
Spring 2 – Collage
Summer 1 – Portraits, including mixed media
Summer 2 – Food Technology
2025/2026
Autumn 1 – Printing
Autumn 2 – 3D: Metal
Spring 1 – Electrical Systems
Spring 2 – Mechanica | Systems (axles and wheels)
Summer 1 – Portraits, including mixed media
Summer 2 – Structures
Each year through KS1-2 we cycle through the following units at increasing depth:
- Productivity
- Programming
- Computational Thinking
- Creativity
- Networks
- Communication/collaboration
Reading to Learn
Once children have been carefully assessed as having met the requirements of the phonics program, they should be able to decode any age appropriate text. At this point, children move onto our ‘Paradigm Literacy and Language’ program.
The program allocates 3 weeks to ‘fiction writing’ such as: stories, poetry, one week to ‘journalistic writing’ such as biographies and non chronological reports and two weeks to a ‘non fiction writing’ program in which specialist teachers across the Trust have worked together to create and provide high quality texts in The Humanities and The Sciences.
Children in Year 3 learn about the following subjects:
The living world
- Biomes
- Hot and cold climates
- Rainforests
The economic world
- Food, water and energy
- The changing economic world
- Tourism and ecotourism
- Case study: Cambridge
We cover two topics a year for History in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
In Year 3 we look at Ancient Greece, then Romans (not British).
Our school uses Maths Mastery to teach the subject.
In Year 3 we cover:
- Number sense and exploring
- Calculation strategies
- Place value | Graphs
- Addition and subtraction
- Length and perimeter
We introduce Spanish at Key Stage 2, through a system called Early Start Spanish Programme.
Autumn 1 – Hip Hop
Autumn 2 – Introduction to the Orchestra
Spring 1 – Reggae
Spring 2 – Vocal Techniques: Scat/beatboxing
Summer 1 – Ensemble Skills
Summer 2 – Reflect, Rewind and Replay
- Striking / fielding (e.g. rounders, cricket)
- Gymnastics
- Invasion Games (e.g. hockey, netball, football)
- Athletics
- Swimming
- Dance
We follow a three-year cycle (see below) covering the major world religions as well as worldviews.
The programme is designed so that each previously taught religion is reviewed and comparisons are drawn between the content. Over six years, each child will have studied each identified religion/non-religion twice, studying in greater depth and making connections between religions.
Pupils are taught key substantive knowledge for each religion and worldview and each lesson is broken down into one of 3 disciplines: Theology, Philosophy and Human/Social Science.
2024-2025: Christianity and Islam
2025-2026: Judaism and Humanism
2026-2027: Hinduism and Sikhism
The Paradigm primary schools follow the Jigsaw programme.
From September 2019 we have allocated 45 minutes per week to PSHE at KS1 and KS2.
- Being Me in My World
- Celebrating Difference
- Dreams and Goals
- Healthy Me
- Relationships
- Changing Me
Autumn 1 – Living Things, their Habitats and Classification
Autumn 2 – Earth and Space
Spring 1 – Forces and Magnets
Spring 2 – Rocks
Summer 1 – Light and Sound
Summer 2 – Properties of Materials
Year 4
At KS1 and KS2 we follow a two year sequence:
2024/2025 and 2026/2027
Autumn 1 – Textiles – batik
Autumn 2 – Painting
Spring 1 – Mechanical Systems: Pneumatics
Spring 2 – Collage
Summer 1 – Portraits, including mixed media
Summer 2 – Food Technology
2025/2026
Autumn 1 – Printing
Autumn 2 – 3D: Metal
Spring 1 – Electrical Systems
Spring 2 – Mechanica | Systems (axles and wheels)
Summer 1 – Portraits, including mixed media
Summer 2 – Structures
Each year through KS1-2 we cycle through the following units at increasing depth:
- Productivity
- Programming
- Computational Thinking
- Creativity
- Networks
- Communication/Collaboration
Reading to Learn
Once children have been carefully assessed as having met the requirements of the phonics program, they should be able to decode any age appropriate text. At this point, children move onto our ‘Paradigm Literacy and Language’ program.
The program allocates 3 weeks to ‘fiction writing’ such as: stories, poetry, one week to ‘journalistic writing’ such as biographies and non chronological reports and two weeks to a ‘non fiction writing’ program in which specialist teachers across the Trust have worked together to create and provide high quality texts in The Humanities and The Sciences.
Children in Year 4 learn about the following subjects:
The living world
- Biomes
- Hot and cold climates
- Rainforests
The economic world
- Food, water and energy
- The changing economic world
- Tourism and ecotourism
- Case study: Cambridge
We cover two topics a year for History in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. In Year 3 we look at Roman Impact on Britain, then Anglo-Saxons and Vikings.
Our school uses Maths Mastery to teach the subject.
In Year 4 we cover:
- Reasoning with large numbers
- Addition and subtraction
- Multiplication and division
- Discrete and continuous data
We introduce Spanish at Key Stage 2, through a system called Early Start Spanish Programme.
Autumn 1 – Blues
Autumn 2 – Britpop
Spring 1 – Programme Music
Spring 2 – Soul / Motown
Summer 1 – Musical Theatre
Summer 2 – Reflect, Rewind and Replay
- Striking / fielding (e.g. rounders, cricket)
- Gymnastics
- Invasion Games (e.g. hockey, netball, football)
- Athletics
- Swimming
- Dance
We follow a three-year cycle (see below) covering the major world religions as well as worldviews.
The programme is designed so that each previously taught religion is reviewed and comparisons are drawn between the content. Over six years, each child will have studied each identified religion/non-religion twice, studying in greater depth and making connections between religions.
Pupils are taught key substantive knowledge for each religion and worldview and each lesson is broken down into one of 3 disciplines: Theology, Philosophy and Human/Social Science.
2024-2025: Christianity and Islam
2025-2026: Judaism and Humanism
2026-2027: Hinduism and Sikhism
Parents/carers have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of RE – please contact the principal if you wish to explore this as an option.
The Paradigm primary schools follow the Jigsaw programme.
From September 2019 we have allocated 45 minutes per week to PSHE at KS1 and KS2.
- Being Me in My World
- Celebrating Difference
- Dreams and Goals
- Healthy Me
- Relationships
- Changing Me
Autumn 1 – Living Things, their Habitats and Classification | State of Matter
Autumn 2 – Earth and Space | Animals, including humans
Spring 1 – Forces and Magnets | Electricity
Spring 2 – Rocks | Plants
Summer 1 – Light and Sound | Living Things and their Habitats and Classification
Summer 2 – Properties of Materials | Environmental Issues: Global warming | Pollution Plastics
Year 5
At KS1 and KS2 we follow a two year sequence:
2024/2025 and 2026/2027
Autumn 1 – Textiles – batik
Autumn 2 – Painting
Spring 1 – Mechanical Systems: Pneumatics
Spring 2 – Collage
Summer 1 – Portraits, including mixed media
Summer 2 – Food Technology
2025/2026
Autumn 1 – Printing
Autumn 2 – 3D: Metal
Spring 1 – Electrical Systems
Spring 2 – Mechanica | Systems (axles and wheels)
Summer 1 – Portraits, including mixed media
Summer 2 – Structures
Each year through KS1-2 we cycle through the following units at increasing depth:
- Productivity
- Programming
- Computational Thinking
- Creativity
- Networks
- Communication/collaboration
Reading to Learn
Once children have been carefully assessed as having met the requirements of the phonics program, they should be able to decode any age appropriate text. At this point, children move onto our ‘Paradigm Literacy and Language’ program.
The program allocates 3 weeks to ‘fiction writing’ such as: stories, poetry, one week to ‘journalistic writing’ such as biographies and non chronological reports and two weeks to a ‘non fiction writing’ program in which specialist teachers across the Trust have worked together to create and provide high quality texts in The Humanities and The Sciences.
Children in Year 5 learn about the following subjects:
The living world
- Biomes
- Hot and cold climates
- Rainforests
The economic world
- Food, water and energy
- The changing economic world
- Tourism and ecotourism
- Case study: Cambridge
We cover two topics a year for History in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. In Year 5 we take an in-depth study on the Significance of the Tudors, then Compare and Contrast Islamic World and Medieval Christendom.
Our school uses Maths Mastery to teach the subject.
In Year 5 we cover:
- Reasoning with large whole integers
- Integer addition and subtraction
- Line graphs and times tables
- Multiplication and division
- Perimeter and area
We study Spanish at Key Stage 2, through a system called Early Start Spanish Programme.
Autumn 1 – Rock
Autumn 2 – Big Band / Swing
Spring 1 – Piano Music
Spring 2 – Opera
Summer 1 – Indian Raga
Summer 2 – Reflect, Rewind and Replay
- Striking / fielding (e.g. rounders, cricket)
- Gymnastics
- Invasion Games (e.g. hockey, netball, football)
- Athletics
- Swimming
- Dance
We follow a three-year cycle (see below) covering the major world religions as well as worldviews.
The programme is designed so that each previously taught religion is reviewed and comparisons are drawn between the content. Over six years, each child will have studied each identified religion/non-religion twice, studying in greater depth and making connections between religions.
Pupils are taught key substantive knowledge for each religion and worldview and each lesson is broken down into one of 3 disciplines: Theology, Philosophy and Human/Social Science.
2024-2025: Christianity and Islam
2025-2026: Judaism and Humanism
2026-2027: Hinduism and Sikhism
Parents/carers have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of RE – please contact the principal if you wish to explore this as an option.
The Paradigm primary schools follow the Jigsaw programme.
From September 2019 we have allocated 45 minutes per week to PSHE at KS1 and KS2.
- Being Me in My World
- Celebrating Difference
- Dreams and Goals
- Healthy Me
- Relationships
- Changing Me
Autumn 1 – Earth and Space
Autumn 2 – Living Things and their Habitats and Classification
Spring 1 – Rocks / Evolution, Inheritance and Fossils
Spring 2 – Forces and Magnets
Summer 1 – Properties of Materials
Summer 2 – Light and Sound
Year 6
At KS1 and KS2 we follow a two year sequence:
2024/2025 and 2026/2027
Autumn 1 – Textiles – batik
Autumn 2 – Painting
Spring 1 – Mechanical Systems: Pneumatics
Spring 2 – Collage
Summer 1 – Portraits, including mixed media
Summer 2 – Food Technology
2025/2026
Autumn 1 – Printing
Autumn 2 – 3D: Metal
Spring 1 – Electrical Systems
Spring 2 – Mechanica | Systems (axles and wheels)
Summer 1 – Portraits, including mixed media
Summer 2 – Structures
Each year through KS1-2 we cycle through the following units at increasing depth:
- Productivity
- Programming
- Computational Thinking
- Creativity
- Networks
- Communication/collaboration
Reading to Learn
Once children have been carefully assessed as having met the requirements of the phonics program, they should be able to decode any age appropriate text. At this point, children move onto our ‘Paradigm Literacy and Language’ program.
The program allocates 3 weeks to ‘fiction writing’ such as: stories, poetry, one week to ‘journalistic writing’ such as biographies and non chronological reports and two weeks to a ‘non fiction writing’ program in which specialist teachers across the Trust have worked together to create and provide high quality texts in The Humanities and The Sciences.
Children in Year 6 learn about the following subjects:
The living world
- Biomes
- Hot and cold climates
- Rainforests
The economic world
- Food, water and energy
- The changing economic world
- Tourism and ecotourism
- Case study: Cambridge
We cover two topics a year for History in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. In Year 6 we take an in-depth study on The Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Britain and the rest of the world, then the same for World War One: What was the impact of WW1 on individuals and families? After a general introduction, life in the trenches, a focus on families, the home front and poetry.
Our school uses Maths Mastery to teach the subject. In Year 6 we cover:
- Integers and decimals
- Multiplication and division
- Calculation problems
- Fractions
- Missing angles and length
We study Spanish at Key Stage 2, through a system called Early Start Spanish Programme.
Autumn 1 – Pop
Autumn 2 – Jazz
Spring 1 – Minimalism
Spring 2 – Disco/Funk
Summer 1 – Songwriting
Summer 2 – Locally Agreed Topic (eg Year 6 Musical)
- Striking / fielding (e.g. rounders, cricket)
- Gymnastics
- Invasion Games (e.g. hockey, netball, football)
- Athletics
- Swimming
- Dance
We follow a three-year cycle (see below) covering the major world religions as well as worldviews.
The programme is designed so that each previously taught religion is reviewed and comparisons are drawn between the content. Over six years, each child will have studied each identified religion/non-religion twice, studying in greater depth and making connections between religions.
Pupils are taught key substantive knowledge for each religion and worldview and each lesson is broken down into one of 3 disciplines: Theology, Philosophy and Human/Social Science.
2024-2025: Christianity and Islam
2025-2026: Judaism and Humanism
2026-2027: Hinduism and Sikhism
Parents/carers have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of RE – please contact the principal if you wish to explore this as an option.
The Paradigm primary schools follow the Jigsaw programme.
From September 2019 we have allocated 45 minutes per week to PSHE at KS1 and KS2.
- Being Me in My World
- Celebrating Difference
- Dreams and Goals
- Healthy Me
- Relationships
- Changing Me
Autumn 1 – State of Matter | Living Things and their Habitats and Classification
Autumn 2 – Animals including Humans | Earth and Space
Spring 1 – Electricity Forces and Magnets
Spring 2 – Plants Evolution, Inheritance and Fossils
Summer 1 – Light and Sound
Summer 2 – Environmental Issues: Global Warming | Pollution | Properties of Materials