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Curriculum & Resources

Curriculum & Resources

At Melbourne Primary School, we provide a progressive, skills- and knowledge-based curriculum. It places children’s learning in real-life contexts, with a spirit of enquiry and purpose. We are proud of our school’s setting beside the canal, our outdoor environment and our close-knit local community, and we use them to make learning challenging, memorable and meaningful. Our curriculum is carefully designed so that pupils revisit skills, apply them in different contexts and embed their learning.

We also use a range of learning programmes. You can find links to these in the Useful Links & Documents section below.

Learning beyond the classroom
We have our own outdoor curriculum, which runs from Reception to Year 6. It gives every child regular, planned learning outside. Our outdoor environment, including our forest school area, gives children space to build, create, investigate and take on challenges. Our position beside the canal lets children study wildlife, the seasons, local history and the way the landscape changes over time. Learning outdoors builds children’s confidence, resilience, teamwork and love of the natural world, and it brings learning from across the curriculum to life.

Our community
We are proud to be at the heart of a strong and supportive community. Families, local people and organisations play an important part in school life. They share their skills and stories, join in with events and help children understand the place where they live. Through our curriculum, children learn about their local area, its past and its people, and they develop a sense of pride in and responsibility for their community.

Our three core values, Grow, Explore and Achieve, are the golden thread running through our curriculum and our outdoor learning.

Grow
We want every child to grow as a learner and as a person. Our curriculum builds knowledge and skills step by step, so that pupils revisit and deepen their learning as they move through the school. Pupils learn to care for their own work, minds and bodies, for each other and for the natural world around them, while celebrating diversity. They are encouraged to believe in themselves, to have an “I can” attitude and to keep going when learning is challenging. We help them develop thinking strategies they can use across the curriculum, so they can take the initiative, solve problems and reflect on their learning.

Explore
We want children to be curious, imaginative and inquisitive learners. Our units of learning are planned with a clear purpose and give children the chance to investigate, ask questions and discover things for themselves, both in the classroom and outdoors. They explore our school grounds, the canal and the wider local area. Teachers nurture this spirit of enquiry and encourage children to take risks, try new ideas and respect the opinions of others. Children work together, share their thinking and develop their own views.

Achieve
We have high ambitions for every child. Teachers know their pupils well and plan lessons that build on what children already know, so that each child can reach the next stage of their learning. In a safe and stimulating environment with plenty of challenge, both inside and outside, children are inspired to reach their full potential and to take responsibility for their own learning. We celebrate and share achievement, and we take pride in all we do.

Beyond the taught curriculum
We value the experiences we offer beyond the national curriculum just as much as our lessons. Trips, visitors, outdoor adventures and community events add to the curriculum, immerse pupils in their learning and bring it to life.

Learning Resources

Reading At Melbourne

Reading at Melbourne Primary School

At Melbourne Primary School, we want every child to become a fluent, confident reader who reads widely, thinks deeply about what they read and reads for pleasure. Reading opens the door to the whole curriculum. Our teaching moves from secure early phonics, to fluent reading, to thoughtful discussion of rich and challenging texts. Children leave us as enthusiastic readers ready for the next stage of their education.

Learning to read: Little Wandle
Children learn to read through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, a systematic phonics programme, which we follow with full fidelity. In Reception and Year 1, daily phonics lessons teach children the sounds and letters they need to decode words accurately. In small-group reading practice sessions, they read books matched closely to the sounds they know. In Year 2, children continue with Little Wandle. They develop reading fluency and comprehension, and they move from phonics into spelling. Any child who needs extra help is spotted quickly and gets targeted catch-up, so that no one is left behind.

Building fluency
Once children can decode, we focus on fluency: reading accurately, at a good pace and with expression. When reading becomes automatic, children can concentrate on what a text means. Children hear fluent reading modelled by adults every day. They also practise reading aloud, re-read familiar texts and read a large amount across the curriculum.

Reading to learn: whole-class reading
From Year 3, children have whole-class reading lessons. We choose texts for their quality and richness, including classic and modern fiction, poetry and non-fiction. Teachers read aloud, model their thinking and teach vocabulary explicitly. Children then explore meaning, ideas and language together through discussion. Every child reads the same ambitious texts as their classmates, and lessons build the vocabulary and background knowledge that strong comprehension depends on.

Let’s Think in English
Let’s Think in English lessons develop children’s ability to reason about what they read. Children work in small groups and as a class to explore stories, poems and images. They share ideas, listen carefully to others, justify their opinions with evidence and change their thinking when they hear a good argument. These lessons build deep comprehension and the confidence to talk about texts.

Reading as writers
Reading and writing are closely linked in our school. In writing lessons, children study high-quality texts, including Opening Doors extracts, to explore authorial intent. They look at why an author chose a particular word, sentence or structure and what effect it has on the reader. They then use these techniques in their own writing.

Applying reading independently
Each week, children have planned opportunities to use what they have learnt on their own. They read texts independently, answer questions about them and read across other subjects, so they build stamina and confidence as independent readers.

Assessing reading
We check children’s reading regularly so that teaching responds to what each child needs. In Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, children’s phonics and reading are assessed through the Little Wandle programme. This lets us spot quickly anyone who needs extra support and make sure every child reads books matched to their phonics knowledge. Children in Year 1 also take the national Phonics Screening Check. Across the school, we use NFER reading assessments to measure and track progress in reading. These results, together with what teachers see in lessons, help us plan next steps, target support and make sure every child makes strong progress.

Reading for every child
All children, including those with SEND, read the same high-quality texts as their classmates. Support is adapted to each child’s needs, for example pre-teaching vocabulary, extra phonics or fluency practice, or adult support during lessons.

A love of reading
We want children to love books and to choose to read. Every classroom has its own book corner, and our school library gives children a wide choice of books to borrow. Accelerated Reader helps guide pupils towards books that suit their reading level, while still letting them choose what interests them. Each class shares a class novel, which teachers read aloud and discuss with the children, so every child gets to know a range of high-quality stories. Our Secret Readers scheme invites parents into school to read their favourite stories to a class. We also welcome authors into school to talk about their books and inspire children’s own reading and writing. Reading is celebrated through our Reader of the Week award, and children are encouraged to read widely at home and at school.

 

Writing at Melbourne

Writing at Melbourne Primary School

At Melbourne Primary School, we want every child to become a confident, motivated writer who sees themselves as an author with something worth saying. Writing is taught as a connected journey from Reception to Year 6. Children build their ideas, vocabulary and technical skills step by step so that they can write for pleasure, for a purpose and for an audience. Our approach follows the National Curriculum, the EYFS Statutory Framework and the DfE’s Writing Framework (2025).

Early Years
Writing starts with talk, imagination and play. Through Drawing Club, Poetry Basket and story mapping, children tell and retell stories before they write them down. Little Wandle phonics, daily Busy Fingers activities and short handwriting sessions give them the building blocks to form letters, spell words and write their first sentences.

Key Stage 1
In Years 1 and 2, children learn to write accurate sentences and gain confidence as independent writers. Oral rehearsal and sentence dictation help with this. In Year 2, spelling is taught through Little Wandle, building directly on children’s phonics. Talk for Writing helps children learn stories and text types by heart, and rich texts from Opening Doors introduce them to ambitious language.

Key Stage 2
In Key Stage 2, children develop their own voice and learn to write with control and craft. They read as writers and study the techniques authors use. They also learn to plan, draft, revise and edit their work. Grammar is taught in context. Spelling is taught three times a week through Sounds-Write, which builds on the phonics children learnt in Little Wandle. Joined handwriting is taught from Year 3.

How a writing unit works
From Year 1 to Year 6, units follow three stages:

  • Imitate: children learn a high-quality model text.
  • Innovate: children write their own version together, with the teacher modelling each step.
  • Apply: children write an independent piece, often linked to another subject.

Assessing writing
Teachers assess writing through the independent pieces children produce at the end of each unit, as well as their writing across the curriculum. Handwriting is tracked from Reception to Year 1 so that any gaps are picked up early. Judgements are checked each term through moderation within school and with other schools, so that assessment is accurate and consistent.

Writing for every child
All children, including those with SEND, get the same high-quality texts and teaching. Support is adapted to each child’s needs and can include writing frames, extra modelling, targeted interventions or assistive technology.

A love of writing
We celebrate writing throughout the school. Work is displayed and published, Writer of the Week is awarded in assembly, we run yearly writing competitions, and children get regular chances to perform and share pieces they are proud of.

Writing Policy

Useful Links & Documents