The values, purposes and principles of the 3-18 curriculum in Scotland are set out in A Curriculum for Excellence. The curriculum aims to support children and young people to maximise their potential across four capacities to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors.

Curriculum for Excellence develops skills for learning, life and work, bringing real life into the classroom, making learning relevant helping young people apply lessons to their life beyond the classroom. It links knowledge in one subject area to another, helping children to make connections in their learning. It develops skills which can enable children to think for themselves, make sound judgements, challenge, enquire and find solutions.

Curriculum for Excellence balances the importance of knowledge and skills. Every child is entitled to a broad and deep general education, whatever their level and ability. All teachers are responsible for the development of literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing.

Expressive Arts – Art & Design, Drama, Dance and Music

Health and Wellbeing

Literacy and English

Numeracy and Mathematics

Religious and Moral Education (RME)

Sciences

Social Studies

Technologies

The children follow a structured and progressive Literacy programme. In the Early Years, Reading, Spelling and Writing are fully integrated through a Synthetic Phonics teaching approach. Phonics skills are developed through a combination of methods including explicit teaching as a whole class and in groups, and also other Play opportunities.

As the children transition into P4-7 they are introduced to Reciprocal Teaching for Reading which allows children to work in peer-led groups to discuss a variety of texts in depth. We aim to expose children to a broad variety of texts throughout their reading experience. At all stages, the children are expected to read for information and for enjoyment using the wide range of fiction and non-fiction available in school. We have a selection of books in every class and fully catalogued, non-fiction and fiction library areas. We aim to promote the enjoyment of reading at all times and our staff are committed to promoting this love of reading with all children.

In P4-7 the children continue to learn new Spelling rules through a structured programme based on an Active Literacy approach. This is a multi-faceted approach which teaches spelling rules, common words, affixes and semantics. Staff teach spelling strategies explicitly and refer to these regularly in order to ensure spelling skills are transferred to all areas of the curriculum.

Throughout the school there is a strong emphasis on ensuring the cursive handwriting programme is followed from P3-P7 to ensure the children are presenting their work to the best of their ability. Children are taught the correct letter formations from P1 and P2. The Children are encouraged to write neatly and clearly.

In the early stages, children’s enthusiasm for writing is encouraged and varied opportunities are provided to express ideas and begin story writing. At all stages, children will experience of functional, personal and imaginative writing. Children are introduced to phonics through our school’s phonic programme.

At all stages children are encouraged to improve their writing by focussing on vocabulary, connectives, openers and punctuation (VCOP). The school use a variety of methods to teach writing including ‘Talk for writing’. The classes follow are writing skills progression, which is differentiated depending on stage and ability.

Children are always encouraged to present their work neatly and a whole school presentation policy is used. The children creatively use ICT in their work and ICT is also used to support variety of different learning needs. All parents are required to give their permission to allow their child to access East Dunbartonshire Council’s protected site.

French is taught to all pupils from primary 1 to 7 and Spanish from primary 4 to 7. We are very fortunate to have several fully trained Primary Modern Languages teachers as permanent members of Craigdhu Primary School staff. This session all children have also experienced learning about the Mandarin language and culture.

Numeracy 

The mathematics experiences and outcomes are structured as follows: 

Our programmes of work are based on a conceptual approach to the learning and teaching of mathematics and use well-known contexts to help children’s understanding. A wide range of practical materials are available for all aspects of mathematics and these are used regularly during active maths sessions.

The numeracy approach of Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract (CPA) is used to build a deep understanding of mathematical concepts. It begins with the concrete stage, where children use physical objects (numicon, number lines, counters etc) to model problems. This hands-on experience helps them grasp the basics. Next the pictorial stage, where they represent these objects through drawings or diagrams (bar models, part whole model etc) bridging the gap between physical and abstract. Finally, the abstract stage involves using numbers and symbols to solve problems, encouraging children to apply their understanding without the need for physical or visual aids. This gradual transition ensures a solid foundation in numeracy and ensures children have a range of strategies to solve problems. 

Children take part in mental mathematics sessions to learn strategies and skills to increase mental mathematical abilities. We use a range of supplementary practical and active materials to help children fully understand mathematical concepts. These include maths games, problem solving activities, calculator activities and group tasks. ICT is also used to develop mathematical skills especially the use of Sumdog. In this way we can cater for the needs of all children within the school. Additional resources are available for mathematics at each stage. Numeracy skills are also developed throughout the curriculum and using the local environment.

This is a method of teaching children ensures there is a strong depth and breadth within the curriculum. It ensures appropriate challenge through conceptual statements. There is clear progression across all curriculum areas and stages within the school. Enquiry is personalised and gives the children the opportunity to ask questions based on what they want to look at within that subject. It is aligned with the Scottish Curriculum. This method of teaching is very relevant as it is linked to the world around us, as well as teaching skills to develop lifelong learners. Throughout the year there is a balance of all subject areas to ensure all children have a deep learning experience of the curriculum. The subjects and areas covered within Enquiry are listed below. 

This covers the following organisers:

• planet Earth

• forces, Electricity and Waves

• biological Systems

• materials

• topical Science

This covers the following:

• people, past events and societies

• people, place and environment

• people in society, economy and business

This covers the following:

• digital literacy

• food and textiles

• technological development in society and business

• craft, design, engineering and graphics

• computing science

This covers the following areas:

• beliefs

• values and issues

• practices and tradition

This covers the following organisers:

• Art and design

• Dance

• Drama

• Music

Craigdhu Primary has a Health and Wellbeing programme aligned with Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes. The areas covered within this programme deal with mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing. We aim for pupils to receive two hours of physical education, activity and sport each week.

Other important aspects of this programme are food and healthy eating, drug and alcohol awareness as well as building relationships and sexual health and parenthood. Sensitive aspects of the sexual health programme are taught in term four after a letter is issued to inform parents of the lesson content.

Our Health and Wellbeing policy is available on the school website.

Also:

Information about how the curriculum is structured and curriculum planning –

Information about the outcomes a learner can expect to experience and achieve across literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing, as well as the eight curricular areas –

Advice, practice and resources to support the experiences and outcomes on literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing –http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningteachingandassessment/learningacrossthecurriculum/responsibilityofall/index.asp