Overviews

At Witham Oaks Academy, our curriculum is designed to provide a rich, broad and ambitious education that inspires curiosity, deep engagement and a lifelong love of learning. Rooted in the National Curriculum and the disciplines of each subject, learning is carefully sequenced and progressive, enabling pupils to build secure knowledge, apply skills confidently and make meaningful connections over time.

Strong foundations in the core subjects are complemented by a creative foundation curriculum that values language, reasoning and reflection, helping pupils articulate their learning, make connections and identify next steps.

Underpinned by high expectations, inclusive practice and a strong focus on wellbeing, outdoor learning and real-world experiences, our curriculum provides memorable opportunities that widen cultural capital and broaden life experiences. Through this rich and adaptive approach, all pupils are supported to develop the confidence, resilience and compassion they need to achieve their full potential and thrive beyond the classroom.

READING PERMEATES OUR WHOLE CURRICULUM

Reading is a fundamental part of life at Witham Oaks Academy. Children are given the opportunity to read in many areas of their school life. The curriculum is infused with ambitious and content-rich texts, which enable pupils to access high-quality literature, information and poetry. Texts are carefully chosen to engage and ignite children’s love of reading. These drive our curriculum in reading and writing. We supplement them with other texts that are carefully chosen to expose children to a wide range of quality fiction, poetry and non-fiction.

Robust approaches to English and mathematics

We teach English as discrete lessons and across the wider curriculum. This includes opportunities for children to read widely and often across the curriculum through:

daily shared reading
daily opportunities for independent reading
daily teaching of phonics and spelling
class stories/novels read by adults
daily shared and independent writing
explicit teaching of spelling and handwriting.

Our approach to mathematics involves a daily Mathematics session and small bitesize sessions to practise times tables and key maths facts. Children develop fluency and depth through a mastery approach, and as a result they grow as confident mathematicians.