Our Curriculum at Lethbridge
Firm Foundations, Bright Futures
| Art | Computing | DT | English |
| French | Geography | History |
| Maths | Music | PE |
| PSHE | RE | Science |
What our curriculum is
Our curriculum is everything children experience at Lethbridge Primary School: from guided reading to after-school cooking club, from welly walks to our nurture group, and from guitar lessons to our school values. It is built around the knowledge, skills and qualities we want every Lethbridge child to have. Our motto sums up its purpose: Firm Foundations, Bright Futures. We give every child firm foundations in learning and in life, so that they leave us ready for a bright future at secondary school and beyond.
We think of our curriculum as three strands woven together:
- a knowledge-rich academic curriculum that is ambitious for every pupil
- a broad and enriching range of cultural, creative and sporting experiences
- a strong programme of personal development, rooted in our school values.
Firm foundations for every pupil
The first half of our motto, Firm Foundations, is where everything begins. Our whole curriculum rests on strong foundations in communication and language, reading, writing and mathematics. Securing these is our first priority, so that every pupil can access the full curriculum and succeed in later learning.
- The best possible start. In Reception, adults engage children in high-quality talk that builds their knowledge and vocabulary. Daily story time, songs and rhymes, including songs for phonics and maths, build children's love of language.
- Reading. Pupils learn to read through systematic synthetic phonics from the moment they start school. Reading is taught rigorously and in sequence, so pupils become fluent, confident readers who read widely and often. In 2025, 87% of Year 1 pupils met the expected standard in the phonics screening check, against 80% nationally.
- Writing. Pupils are taught accurate spelling, fluent and legible handwriting, and the composition skills they need to write well across the curriculum.
- Mathematics. Pupils practise number facts until they are fluent and use precise mathematical language. In 2025, our Year 4 pupils scored above the national average in the multiplication tables check.
- Oracy. Pupils are explicitly taught to speak clearly, explain their thinking, listen carefully and build on others' ideas.
- Keeping up, not catching up. Teachers check regularly for gaps, and any pupil at risk of falling behind receives quick, targeted teaching and practice. This includes older pupils who have not yet secured these foundations and pupils who are learning English as an additional language.
The national curriculum is the foundation of our academic curriculum, and we are at least as ambitious in breadth and depth. Each subject is carefully sequenced so that knowledge and skills build lesson by lesson and year by year towards clear end points. We know that subjects are different: pupils learn to think like historians, geographers, scientists, artists, musicians and engineers, not just to learn facts about them.
- Built on strong foundations. Every subject builds on pupils' secure language, reading, writing and mathematics, and teachers develop vocabulary and reading in every lesson so that pupils can access increasingly demanding content.
- Topics that connect learning. In the foundation subjects, we use a topic-based approach on a two-year cycle. Each topic is planned so that pupils draw on earlier learning, make connections and build knowledge that deepens their understanding. Recurring themes, such as homes, children and rule of law in history, help pupils see how ideas link across time.
- Rooted in our place. Learning starts on our doorstep and widens to the world. Pupils study Swindon's Victorian railway heritage, our neighbouring Town Gardens, the Neolithic monuments at Avebury and our own school log book from the Second World War, before applying the same questions to places and periods far away.
- Vocabulary and oracy. Subject-specific vocabulary is taught explicitly in every subject, and pupils are taught to discuss, explain and debate their ideas, including through our lunchtime debating club.
- Remembering more. Teachers use retrieval practice, classroom timelines and regular checks of understanding, so that pupils know more, remember more and can do more. Where a pupil has a gap, it is spotted and tackled quickly.
- Evidence-informed schemes. We use high-quality, carefully chosen schemes, including Kapow Primary for the foundation subjects, Teach Computing for computing and Project EVOLVE for online safety, and adapt them to our school and our pupils./li>
Learning brought to life
Fieldwork, educational visits, visitors and special events bring the curriculum to life and create lifelong memories. They are planned into units so that they deepen learning, not just add to it. Pupils carry out fieldwork in Town Gardens, study rivers at Coleshill, visit the coast at Sandbanks and Clevedon, and explore Avebury. Our STEM Week, Internet Safety Week, creative computing workshops at Intel and visits from the police all connect learning in the classroom with the wider world. A rich cultural, creative and sporting curriculum We believe every child deserves to experience the very best of the arts, culture and sport, whatever their background. Some of these opportunities are built into the school day and others are part of our extended-hours curriculum, which is open to all pupils.
- Dance: ballet lessons for every Year 3 pupil, run by the Royal Ballet, and an after-school dance club.
- Music: as a GSW Music Hub Lead School for Music, we give every pupil the chance to sing, play, create and perform. Every pupil learns tuned and untuned percussion, and every Year 5 pupil learns the guitar.
Lethbridge Curriculum Overview | Page 3
Pupils perform in productions, carol services and Swindon-wide festivals at The Platform and the Wyvern Theatre.
- Art and design: pupils study a diverse range of artists from different cultures and times, and share their work with the community through the Old Town Festival and Window Wanderland.
- Sport and clubs: a wide range of sporting opportunities, and clubs such as cooking, craft, dance and debating.
Personal development and our values
The final strand of our woven curriculum is personal development. Our school values, our personal, social, health and relationships education, and our pastoral provision work together to create a culture where children grow into confident, resilient, responsible people who work well with others.
- Values in action: our values run through lessons, assemblies and school life, and pupils learn about fundamental British values, protected characteristics and the cultural diversity of modern Britain.
- Pastoral support: all children receive a Personal Social, Health and Citizenship curriculum designed as a whole-school spiral, meaning all year groups work on the same theme at their own developmental level. It emphasizes emotional literacy, resilience, mindfulness, social skills, and spiritual development, aiming to nurture well-rounded, compassionate, and confident children. Our nurture group and Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) sessions and work with other outside agencies, give pupils who need it tailored support, so that every child is ready to learn and able to thrive.
- Staying safe: online safety is taught every term, and pupils learn how to keep themselves safe and healthy in the real and online worlds.
- Leadership and responsibility: pupils lead as members of our school council and eco council, and as play leaders, librarians, school newspaper journalists and sports and reading ambassadors.
- Contributing to our community: pupils take an active part in fundraising and community events, learning that they can make a difference.
Our curriculum is an entitlement for every pupil. We identify pupils' needs quickly and accurately and adapt how we teach, not what we teach, so that barriers to learning are removed. Our inclusive practice has been recognised beyond the school: we were appointed a Lead School for Music for our inclusive music-making, and our computing curriculum has been awarded the NCCE Computing Quality Mark. Disadvantaged pupils at Lethbridge attain well above disadvantaged pupils nationally.
Bright futures: the impact of our curriculum
Lethbridge children leave us with firm foundations in communication, reading, writing and mathematics, a great deal of knowledge and skills across the whole curriculum, and the confidence to use them. They are curious about their community and the wider world, understand their place within it and are ready to take their next steps as citizens able to reach their full potential. They leave with Firm Foundations and ready for Bright Futures.
Leaders keep the curriculum under constant review, using evidence of how well pupils have learned what was intended to decide how it should adapt and improve. We share what we do well with other schools, including through our role as a Lead School for Music.
Lisa Mayes, Headteacher
| Art | Computing | DT | English |
| French | Geography | History |
| Maths | Music | PE |
| PSHE | RE | Science |
