Subject Leader: Charlotte Ball
At Sydenham, our aim is to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world, and to equip children with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources, and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding oft he Earth's key physical and human processes. We intend to to develop children's increasingly complex knowledge of locations, in order to help them to build their own identity and sense of place, and to make connections between location, geographical processes and personal experiences.
During their time at Sydenham, children learn about their local community, the United Kingdom and the rest of the world, drawing upon the rich and diverse backgrounds and experiences of our families. From Reception to Year 6, the children gain an understanding of our local area through walks around Leamington Spa, as well as regular visits and residential trips to places further afield, such as Warwick, Stratford-upon-Avon, the Cotswolds, Birmingham and London. Children use maps, globes, atlases and ICT to support thei substantive knowledge, and fieldwork, inlcuding data collection, analysis and presentation as part of their leaning about the work of geographers.
Allotment
At Sydenham, we have developed a school allotment to support children's learning about growing their own food, and thinking about it locally. This is key to leading more sustainable lives and is entwined with how we can make a better, more environmentally friendly and ethical world. Our school allotment is designed to inspire our children to think about growing their own food in the future.
Our Eco Reps regularly work with District and County Councillor, Will Roberts. Passionate about sustainability, social justie and human rights, Will has been a campaigner in these areas for well over a decade, so we feel very fortunate to benefit from Will's experience and have him as one of our school governors. Will has been helping the children to transform theschool grounds into fruit and vegatable beds, where the children can learn to grow food, eat seasonally, compost waste, reduce their carbon footprints and create wildlife habitats. Our Eco Reps have organised fund-raising activities to purchase additional resources to develop our allotment area.
Eco Schools Green Flag Award
Our teachers and children care deeply about environmental issues, and have a strong desire to protect our planet. At Sydenham, we use the Eco Schools seven-step framework to empower children to understand and make a difference to environmental issues, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, plastic pollution and other issues, in our school, local community, and beyond. Having worked through the seven Eco-Schools steps, we were awarded with the Eco Schools Green Flag in acknowledgement and celebration of the ecelogical achievements of our young people. The Eco Schools Green Flag has provided our children with the confidence and motivation needed to continue actively engaging with environmental issues throughout their lifetimes, promoting forward-thinking and youth-led environmetal education and action.
Warwickshire Safe and Active Schools
At Sydenham Primary School, we believe that good, safe and cative travel habits begin as soon as children start school. Our aim is to teach children new skills and to influence their travel behaviours through effective and practical learning. We are partners with Warwickshire's Road Safety Education Team, and participate in their Safe and Active Travel Awards, which combines Road Safety Education and Travel Plans. Children in every year group, from EYFS to Year 6, take part in tailored annual programme of road safety sessions, linking with National Road Safety campaigns. We are working with our school stakeholders and dedicated Safe and Active Travel officer to decrease the number of car journeys being made at school drop off and pick up; encourage walking, cycling, scooting and other sustainable travel options; and educating our school community about the environmental and health benefits of being active on our journeys.
In Reception, children are introduced to Warwick Bear, who teaches children key road safety messages and to the Warwickshire Road Safety Code: THINK about roads; STOP before the kerb and wait; LOOK and LISTEN for traffic; CROSS SAFELY with an adult, always holding hands.
In Year 1, children are invited to put on their thinking hats; find their magnifying glasses; and turn on their listening ears in preparation for becoming Road Safety Spies. They complete several top-secret missions to help them learn and remember how to stay safe when travelling actively with their adults. The children are introduced to key vocabularly; the Road Safety Code; and safer places to cross the road, including a zebra, puffin and toucan crossing. They are taught to recognise unsafe places to cross, such as between parked cars and on bends.
In Year 2, children engage in an interactive, circus-themed session, which reinforces prior learning and teaches new, age-appropriate, key road safety messages to help children travel safely and actively when walking, cycling and scooting. With an increasing number of children choosing to scoot to school, they are taught the scooter safety check, balance control and braking, and they are introduced to scooter etiquette.
In Year 3, children put on teir thinking hats and hi-visibility cloaks, and turn on their supersonic hearing and laser vision to become Road Safety Superhoes. In Year 4, children are reminded how to travel safely and actively during darker mornings and evenings.
In Year 5, children enhance their knowledge and understanding of key skills, focusing on responsibility and the importance of making the safest choices as a road user. Activities focus on how potential hazards and distractions (such as mobile phones and listeing to music) affect attention and impact on their ability to make safe choices when travelling actively and sustainably. Pupils are taught 'coping strategies' to personally limit distractions, minimising risks to themselves and others.
In Year 6, lessons focus on Impulse Control and support pupils with identifying impulsive decision making; identifying triggers and coping strategies to help them to stop and think before reacting.
