Our Classes

Welcome to Saplings class! Our preschool is a world of wonder where young minds bloom through play, exploration, and joyful discovery. Our preschool classroom is a warm, nurturing space where curiosity is celebrated, friendships blossom, and every child is encouraged to shine. In Saplings class we implement a key worker system and are proud to have an experienced and highly qualified team of early years educators who are led by our class teacher, Mrs Howarth.

We follow a play-based, child-centred curriculum inspired by the Birth to 5 Matters guidance. This guidance helps us create inclusive, developmentally appropriate learning experiences that reflect each child’s unique journey. Throughout the academic year, we focus on half-termly topics which are developed to pique children’s interests and create a sense of awe and wonder. We carefully plan activities and resources which will enhance our indoor and outdoor environment and support children’s learning and development through play. Children are encouraged to explore nature in our beautiful garden and have access to the outdoor space for extended periods of the day. We also engage children in fun and active adult led sessions which focus on stories, early phonics and mathematics. Our curriculum supports children to create a web of knowledge and make links between topics that will support their future education.

Whether we’re building castles, singing silly songs, or discovering how rainbows form, each day is filled with laughter, learning, and love. We believe that big dreams begin with little steps—and we’re here to walk alongside every child on their journey.

Hello and welcome to Reception at Clifton All Saints Academy. We are Ash
Class and we love to learn through our environment and experiences. We follow the
Early Years Foundation Stage and work towards reaching the Early Learning Goals
at the end of the Reception Year. Ash is taught by Miss Seamarks on a Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Friday and by Mrs Hook on a Thursday.

In Reception we work using continuous provision. This allows adults to interact with the children
while they carousel through the range of activities that we provide, which all link to the learning
goals of the week. During this time, there will also be a set adult-guided task that the children will
complete in small groups. This approach supports the children to learn independently, build
confidence and practice a range of core skills.

Our learning takes place through both indoor and outdoor activities. Our outdoor area
includes a mud kitchen, water tray and race track, where we enjoy a range of construction and
gross motor activities. Our learning is captured through observations, photographs,
videos and recorded work.

Our reading and phonics scheme is Little Wandle Letters and Sounds, which is delivered through
group reading that takes place in school 3 times a week, where books are sent home with your child
on a Friday, to be read over the weekend. The three reads at school focus on decoding, reading with
prosody, and comprehension. The phonics is delivered through a main lesson each morning, where
we practice reading, writing and sounding out different words, with a recap session each afternoon.

Our PE day is on a Thursday and weekly homework includes reading, Numbots and phonics practice
over the weekend. We also visit the library every Monday, to explore and borrow from the range of
texts available.

Hello, Birch Class are our Year 1 group. They are taught by Mrs O’Grady on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (all day) and Thursday mornings and Miss Bircumshaw on Thursday afternoons and Fridays, Mrs Miller, Mrs Weller and Mrs Dunbar also work to support the class.

Our PE days are Thursdays and Friday, and weekly homework includes reading, Year 1 Common Exception Word practice and phonics practice over the weekend. In October, we will also begin our weekly spellings challenge.

In Year 1 we work using continuous provision, which allows a smooth transition from Reception to Year 1. Continuous provision allows the children to carousel through the range of activities that we provide, which all link to the learning goals of the week. This approach supports the children to learn independently, whilst becoming more confident in doing so. The learning here takes place through both indoor and outdoor activities. This includes those that are set up in our lovely outdoor courtyard, which allows the children to access a reading corner, sand pit and sensory herb garden.

Our reading and phonics scheme is Little Wandle Letters and Sounds and this is delivered through group reading that takes place in school 3 times a week, where books are sent home with your child on a Friday to be read over the weekend. The 3 reads at school focus on segmenting and blending, reading with prosody and comprehension. The phonics is delivered through a main lesson each morning where we practice reading, writing and sounding different words, with a recap session each afternoon.

We also have our Statutory Phonics Screening Check that takes place each June. Phonics is key to reading and writing in Year 1, so this check aims to assess your child’s ability to segment and blend a selection of real and alien words. We do lots of practice of this in class and will send home information to support your practice of this at home, throughout the year.

Welcome to Cedar class, the home of our Year 2 class at Clifton All Saints Academy. The Bible describes the cedar tree as both strong and durable which are qualities we hope that we regularly display in our classroom. We also hold our school values of Love, Respect, Courage, Koinonia at the heart of everything we do.

Cedar class are taught by Miss Wittering on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Mrs Garlick on a Thursday and Friday. Miss Killen also supports learners in the class. 

During Year 2, we cover lots of exciting topics. These include Africa and the Great Fire of London. 

PE lessons are on a Monday and a Thursday. 

Hello and welcome to Year 3, Juniper Class!

Or teachers are: Mrs Garlick (Monday) Miss Timms (Tuesday – Fridays) and our Teaching Assistants are Mrs Fox and Mrs Herbert.  

Homework is set on a Friday and homework books need to come back on the following Friday. We learn our spellings in class for 5 minutes per day, and test on a Friday. Additional learning of spellings at home will support your child’s learning.  We also do weekly times table and division practice tests working on our 2, 5, 10, 3, 4 and 8s. We focus on one of these each week. We encourage children to practise at home too using various resources such as Hit the Button and Times Table Rock Stars. The children are expected to do 10 minutes of TTRS per week at home. 

https://ttrockstars.com/

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

We will be learning about lots of exciting things such as the Stone Age (including a visit from a real cave woman!) all the way through to the Iron Age, fossils and different types of rocks. In Year 3, we start to learn French too!

Our PE days are a Monday and Wednesday.

Merci!

Welcome to Maple Class, our vibrant Year 4 group! Our class teachers are Mrs Sykes and Mrs Watson who are supported by our teaching assistants Miss Austin and Mrs Shaw. Just as the maple tree stands tall and strong, symbolising beauty and growth in nature, so too does our class aim to grow in both knowledge and faith. In the Bible, the maple tree represents endurance, strength and the sweetness of life—qualities we strive to embody on our journey of learning.

Homework will be set each Thursday and due the following Thursday. Your child will have their own homework CGP book once we have received them and the tasks to be completed each week will be posted on their Class Dojo portfolio. In addition to homework, we are working hard to master our times tables and division facts up to 12×12. These are key skills in mathematics, and we would appreciate your support in encouraging regular practice at home.

This year is packed with exciting topics! We’ll be exploring states of matter, learning about rivers, diving into Ancient Egypt, and so much more!

PE days will be on Monday and Wednesday, so please ensure your child comes prepared. We look forward to a fantastic year ahead in Maple Class!

Welcome to Olive Class and Year 5. 

Our classroom is upstairs in the ‘treetops’ next to Year 6. In the Bible the Olive tree represents ‘peace’ and ‘productivity’ and in Olive Class we try to show both these qualities. We are taught by Ms Sykes on Monday – Thursday and by Mrs Cartmell on Friday. Our support staff are Mrs Shaw and Mrs Miller. 

During the year we have many exciting topics including ‘Epic Adventures’, ‘Space Heroes’ and ‘Forest Explorers’. Our PE lessons are on Tuesdays and Fridays. 

We are Palm class (year 6) and Mrs Lines is our teacher. She is supported by Mrs
Hayward, Mrs Saunders and Mrs Bassett. We are located upstairs in the new
building within our school.

In Year 6, we have a very busy timetable but we work exceptionally hard. We have a
planned residential in the Spring term where we go away for 3 days and 2 nights..
We have spellings to revise each week. Our spellings are taught in school and
assessed on a Friday. We are expected to log in to Time Table Rock Stars in order
to recall our multiplication facts speedily.

In class, each week we have a grammar and arithmetic focus. At the end of the week
we have short assessments to see how we are progressing in these areas.
We have a reading book to read at home and in school. We are encouraged to read
at least 3 times a week and record our reading in the reading and homework diary.
We read to an adult at least once a fortnight. If we need further opportunities to read
we might read daily.

We are working towards our end of Key Stage 2 assessments (SATs) throughout the
year and regularly revisit previous teaching. Information regarding these tests is
communicated with our parents and carers.

PE lessons are taught on a Tuesday and Friday. Mr Phillips teaches us on Tuesdays
and Mrs Lines teaches us on Fridays. We also have a retired music teacher teach
music alongside Mrs Lines once a week.