Welcome to Receptions Page.
Class Teachers are:
Mrs Hamilton
Mrs Ashworth
Communication
Please use our Class Dojo as a means of communication. The teachers are also available at pick up time, via the school office. The teachers will come back to you as soon as possible.
Please also follow our Facebook page to see our learning across the year.
Curriculum Meeting for Parents
Curriculum Plans
Autumn 2025 Curriculum Letter
Summer Curriculum Newsletter 2025
Spring 2025 Curriculum Letter
Read Write Inc Parent Workshop
Learning links
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Purple Mash
Each child has their own user name and password for Purple Mash.
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Number blocks
Support with numbers and how they work
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Fun activities and time-fillers!
This site has a wealth of craft resources and activities
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Fun and Learning on the Web!
This BBC website has lots of activities to help with learning in all subjects. The Words and Pictures games and Oxford Reading Tree stories are good.
Welcome to Year 1's Page.
Class Teachers are:
Miss Arundale (Mon-Wed)
Mrs Wildig (Thurs-Fri)
Mr Telford
Communication
Please use our Class Dojo as a means of communication. The teachers are also available at pick up time, via the school office. The teachers will come back to you as soon as possible.
Please also follow our Facebook page to see our learning across the year.
Curriculum Meeting for Parents
Y1 Phonics Check: info for parents
Autumn 2025 Curriculum Newsletter
Summer 2025 Curriculum Newsletter
Spring 2025 Curriculum Letter
Read Write Inc Parent Workshop
Learning links
Maths
Mathletics - https://login.mathletics.com/ (log in details in planner)
Cross Curricular
Purple Mash - https://www.purplemash.com/sch/balshaw (same log in as mathletics)
Twinkl - https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resources/covid19-school-closures
Classroom Secrets - https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/
Top Marks (inc Hit the Button) - https://www.topmarks.co.uk/
BBC Bitesize - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/primary
Handwriting
Letter Join - https://www.letterjoin.co.uk/
Brain Exercise - Go Noodle - https://www.gonoodle.com/
Phonics
Phonics Play - https://new.phonicsplay.co.uk/
Phonics Bloom - https://www.phonicsbloom.com/
Reading
Oxford Owl https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/
Teach your monster to read - https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/
Online Safety
Keeping children safe online - https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/4_7/
YEAR 1 PHONICS RESOURCES
Please find below resources your child will find useful.
If you have any questions about phonics or the phonics check please do not hesitate to ask.
RESOURCE 1:
http://www.galacticphonics.com/
RESOURCE 2:
https://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/
PHONICS CHECK RESOURCES
GREEN WORDS (Children blend together) RED WORDS (Children to know on sight)
Green Words - Set 1 - Children to sound these words out
Green words - Set 2 - Children to sound these words out
Green words - Set 3 - Children to sound these words out
PHASE 5 SPLIT DIGRAPH ALIEN WORDS - Practise for the lead up to the Year 1 Phonics Check
Phonics Red Words - Children to gradually know these by sight
USEFUL PHONICS WEBSITES
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Phonics Games
Please use these at home with your child
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Helpful Phonics Websites
Some helpful phonic games, your children will be familiar with a couple of these
USEFUL MATHS WEBSITES
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Doubles to 10 and beyond
Why not have a go - A fun interactive resource
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Doubles to 10
A useful website for the children to practise doubling
Welcome to Year 2's Page.
Class Teachers are:
Miss Halliwell-Parker
Mrs McDonough
Communication
Please use our Class Dojo as a means of communication. The teachers are also available at pick up time, via the school office. The teachers will come back to you as soon as possible.
Please also follow our Facebook page to see our learning across the year.
Year 2 Reading Meeting - 17th October 2025
Curriculum Meeting for Parents
Autumn 2025 Curriculum Letter
Summer 2025 Curriculum Newsletter
Spring 2025 Curriculum Letter
Read Write Inc Parent Workshop
Learning links
Maths
TT Rock Stars - https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student/55641
Maths dictionary - http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/
Topmarks - https://www.topmarks.co.uk/
Cross Curricular
Purple Mash - https://www.purplemash.com/sch/balshaw
Top Marks - https://www.topmarks.co.uk/
BBC Bitesize - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/primary
Handwriting
Letter Join - https://www.letterjoin.co.uk/
Phonics
Balshaw Lane Phonics- https://sites.google.com/balshawlane.co.uk/balshawlanephonics/home
Oxford Owl (RWI) - https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/bookshop/read-write-inc-phonics-reading-at-home/
Reading
Oxford Owl https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/
Online Safety
Keeping children safe online - https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/4_7/
Welcome to Year 3's Page.
Class Teachers are:
Miss Jones
Mr Browne
Communication
Please use our Class Dojo as a means of communication. The teachers are also available at pick up time, via the school office. The teachers will come back to you as soon as possible.
Please also follow our Facebook page to see our learning across the year.
Curriculum Meeting for Parents
Hello and welcome to Year 3
Autumn 2025 Curriculum Letter
Summer 2025 Curriculum Letter
Spring 2025 Curriculum Letter
Learning links
Maths
Mathletics - https://login.mathletics.com/ (log in details in planner)
TT Rock Stars - https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student/55641
Maths dictionary - http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/
Cross Curricular
Purple Mash - https://www.purplemash.com/sch/balshaw (same log in as mathletics)
Twinkl - https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resources/covid19-school-closures
Top Marks (inc Hit the Button) - https://www.topmarks.co.uk/
BBC Bitesize - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/primary
Handwriting
Letter Join - https://www.letterjoin.co.uk/
Brain Exercise - Go Noodle - https://www.gonoodle.com/
Phonics
Phonics Play - https://new.phonicsplay.co.uk/
Phonics Bloom - https://www.phonicsbloom.com/
Reading
Oxford Owl https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/
Teach your monster to read - https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/
Online Safety
Keeping children safe online - https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/4_7/
Welcome to Year 4's Page.
Class Teachers are:
Mrs Gibirdi (Mon-Thurs)
Mr Woodrow (Fri)
Mrs Ward (Mon-Thurs)
Mrs Walmsley (Fri)
Communication
Please use our Class Dojo as a means of communication. The teachers are also available at pick up time, via the school office. The teachers will come back to you as soon as possible.
Please also follow our Facebook page to see our learning across the year.
Curriculum Meeting for Parents
Times table Letter to Parents
Autumn 2025 Curriculum Letter
Welcome to Year 5's Page.
Class Teacher are:
Mrs Horne
Miss Baxendale
Communication
Please use our Class Dojo as a means of communication. The teachers are also available at pick up time, via the school office. The teachers will come back to you as soon as possible.
Please also follow our Facebook page to see our learning across the year.
Curriculum Meeting for Parents
Autumn 2025 Curriculum Letter
Summer Curriculum Newsletter 2025
Spring 2025 Curriculum Letter
Learning links
Maths
Mathletics - https://login.mathletics.com/ (log in details in planner)
TT Rock Stars - https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student/55641
Maths dictionary - http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/
Cross Curricular
Purple Mash - https://www.purplemash.com/sch/balshaw (same log in as mathletics)
Twinkl - https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resources/covid19-school-closures
Classroom Secrets - https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/
Top Marks (inc Hit the Button) - https://www.topmarks.co.uk/
BBC Bitesize - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/primary
Handwriting
Letter Join - https://www.letterjoin.co.uk/
Brain Exercise - Go Noodle - https://www.gonoodle.com/
Grammar
Games for spelling and grammar - wise up on your word classes and become confident with commas!
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/7-11-years/spelling-and-grammar
Grammar GamesThis website gives links to lots of games and activities to help with spelling and grammar -
Reading
Oxford Owl https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/
Teach your monster to read - https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/
Online Safety
Keeping children safe online - https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/4_7/
E-safety for 11-13 year olds Information for children, parents and carers about keeping safe online.
E-safety for 8-10 year olds Games to teach 8-10 year olds about keeping safe online. There is also an area with information for parents.
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Fun arty stuff for children
Art and design for kids!
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Origami Lotus Flowers
Create your own following this online tutorial!
Welcome to Year 6's Page.
Class Teacher are:
Mrs Singleton
Ms Carver
Mr Woodrow teaches a Year 6 maths group.
Madame McCormick teaches French across KS2.
Communication
Please use our Class Dojo as a means of communication. The teachers are also available at pick up time, via the school office. The teachers will come back to you as soon as possible.
Please also follow our Facebook page to see our learning across the year.
Curriculum Meeting for Parents
Year 6 SATs
Please see the SATs Guides page under the Parents' tab.
There is a timetable and videos to watch about the national tests.
Autumn 2025 Curriculum Letter
Summer Curriculum Newsletter 2025
Spring 2025 Curriculum Letter
This year our Connectors are:
Freedom
In History we consider the question 'What links did Lancashire have to the slave trade?' and explore the concept of migration.
We use a number of texts in English linked to the idea of freedom and the concept of migration, such as 'Journey Back to Freedom: the Olaudah Equiano Story'.
In Art we look at a key artist, Jean Michel-Basquiat, and create a freedom quilt inspired by his work.
In DT we look at the work of a key designer, Althea McNish, and produce a drawstring bag.
Survivors
Through our work in Geography, we consider the question 'How do humans cause environmental damage?' and the concept of environmental action.
Our work in English links to the connector by looking at texts based on survivors and creating a survival guide. We also work on non-chronological texts linked to our Science topics.
In Art we look at a key artist, Kenojuak Ashevak, and produce a print using a variety of techniques.
In DT we are inspired by the work of a key designer, Abbie Hutty, and produce moving toy using a cam mechanism.
Discovery
In this connector, we explore the concept of civilisations and the key question 'How was the Islamic civilization able to spread so far, so quickly?'
In Art, our key artist is Nabil Nahas and we work towards an outcome of geometric abstract art produced in mixed media.
In our DT work, we look at the work of Yotam Ottolenghi and we create some delicious Middle Eastern cuisine!
Science units throughout this year include:
- Light Travelling
- Living things and their habitats - classification
- Evolution and Inheritance
- Electricity
- The Circulatory System and the effect of exercise on the body
All this and so much more!
Learning links
Maths
Mathletics - https://login.mathletics.com/ (log in details in planner)
TT Rock Stars - https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student/55641
Maths dictionary - http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/
Cross Curricular
Purple Mash - https://www.purplemash.com/sch/balshaw (same log in as mathletics)
Twinkl - https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resources/covid19-school-closures
Top Marks (inc Hit the Button) - https://www.topmarks.co.uk/
BBC Bitesize - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/primary
Handwriting
Letter Join - https://www.letterjoin.co.uk/
Brain Exercise - Go Noodle - https://www.gonoodle.com/
Grammar
Games for spelling and grammar - wise up on your word classes and become confident with commas!
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/7-11-years/spelling-and-grammar
Reading
Oxford Owl https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/
Teach your monster to read - https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/
Online Safety
Keeping children safe online - https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/4_7/
E-safety for 11-13 year olds Information for children, parents and carers about keeping safe online.
E-safety for 8-10 year olds Games to teach 8-10 year olds about keeping safe online. There is also an are with information for parents.
Grammar Guide for Parents
Music Curriculum Statement: Balshaw Lane Community Primary School
INTENT
Underpinning the curriculum at Balshaw Lane is the assertion that music education is the entitlement of all children, regardless of ethnic origin, gender, class, aptitude or disability. Our curriculum is designed to:
• provide all children with an education in music that is stimulating, enriching and inspiring.
• encourage confidence in all of the children, promoting curiosity, individual challenge and self-motivation.
• provide the opportunity to develop an understanding and appreciation of all types of music from different cultures, eras and genres, and a respect for individual music expression and appreciation.
• fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum for Music and the EYFS statutory framework through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing and composing.
• promote the value and importance of music within the school and the wider community.
• systematically develop an understanding of the interrelated dimensions of music: pitch, rhythm, dynamics, duration, timbre, texture and structure, using both instruments and voice, and to apply this knowledge when creating their own music develop awareness of how music is produced through the access to a variety of instruments and ICT.
• develop awareness of how music is recorded through a variety of processes including graphic and standard notations.
All of the above are achievable through our curriculum that is designed to build progressively on previous skills and knowledge.
IMPLEMENTATION
At Balshaw Lane we make music an enjoyable learning experience. We encourage children to participate in a variety of musical experiences through which we aim to build up the confidence of all children. There is a strong focus on singing at our school. Through singing songs, children learn about structure and organisation of music. We have a weekly whole school 'Singing Assembly' and we enjoy singing together as a whole school family in collective worship assemblies. We believe that music enriches the lives of people, and so we wish to involve as many children as possible in musical activities. We teach children to listen to and appreciate different forms of music, giving them the skills to recognise how the elements of music can be combined to achieve an intended effect, and providing the opportunities for practical exploration of those elements. We teach children to make music together on a variety of instruments both tuned and untuned, to compose pieces and to understand different forms of musical notation as a means of recording and reproducing their work. We have a wide range of musical instruments available for classroom lessons. The children also have access to IT resources, Google Chromelab, Purple Mash and Garageband on iPads and Audacity on PC, in Music and IT lessons. We have developed our scheme of learning to cover the requirements of the National Curriculum programmes of study in KS1 and 2 while, in addition, making links with our Connected Curriculum where appropriate. Careful planning through the use of the scheme Sing up, ensures that children receive a varied and balanced music education throughout their time at Balshaw Lane, building upon prior learning. Our music planning is geared to three aspects of progress:
- increasing breadth and range of musical experiences
- increasing challenge in musical activities
- increasing confidence, sensitivity and creativity in the children's music- making.
In EYFS we teach music as an integral part of the children's learning journey. Children learn a wide range of songs and rhymes and develop skills for performing together. Singing and music making opportunities are used frequently to embed learning, develop musical awareness and to demonstrate how music can be used to express feelings. We use a wide range of resources, relating the musical aspects of the children's work to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals which underpin the curriculum planning for children aged three to five years. We encourage the children to develop confidence and control of the way they express themselves and the way they handle equipment. We give all children the opportunity to undertake activities that offer appropriate creative and expressive challenge, both indoors and outdoors, using a wide range of resources to support specific skills.
Experience of live performance takes many different forms be it low-key solo or small group performances in lessons, end of unit class to class performances, class assemblies to parents or performances in the local community, not forgetting our eagerly anticipated annual Balshaw Lane's Got Talent competition. Key Stages 1 present musical Christmas productions and the Year 6 children perform a musical as their Leavers' Concert. Other year groups have opportunities to perform throughout the year in either a Christmas production, Easter production or concert. Each year, EYFS and KS1 enjoy a pantomime in the Autumn term provided by a professional company, while KS2 visit a local theatre for productions which, in the past, have included pantomimes or musical theatre. Y5 usually experience a live orchestra concert. In the past this has included BBC Philharmonic and Halle Orchestra performances.
Specialist music tuition For those children who wish to specialise in a particular instrument, we offer the opportunity to study with peripatetic specialist teachers. This is usually, but not exclusively, offered to KS2 pupils. These lessons are normally taught to small groups of children who have chosen to learn one of a variety of instruments. At present we have children learning guitar, drums, French horn, and keyboard/piano. We have also recently launched Rock Steady, where children get to be part of a band and learn skills to do with their chosen instrument along the way. This building to a qualification at each stage. This is in addition to the curriculum music teaching of the school. Whenever appropriate, children are given the opportunity to participate in curriculum lessons using their 'specialist' instrument alongside classroom instruments. Extra-curricular activities in school and the wider community We participate in the Young Voices concerts where approximately 60 children are offered the opportunity to take part in a massed choir of 8,000 singers in Manchester. This is open to all children from Year 4 to Year 6 due to the late return from the concert. Young Voices rehearsals take place after school once a week and these are replaced by Singing Club in the summer term which is open to all KS2 children. We also participate in local events including 'Chorley Big Sing' and have previously performed at the village gala. We have an Ocarina Club and recorder club at lunch time over the course of the year. In providing this, it is hoped that the children will then develop an interest that will take them on to other instruments as they move through school.
IMPACT
At Balshaw Lane Community Primary School we believe that musical education, experienced in a safe and supportive environment, is a vital contributor to a pupil's personal development. Music is a unique way of communicating that can inspire and motivate children as a vehicle of personal expression. Music reflects the culture and society we live in and so the teaching and learning of music enables children to better understand the world they live in. It also plays an important part in helping children to feel part of a community, and numerous studies have shown the significant positive impact that collective music-making can have on wellbeing and mental health.
As a result of our curriculum, our children are able to enjoy music be it through listening, creating or performing. They can analyse music with an understanding of the IRD which are contained within it. They can sing and feel a pulse. They have a solid foundation of skills and a variety of opportunities to develop those skills further should they wish to do so.
We use a range of strategies to assess what skills and knowledge the children have attained including the following:
- Performance
- Pupil voice
- Regular feedback during each lesson.
- Self and peer assessments of their learning and performance.