At Budmouth Academy, we believe that secure foundations in literacy, numeracy and communication are essential for every student to access our ambitious curriculum and achieve success.
Our Foundational Knowledge & Skills Strategy brings together our curriculum, Budmouth Basics Playbook, Knowledge Maps, Literacy and Numeracy strategies, assessment and targeted intervention. Together, these ensure students develop the knowledge and skills they need to know more, remember more and apply their learning with confidence.
Our Approach
Across the academy, we focus on:
- Knowledge – carefully sequenced learning, supported by Subject Knowledge Maps (example below) that identify essential vocabulary, core knowledge, key examples, misconceptions and links to prior learning.
- Literacy – developing confident readers, writers and speakers through disciplinary literacy, explicit vocabulary teaching, oracy and daily DEAR (Drop Everything and Read).
- Numeracy – developing mathematical fluency, vocabulary, reasoning and the confident application of numeracy across the curriculum.
- High-quality teaching – using explicit instruction, modelling, questioning, retrieval practice and regular checks for understanding through the Budmouth Basics Playbook.
- Challenge – using Do Next tasks to Prioritise, Reduce, Deconstruct, Extend, Create, Connect or Categorise learning, providing purposeful challenge and developing deeper understanding.
- Adaptive teaching – removing barriers through responsive teaching and appropriate visual, verbal and written scaffolding, while maintaining ambitious expectations for all students. Scaffolds support access to learning and are gradually reduced as students develop greater confidence and independence.
- Assessment – identifying what students know, what they have retained and what they need to learn next
Literacy
Literacy is a whole-academy priority and every teacher is a teacher of literacy. Students are explicitly taught how to read, write, speak and communicate successfully within different subjects.
Our approach develops reading, vocabulary, writing and oracy, alongside the disciplinary literacy students need to communicate effectively within each curriculum area. Knowledge Maps identify essential Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary, while our daily DEAR programme develops reading fluency, comprehension, stamina and reading for pleasure.
Numeracy
Numeracy is developed across the curriculum, not only within Mathematics. Students develop mathematical fluency, conceptual understanding, mathematical vocabulary, calculation and reasoning, alongside opportunities to apply numeracy in different subjects and real-world contexts.
Consistent approaches to mathematical language, methods and representations help students develop confidence and apply their mathematical knowledge successfully.
High-quality classroom teaching is our first response. Where students need additional support, assessment and diagnostic information are used to identify specific gaps and provide appropriate targeted intervention.
In line with our Literacy Strategy, additional support can target specific aspects of reading, spelling, vocabulary, writing and handwriting. Reading support includes programmes such as Peer-Assisted Reading, Lexia PowerUp, Little Wandle Code and Specialist Teacher support, matched to students’ individual needs.
Targeted numeracy support focuses on developing mathematical fluency, conceptual understanding and confidence, helping students secure the foundational skills needed to access learning successfully across the curriculum.
Interventions are regularly reviewed so that support remains responsive to individual need and students can successfully transition back to universal classroom provision wherever possible.
Measuring Impact
We regularly evaluate our approach through assessment, lesson visits, learning and DEAR drop-ins, work scrutiny, student voice and curriculum reviews.
We look at students’ progress in reading, spelling and numeracy, their retention and application of curriculum knowledge, the quality of their reading, writing, oracy and mathematical reasoning, and the impact of targeted intervention.
This helps us ensure that every student develops secure foundational knowledge and skills, becomes increasingly independent and is well prepared for their next stage of education, employment and life beyond school.
Subject Knowledge Map ExamplE