Curriculum
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
The curriculum that we teach in our nursery class and reception classes meets the requirements set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, with seven areas of learning and development underpinning the curriculum. These seven areas are divided into:
The three prime areas of:
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
And the four specific areas of:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the world
- Expressive Arts and Design
Our school fully supports the principle that young children learn through play, providing open ended child inititaed experiences as well as taking part in adult led activities. Our curriculum planning focuses on the Early Learning Goals and on developing children’s skills and experiences, as set out in the EYFS Framework document.
Assessment through the Foundation Stage (nursery and reception) is carried out through WOW moment observations, informal activities, which feed into the child’s Learning Journey, and teacher knowledge. This ongoing form of assessment forms an important part of the future curriculum planning for each child.
We strive to build positive links with the parents of each child by keeping them informed about the way in which the children are being taught and about how well their child is progressing. Parents are encouraged to play an active role in their child’s learning. We ask parents to share their child’s Learning Journey and to contribute to their overall assessment through Tapestry, an electronic assessment tool that parents can access information about their child’s observations and learning in school on a regular basis.
KS1 and KS2
We agree long term plans for each key stage and year group. This indicates what topics are to be taught in each term or half term, which subjects and the areas of these subjects. We frequently adopt a cross-curricular approach to planning where appropriate, in order for our pupils to make relevant links about their learning and to apply their knowledge and understanding across different subjects. In some cases, subjects are deemed better to be taught discreetly, in order to develop an in depth understanding of the relevant concepts and skills.