Curriculum Information

The children’s work in school covers a wide range of learning experiences. Prior to children being of statutory school age (the term after their fifth birthday) and up to the end of the Reception year children follow the Early Years and Foundation Stage Framework.

This is divided into three Prime Areas of Learning and four Specific Areas of Learning:

Prime Areas of Learning

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Communication and Language
• Physical Development

Specific Areas of Learning

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

Once children join Year 1 they become part of four Key Stages that cover the statutory school years. Key Stage 1 includes Years 1 & 2 while Key Stage 2 covers the rest of primary education, Years 3 to 6. Over the past twenty-five years there has been a National Curriculum that defines what should be taught during the statutory period of schooling. At Key Stages 1 and 2 this curriculum consists of the following statutory subjects where the content is defined by the Department for Education:

• English
• Mathematics
• Science
• Computing
• History
• Geography
• Art and design
• Physical Education
• Design and technology
• Music
• Modern Foreign Languages (Key Stage 2 only)

In addition we are required to teach

• Religious Education where the content is defined by the local Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE), and
• Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE), where the content can be locally defined; this subject includes Sex and Relationships Education.

Some of our work, such English (also referred to as literacy), mathematics (also referred to as numeracy) and science - are usually taught as specific lessons. Other subjects may be taught as separate subjects or, where suitable, content within these subjects is brought together in ‘projects’ or ‘topics’.

How we plan your child’s work 

Each class in a year group follows the same content. Teaching staff in a year group will start with an overall year plan. A detailed plan for each area of the curriculum is made jointly by the teachers in each year group. They list the learning targets for the children and give the activities they will carry out with them to enable successful learning. This is then reviewed on a weekly basis to ensure it is tailored to the children’s current learning needs. Each teacher also keeps his or her personal plan and record of work.  

In all this planning, teachers take account of the school's own policies for each curriculum area: policies that include the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum.

How we keep you informed of what your child is learning

Nursery and Reception 

We keep parents informed of the key areas of learning for the children through a half termly newsletter for both the Nursery and the Reception classes.

Key Stage 1  

We have a handbook for both Year 1 and Year 2. This gives a broad overview of what the year group will cover and other useful details. In addition, from September 2014 we will provided a detailed half termly overview of the work the children will be covering. This will be made available through the website.

Key Stage 2

There is an overall year plan a copy of which is made available to all parents of children in the year group through the website (see ‘Curriculum Statement’). This plan contains information about the main areas of English, maths and science to be taught. It shows what will be taught in the other areas of the curriculum and whether these will be taught as part of a project. The year plan also tells parents about the homework expectations for the year group. All children are expected to read, learn spellings and tables, and do several ‘home tasks’ each week, though the difficulty and quantity of the work obviously differs over the four years.  

On a more detailed basis, we share the half termly detailed overview of content relating to each area of the curriculum. This is also made available through the website.