Teaching and learning

The curriculum of the School is broad based and flexible, taking into account each pupil's age, ability and interests. Its aims are directed towards the acquisition of skills of literacy, numeracy and physical co-ordination, the development of self awareness and awareness of others and a greater understanding of the world in which we live.

The School follows the National Curriculum in all subjects and statutory assessments are made at ages 7 and 11.

How is the curriculum organised?

Use the menu left for a more detailed guide to the work of each class.

Children enter the Nursery after their third birthday. Entry to Reception follows in the September of the academic year after they turn 4 years of age.

Nursery and Reception form the Foundation Stage, working towards the Early Learning Goals.

Areas of learning include personal, social and emotional development, communication, language and literacy, mathematical development, knowledge and understanding of the world, physical development and creative development.

Children in the Nursery benefit from the carefully structured outdoor play facilities.

Alongside more formal aspects of the curriculum, children are encouraged to become independent and develop the social skills, which will support their future school career.

Here is information (in the Nursery Newsletters) about themes and topics covered by the Nursery in the Spring, Autumn and Summer terms.

The importance of attending a Nursery class in the School the children will later attend cannot be over emphasised. This valuable experience familiarises them with the School and prepares them for the learning ahead.

In the Reception classes literacy and early number concepts are further extended through the national literacy and numeracy strategies.

We encourage all children to develop the confidence to succeed and enjoy their achievements in all areas of the curriculum.

Year 1 builds upon the skills developed at the Foundation Stage and lessons are delivered using the National Curriculum guidelines. The classroom situation becomes more formal. Children participate in a whole class numeracy and literacy hour on a daily basis. In the summer term children are given weekly spelling tests.

In Year 2, children are encouraged to be selective of the materials for their work, to describe accurately and to question sensibly. Children are expected to read accurately and independently and to develop their comprehension skills. Their writing should demonstrate an understanding of chronology and their stories should have structure. Children will be taught to write in a cursive style and to punctuate their writing accurately. Dictionaries are used to support their independent writing.

In numeracy hour children will become familiar with larger numbers and have knowledge of simple fractions. The focus is on the application of knowledge through a problem-solving approach.

Children will be interpreting their findings scientifically and identifying simple differences. They will be encouraged to design their own experiments. Their artistic and manipulative skills will be further developed through drawing, painting, modelling, cutting and measuring.

Throughout the Foundation Stage and Key Stages 1 and 2, links with ICT are explored across the curriculum wherever possible.

During Years 3 and 4, the children will be extending their understanding of number and place value to thousands and developing their skills in all types of measuring. Children are expected to know their 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x & 10x tables by the end of Year 4.

More confidence and independence in reading will be seen, and children will choose their own material from a wide range of stories, poetry and plays. Reference books will also be used. The children's written work will begin to show maturity and a more defined structure as they learn how to revise and redraft their work. They will also be planning tasks more thoughtfully.

Each new term will see at least one history or geography topic being covered by every class.

Practical science experiments will be experienced both on an individual and group basis. Children are encouraged to make their own predictions or hypothesis about results and to comment on the final outcomes of their work.

Years 5 & 6 will show the children speaking more freely in their class and with adults about their reading from a still wider range of literature. They will provide evidence for their opinions and make increased use of library systems.

Their writing will demonstrate more organised texts using full punctuation and employing Standard English and different registers as and when appropriate.

Number work is extended again and children are encouraged to explore the relationships between our units of measure while also developing work in other areas of maths, especially in problem solving or investigational nature. Calculators are in use in the school.

We aim to help the children become observant, critical and accurate so that they have a scientific approach to problems and are able to explain how things work and why they happen.

Information and communication technology is a central part of the children’s educational development.

We aim to provide skills in communicating and handling information, and controlling, modelling and monitoring.

Alongside this we aim to demonstrate how ICT is used in the wider world.

Throughout the school children receive regular physical exercise and are taught many games skills. They also develop an awareness of music through musical appreciation, singing and instrumental work.

Art, design and technology skills are also encouraged and valued. This is reflected in the children’s work.

Curriculum information on work to be covered is sent to parents on a termly basis. This includes ideas for parents of ways in which they can support their children’s work at home.