When children start in Reception they follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. This is the curriculum they will have followed in nursery or pre-school and continues until the end of the Reception Year.  In Year 1 children start the National Curriculum; this is the curriculum that they will follow throughout their schooling. Whilst children don't formally start learning subjects like History, Geography, Music and Science until Year 1, we know that from being very young they begin to develop their understanding in all these areas. 

For each subject in school we have considered this whole learning journey in terms of where it begins for children in Reception and what it might look like as children progress through to the end of Year 2. 

We have mapped this out for each subject and provided further information about what their learning looks like in our school. This progression develops overtime as children are taught through a range of exciting and engaging learning themes or topics. 

Our Curriculum Statement  

Our Whole School Curriculum is designed for our children by our teachers. We have chosen topics that children are able to relate to within their own lives yet enable them to extend their learning through learning themes that excite and engage them.  It aims to meet the needs of our diverse school community ensuring that children are offered rich and varied opportunities to build their understanding of the world they are growing up in and prepare them to be life-long learners. Learning is carefully adapted to ensure that children working at all levels make good progress and are able to access a broad and balanced curriculum. 

 Our Whole School Curriculum is mapped out over three years from when children begin in the Foundation Stage to the end of year expectations in Year 2. Children will access all areas of learning within the EYFS framework in the Foundation Stage and then move onto learn all subjects as outlined in the National Curriculum in Year 1.

 Subject leaders have carefully considered the learning journey within each subject from when the child enters school in Reception to when they leave us at the end of Year 2. Throughout each subject, children will become more familiar with concepts (the ‘big ideas’) by exploring them in a range  of contexts, developing overtime a greater understanding of these ‘big ideas’ by revisiting and building on their prior knowledge and skills . The expectation is not that the ‘big ideas’ will be achieved within the time frame of a child’s Infant schooling, but that these are the initial steps and stages towards developing an in depth understanding of the ‘big ideas’ that will continue  to develop for as long as the child continues to study the subject.

 We prioritise the learning of Early Reading and Phonics and Maths as we firmly believe that by mastering these skills early in a child’s schooling it opens the door to all future learning. Alongside this, our Whole School Values and  ‘Personal, Social and Emotional Development Curriculum' (PSED - which incorporates the statutory Relationship Education curriculum) is interwoven to enable children to develop the characteristics needed to progress with their everyday learning and prepare them for each stage of their education.

 We are confident that our Whole School Curriculum is working effectively; outcomes in Reading, Writing, Maths (Y2) were well above the National Average in 2022 and children achieved above National in KS1; the KS1 Phonics check (both Y1 and Y2).  Discussions with pupils show that they are enthusiastic learners who can talk knowledgeably about what they have learnt across a wide range of subjects. 

Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)

Find out more about how we teach PSED in school - this includes the statutory Relationship Education (RSE) and PSHE in KS1 and PSED for Foundation Stage. 

 Our Learning Themes

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for our RE page