Curriculum Overview

When children arrive at our school, most are aged 4 and in the final year of the Early Years Foundation Stage. This takes them through their Reception class, covering a broad, play-based curriculum which sees them adapt gently to the routines and expectations of school life. The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile is a statutory assessment based on seven areas of learning. Parents receive their child’s profile at the end of the year.

In Years One and Two, children work on the Key Stage 1 curriculum, developing their reading, writing and number skills whilst being encouraged to be independent. Progress is monitored on a continuous basis, leading to final assessments for Key Stage 1 in the summer of the child’s third year with us. These assessments form a baseline for the children when they move onto their next stage of learning (Key Stage 2) at junior school.

Throughout their time at the school, the children develop their confidence with computing; using active panels, iPads, laptops, and a range of other equipment.

RE, History, Geography, Science, PE, Music, Drama and Art are strong elements of the curriculum which link into our colourful, topic-based approach. This style of learning excites the children’s interests by making links and involving them in their own personal experiences.

Educational visits to local attractions or visits to the school from interesting local organisations bring each topic to life.

Termly updates from year groups lets families know what to expect in the weeks ahead. Weekly home learning tasks provide an opportunity for parents and carers to get involved and reinforce class-based learning.

Click here to find out more about the National Curriculum.

Early Years

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the statutory framework that sets the standards that all Early Years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to ensure children are ready for school and gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.

The framework explains how your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development.

Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first:

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

These prime areas are essential for your child's healthy development and future learning.

The prime areas will enable children to develop skills in these 4 specific areas of learning.

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

These 7 areas are used to guide and plan your child's learning and activities. The professionals teaching and supporting your child will make sure that the activities are suited to your child's unique needs.

Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage learn by playing, exploring and being active. They learn through creative and critical thinking which takes place across a wide range of learning opportunities and environments, both indoors and outside.

We aim to make the transition from home to school as smooth as possible for parents and their children. We value the influence of the home and the family to create the unique child. We understand that children will have a wide range of aptitudes, interests and experiences before they start school and we offer and encourage home visits, in the security of their own home, as part of the transitions arrangements. We have strong links with our pre-schools and nurseries and we enjoy visits from their staff and the younger children throughout the year as well as our staff visiting their settings.  

At the end of Year R the children are judged against the Early Learning Goals (ELG) and this information is reported to you and used by the Year 1 team to include in Key Stage 1 planning. 

We use Tapestry to enable us to track our children against the ELG which allows us to engage with our parents and encourages them to be part of their child's learning journey too. Take a look at the link below to find out more information.

Safeguarding, British Values and SMSC

Our curriculum encompasses all of these areas and are included throughout all of our learning. Click here to see examples on the Reception webpage. Look out for the following table: 

Year 1

Welcome to Year One!

Please see our vision below whereby the children are 'Riding the Waves of Learning' embedding the ethos of the Sarisbury Crew.

Learning Environments:

The children have access to many different learning areas including the classroom, the shared area and outside. In every classroom there is a making area, a writing area, a small world area, a maths area and a computing area. In the shared area there is a creative area, a small world area and a funky fingers area. Outside there is a mud kitchen, a digging area, a construction area, a reading boat and den, a stage, an art area and a water area, as well as small world and construction. Each week, reflecting on the children’s learning requirements and interests, we enhance these areas to provide the best opportunities for the children to learn through play.

Discovery Time and Rainbow Challenges:

During the morning, if your child is not working with an adult, they are independently completing their Rainbow Challenges during their Discovery Time. During this time, they have different challenges set by the adults to complete each week, which consolidate previous learning. These challenges are based on phonics, writing, maths and topic as well as finger gym, small world and making. Some of the challenges will be set and explained on Monday and the rest are explained on a Thursday. The children get a coloured square for each challenge they complete and have to show their completed challenges by Friday where they will have all the colours of the rainbow on display! We monitor but encourage the children to take responsibility for completing their tasks. We support them by keeping track of their challenges, once they have handed them in. 

Reading:

We read with the children on a 1:1 basis once a week. We cover a range of objectives and communicate these with parents so they are able to continue supporting their child's reading at home. 

Phonics:

We follow the Junior Learning Letters and Sounds phonics programme whereby sounds are taught in phases. Every day we teach an interactive and fast paced lesson for 25 minutes, whereby the children are practising and applying a new sound. During the second Summer Term, each child is required to undertake a statutory Phonics Screening Check. 

Writing:

We hook our children in by using many exciting and imaginative stimuli for our lessons including videos, sound effects and resources. The children have the opportunity to write for a variety of genres including fiction and non-fiction. We teach handwriting daily by introducing letters in families in an engaging way, for example using playdough and sand trays.

Maths:

The children develop their mathematical fluency, reasoning and problem solving across a wide range of topics, for example number, place value, addition, subtraction and measurement. During our afternoon Maths Marines sessions, the children develop an instant recall of number facts, for example counting in 10s. We strive for our maths learning to be as topical as possible.

Foundation Subjects:

We teach a broad range of subjects including: Computing, Science, DT, Art, Music, History, PE, RE, Geography and PSHE. Our curriculum has been developed and designed so that the children learn specific subject skills alongside essential knowledge. Throughout the year, some subjects are taught through focused days, weeks, trips or visitors in school.

Harri Heart

Harri Heart is a very important part of our curriculum - they help to keep us safe both inside and outside of school. Harri Heart helps us in our PE,  DT, PSHE, Computing and in other areas too. 

SMSC and British Values

These areas are an integral part of our curriculum and are incorporated into all of our learning. Examples of these can be seen on our planning on our Year 1 page. 

Year 2

In Year 2, we continue to 'Sail the Seas to Success'. Each day is filled with exciting learning  opportunities to inspire our Enthusiastic Eddies! We base our learning around topics, where we use both the indoor and outdoor learning spaces. We have a large unit to enhance learning where children benefit from investigating in our shared areas, such as: The Explorer Zone, Art Area and ICT Suite, as well as the Stingrays, Sharks and Whales Classrooms. 

English: Reading

Year 2 children have daily opportunities to read. Every day we have 'Harbour Time' a guided reading session, where over a week the children read with either a teacher or a LSA. These small group sessions allow children to develop their inference and prediction skills and provide opportunities for discussion. Children have daily access to a class book corner. Every Friday the children do a book swap, whereby they get a new phonics phase reading book and a new phonics Letters and Sounds book, which matches the phonics teaching in school, also they choose a library book of their choice. Children in Year 2 complete end of Key Stage tests in reading. At the end of the Key Stage, a child’s reading level will be determined by the class teacher using the End of Key Stage statements.

English: Writing

Our writing opportunities in Year Two are introduced using an imaginative stimulus for our lessons. Children will experience writing a variety of fiction and non-fiction genres including recounts, diary writing, newspaper reports and story innovations. Their writing sessions are supported by daily spelling, grammar and punctuation (SPaG) activities. These short interactive lessons teach tricky words and spelling rules along side the technical elements of writing, including handwriting. Children use Education City as a digital learning platform to enhance their English knowledge. Children in Year 2 complete the end of Key Stage tests in SPaG. At the end of the Key Stage, a child’s writing level will be determined by the class teacher using the End of Key Stage statements.

Maths:

The children in Year 2 experience a variety of mathematical learning opportunities during the week. These lessons develop a child’s fluency, reasoning and problem solving skills over a wide span of mathematical topics. Children develop an instant recall of number facts such as bonds to 10 or counting in 5s during our active Maths Marines sessions. Children also have a weekly Beat It Maths challenge to develop their quick recall for simple maths problems. As with most other teaching opportunities, the maths work fit into our broader topic and develops along a child’s interest. Pictures and problems are also used as a hook into mathematical themes. Year 2 children also have access to maths computing games and Education City. Children in Year 2 complete the end of Key Stage tests in Mathematics (arithmetic and reasoning). At the end of the Key Stage a child’s mathematical level will be determined by the class teacher using the End of Key Stage statements.

Science:

Children experience the science curriculum using a hands on approach where possible to be just like Wondering Walter. They have use of the school grounds, Cold East Woods and Holly Hill Woodland Park to develop their science knowledge and investigation skills. Children are encouraged to work in a collaborative way to begin to answer scientific questions and gain their knowledge through personal experiences alongside more direct teaching. Children have access to whole class digital experiences, such as Explorify, or individual ones using Education City.  At the end of the Key Stage the class teacher will use the End of Key Stage statements for science to decide if a child has met the expected standard.

Foundations Subjects

Our broad curriculum in the afternoons focusses on a wide range of subjects including: Computing, Science, DT, Art, Music, History, PE, RE, Geography and PSHE. Curiosity and interest is developed through local links and relevance through our topics. The curriculum allows children to develop subject specific skills alongside essential knowledge. During the year, some subjects are experienced through focussed days or weeks; additional resources including trips, outside speakers and resource boxes enhance the curriculum for the children. PE is taught to all the children to develop their overall health and fitness and to prepare them for competitions. The PE curriculum benefits from being taught by class teacher and subject specialists.

Independence

We strive to develop the whole child and each child is given opportunities to be a 'Class Captain', doing jobs such as collecting the register. Every child is also given a week during the year when it is their ‘Time to Shine’. For this they tell their classmates about a particular skill or club they attend, which helps to build confidence and self-esteem. We encourage children to work collaboratively and become good team players.

Throughout the week, your child will have opportunities to complete 'Crew Challenges'. The five 'Crew Challenges' are based upon a range of open ended activities, to enhance and deepen learning of skills in a variety of contexts. Ultimately, children will continue to develop skills to manage, maintain and monitor the weekly activities, all to be completed by the end of the week. If they complete all of their 'Crew Challenges' they can then move onto 'Cheeky Challenges' which are open-ended activities.

Transition

The end of the Year 2 curriculum has an emphasis on reflection and readiness as children get ready to transition to their chosen junior school. During this time children will experience different aspects of the PHSE curriculum to help them prepare for a new learning environment, friendship groups and the changes ahead. Our close links with Sarisbury Junior School allow us to work in a collaborative manner to ensure a smooth transition for every child.