Our Curriculum at Hasland Infant and Nursery School
Intent
At Hasland Infant and Nursery school we are extremely proud of our bespoke curriculum. It exposes our children to vibrant, exciting experiences, whilst also immersing them in progressive knowledge and skills through a carefully planned approach. We believe all children are entitled to a good education and that the term ‘education’ is broader than academic success, but also incorporates wider ambitions.
The key ambitions behind the design of our curriculum are for our children to:
These Key ambitions are also underpinned by our SMILE expectations which are displayed around school and consistently referred to. These expectations dovetail with our curriculum and form the behaviours and attitudes we believe help our children to succeed academically as well as ensure they are responsible citizens of the future.
S – Successful Learners
M-Marvellous Manners
I – Independent Thinkers
L – Love Learning
E – Everyone Matters
Our curriculum content has been designed alongside Subject Leaders to take account of the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum and the Primary National Curriculum whilst at the same time ensuring it meets the needs of all our children, builds cultural capital and takes into account the context of our school locally, nationally and globally. Our children are exposed to rich and varied experiences beyond those set out in the National Curriculum to ensure learning is memorable and ignites the children’s curiosity so they can do more, know more and remember more, thus equipping them with the necessary skills and characteristics to succeed.
Subject Leaders have taken time and worked together to develop progressive sequences of learning that ensure children are taught, can remember and are able to use the skills and knowledge they need in order to be successful Learners as they move through school. As part of their role Subject leaders ensure they equip themselves with the knowledge and skills to support others and look beyond our own school to seek out current thinking through joining professional associations and exploring research based theories.
As an Infant school our curriculum has a strong emphasis upon Reading and language development. We believe that Language acquisition and Reading are fundamental to our children succeeding. Subject Leaders set out the key vocabulary that children are expected to know and use as part of their curriculum design.
Subject Leaders work alongside the SENCO to ensure the curriculum offer is inclusive and accessible to all children and adapted where and when necessary to enable equal access for all.
Implementation
Our Curriculum has been designed to be ambitious for all our children across each subject area. Through our approach we have created whole school themes for each term and developed sub themes for each year group. High quality texts are carefully selected and underpin the Creative planning process. ‘Wow’ moments are carefully considered to launch each topic and to ignite the children’s curiosity and engagement with the themes being covered.
Wow moments are also used to celebrate the learning that has taken place at the end of a topic. This allows the children to show pride in what they have achieved and evaluate their learning. Parents are often invited into school as part of this and links are made to the local community wherever possible to provide purposeful and meaningful contexts for the children’s learning.
Subject co-ordinators design and plan the delivery of their subject for each year group; ensuring a clear progression of both skills and knowledge through our Curriculum Maps and Progression in skills documents. Subject co-ordinators have developed Knowledge prompts for their subject to ensure prior learning and knowledge is being regularly re-visited.
We use questioning and scaffolding to ensure all children are able to succeed. Children who grasp concepts quickly are challenged through rich and sophisticated open ended questions and problems.
We recognise the fact that we have children of differing special educational needs, disabilities, special gifts and talents, and those learning English as an additional language in all our classes. Co-ordinators work alongside the SENCO to ensure that their subject has carefully considered the needs of children with SEND and can be adapted as necessary so all children are able to access the learning and experiences that are planned.
Co-ordinators also ensure that experiential learning is prioritised within our curriculum. Visitors are invited into school, educational and residential visits are carefully chosen to deepen understanding and our immediate locality and outdoor learning environment is used to enhance hands-on learning experiences.
Focus weeks throughout the year ensure that significant events in the calendar are celebrated and that children understand the relevance of such events in their own lives. These may include sporting events such as the Olympics or those of historical importance such as the Queens Platinum Jubilee.
We have high expectations for attendance, academic achievement and pupil behaviour and are committed to working in partnership with parents. We know that when home and school work in partnership together that we get the best outcomes for our children.
Impact
Children leave our school confident and capable learners who are ready for the next stage of their education.
The Impact of the curriculum can be seen throughout the school in the work and displays the children produce and through the outcomes for all groups of children by the end of Year Two.
Our learning journey walls reflect our current topics and showcases the quality of our teaching and learning and are for the children, staff and visitors to see and appreciate. The learning that has taken place in previous topics is collated into ‘Do you remember when..? ’ books for the children to access within provision. These promote discussion and factual recall and are popular with the children who are able to talk about prior learning with enthusiasm and confidence.
Our children enjoy their learning and this enables them all to achieve, develop confidence and demonstrate good behaviour. Kindness is an integral part of our ethos and our children form lasting friendships and respect towards others, ensuring a positive transition to their next stage of learning.