• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Communication, Language and Literacy
• Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
• Knowledge and Understanding of the World
• Physical Development
• Creative Development

The Early Learning Goals outline what a child will be expected to know and be able to do by the end of the Foundation Stage. The guidance sets out age appropriate ‘stepping stones’, which are stages the children progress through as they move towards the achievement of these goals.

• Planning of the curriculum is based upon these goals, with clear learning intentions in each of the six areas of learning.
• Staff plan together to ensure the children have long-medium-and short-term goals to aim for. The children are assessed in the six areas of learning and their progress is recorded on the Early Learning Profiles.
• Profiles are available for parents to peruse at anytime.
• There are groups of mixed age and ability. A Key Worker is assigned to each group to foster their social and emotional needs
• In the Foundation Stage, there is a balance between areas that promote child initiated learning and adult-led focussed activities. These activities teach specific skills and develop understanding in key areas.
• There is one Reception class of mixed ability, taught by the Reception Teacher, with a Nursery Nurse Assistant.
• The Foundation Stage offers before-and after-school care for pupils. This operates daily from 8.00am to 8.30am and from 3.45pm to 6.00pm.

Foundation Stage: Assessment and Reporting

• It is our aim to recognise and build upon the individual experiences of each child. We have a strong commitment to our ‘Parents as Partners’ and our assessment procedures are designed to build upon the learning that has already taken place.
• Assessment enables us to monitor the progress of each child’s individual needs. All the children are assessed regularly. We assess by observing the children, listening and talking with them, and looking at samples of their work. The children’s progress towards the early learning goals is recorded termly on each child’s Early Learning Profile. Detailed below are the different assessments that are carried out during your child’s education in the Foundation Stage.
• Early Learning Profile assessment sheet discussed/explained at the first parents’ consultation evening.
• On-going assessment against the statements on the Early Learning Profile.
• Termly parents’ evening to share information.
• End of Foundation Stage – details passed on to the Junior School, and summer-born children’s information passed to the LEA
• In the Autumn term, parents have the opportunity to meet the Nursery and Reception staff to discuss their child’s progress during the first parents’ consultation meeting. At the end of the Autumn term, pupils also receive a written report, and there is an optional parents’ consultation meeting.
• During the Spring term there is also another parents’ consultation meeting for Reception parents.
• At the beginning of the Summer term there is another parents’ consultation meeting for Nursery parents. Near the end of the Summer term, reports are sent out for all pupils in the Foundation Stage. Foundation Stage staff are available at any time to discuss your child’s achievements, although an appointment may be necessary if a longer meeting is required.

Foundation Stage (Year 1 and Year 2) Arrangements

We aim to help pupils develop their gifts and talents: spiritual and social; intellectual and emotional; aesthetic and physical through the provision of a broad and balanced curriculum, which is responsive to, and supportive of, their needs and aspirations, fosters intellectual curiosity and academic achievement, and motivates them to grow to their full potential. It is our aim that this broad base of skills and knowledge upon which future learning can be soundly built.

Aims of the Curriculum

• To be compatible with, but enhanced well beyond, the requirements of the National Curriculum at Key Stages 1 & 2.
• To be broad and balanced throughout each Key Stage.
• To allow progression between and throughout the Key Stages.
• To provide for the personal, social, health and citizenship education of pupils, including the preparation of pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.
• To enable all pupils to learn and make progress.
• To provide a programme of activities appropriate to the needs of pupils.

Implementation

• Each Key Stage has a curriculum plan, which outlines:

• the curriculum followed
• the lesson allocation
• the organisation, including the number of teaching groups
• arrangements for pupils with Special Educational Needs (LSU), English as an Additional Language (EAL) or are Gifted and Talented (Comenian Programme)
• Staffing and resources are deployed effectively to meet the aims of the curriculum.
• Schemes of work exist which provide subject matter appropriate for the ages and aptitudes of pupils including those with Special Educational Needs, and so enable all pupils to have the opportunity to learn and make progress.
• An activities programme, published at the start of each term, supports the curriculum aims.
• The annual School Development Plan includes targets which support curriculum aims.

Curriculum Arrangements

The Junior School follows a timetable where there are 25 lessons, but the length varies according to the age of the pupils.

The following subjects are taught:

• Formative and summative assessments are used to monitor the progress of pupils throughout the academic year.
• Pupils with specific learning difficulties are given an Individual Education Plan and offered the opportunity of specialist tuition (for which there is an additional charge). Children who are identified as Gifted and Talented are given specific opportunities tailored to their needs throughout the year.
• All pupils in Years 3-6 receive specialist teaching in French, Games, PE, Swimming, History and Music.
• Pupils in Year 6 are taught by some specialist teachers from the Senior School, to promote continuity and progression with the Senior School.
• All classes in the Junior School are mixed ability. However, pupils are often separated into ability groups in Key Stage 2 for the core subjects.

Assessment and Reporting

Assessment in the Junior School is ongoing. Our foremost purpose is to improve every pupil’s performance by identifying strengths and weaknesses so that we are able to plan our teaching to enable every child to achieve their best. Records are maintained for each subject showing current attainment and targets for improvement. There are more formal assessments towards the end of the academic year.

Detailed information about our assessments can be found in our Assessment and Recording Policy.