Curriculum

Curriculum Statement

The general principle governing the curriculum of the school is that every child shall be entitled to a curriculum which is balanced and broadly based and which:

1. promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of children at the school;

2. builds on the child’s prior experiences and celebrates the “unique child”;

3. prepares the children for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences in their next phase of learning.

All Key Stage 1 children are taught the new National Curriculum.  Children in Reception are taught the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum.

The school seeks to meet the needs of all its children.  It provides a positive, caring environment in which the children develop positive self-esteem. The personal, social and emotional development of the whole child is paramount. The school curriculum has the School’s Mission Statement and Aims at its heart. It embraces the Every Child Matters Agenda, the right of every child to:

• Stay safe
• Be healthy
• Enjoy and achieve
• Make a positive contribution
• Achieve economic well-being

It is reflected in the school motto and in the School Aims:

Together we grow and learn

We create and maintain a happy, caring, stimulating learning environment in which children grow in self-confidence and self-esteem whilst developing respect for others and the environment.

We make learning challenging and enjoyable, relevant and exciting for all children.

We develop skills, knowledge and attitudes to enable children to respond to the challenges of a complex and changing world.

We promote the development of basic skills in Literacy and Numeracy through a rich, broad, balanced curriculum.

We promote close relationships with parents and the community, valuing the important role parents play in their children’s education.

Establishing a good rapport with children, building their confidence, encouraging them to express individual ideas are as important as teaching the academic curriculum.

Although our curriculum is underpinned by the aims of the National Curriculum, there are other planned opportunities that make up the wider school curriculum. Where links can be made subjects are taught creatively in a cross curricular thematic manner using the Learning Challenges approach. Where this is not achievable, subjects are taught discretely.

We strive for rigour, excellence, equal opportunities and aim to promote British Values including universal moral values in every aspect of the curriculum as well as developing the Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural understanding of all our pupils. We are sensitive to the needs of all our children and carefully plan special educational provision to meet individual and group needs.

Children need to be literate and numerate, and these basic skills are promoted throughout the curriculum.  Transferable learning skills are also promoted including thinking skills, problem solving, decision making, social skills, communication skills, critical awareness and study skills.

Reading

At May Bank Infants School, we draw on books from a number of published reading resources, including phonic based books, Rigby, Oxford Reading Tree and Ginn. These are also supplemented heavily by “real books” that are banded according to their reading age and difficulty so that children can select from a wider range of books at an appropriate level for their skills and learning needs.

Phonics

At May Bank Infants School we follow the progression in phonics outlined by “Letters and Sounds” incorporating visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learning. Phonic based reading books support our teaching of Phonics.