The National Curriculum

What is the National Curriculum?
 
The curriculum within the primary school setting is divided up into three stages:
 
1. Early Years Foundation Stage - Nursery and Reception (3-5 years)
2. Key Stage 1 - Year 1 and Year 2 (5-7 years)
3. Key Stage 2 - Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Year 6 (7-11 years)
 
As we are an infant school, we do not follow the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum.
 
The National Curriculum sets out the statutory programmes of study and attainment targets for all subjects in each Key Stage.
 
Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS)
 
The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum is split into seven areas of learning: the 'prime areas' and the 'specific areas' of learning.
 
There are three prime areas of learning:
  • Communication and Language
  • Physical Development
  • Personal, Social and Emotional Development
There are four specific areas of learning:
  • Literacy
  • Mathematics
  • Understanding the World
  • Expressive Arts and Design

At St Chad's, we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. This framework is a means of ensuring high standards of early education and care that will reassure parents that their child’s development is being fully supported. It underpins all future learning by supporting and fostering the children’s personal, social and emotional wellbeing. It encourages positive attitudes and dispositions towards learning in the children and promotes learning through play. It assesses how children learn through the 'characteristics of learning'.

Assessment in Nursery and Reception is carried out in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework and staff observe the children to create a ‘learning journey’ which evidences the child’s progress through the Foundation Stage. At St Chad's, we use an interactive assessment tool called 2Simple. Parents are regularly invited into school to see their child's journey and to add their own comments.Children are continuously assessed which enables our teachers to track each child's individual progress throughout their time in our Nursery and Reception class. The staff take account of and build on all previous learning from whatever setting they have come from. This ensures that their progress is developmental throughout their whole of the Foundation Stage.

All children in the EYFS at are encouraged to enjoy and share books with each other, individually and with an adult. A meeting is held in school for parents at the beginning of the Autumn Term to explain in detail about reading and phonics in the EYFS and school life in general. The children use ‘Letters and Sounds’ which is a synthetic phonics approach to learning to read and write, and more information is given about this at that meeting.

Key Stage 1 National Curriculum

All children from Year 1 onwards are taught the National Curroculum which we continue to group into the seven areas of learning, extended from the Foundation Stage. Each area links the core and foundation subjects which are taught through creative and thematic topics.

Core subjects include:

  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Science

As we are a Church of England School, we also include Religious Education (RE) as a core subject.

Foundation subjects include:

  • Physical Education (PE)
  • Computing
  • Art and Design
  • History
  • Geography
  • Music