At Wallsend Jubilee Primary School we recognise the importance of giving children the best start to their education, in order to build a secure foundation for future learning and development. We want the children to develop a love of learning and skills needed to succeed in an ever-changing world.
We have designed a bespoke curriculum which meets the needs and interests of our children, taking into account the opportunities we have in our local area. It offers knowledge, skills, understanding and progression, using memorable, high quality experiences for the children. Our curriculum is designed with these principles in mind: it is personalised, reflecting the background, interests and experience of our pupils so learning is relevant to our unique pupils, as well as giving them opportunities they may be have missed out on. It will enable the children to develop key skills, enrich and widen their vocabulary and encourage creativity and curiosity about the world around them. Our curriculum prioritises language accusation, social interactions and aims to inspire our children to be the best that they can be.
It is our intention to provide an enabling learning environment where children can work with adults and peers to develop confidence in their ability to learn. We will provide children with a well organised, interesting, safe and active learning environment. The environment that we offer is designed to foster confident and independent learners who are able to investigate, communicate and solve problems in order to prepare them for their journey through life.
We recognise that children will learn most effectively when they are healthy, safe and secure, when their individual needs are met and when they have positive relationships with the adults who care for them. We aim to provide a setting that encompasses warm and supportive relationships between adults and children so that children will be able to enjoy learning and grow in confidence that helps them to achieve their potential.
Curriculum Implementation
Our unique curriculum is planned and implemented using a topic based approach which provides relevant and interesting experiences and opportunities for the children. Each half term, children will cover a several topics and will incorporate lots of opportunities to use the local area and welcome visitors into school to develop the cultural capital of our children. We have links with The Rising Sun Country Park and Spring View Care home to further develop links with the community and the natural world around us.
Our pupils learn through a compliment of child-initiated and adult-directed activities. The timetable is carefully structured so that in Reception, children have daily direct teaching in Literacy, Maths and phonics. These sessions are followed by group work where children work with a member of staff to develop the skills and knowledge being taught. This focused group time allows the teacher to practise the skills directly with the children, check for understanding and respond to misconceptions quickly. There are daily circle times to focus on the Knowledge and Understanding of the World, Expressive Arts and Design, Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development. These sessions are followed up during small group adult led tasks, or during continuous provision where children can practise and apply skills in play.
Children are provided with sustained periods of time to engage in continuous provision through a variety of experiences carefully planned to engage and challenge them. The curriculum is designed for the inside and outside classrooms and equal importance is given to learning in both areas. Experiences are cross-curricular, to enable all aspects of the children’s development including the Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning. We hold children's interests and fascinations in high regard and during this time, children have the freedom to follow interests and create their own mini projects. During continuous provision, adults are committed to supporting children in play, working together to contribute ideas and coming to conclusions together. We enable children to learn to be more curious and find their own solutions, while learning about each child’s understanding and knowledge. This sustained, shared thinking allows us to meet the needs and interest of all children and move learning forward through challenging their thinking. Developing communication and language skills underpins everything that we do so adults spend lots of time deep in conversation with children.
Reading is at the heart of our curriculum. Children follow the rigorous and highly successful Read, Write Inc program faithfully so that they meet good outcomes for reading. Multiple high quality texts are chosen to support topics and daily story times promote a love of reading. The “Over and Over” approach is used in Nursery to widen children’s vocabulary, develop comprehension skills and understanding of the structure of stories.
We are committed to ensuring our curriculum meets the needs of the children. Through ongoing assessment we are able to see which children are engaged in their learning, meeting expectations and making progress. Staff spend time evaluating how children are learning through talking to the children, working with them and during play. The EYFS team meet for regular meetings to discuss children’s development, paying particular attention to children who are not meeting the expected level of development. A discussion will then follow about what we know about the individual child and discuss interventions, scaffolds and strategies to support the child. This includes, for example, Time to Talk; our nurture group with some of our less confident children or BLAST, a language intervention in Nursery. However, most support is given to vulnerable children in play using approaches from “Foundations for Learning” where we are working with children in a familiar and stimulating environment responding to their individual needs.
Parents are valued as first educators and every effort is made to inform them of the EYFS curriculum whilst providing them with the tools to continue in learning at home. Parents are encouraged to share their child’s achievements through Tapestry and these are celebrated within school. Weekly updates on what we have been learning about as well as strategies to try at home are shared. Experiences to include and inform parents include activity sessions, phonics workshops, reading records, Tapestry, assemblies, picnics, career week and an open door policy.
Curriculum Impact
Our children will be actively engaged in their learning and the enjoyment of this learning will be apparent in their daily provision. All children will have experienced a curriculum that provides exciting and enriching learning experiences and opportunities for them to learn through educational visits and practical experiences.
Our young learners will be able to appreciate and understand the world around them and will actively ask questions about the world and their learning experiences. They will be able to apply characteristics of effective learning during opportunities to learn. We know that by the end of Foundation Stage at Wallsend Jubilee Primary School, our children will have developed knowledge and skills required for everyday life and lifelong learning. We believe the children at Wallsend Jubilee Primary School will be happy, inquisitive and successful learners who have bright futures. By revisiting concepts, skills and knowledge they will know more and remember more.
Our curriculum and its delivery ensure that children make good progress. We believe our high standards are due to the enriched play-based exploration alongside the rigour of assessment and teaching the children have as they move through the early years. A rich diet of complimented learning experiences is undoubtedly the best way to develop happy, curious children.