The schemes of work which we plan for the children in our school embrace the requirements of the National Curriculum and the Curriculum Statement of The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. They emphasise a broad Early Years Curriculum which aims to put spiritual, moral, cultural and social education at the heart of the teaching and learning process, alongside academic and physical development.
Our teaching is planned over a four year period to ensure that, while children are with us, they master the knowledge and skills which we believe are fundamental to life and employment in the twenty-first century. Teachers produce a termly scheme of work for each subject but the work is often presented to the children through a theme or topic which is designed to capture children's imagination and to promote positive attitudes to the education process by providing a context and purpose for their learning.
Children's progress is assessed on a continuous basis as part of their regular learning activities as well as through statutory processes. This progress is formally reported to parents during the autumn and summer terms with a written report at the end of each school year.
Children are taught mainly in their age groups but sometimes across a key stage where this meets educational or social objectives.
In the first two years children spend a high proportion of their day engaged in English, Mathematics and Science activities because of the importance of these subjects to the acquisition of basic skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, number and information technology. In years three and four children develop and consolidate these basic skills whilst at the same time acquiring the knowledge, skills and understanding defined in the individual National Curriculum subject orders.
The average hours per year devoted to each subject are as follows:
English |
180-270 |
180-270 |
Mathematics |
135-180 |
150-210 |
Science |
53 |
68 |
ICT |
30 |
34 |
Design Technology |
30 |
34 |
History |
30 |
34 |
Geography |
30 |
34 |
Art and design |
30 |
34 |
Music |
30 |
34 |
Physical Education |
45 |
51 |
Religious Education |
36 |
45 |
Time is also set aside for developing children's spiritual, social and moral awareness.
The cross-curricular approach to the curriculum has been so successful in Reception and Year One over the last few years that we are extending this approach to teaching and learning to all year groups. All subject areas of the National Curriculum will still be covered, but there will be much more flexibility to timetabling, and to how we teach children. This will lead to longer periods of time on one subject, such a whole week on History, which will also incorporate Literacy, Drama, Science experimentation etc. We hope the year group details will give you a flavour of the cross-curricular approach to teaching AND learning and how this will aid enjoyment in learning for children. Each morning, guided reading and reading activities will continue to take place between 9am and 9.30am for most year groups, and on the whole Numeracy will still be taught for an hour each day as a separate subject.
Please note that as Rising Fives, the reception class will cover as much of this work as possible within the limitations of time and ability of the children. The main emphasis for reception children will be on settling into school and working on basic Literacy, Reading and Numeracy skills.
Theme for Term 1: Ourselves
Communication, Language and Literacy
We will try to instil a love of reading through introducing a variety of books. We will introduce a range of reading strategies including phonics and “look and say”. Children will be introduced to the Story Sacks and will be encouraged to take them home at weekends to share with families. They will be offered lots of opportunities for writing and the focus will be on the correct way to hold a pencil and on correct letter formation. Speaking and listening skills will be developed through a variety of play situations, action rhymes, description of themselves and family members.
Mathematical development
We will introduce basic number skills linked closely to Ourselves i.e. counting in fives (fingers on hand), number of items in the hospital and shop etc. There will be opportunities for size comparison, addition and subtraction and weighing and measuring, all in fun situations and through a play approach.
Knowledge and Understanding of the World
Work in Science, History, Geography and RE will be related to the topic through: where we live, our families and homes, celebrating weddings and birthdays, similarities and |