Curriculum Implementation: How is our curriculum delivered?

At Acre Rigg Infant School, we use the following resources to support the teaching of the curriculum:

• The Early Years Foundation Stage for two-year old, nursery and reception aged children
• The National Curriculum and Durham RE Agreed Syllabus for Year 1 and Year 2 children

Additionally, our curriculum is enhanced with opportunities to learn from:

• outdoor learning experiences in the school grounds, local area and Forest School,
• events with schools across our partnership network,
• events in the community,
• a comprehensive programme of after school clubs,
• visitors in school and
• organised educational visits.

(You can click on the links above to find out more.)

Planning

Nursery

• Long term plans for continuous provision are used for all areas in nursery.
• Topic plans are produced each half term.
• Short term planning for phonics groups, maths groups and areas within nursery are completed.
• Planning through interests also runs alongside topic based activities.

Reception

• Long term plans for all areas of continuous provision are produced for the reception unit.
• Overarching topic plans are produced on a half termly basis.
• Half termly overviews are produced for differentiated phonics groups and whole class maths teaching.
• Weekly planning for differentiated phonics and whole class maths is documented in the form of flipcharts produced to teach lessons.
• Planning through interests, covering many specific aspects of the curriculum, is documented weekly and runs alongside topic based activities.

Year 1 and Year 2                                                                                                                                       

Subject leaders devise schemes of work and teachers use these documents to create:

• a long term plan which details the topics and curriculum coverage for the year,
• medium term plans which detail what will be covered in each subject area across a term or half term and
• knowledge organisers which detail what we want each child to learn and remember when they move on from our school to the next stage in their education.

Long and medium term planning is regularly reviewed for relevance and interest and subject leaders ensure skills are progressive and coverage is consistent.

You can find the above documents in your child’s class folder if you go back to the main curriculum page.

Delivery

Nursery

Nursery operate a key worker system. Children have daily phonics and maths sessions in their key groups. The nursery is set up to allow the children to learn through continuous provision. Enhancements and adult led activities run alongside throughout the session.

Reception

Reception operate a ‘unit’ style approach to teaching with two teachers and two teaching assistants supporting all children.  Phonics and maths are taught as separate lessons with small group follow up to allow for consolidation of skills.  The unit is set up to allow children to learn through interests and the environment whilst accessing continuous provision.  Enhancements and adult led activities run alongside throughout the day.

Year 1 and Year 2                                                                                                                                                               

The subjects of English, Mathematics, Computing, PE, Music and RE are taught as separate lessons and we use a topic approach to teach the subjects of Science, History, Geography, Art and Design Technology.                                                

You can find the Curriculum Statement for each subject if you go back to the main curriculum page.

Special Educational Needs

The curriculum at our school is designed to provide access and opportunity for all children.                                                 

If a child has a special need identified, we comply with the requirements of the SEN Code of Practice to meet specific individual needs.  In most instances, the teacher is able to provide the resources and educational opportunities to meet the child’s needs within the normal class organisation.  This is called Quality First Teaching and may include support in lessons or intervention work from the teacher or teaching assistant.  Additionally, a child’s need may be met with targeted support from professionals from outside agencies.    

The Learning Environment

Nursery 

Nursery is set up using continuous provision. Children are able to access areas and equipment independently, and staff support learning through play. Children have access to the outdoor space on a daily basis. Adult led activities and enhancements are used throughout the setting. Areas include practical spaces such as building and painting, and more quiet spaces for story telling or adult led games and activities.

Reception

The reception unit comprises of three classrooms and an outdoor area.  Two classrooms are set up with large areas of continuous provision including practical areas such as role play, building, creating and modelling as well as quieter areas such as small world, reading and writing. These classroom have continuous access to the outdoor space.  Children can move freely between all three areas.  Throughout the day, all children also visit the third classroom to access adult led small group phonics and maths teaching in order to apply skills taught during larger group inputs.

Year 1 and Year 2                                                                                                                           

Classroom areas are set up to enable children to follow their own interests and learn independently.  When children are not engaged in directed teaching, they access the areas to develop curiosity, creativity and independent thinking and problem solving skills.  It is also a time which supports the development of children’s social skills.  Teachers resource and enhance the areas to ensure learning is appropriate and purposeful and they monitor the use of the areas to ensure each child is accessing a range of activities across the curriculum.

Gem Learning

Dr Tom Robson’s ‘Gem Powers’ are used across school to foster positive behaviours for learning.  Children work as a class to earn gems to ‘boost’ their learning powers.  Each gem represents specific ‘skills:’

• Diamond Power to develop independence, problem solving and thinking skills.  Teaching children to “be responsible” for their own learning.
• Ruby Power to develop collaborative skills.  Teaching children to “learn with and support others.”
• Emerald Power to develop resilience.  Teaching children to “persevere with challenges” and “learn from mistakes.”
• Sapphire Power to develop the ability to “maintain focus on learning, stay on task and avoid monster distractions.”
• Amethyst Power is ‘boosted’ when children work with a partner and Topaz Power is ‘boosted’ when children work and learn as part of a group.

Parents/Carers

We value parents/carers as partners in their child’s education.  Regular curriculum meetings and workshops are held to share curriculum expectations and half termly topic plans, knowledge organisers, vocabulary lists and newsletters are supplied to enable parents/carers to support their child’s learning at home.  Individual meetings are also held termly to discuss progress and share learning targets.  Parents/carers can come in to school throughout the school year to see lessons in action and they are regularly invited into school to work with their children and attend events which celebrate learning.

Subject Leaders

All subjects at Acre Rigg Infant School are led and monitored by subject leaders who attend relevant training and termly network meetings to update their own knowledge and skills.  High quality teaching and learning is a priority and subject leaders work with staff to ensure that effective teaching and learning takes place across school.  Subject leaders are also responsible for monitoring attainment across their subject.