KS1 and KS2 Curriculum

Our curriculum in KS1 is structured into term-long units of work. We believe that this gives children the opportunity to study areas of the curriculum in greater depth and allows them to make choices in their learning.

For each year group, we identify the core knowledge that children need to learn in each subject and the associated skills they need to be taught and then apply to be effective learners. These are the building blocks for the units of work we teach each term.

Our topics are led by ‘concepts’ – the big ideas such as beauty, change, conflict, faith, forgiveness, identity, power and trust – that link across all subjects. By structuring our curriculum around these concepts, children are able to see themes that link within and across subjects. Concepts such as these can be explored and revisited multiple times throughout the curriculum, meaning children are able to deepen their understanding and learn to apply it in different ways.

Year 1

Our learning in Year 1 is based on the ethos and principles of Early Years provision, allowing children opportunities to learn through play in their independent learning time. The classroom is organised in a similar way to the Early Years classrooms with lots of opportunities for children to develop their skills in:

• managing information,
• thinking, solving problems and making decisions
• being creative
• working with others
• self management

Independent learning at Key Stage one builds on the hands–on learning that has taken place in the Early Years. It is linked to the project being explored and allows children to engage in a variety of focused play activities and independent play based games/activities, for example, construction, role play, art/ design and table top games.

As the year progresses, pupils slowly start to take place in more structured activities and lessons directed by the class teacher or learning support assistant.

Phonics, English and Maths continue to be taught in short, structured lessons either as a whole class or in smaller groups, progressing to longer lessons as the year progresses.

Year 2 onwards

In Year 2, the children take part in more formal learning throughout the day. They have daily English and Maths lessons, with additional guided reading, phonics and handwriting sessions. The foundation subjects are taught through our term-long projects based around concepts. Their learning is based around exploration and enquiry as they develop subject-specific knowledge and wider learning skills.

Please click on the links below to see the Long Term Overviews for each year group.