Curriculum

Curriculum Drivers

Our Curriculum is designed to develop five core characteristics in our pupils, which we believe will lay the foundations for them to be lifelong learners and good global citizens. These are:

Curriculum Driver: Community

Community

Curriculum Driver: Creative

Creative

Curriculum Driver: Care

Care

Curriculum Driver: Curiosity

Curiosity

Curriculum Driver: Communicate

Communicate

Curriculum Intent

The curriculum is all the planned experiences we provide for our pupils in order to develop an enjoyment of and commitment to learning.  It includes not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum and Early Years Foundation Stage but also includes the ‘hidden curriculum’ which is all the other things children learn from just being in school.

St. Laurence Church Infant School gives children full access to a broad and balanced curriculum, enabling them to achieve the highest academic and personal standards possible, promoting their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and beginning to provide them with the challenges and life skills they will need in order to take their place in modern British society.

As an Infant school we know that our children need a solid foundation in literacy and numeracy. As a Church of England School we recognise RE as a core subject.

When planning a curriculum for our school we have established the following principles:

  • Our curriculum will be child centred – encouraging their innate curiosity, developing their creativity and allowing them to make connections in their learning
  • We have ambition and high expectations for all and believe in an inclusive curriculum
  • Through our curriculum children’s physical skills will develop and children have many opportunities to experience outdoor learning
  • Adherence to the school’s Christian values and compassion is a guiding tenet
  • Children know how to make a positive contribution to their community and the wider society including a developing awareness of global issues

The school strives to provide a curriculum that all pupils will find enjoyable and that helps them to understand the relevance of their lessons. Equal value and recognition is given to pupils’ strengths in all areas of the curriculum.  We hope that they will develop a love of learning that will stay with them throughout their education and into adult life.

Our values are firmly rooted in Christian faith and belief.  We value all of our children, whatever their background or ability.  We expect them to show compassion, consideration and respect for others in the hope that they will develop into caring and responsible citizens.  We encourage truth, honesty, fairness, loyalty and perseverance.

Personal faith and belief is a very individual matter and cannot be taught.  However, we do aim to give children a sound understanding of what it is to be a Christian, and provide opportunities from which belief and faith may stem.  We also provide the opportunity to study other faiths and the ways in which those faith communities conduct their religious and spiritual lives.

We know that children will enter our school with differing levels of academic, physical and social development.  We aim to cater for different needs, and for each child to achieve success and make progress and to ensure that success will be valued whatever the level of achievement.

Curriculum Subjects

Religious Education and Collective Worship

As a church school, our daily act of worship is really important to us. Our worship is invitational, inclusive and inspirational. In worship, we help children to develop spiritually whether they are Christian, belong to another faith or have no faith.  We reflect on our world and our place in it, as well as thinking about the rights of children across the world.

Grown-ups are invited to join us in the hall for worship at 9.10am three times a week:

  • On Mondays for our Amazing Attitude Award Assembly when children’s learning behaviours during the previous week are celebrated.
  • On Thursdays for worship led by clergy from St Laurence Church, Northfield.
  • On Friday for our World Aware Worship including a celebration of birthdays from the week (Sunday-Saturday).

We will let grown-ups know if your child is receiving an award or will be having their birthday candles, but you are welcome to come on any of these days, whether your child will be at the front or not.

We also have a Celebration Assembly once per half term, where children can bring any certificates, medals, trophies etc. from outside of school to show and we can celebrate with them and be thankful for the good things in our lives.  The next date will be in the diary dates section of the weekly newsletter, usually the last Tuesday of the half term. Grown-ups will also be welcome to join us for this worship.

We attend St Laurence Church, Northfield, to celebrate some of the main Christian festivals.

Religious Education is mostly Christian with links made to other world faiths to develop understanding and respect.

Parents have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of the Religious Education and Collective Worship provided. The Headteacher must be informed if parents wish to exercise this right. Alternative provision can be arranged for children at these times.

For more information, see our Collective Worship Policy on our Policies and Documents page, and our Religious Education Policy above.

Children and parents in Collective Worship.

Enjoying the actions to Our God is a Good God.

Assessment

Assessment for Learning tells us what the children know and, therefore, helps us to plan the next stage of their learning. In Reception ongoing assessment is recorded throughout the year in an Early Years Foundation Stage Profile for each child.

The Phonics Screening Check is a statutory assessment for all children at the end of Year One. It is designed to confirm whether individual children have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard.

End of Key Stage One Assessment for children in Year Two takes place in the Summer Term to measure progress in English, Mathematics and Science. Teacher assessments are supported by practical tasks and written tests, which are also known as SATs (Standard Assessment Tasks and Tests). These are designed to help inform the final teacher assessment judgement reported for each child at the end of Key Stage 1.

Home Learning

The time and encouragement you give to support your child’s learning at home will benefit them greatly as they enjoy sharing their experiences with you.

We particularly encourage the children to listen to stories, share and talk about books, and read at home. We hope that sharing books will be a pleasurable experience and foster a life-long interest in reading.