The Alderton Infant School

Curriculum

 

What does your child learn at school each day? Find information about our curriculum subjects here.

Do contact us directly for further information if you cannot find what you are looking for.

 

 

Reception Curriculum Map

Year 1 Curriculum Map

Year 2 Curriculum Map

Curriculum Subjects

Curriculum-Gallery 

 

 

 

At The Alderton Infant School we have high expectations in all of our curriculum areas. Our curriculum is broad and well balanced with a cross-curricular approach focusing on a clear progression of skills.

We have crafted a curriculum which;

  • covers the National Curriculum for Key Stage One and Early Years Framework for our Reception pupils but also details the skills, knowledge and understanding we wish pupils to develop in both the long term and medium term plan for each year group.
  • is sequential and is designed to build on previous learning towards a clear end point. We are continually strengthening subject knowledge with recent research to inform and guide the curriculum planning and approaches.
  • is planned from the highest expectation then scaffolded to meet the end goal. This style of differentiation gives all learners the opportunity to reach or exceed the expectations for each lesson. Our SEN pupils have goals closely matched to the progression of skills in the key areas.
  • we tailor the curriculum to meet the needs of children with a wide range of abilities. This includes a range of interventions and planning according to their baseline or end of year attainment.
  • has clear areas for development which are covered throughout a range of topics that includes a range of objectives within one lesson. This also allows children to review and revisit areas which have been previously taught and quickly move the learning on.
  • supports the Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural aspects of children’s development.  We enrich with a range of curriculum areas through school trips and external visitors to ensure we raise the cultural capital of our diverse community. We ensure British Values are included in this. 
  • promotes the characteristics of effective learning and six growth mindset values to ensure children have strong learning attitudes.
  • careful planning of finances including pupil premium funding ensures that all pupils have maximum opportunities to make good or better than good progress. Spending supports the priorities and developing needs of our current children.
  • aims to close gaps in attainment by being ambitious for our most vulnerable pupils and removing barriers so they can achieve their best. 
  • collaborates with the school community including: Parents, The Alderton Junior School, Governors, EFSPT (Epping Forest Schools Partnership Trust) and outside providers and agencies.
  • we strive to allow children to exceed expectations in a safe but challenging environment with positive learning strategies to support their mental well-being.
  • is in line with the Trauma Perceptive Practise (TPP) Behaviour and Management policy that we have developed within school.  Which ensures that the children are able to show a readiness to learn.  
  • We want children to enjoy learning in an environment that is enriched by the planning, content and embellishments we provide to support a creative curriculum.
  • we promote six learning behaviours which have been adopted by the Infant and Junior school to support children to learn positively and challenge thinking. (Perseverance, Aspiration, Curiosity, Independence, Engagement, Resilience). We believe that ‘Growth Mindset’ will support all children to believe that they are good learners.
  • part of our intent is that all our pupils should enjoy a wide range of experiences to enrich the National Curriculum.  Raising children’s knowledge and skills will enrich their cultural diversity.

 

Implementation

Planning delivers content from the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (2021) and the National Curriculum 2015:

  • through a range of schemes that have been adapted to support the context of the school.
  • using bespoke planning that reflects the current cohort.
  • using the latest research which understands child development.
  • adapting to the needs of individual learners.
  • celebrates individual teaching styles which maximises engagement for pupils.
  • pupils are taught through investigation, practical activities, adult led tasks or activities 
  • pre-teach and revisiting activities ensure the concept has been learned and applied.
  • quality first teaching is used to ensure pupils achieve the learning objective, this includes using differentiation to scaffold pupils.
  • teachers use their teacher assessment to adjust learning accordingly, this could be through remodelling and addressing misconceptions in the lesson, through use of adult deployment or through intensive intervention. 
  • pupils who grasp concepts readily are challenged through planned problem solving or investigation tasks
  • SENCO tracks vulnerable pupils and supports staff to remove barriers to pupil’s development including coordinating specialists from outside agencies. 
  • Subject leaders will work together to identify cross curricular links in which pupils can reinforce knowledge, understanding and practical skills which are both relevant and purposeful.
  • parents are asked to take a key role in support the delivery of the curriculum through homework, supporting key events in school, attending regular information meetings and workshops in school.

 

Impact

It is important to everyone at The Alderton Infant School to monitor, evaluate and review the progress of all pupils in school. We do this by:

  • careful monitoring throughout lessons or interventions using pupil discussion, observation, tracking progress in books, assessment
  • statutory and informal testing helps to support teacher judgements at key points throughout the academic year
  • reporting of assessment is important so that pupil progress can be tracked, highlight key areas of development or identify individuals or groups of children that are exceeding, achieving or not making the expected progress
  • using a range of resources to track progress creates an evidence base for teachers to pass on to colleagues at the end of an academic year or to support staff changes