Intent

At East Preston Infant School, our curriculum is designed to help children become responsible, independent individuals who acquire a life-long enjoyment of learning and the transferable knowledge and skills to be socially and emotionally prepared for the world in which they live.

Our curriculum is designed to support our aims:

• Learning is fun and inspiring, developing a thirst for knowledge and an enquiring mind
• It fosters positive self-esteem by valuing all achievements
• It nurtures the whole child, developing their emotional, social and spiritual awareness
• It is taught within an inclusive environment where everyone is encouraged to fulfil their potential in order to be the best that they can be
• It helps children to become responsible and caring citizens
• It supports children in leading healthy lives in a happy and safe environment
• It encourages pro-social behaviour and mutual respect for others and the environment
• It is carried out in partnership with parents, carers and the wider community

Implementation

Our creative and curiosity-led curriculum is centred on the need for children to be able to think, work and learn independently. The learning is developed from each child’s starting point and is built upon as they progress through the school so that they are ready to start the next stage in their journey. Adaptations are made in order that all children are able to participate in the learning within their classroom. We are committed to active learning outside the classroom, including through Forest and Beach School, to enrich the children’s ‘hands-on’ experiences.

Our memorable learning journeys are carefully designed to engage and inspire children. Each topic begins with a knowledge harvest to capture the children’s ideas and stimulate their thinking. WOW experiences are carefully planned to immerse the children and further promote questions and ideas to explore. Mini adventures, both within school and off-site, help to capture learning in a ‘real-life’ context.

The home-school partnership is a vital part of our curriculum and families are encouraged to further extend and support their child’s learning at home through participating in take-home activities and experiences. Parents, carers and extended family are encouraged to become fully involved in the life of the school, being regularly invited to participate and celebrate in their child’s learning.

Intended Impact

• Our strong commitment to providing a rich education enables our children to become well-rounded, caring and responsible citizens, with a strong sense of self-worth and the confidence to succeed.
• Active involvement leads children to be independent and creative, achieving their potential to be the best that they can be.
• Our curriculum enables children to develop links in their learning and apply their knowledge and skills within a range of exciting, real-life experiences.
• Our Rights Respecting ethos enables children to develop mutual respect, a shared responsibility and an appreciation of equity and diversity within a global community.
• Our meta-cognition Learning Crew supports children in developing key attributes and transferable skills across their learning.

Assessment, Recording and Reporting

Good assessment is an integral part of our teaching and learning cycle. We believe that all pupils can succeed if taught and assessed effectively. At East Preston Infant School, we aim for high quality teaching and learning, and at the heart of this is effective assessment. The assessment coordinators at our school are Mrs Claire New (Headteacher) and Miss Philippa Moulson (Deputy Headteacher).

Assessment at East Preston Infant School takes three forms:

1. In-school Formative Assessment (assessment for learning AfL)
2. In-school Summative Assessment
3. Statutory National Assessments

In-school Formative Assessment (AfL):

Day to day, high quality formative assessment is an integral part of good teaching and learning. It helps children to identify their own strengths and areas for development. It allows teachers to understand pupil performance on a continuing basis, enabling them to identify when pupils are struggling, when they have consolidated learning and when they are ready to progress. In this way, it supports teachers to provide appropriate support or extension as necessary and enables teachers to evaluate teaching and learning and to then plan future lessons accordingly. Considering this we prioritise time to focus on high quality, in depth teaching, supported by in-class formative assessment. Formative assessment takes place every day and in every learning activity. Teachers and support staff check on a child’s knowledge and understanding and adapt their teaching accordingly.

In-school Summative Assessment:

Summative assessment is used to evaluate how much a child has learned at the end of a teaching period. As an infant school we have children in two different key stages, the Foundation Stage (YR) and Key Stage 1 (Y1 and Y2), with each of these key stages following a different curriculum. These are:

YR: Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFSC)

Y1 & Y2: National Curriculum.

Our summative assessment procedures are matched to the demands of these two curricula, which means that the systems in YR are different to those in years 1 and 2, although the principles remain the same. We track children’s progress from starting points when they join the school throughout their journey at our school.

Statutory National Assessments:

These are used to provide information on how our children are performing in comparison to children nationally and locally. They provide parents with information on how the school is performing in comparison to schools nationally. Teachers have a clear understanding of national expectations and assess their own performance in the broader national context. In YR this is the EYFS Baseline and Foundation Stage Profile; In Year 1 this is the Phonics Screening Check and in Year 2 this is the Phonics Screening Re-Check for those children who did not meet the expected standard in Year 1.

Year R – Foundation Stage:

Children’s progress is tracked through the age and stage bands within Development Matters, linked to the EYFSC. When a child starts school, on entry judgments are made in each of the 17 areas of learning using information from parents/carers, pre-school settings and staff. This information is used to plan the provision for those children in their first term in school. The school also carries out the National Baseline assessments which enable the Government to track individual progress from YR to Y6.

Judgments are made again at the end of each term in order to measure progress and identify the next steps in learning. Parents/carers are invited to attend parents’ evenings in the Autumn and Spring Terms to discuss their child’s progress and ways in which they can support their learning at home. Next steps and targets are also shared at these meetings.

In the second half of the summer term children are assessed against each of the 17 early learning goals (ELG) and the statutory Foundation Stage Profile is completed which indicates if children have met the expected standard, known as ‘Good Level of Development’ (meeting the expected standard in the Prime areas of Communication and Language; Physical Development; Personal, social and emotional development). This information along, with next steps, is reported to parents at the end of the summer term in a written report, and is used to plan provision for children as they enter year 1. An open evening is then held so that parents/carers can meet with teachers if there is something they would like to discuss.

Years 1 and 2 - Key Stage 1:

In Key Stage 1, attainment in the core subjects (Reading, Writing and Maths) is tracked on ‘Learning Ladders’ and these, along with Science are recorded each term on our own tracking system, enabling us to see individual progress alongside children who are on track/not on track to meet the expectations for their year group. Attainment in Foundation subjects is recorded on ‘tick lists’ against learning objectives and then a summative sheet is completed at the end of each year and passed on to the next teacher.

In Year 1 the children undertake the statutory Phonic Screening check and if they do not meet the expected standard they retake the check in Year 2. The results of the check are reported to parents at the end of the academic year.

At the end of the academic year, parents receive a written report about their child summarising their attainment and next steps. An open evening is then held so that parents/carers can meet with teachers if there is something they would like to discuss.

Standardisation and Moderation

The teaching staff regularly standardise and moderate work within school and against other schools locally and Nationally to ensure that the judgements made are accurate. This includes working across phases within the school so that everyone is accountable for the decisions that are made about children’s work.

Reporting to Parents/Carers

Children's attainment and progress is discussed at Parent Consultation Meetings in the Autumn and Spring terms. Parents are given information on their child’s attainment, next steps and attendance. Teachers are also available for informal consultations throughout the year if parents/carers wish to discuss their child's learning and/or progress. In the Summer term, a written report on progress and attainment is shared with parents/carers.