Vision

Our vision in Year 1 aligns with EYFS to provide our children with the skills to be confident, successful and independent life-long learners ready for the modern world.

The Key Outcomes for our Year 1 curriculum, alongside the Key Stage 1  National Curriculum statements, are:

  • I am an independent and curious learner who will take risks
  • I am physically active
  • I can communicate effectively and work collaboratively with confidence and respect
  • I can use my imagination to broaden my learning experiences
  • I am part of my community

Coundon Primary and Nursery School Curriculum Intent Statement

Learning at Coundon Primary and Nursery School starts with the child; our curriculum changes and develops to reflect this. It is our intention that the curriculum will be distinctive to each cohort, engaging the children’s curiosity to develop a love of learning.

Our curriculum will support children to become lifelong resilient learners with a positive attitude and the ability to work collaboratively with others showing respect. We will work in partnership with our families to support our children to grow as individuals and develop key skills such as independence and inquisitiveness. We will build on the diversity of our cohort’s community with an acceptance and tolerance of other faiths and cultures.

We will have a clear focus on developing breadth in language and communication, imagination and physical skills. We will ensure children can communicate in a number of different ways with confidence. We strive to use the outside environment as a key feature of our curriculum, and it is an expectation that all children will be physically active.

The curriculum is planned with our Key Outcomes in mind and with the purpose of promoting excitement, awe and wonder. Within this the opportunity for children to work collaboratively and with respect will be promoted. Staff will plan purposeful learning activities matched to the children’s individual development and interests. Through sustained shared thinking and scaffolding we will help further deepen children’s imagination and curiosity of the world around them.

It is also important for us that learning is genuinely purposeful. To achieve this, the curriculum design will be structured around topics with specific outcomes.

We know that children learn and develop well in enabling environments and so we will offer stimulating resources that evoke curiosity, rich learning opportunities through imaginative play and playful teaching, that is adapted to support and challenge for all. These include having opportunities to get messy, be physical and take calculated risks. We intend to prepare children to reach the End of Key Stage One standards by the end of Year 2 and ensure they make good progress from their starting points. We will support our children through their transition into Year 2 and their journey throughout our school. Our vision is that children will leave with the skills to be confident, successful and independent life-long learners for modern day Britain.

Continuous Provision

Play is the highest form of research – Albert Einstein

In Year 1, we will continue to use a teaching and learning approach called Continuous Provision where carefully planned environments enable children to pursue their own interests during ‘self-led learning time’. Research shows that young children benefit from a curriculum that is play-based and ‘hands on’ and where there is a greater degree of choice. Piaget (1952) described the stage of development between 2 and 6 years as being a time when children learn to use language, begin to represent ideas using pictures and objects and are highly active, learning through pretend play and first-hand experiences. The use of Continuous Provision beyond Early Years and into Key Stage 1 is also supported by Early Excellence, an organisation that is established as a national leader in the pedagogy and practice of teaching young children.

In Year 1, there will be a mix of adult-led teaching, small group work and self-led learning times when children engage in learning of their own choice alongside weekly challenges and planned opportunities to be historians, geographers, artists, musicians, scientists, mathematicians, readers and writers. There will be a focus on providing many opportunities for repeated practise in the environment so that children can demonstrate what they know, remember and understand in ways they choose. Our classrooms are language rich places, where the youngest children in the school discuss, negotiate and roleplay. They regularly demonstrate fantastic independence and engagement in their learning, responding positively to the challenges they are set by their teachers.