Key Stage 1

Curriculum Statement

At Harlands, Key Stage 1 comprises of five classes across Years 1 and 2:

• Year 1: Palm, Oak and Beech
• Year 2: Rowan and Willow

Teachers work closely across year groups to plan lessons, prepare resources and assess learning. Occasionally, classes come together to complete their learning.

The following topics are covered:

 Intent

“A tree has roots in the soil yet reaches to the sky.  It tells us that in order to aspire, we need to be grounded and that no matter how high we go, it is from our roots we draw sustenance.”

In Key Stage 1, our intention is to build upon the foundations laid in Early Years so that our children develop a deep understanding of the core skills, as outlined in the National Curriculum, to enable them to spread their roots and grow throughout their time in the infant department and beyond.  This mirrors our school’s Moral Purpose and Values.

 Implementation

Using a topic-based approach, alongside our Golden Threads of creativity, community and choice, we provide our children with exciting and purposeful lessons which promote a lifelong love of learning.  We have high aspirations for our children and use Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction to challenge and inspire our students whilst empowering them to become independent, confident and successful learners.  We also provide a safe environment for the children where they feel happy to take risks and learn from any mistakes they make.  We recognise that each child’s learning journey is unique so we adapt our provision to ensure that every student meets their potential according to their starting point.

In Key Stage 1, staff bring learning to life by organising regular trips and experience days to complement our curriculum and we take advantage of our wonderful school grounds by learning outdoors whenever we can. We also rely heavily on the relationships we have built with parents, grandparents and carers as we believe that children thrive when home and school work together to develop the ‘whole’ child.

Impact

We strive to ensure that our children’s attainment in the core and foundation subjects is at least in-line with age-related expectations whilst considering their varied starting points. We measure this using a range of materials and methods including:

• Termly summative assessments to track progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Ongoing formative assessments through the use of verbal or written feedback in response to the work completed in lessons.
• Peer and self-evaluations.

Children are also set bespoke targets to help them develop personally, socially and academically, thus preparing them for the next phase of their learning and beyond.

Updated April 2022