Curriculum
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Provision is made for the children’s intellectual, physical, social, emotional and spiritual development to help them develop an enthusiasm for learning and good interpersonal skills.
We aim to provide a broad and balanced curriculum that includes the core subjects of Maths, English and Science, and the foundation subjects of History, Geography, Information Communication Technology, Design Technology, Art, Music and Physical Education of the National Curriculum. Our Personal & Social educational curriculum includes Health Education but does not cover any formal programme of Sex Education as agreed by the Governing Body. However, we do aim to help children to cope with the physical and emotional challenges of growing up and to give them an elementary understanding of reproduction. Any parent with questions or concerns about this are asked to see the Headteacher.
Southsea Infant School fully subscribes to the City policy for Intercultural Education. All children, whatever race, colour or creed are treated as individuals. Every person in the school is expected to show respect to each other. The curriculum also includes an element which raises awareness of the diversity of cultural backgrounds in the school.
English
We aim for the children to become fluent in spoken and written English. We achieve this by providing a wide variety of learning experiences. This includes daily literacy lessons for all age groups including the use of a DFE validated SSP programme, Essential Letters and Sounds. Opportunities to encompass the National Curriculum programmes of study are provided. The children take books home that are matched to their phonic level. Each classroom is equipped with an engaging reading area where a variety of books are available. Pupils are encouraged to choose other books to "share" with their adults, making it clear that these are books the children should not be attempting to read alone but enjoy with their families to promote a love of literature. Workshop sessions are offered to parents where more detailed guidance on how we teach literacy skills is provided.
The children are formally taught handwriting from the time they start school in Year R. Early on, children are given plenty of practice in developing hand control. Children in their final year are expected to be able to write a reasonable amount of free writing that is well formed and correctly spelt.
Links to topics in all year groups are made with literacy to give the children an interesting and relevant focus to their reading, writing and drama work.
Mathematics
Maths Knowledge and Skills Progression
Children in Year R are taught mathematical skills in a practical way following the Early Years Foundation Stage profile. Children have mathematics lessons in Year 1 & 2 following the National Curriculum which has 3 mains aims, fluency, reasoning and problem solving.
We aim to ensure that children are given regular opportunities to become fluent in the key number facts in maths i.e. number bonds, place value, times tables, doubles, and halves through regular practise so that they can develop their conceptual understanding and have the ability to recall and apply knowledge with speed and accuracy.
Our children develop their reasoning skills through following lines of enquiry and seeing relationships. They are encouraged to justify their answers or ‘prove it!’
We provide frequent opportunities for children to apply their skills through a range of problem solving tasks, deepening their understanding and allowing them to explain their methods and strategies. Through problem solving, children are then able to make connections and apply their knowledge across the curriculum.
We develop mental and calculation strategies (see our Progression in Calculation document under policies) from an early age and use a range of practical resources to develop and consolidate children’s understanding.
Science
Children are given the opportunity from the time they start school to cover the National Curriculum programmes of study. Science is incorporated into the curriculum either through a topic based approach or as a discreet block of work. We place a high priority on children learning through first hand experience. Children are given the opportunity to develop important scientific skills such as observation, classification, experimentation and prediction. We would expect our older children to be able to explain and communicate in a variety of ways the results of simple experiments.
Computing
Children in all year groups have daily access to newly purchased Ipads that allow them to explore a range of computing programmes, code and word process thanks to the attached keyboards. All pupils have the opportunity to use technology across the curriculum, i.e. story telling in English, researching in History and using Google maps to explore our local community and the wider world. Other resources such as Beebots and Lego coding kits are used to enhance the computing curriculum.
Religious Education
We aim to provide a Religious Education policy in line with the Portsmouth agreed syllabus, `Living Difference', consistent with the overall teaching and learning policy for the school, and reflecting the multi-cultural nature of the local community and the school's strong commitment to inter-cultural education. The school is concerned to promote the spiritual and moral development of it's pupils, not just through the planned curriculum, but through assemblies and collective worship, through developing links with the local community and through the ethos and standards of the whole school. Parents have the right to withdraw their children from RE and if any pupil is withdrawn they will be suitably supervised.
