English

• Speaking & Listening

If children speak well, with confidence, in a range of situations they will develop strong reading and writing skills. Speaking and listening skills develop from the moment children are born through human interaction. We therefore ensure that children can develop and hone these skills at every opportunity, every day. Speaking and Listening is undertaken individually, in groups, and as a whole class. Our ultimate aim is to improve confidence so all children can contribute in class. The ability to speak clearly, using appropriate language, in a variety of situations is something we constantly strive for.

• Reading

We want children to read avidly and fluently, with understanding and enjoyment. We stress both reading for pleasure and developing the skills of reading for information. We want children to see themselves as readers from the very beginning. Starting in the Foundation Stage classes, children read books in school and take them home. The emphasis in the early stages is on sharing books and supporting children to develop their own competence in reading. We aim to provide a wide range of books, both within the classroom and in the library. During the day all classes will have a guided reading session when books are shared with the teacher, other adults or other children.

• Phonics

The children in Key Stage 1 and EYFS  follow a revised version of  Letters and Sounds phonics programme, we use an intervention program LLIP (Luton Literacy Improvement Programme) to help support children who need additional support .

• Writing

In the early stages children are encouraged to write about their own experiences. Children are encouraged to see writing as a process and we expect them to develop skills of drafting their work to become independent writers. We encourage them to be creative in story writing and poetry and they learn to write for different purposes. Handwriting and presentation are important skills and taught explicitly and as part of all lessons.

KS1 English overview 23/24

Mathematics

In our school we believe that all children can be confident, competent mathematicians who enjoy the subject and have a positive attitude towards maths. We work closely with the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics and follow a Teaching for Mastery style curriculum (see diagram below).  We encourage our pupils to enjoy mathematics by offering them opportunities for investigation, challenges and for them to apply their skills in ‘real life’ contexts such as, spending money and cooking. We teach a broad range of skills in using and applying mathematics and calculation methods to enable our pupils to solve mathematical problems in a wide range of contexts and to make connections within mathematics. We do this in accordance with the objectives from the National Curriculum. Our pupils explore the areas of number, shape and space and statistics and where possible this is contextualised in the topic area they are studying at the time. They are encouraged to independently investigate and develop their understanding of numerical concepts and deepen their mathematical thinking.

Science

Science is a central part of our lives. It is a way of finding out about the world around us, trying out ideas and looking for explanations. We help children to develop lively, enquiring minds so that they can evaluate evidence and have a concern for their environment. Opportunities are provided for pupils to test and challenge ideas through experimentation and to record their findings accurately to allow effective analysis of data