Curriculum

Please click on the link below to view the National Curriculum for Primary Schools.

Government - Primary National Curriculum 

The Foundation Stage

Children in Nursery and Reception  access the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum. They engage in learning through first hand experiences that foster investigation and enquiry. The Early Years curriculum is made up of 7 areas of learning; 3 prime and 4 specific.

Prime Areas

The prime areas of the EYFS are: Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language and Physical Development.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development is vital in the Foundation Stage. Through every day learning, we support the children in making strong relationships with their peers and familiar adults and encourage them to become confident and independent young people. At all times, adults support and model appropriate behaviour to promote positive relationships within the classroom; this is in reinforced during and circle times and small group activities. The children are encouraged to recognise and celebrate personal achievements, however small, and those of their peers.

To promote a rich and varied vocabulary, we provide a language rich environment, which gives opportunities for children to experience new and imaginative vocabulary.  We plan specific activities to upscale the children’s vocabulary which is illustrated through our  Talk for Writing, book sharing, role-play, child initiated activities and when using the outdoor area.  To further deepen the understanding of children’s learning, staff in Foundation Stage are encouraged to use questioning to allow children to talk about their experiences. The use of questioning also encourages children to use a wider range of vocabulary to form longer, more complex sentences.

Physical Development, is a fundamentally important skill which underpins all aspects of children’s early experiences. If children learn to move with control and coordination; to balance and climb; to move with agility and self-expression they are likely to be more successful learners throughout their school lives. Steve Wales, sports coach, spends time with EYFS children developing their physical development.

Our recently developed outdoor area gives the children opportunities to climb, balance, hang and manoeuvre in and out of equipment. All children in EYFS have access to bikes and wheels.  

Specific Areas

The specific areas of the EYFS are: Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design

Reading

Children in EYFS have daily phonics sessions using Letterland where they learn to articulate pure letter sounds through a range of multisensory activities. As the year progresses, children move in nursery move on to reading CVC words and in reception children read daily to an adult either individually or in groups. Children use and apply their phonic skills when accessing continuous provision through reading labels, captions, instructions and other text in the environment. 

Writing

Mark making is the first step towards successful early writing. Children are encouraged to use a variety of different writing materials on a variety of scales. This could be writing on a post it note or making gigantic marks on the playground; it could be using brushes or magic wands. The importance of this mark making practice is to embed fluent movement which will eventually lead to forming recognisable letters. In addition to this daily practice, the children participate in Talk for Writing and purposeful writing in each learning environment.

By the end of the Foundation Stage, many children can write short, simple sentences independently and read simple words and sentences.

Maths

Early maths is taught through games, song and exploration. In nursery we concentrate on the language of maths through child initiated play, simple challenges, questioning and stories. In addition, we deliver a daily maths session to consolidate and extend learning concepts.

In reception, we build on the children’s early experiences through a mastery approach to maths, which encourages children to use manipulative resources, like cubes and counters, to solve a range of problems. We ensure that children are fluent with: counting, ordering, adding and subtracting, doubling, halving and sharing before we challenge them to use their reasoning and problem-solving skills. Children also explore 2d and 3d shapes, measuring equipment and start to use the language for a range of mathematical concepts like time and money.

Understanding the World

In Understanding the World, children are encouraged to be curious and explore natural materials and learn about living things and compare different places.  Our topics are chosen carefully to exploit the children’s own experiences which are vast and varied. They learn about technology, using computers and programmable toys and the wider application of technology in everyday life. Moreover they learn about people and communities; how they are different or similar to their friends and they learn about and celebrate other cultures.

Expressive Arts and Design (EAD)

EAD is a fundamental area to develop in Early Years as it gives the children the foundations to underpin their own identity and enables them to develop self-expression and self-confidence.

Children are given the opportunity to use their skills imaginatively in Expressive Arts and Design. They are given the opportunity to explore and use media and materials such as paint, clay and construction equipment. Children are also encouraged to be imaginative in areas such as role play, art and dance.

Children in the Foundation Stage engage in high quality learning experiences both indoors and outdoors. Their learning and progress is tracked through observations, photographs and videos on the online learning journey, 2 Simple.

Key Stage 1 and 2

At Green Lane Primary Academy, the core skills are taught every morning with a separate reading, writing and maths lesson each day (see sections on Talk for Writing, Reading and Same Day Intervention). Cross-curricular links are developed and utilised where appropriate.

Learning of the foundation subjects is planned through the Green Lane Academy Missions (GLAM) which have been chosen with the children’s interests in mind and planned to ensure the relevant national curriculum skills are covered.  Each mission is planned to engage and stimulate the children’s curiosity and interests through a variety of activities where they learn and apply new skills.  The curriculum is enriched through visits and visitors and is rooted in learning through collaboration.

We strongly believe that this approach enables pupils to be masters of their own learning and provides them with the opportunity to develop into life-long independent learners. Teachers  encourage opportunities for cross-curricular and intra-curricular links to deepen the children’s understanding of what they are learning. Although this is still relatively new to Green Lane, we are very excited about the potential for providing opportunities for mastery across all areas of the curriculum and learning which is led by the children. Teachers carefully observe and guide pupils to ensure that they experience the full range of learning opportunities.

Please find below the Long Term Plan for GLPA and information about Green Lane Missions.

What is My Child Learning This Term?

Below you will find the termly curriculum booklets for your child's year group. If you have any questions on the curriculum or how to help your child with their learning, please feel free to discuss this with your child's teacher.

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