Curriculum Subjects

English

Speaking and Listening

Reading

Writing

Mathematics

Science

ICT

Design Technology

History and Geography

Physical Education

English

THE NATIONAL LITERACY STRATEGY
Winklebury Infant School has adopted the National Literacy Strategy, and on most days the children in Key Stage One will experience a 'Literacy Hour'. This includes several elements, including a 'Big Book' or other large printed text; a word and sentence-level session when the whole class reads and writes together with the class teacher; and about twenty minutes of group/independent work, during which the children are involved in follow-up or cross-curricular language skills. The teacher, and usually a Learning Support Assistant, actively support the children during this time. The lesson often concludes with a plenary session which enables the children to consolidate the teaching points from the lesson. Back to top

Speaking and Listening

It may seem to parents that children already speak effectively before they come to school and indeed this is often the case. Oral language comes naturally to many children in the early years, but there is a continuing need for development and improvement. In our School we provide opportunities for a wide range of different kinds of talk. Children share experiences; tell stories; explain how they made a model; follow and give instructions; ask and answer questions; talk during imaginative and creative play; talk through a problem solving activity and whilst working on the computer. Drama is also used to structure development in Speaking and Listening at the same time as bringing other subjects, such as History and RE, to life. Within these kinds of situations we encourage children to understand that talk is a normal, natural, necessary part of classroom life and one to which they should contribute.

A vital part of growth and personal development is learning to speak clearly and be a good listener. All children will be helped to handle increasingly complex speech from their teacher and, just as importantly, they will be given much opportunity to join in small group discussions, for a variety of purposes, with other children. For example, they may be required to plan and carry out an activity together or to take into account the ideas and opinions of others. Back to top

Reading

We seek to foster in every child, the ability to read both for enjoyment and information. This is, of course, a long term process which will go on throughout children's years in schooling and possibly after. The vital foundations however, are laid in the Infant years. There is a daily "guided reading" session when the teacher and support staff work with ability groups of readers whilst others enjoy a wide range of reading activities. It cannot be stressed enough how important each step in reading is. Parents can give tremendous support to their children by demonstrating the enjoyment they themselves derive from reading: by reading and enjoying stories and poems with them: and by taking every opportunity to stress to their child how useful reading is. This can be illustrated by pointing out the signs and symbols in the street, labels in the supermarket, visiting the local library, or at home perhaps sharing the activity of looking something up in a dictionary, using the telephone directory or reading some news in the local paper. It is from this encouragement of a positive attitude to reading from the earliest years that successful reading habits grow.

The main structured reading schemes used in the school are Oxford Reading Tree, Story World, Sunshine and Reading 360. There is also a wide range of other books including non-fiction texts that support the needs of all children and which facilitate much necessary "reading across" every level. It is, of course, essential that children build up a basic sight vocabulary initially and are able to read the most commonly used words in a variety of different contexts. This they are encouraged to do through reading games and a breadth of reading material. In order to facilitate reading strategies, the children also follow a structured phonic scheme called "Jolly Phonics".

From the very beginning, children are encouraged to bring books home to share their interest and celebrate their progress with you. Please try not to regard these as books to be rushed through; consolidation is necessary at every stage. Children are all highly individual and they progress at different rates. Giving time, praise, and encouragement, offers the very best means of support. Back to top

Writing

Just as many young children come to school believing that they can read, so they will come willing to be writers. The very youngest children are able to demonstrate considerable knowledge of the form and purposes of writing. This may at first be simple "play writing" but as they develop and learn more about how written language works, their writing comes increasingly close to standard adult systems. From the earliest stages we encourage children to write individually and in groups, for a variety of purposes and audiences, often sharing and discussing their writing with others. Children, for example, have frequent opportunities to write their stories, accounts, description, reports, letters, poems and instructions. They will also have plenty of opportunities to read and hear good examples of different types of texts.

We teach correct letter formation from the very beginning. Children will very quickly begin to make their own sentences using word banks, phrase cards and later work books and dictionaries all of which increase independence in writing skills.

Spelling is taught in the course of children's own writing where they are encouraged to spell correctly simple monosyllabic words regularly used. Through this approach children come to recognise that spelling has patterns in their attempts to spell a wider range of words.

There is a great deal to learn about the writing process and children cannot learn everything at once. Whereas importance is placed on spelling and handwriting, children may be noticeably better at one or the other. The content of children's writing should have priority and will be given much encouragement by teachers in order that interest and motivation remain high. In Years One and Two, one Literacy session a week is given over to extended writing, which allows children the opportunity to write more fully than during the shorter group sessions on other days. An extra staff member is drafted in so that the children can be set into smaller ability groups in order that their needs can be catered for more effectively. The children in Year Two are also set for phonics/spelling sessions, enabling each group to learn at a pace that suits their ability. Back to top

Mathematics

Very young children need plenty of practical experience to enable them to gain a real understanding of the basic mathematical concepts. Children are therefore introduced to mathematics through guided play with materials such as sand and water; and through shopping and role-play. These and the many other activities the children encounter during the day provide opportunities for sorting, classifying, measuring, shopping, estimating, predicting, investigating and becoming familiar with the idea of number.
As children get older their needs and interests change but there is still a fundamental need, throughout their schooling, for their mathematical development to be grounded in relevant, practical experiences. There is strong evidence to suggest that where there is this emphasis, mastery of the basic skills is more likely to occur than where there is a narrow concentration on the skills themselves. Indeed, in the National Curriculum, children are required to use numbers, algebra, measures, shape and space, and handle data, in practical tasks, in real life problems and to investigate within mathematics itself.

NATIONAL NUMERACY STRATEGY
Winklebury Infant School has adopted the National Numeracy Strategy, so all children in Key Stage One will receive a minimum of 45 minutes Mathematics teaching every day. This will consist of a carefully planned programme of study which will provide challenge and progression throughout the school. Back to top

Science

Within the Infant School, Science is primarily concerned with exploration through first hand experience. We encourage the children to think about everyday problems that arise and to seek solutions to them. Children will have the opportunity to observe familiar materials and events in their environment, at first hand, using their senses, describing and communicating their findings in a variety of ways through talking, drawing, writing and so on. It is important that they are encouraged to ask questions and suggest ideas of the "how", "why", and "what would happen if" variety.
Carefully selected practical experiences are used to build up children's knowledge, skills and understanding. They will have opportunities to observe and investigate the wide variety of living things, the properties and behaviour of materials, weather conditions and effects, energy, forces, electricity and magnetism. We also aim to indicate to children the necessity to take care of their environment and preserve it for the future. Much use is made of our outdoor environment. Back to top

ICT

The role of the computer is that of supporting and enhancing all areas of the curriculum. It is another tool for helping the children to learn and for widening their experiences. Specific computer skills are taught from an early stage, and controlled access to the internet is now part of their learning experience. Many of the programs used enable the children to work in small groups and this sharing of ideas allows a wide range of skills to be developed. Discussion, decision making, taking turns, putting forward and supporting an argument, listening and responding to others are all skills developed with the use of the computer. Word processing programs enable children to concentrate on the content of their writing, rather than the physical effort of putting pen to paper. All these computer packages are fully integrated into the different areas of the curriculum and are used throughout the school. Back to top

Design Technology

At the heart of Technology is problem solving which stretches right across the curriculum. It is a way of learning which encourages children to put their ideas into action and is every bit as important as reading, writing and mathematics. As attitudes form early in life, it is important that understanding in technology is introduced in the Infant School and in ways that are appropriate to the young child's development and personal experience. The technology we teach is about making things that work and that have a clearly seen relevance to real life situations. Children quickly learn to follow a pattern of investigation which starts with determining a need and is followed by suggesting a solution, selecting a way forward, making something and finally testing whether the need has been met. Working in this way, children have an opportunity to discover the properties and application of a wide variety of materials. They also learn and develop the ability to think logically, work together, communicate ideas and findings, and to use, with safety and confidence, a variety of tools and equipment. Back to top

History and Geography

Our work in these subjects is concerned with people and how they live, with their relationships with each other and with their environment, and how human action, now and in the past, has influenced events and conditions. Our approach is mainly through topic work using children's families and surroundings as the key resources for learning. In learning about people and how they live, we try to help children to appreciate that the present world grew out of the past, encouraging them to look for similarities and differences. Wherever possible we start with the first hand experience which provides the base from which to look back to the past and out to the wider world. We also help children to explore and investigate the area in which they live and to appreciate how improvements in transport and communications have affected our lives. Maps, artefacts, slides, books, visits and visitors are widely used, as appropriate, to extend children's thinking. Back to top

Physical Education

Our programme is concerned with three main areas:
· Firstly, through apparatus and movement lessons we aim to develop control, co-ordination and mobility.
· Secondly, children need to develop the necessary manipulative skills which they will need in many areas of the curriculum.
· Thirdly, we try to teach children how the human body works and help them both to develop a healthy attitude towards it and to adopt an active way of life to keep it in good condition. The school hall is in constant use providing opportunities for vigorous physical activity involving bold movements with the large apparatus and increasingly fine control using the small apparatus. Weather permitting, the playground is also used for small apparatus lessons. Back to top