At Bawnmore our curriculum fosters curiosity, creativity and resilience to encourage every child to become independent lifelong learners. At the core of our broad balanced curriculum is the belief that children learn through enquiry and stimulating, exciting experiences. This supports the development of the whole person ready to take the next steps in their education and lives beyond Bawnmore.

Foundation Stage

The Early Years Foundation Stage is the period of education from birth to 5 years.  During this stage children work towards the “Early Learning Goals”. We believe that every child is unique and we strive to provide them with learning experiences that allow them to reach their full potential.

The Early Years Foundation Stage guidance divides learning and development into three prime and four specific areas. It also includes characteristics of effective learning.  

Prime

· Communication and language

· Physical development

· Personal, social and emotional development

Specific

· Literacy Development

· Mathematical Development

· Understanding of the world

· Expressive arts and design

The majority of pupils will achieve these goals by the end of the Foundation Stage and will be at the ‘expected’ level.  Some pupils may still need to work towards some of the goals at the end of Reception and will be ‘emerging’.

Throughout the Foundation Stage, pupils experience an exciting curriculum  both indoors and outdoors, designed to meet the needs of young children.  This is fun, creative and play-based, challenging each child to achieve their own individual potential.  Children are assessed continually throughout the year  and their progress is shared with parents/carers on a termly basis.

National Curriculum, Key Stage 1

In Year One and Two class teachers plan and deliver a theme based curriculum in accordance with the 2014 National Curriculum. This cross-curricular approach to learning encompasses all the National Curriculum subjects at the appropriate levels for individual children. Each theme will either have science or humanities as its main thread. The teaching of English and Mathematics are given priority on the timetable, and the skills and basic concepts are carried through all subjects. In addition to this, Mathematics concepts are taught in isolation if they do not fit with the theme. History, Geography, Music, Art, Technology and Computing are taught in a thematic context. The children also study Physical Education, Religious Education and Personal, Social, Health Education and Citizenship. 

Teachers plan co-operatively to ensure structure and progression is in place across the school, and that the appropriate programmes of study are covered and attainment targets achieved. The children’s learning is continually assessed in order to plan for progression through the next steps of learning.