The School Curriculum
Faringdon Infant School has adopted the Statement on the National Curriculum published by the Oxfordshire County Council as the basis for the whole School curriculum. The curriculum delivered at the School meets the requirements of the National Curriculum.
Children spend 21.25 hours on curriculum activities each week excluding playtimes, daily worship, lunchtimes and registration.
The school provides a broad and rich curriculum starting from what the children already know, building upon this whilst drawing upon their experiences and interests. Through the curriculum we ensure that all chidren have the opportunity to grow in:
- knowledge and understanding
- competence in a wide range of skills
- personal qualities, values and attitudes
- awareness of the wider world and their role as a global citizen
The curriculum is provided through subject lessons, cross curricular classroom and the values promoted by the School. The curriculum taught emphasises the importance of play and focus is also placed upon personal, social and health education through our family nurturing scheme.
The children make full use of the school grounds to enrich their learning experiences and participate in focus weeks throughout the school year.
The School has developed a one year curriculum map in order to develop learning through a topic based approach.
The long-term curriculum map is supported by more detailed half-termly plans which contain specific areas of focus followed by weekly plans. In all this great care is taken to ensure that there is a balance across and between subject areas.
We use a mixture of teaching styles which includes:
- whole class teaching
- mixed ability group work
- ability grouped work - both within the class and across the whole age range
- individual teaching
Children are taught the core subjects of English, Mathematics, Science and Information and Communication Technology and the foundation subjects of History, Geography, Art, Music, P.E., Design and Technology, as well as Religious Education.
English
English includes reading, writing, spelling and speaking and listening. As part of the National Literacy Strategy, daily times are allocated to the teaching of reading and writing. During these times the children are taught as a whole class through guided and shared sessions and in smaller focus groups.
Science
The science curriculum introduces themes such as electricity, forces, materials, life processes and living things. Much of the work is practical and investigative. The children are encouraged to make and record observations as they devise experiments for themselves.
Mathematics
Faringdon Infant School has adopted the National Numeracy Strategy and maths is taught as a daily lesson. The importance of mental arithmetic and problem solving in developing knowledge and understanding in this subject is emphasised.
ICT
Our School has at least 3 computers in each classroom all of which are connected to the internet. Each key Stage 1 class has a smart board and the foundation stage have a wide range of hardware such as walkie talkies, metal detectors and remote control toys for the children to experience. There is a further central whiteboard located in the library area. Children are able to use the computers as an information source for researching topics and to produce their own documents and artwork. The school is developing a wide range of software to support teaching and learning across all curriculum areas.
Religious Education
Religious Education is an integral part of our work with children and is not normally seen in isolation. Religious Education encourages children to achieve an appreciation of themselves and of each others differences. We learn about Christianity as our main religious focus, but also explore aspects of Judaism and Hinduism.
Collective Worship and Assemblies
Whole School assemblies take place each day. They are planned on a yearly cycle to cover values such as honesty, peace, love and unity. They are occasions to meet together as a family and our aim is to help the children to think about themselves, their role in a global society and to celebrate special times of the year.
Each week a special celebration assembly takes place to celebrate the achievements of the children. Their names are placed in the 'Achievement Book' which is located in the library. Church assemblies take place on a fortnighty basis. Parents are invited to attend assemblies throughout the year.
Parents have the right to withdraw their children from Religious and Collective Worship if they wish. If you are concerned about your child please contact the Headteacher and arrangements can then be made for the child to remain supervised in class.
Sex education
We consider parents to be the key figures in helping their children cope with the physical and emotional aspects of growing up. However the School recognises its responsibility and our teaching seeks to be complementary and supportive to the role of parents. This subject is included in appropriate topics taking into account the age and development of the children both socially and emotionally.