Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum
Please click here to view the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.
Please click here to view Development Matters in the EYFS. (link to PDF document)
The EYFS curriculum is comprised of seven areas of learning and development. There are three prime areas, which are crucial for initiating children’s enthusiasm and for their capacity to learn:
Communication and Language development involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations.
Physical Development involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive, and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. Children must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities.
There are also four specific areas, though which the prime areas are strengthened and applied:
Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children must be given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other written materials) to ignite their interest.
Mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers and in calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, spaces, and measures.
Understanding the World involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment.
Expressive Art and Design involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities.
Each area of learning and development is implemented through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activities.
Key Stage 1 and 2
Please click here to view the National Curriculum Key Stage 1 and 2 for England
Please click here for information explaining how assessment is organised in the school following government changes to the curriculum and assessment requirements.
It is the policy of Bishop Declan of the Diocese of Clifton that the whole curriculum is designed to enable pupils to grow in every way to Christian maturity. The religious education programme 'God Matters' is followed throughout the school and we use Diocesan planning as well.
The overall aim of our work is to lead each child to form a strong relationship with God through the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. We meet together as a whole school once a week, with Class Assemblies, Key Stage Assemblies and Hymn Practices being held on the other days.
Celebration Assemblies, where children are awarded certificates for a variety of reasons such as good work, good behaviour or being kind to others, are held once a week on each site. Parents are invited to take part in these Assemblies. Whole school Masses are celebrated regularly and on Holy Days of Obligation. Parents may withdraw their children from Religious Education lessons and acts of collective worship if they so wish. Such requests should be in writing.
Mathematics equips pupils with a uniquely powerful set of tools to understand and change the world. These tools include logical reasoning, problem-solving skills, and the ability to think in abstract ways. Maths teaching at St. John’s is designed to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum.
As with literacy, each class in the school has a daily numeracy session which involves whole-class teaching, group activities and individual learning. These sessions are planned carefully by teachers in order to ensure that all children are included and that lessons are varied, fun and challenging.
In studying English, pupils develop skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing. We follow "Letters and Sounds." This enables them to express themselves creatively and imaginatively, and to communicate with others effectively.
Through "The Oxford Reading Tree" pupils learn to become enthusiastic and critical readers of stories, poetry, non-fiction and drama. The study of English helps pupils understand how language works by looking at its patterns, structures and origins. Using this knowledge, pupils can choose and adapt what they say and write in different situations. At St. John’s, each class in the school has a daily literacy lesson, which involves whole-class work, group activities and individual learning that may focus on speaking and listening or reading and writing skills.
Science stimulates and excites pupils’ curiosity about phenomena and events in the world around them. It also satisfies this curiosity with knowledge. Because Science links direct practical experience with ideas, it can engage learners at many levels.
Through Science pupils understand how major scientific ideas contribute to technological change, impacting on industry, business and medicine and improving quality of life. At St. John’s our aim is to foster and develop our pupils’ curiosity about themselves, their world and the forces at work in it.
Design and Technology
Design and Technology prepares pupils to participate in tomorrow’s rapidly changing technologies. They learn to think and intervene creatively to improve the quality of life. The subject calls for pupils to become autonomous and creative problem solvers, as individuals and as members of a team. They must look for needs, wants and opportunities and respond to them by developing a range of ideas and making products and systems.
In teaching Design and Technology, our aim is to encourage our pupils to look closely at our world as it was and as it is now, and to use this knowledge together with the skills taught, to improve their lives and surroundings. Children have the opportunity to use a wide range of materials and to use tools appropriate to their age in a supervised environment.
Information and Communication Technology
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) prepares pupils to participate in a rapidly changing world in which work and other activities are increasingly transformed by access to varied and developing technology. Pupils use ICT tools to find, explore, analyse, exchange and present information responsibly, creatively and with discrimination.
They learn how to employ ICT to enable rapid access to ideas and experiences from a wide range of people, communities and cultures. Increased capability in the use of ICT promotes initiative and independent learning, with pupils being able to make informed judgements about when and where to use ICT to best effect, and to consider its implications for home and work both now and in the future. At St. John’s there are computers in every classroom and a computer suite with 30 computers.
We also have inter-active whiteboards and visualisers throughout the school.
History fires pupils’ curiosity about the past. Pupils consider how the past influences the present, what past societies were like, how these societies organised their politics, and what beliefs and cultures influenced people’s actions. Pupils develop a chronological framework for their knowledge of significant events and people.
At St. John’s we encourage each child to be interested in and inquisitive about the past. Pupils are encouraged to handle artefacts, look for evidence about the past, learn to interpret it and develop an appreciation of the breadth and richness of history. Through the discoveries to be made, history will provide children with a signpost to their place in time.
Geography provokes and answers questions about the natural and human worlds, using different scales of enquiry to view them from different perspectives. It develops knowledge of places and environments throughout the world, an understanding of maps, and a range of investigative and problem-solving skills both inside and outside the classroom.
At St. John’s we aim to inspire our pupils to think about their own place in the world, their values, and their rights and responsibilities to other people and to the environment.
Art and Design
Art and Design stimulates creativity and imagination. It provides visual and sensory experiences and a unique way of understanding and responding to the world. Pupils use colour, form, texture, pattern and different materials and processes to communicate what they see, feel and think.
Through art and design activities, pupils explore ideas and meanings in the work of artists, craftspeople and designers. They learn about the diverse roles and functions of art, craft and design in contemporary life, and in different times and cultures.
Understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the visual arts have the power to enrich our personal and public lives.
At St. John’s, in teaching art and design, we aim to create situations in which our pupils develop self-confidence, work on the basis of their own experiences, extend their understanding, discover, satisfy their curiosity and gain pleasure.
Music is a powerful, unique form of communication that can change the way pupils feel, think and act. It brings together intellect and feeling, and enables personal expression, reflection and emotional development. As an integral part of culture, past and present, it helps pupils understand themselves and relate to others, forging important links between the home, school and the wider world.
The teaching of music develops pupils’ ability to listen and appreciate a wide variety of music and to make judgements about musical quality.
At St. John’s, the main aim of our music teaching is for each child to develop a musical self. The whole approach is very practical with plenty of singing and musical activity. In addition to class music, there are opportunities throughout the school for children to join in violin, guitar, flute, drums, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet and recorder lessons. Many of our junior children play a musical instrument. There are also school productions throughout the year where much singing and music-making takes place.
Physical Education develops pupils’ physical competence and confidence, and their ability to use these to perform in a range of activities. It promotes physical skilfulness, physical development and knowledge of the body in action. Physical education provides opportunities for pupils to be creative, competitive and to face up to different challenges as individuals and in groups and teams. It promotes positive attitudes towards active and healthy lifestyles.
Physical education is an integral part of one of the general aims of our school - the education of the whole child. It encompasses activities in gymnastics, dance and games. Through experience, the children gain knowledge, understanding and skills which enable them to develop positive attitudes, appreciate their strengths and weaknesses, and be concerned with their own and others’ safety.
At St. John’s we offer a wide range of sporting activities for all our pupils, during the lunchtime break and after school. These include gymnastics, football, netball, tag rugby, table tennis, tennis, drama, cricket and dance. We are fortunate to have top coaches; many linked to Bath University, Bath Cricket Club and Bath Rugby Club come into school to coach the children. St John’s was awarded the Active Mark Gold for Sport by the Sports Council for excellence in this sphere.
We are fortunate to have weekly Spanish lessons across the school from Reception to Year 6 from a highly qualified specialist.