This is your child's final year of nursery/pre-school and first year at school. Their work will centre around different topicsand focus on three prime areas of learning:

• communication and language
• physical development and
• personal, social and emotional development.

Children learn through playing, talking, observing, planning, questioning, experimenting, testing, repeating, reflecting and responding to adults and each other.

The prime areas are strengthened and applied through the following four specific areas:

• literacy
• mathematics
• understanding of the world and
• expressive arts and design.

The national curriculum begins in Year 1. Much of the learning is through topics or themes involving a lot of practical work and experience. Through investigating, questioning and doing, the children develop understanding, knowledge and a variety of skills. Whenever possible the subjects are linked together to help the children’s understanding.

In Key Stage 2 each subject is taught in depth. Topic blocks are planned by teachers to link learning and to create exciting and innovative lessons.The topics are focused on a particular area of the curriculum, although links to other subjects are developed whenever possible. For example, a Year 3 history topic will include art, design and technology, music, and some English and maths work.