Curriculum Intent
EYFS
Our curriculum considers the holistic development of each child. Here at Holy Family we provide a vast range of experiential opportunities which enables each child to: exercise options and express ideas; reflect on experience and information; share thoughts, make decisions and discoveries; and explore and engage in first hand experiences. Our curriculum is designed to be fully inclusive and accessible to all children.
Our Long Term Plans provide a progressive outline of the themes we will cover, but these are not 'set in stone' and we see them as more of a 'working document'. Our Early Years practitioners ensure that their planning is flexible, and responsive to the current interests of the children- making learning meaningful! Through carefully planned and exciting activities we support and enhance each child's learning, ensuring they make at least good progress during their time in Nursery and Reception.
The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum is organised into seven areas of Learning and Development.
Communication and Language:
- Listening, attention and understanding
- Speaking
Personal, Social and Emotional Development:
- Self Regulation
- Managing Self
- Building Relationships
Physical Development:
- Gross Motor Skills
- Fine Motor Skills
Literacy:
- Comprehension
- Word Reading
- Writing
Mathematics:
- Number
- Numerical Patterns
Understanding the World:
- Past and Present
- People, Cultures and Communities
Expressive Arts & Design:
- Creating with Materials
- Being Imaginative and Expressive
Years 1 to 6
At Holy Family Catholic Primary School we are proud of the exciting curriculum that our children enjoy. The knowledge and skills that the children have built up in EYFS progress into the Year 1 curriculum and beyond. There are clear progression plans in place ensuring a smooth transition from EYFS into Year 1.
Each Year group has three main topics for the children to enjoy which are based primarily on our Geography and History units of work. The first half of each term always starts with a geography topic allowing the children to get to grips with the geographical features of places before they move on to learn about the History of the areas studied. We have worked hard to link our other subjects to this theme, including science, art, design technology and physical education.
We believe that in order for a child to develop fully and reach their potential in all areas, that all subjects should be given equal importance. With this in mind we have carefully planned a curriculum which will allow all children to develop their skills in all subjects, maximising pupil progress across the curriculum. We feel that our curriculum will equip our children with lifelong knowledge and skills.
An essential element of providing a rich and satisfying curriculum, is the use of the outdoors. In our school, all children from Nursery through to Year 6 enjoy learning in the outdoors once a week. Research shows that pupils enjoy escaping the confines of the classroom and that taking learning outside boosts their achievement and has a positive impact on personal and social development.
Autumn Term
During the first half of the Autumn Term the children are submerged into their geography topic which focuses on the geography of the United Kingdom. Wherever possible, cross-curricular links are made to this in all of our other subjects. This can clearly be seen on our curriculum maps.
The second half of the Autumn Term builds on the geography skills that the children have learned as the children delve into life as it was in Britain in the past from the Stone Age in Year 3 right the way through to the Vikings in Year 6. Year 1 become experts at finding out about important British figures from the past, including the suffragette movement whilst Year 2 study the Great Fire of London.
Spring Term
This is the term when we explore the rest of the World! Our children will be immersed in learning about different continents around the World. Our Year 1 children become pirates exploring the globe as our Year 2 children follow a travelling circus themed approach learning about all of the continents on their travels. Each of our Key Stage 2 classes focus on a different continent, learning about not only the landscape but also the wildlife too.
During the second half of the term, the children in Key Stage 2 will learn about the History of the continents they have studied. These studies include Ancient Mayans, Ancient Shang China Dynasty, Ancient Egyptians and Ancient Greece. They will look at a variety of artefacts and enjoy looking at some of the lovely non-fiction books we have displayed.
Summer Term
Our Summer Term starts with a geographical study of our local area. Each class will have a different focus which will enable the children to be fully equipped with an expert knowledge of their local surroundings by the time they depart from our care in Year 6. The children will take part in field work studies and enjoy trips out in our local area.
The second half of our Summer Term will see the children learning about the history of our local area. Our infant children will be comparing what life in Barrow is like now with life in Barrow in the past alongside learning about Walney and Piel Island. During Key Stage 2 the children will learn about Furness Abbey, Victorian Barrow, the Growth of the Railways in Barrow and Barrow in the Blitz.