Children learn to communicate; they learn to read through a variety of strategies and are encouraged to enjoy books.
They are taught to write and express their ideas independently and they are all given the opportunity to practise their speaking and listening skills.
The children study poetry and learn poems, which they perform with expression and confidence.
Maths
The children cover many aspects of maths. Together they look at numbers and how numbers relate to each other.
They look at a variety of calculations and are encouraged to relate their computations to real life problems.
They also look at all sorts of measurements and relationships in shape and space.
The activities the children experience to help them understand numbers are diverse and the resources varied, designed to stimulate and nurture fragile knowledge. The aim is for the children to learn lots of different strategies on which to base future learning.
Science
Children explore the five senses, tasting some unusual foods, smelling a variety of odours, some more pleasant than others! Touch and sight are also investigated in many different activities and sounds are created and examined in science and music lessons.
Our beautiful school grounds host a multitude of wildlife as well as flora and fauna, allowing the children first hand experiences to help them understand the diversity of the world around them.
The children look at ways to stay healthy. They visit a local farming college where they can see first hand how some of our food is produced.
The children look at the forces required to make things move. They check their ideas with a variety of tests, discovering that a test must be fair to be meaningful.
Some topics, like electricity, are so exciting that they need a whole day to experience everything! In a special action-packed day they make their own circuits, find out that there are some materials that electricity will not pass through. They discover that there is a right and wrong way to insert a battery and play games to remind themselves that electricity can be dangerous.
In the summer they look at various aspects of conservation and spend a day on the Broads studying the environment and observing the local wildlife. They also have the opportunity to study life in a rock pool on a day out at the sea.
History
The pupils take every opportunity to learn about the past in a practical way! They spend time scrutinising toys from the past.
They also attempt to recreate the life of their ancestors at a rural life museum.
The children hear first hand from those who were alive during through the Second World War; they visit the grave of Edith Cavell and they learn about other historical characters through a mixture of primary and secondary sources.
They begin to understand how life as we know it owes much to the legacies of those who came before us and start to get a sense of chronology.
Geography
Children learn about the lives of communities in other parts of the world, researching where our food comes from and discovering how many countries help to produce our food.
The children look at life on the Scottish Islands with the help of Katie Morag.
The children study European countries in more depth. Maps are used to relate and compare the positions of various places and geographical language is introduced to help the children to understand how we interact with the rest of the world.
ICT
The children learn the language of ICT and develop a competence at logging on and off the computer. They become familiar with the basic skills of word processing as they are taught to open documents and insert pictures. The discover how to make changes to the appearance of their work using a variety of tools.
They use the internet to retrieve information and begin to consider ways of staying safe on the internet.
RS
The children are introduced to the major world religions through stories. They also learn about many festivals associated with the major faiths.
We celebrate Easter and Christmas and the children are taught bible stories through our class lessons and in Pre-Prep assemblies.
At Christmas the children are encouraged to share their celebrations in the wider community.
The classes take it turns to lead the worship and share their learning with the rest of the school. Parents are invited to these special assemblies.
Physical Education
The children experience a wide range of physical activities. Among the skills they learn are agility on the apparatus, co-ordination through dance, co-operation in team games and a great variety of useful ball skills in games lessons. The children also have a swimming lesson every week.
Art
Here are lots of examples of the children’s artwork.
They are encouraged to use a variety of materials and experiment with a range of techniques.
The children are taught about famous artists and sometimes the whole of the Pre-Prep Department immerse themselves studying the life and works of well-known painters.
DT
The children are all taught Design and Technology.
They learn to draw up plans and to choose the best materials for a purpose. When they have finished their projects they are encouraged to evaluate their work.
Music
The children all have music lessons with a specialised music teacher. They learn about rhythm and they learn to sing and sign notes on the solfa scale. During the year there are lots of opportunities for the children to display their musical prowess in assemblies and other productions.
Adam Buxton opens the Read Hall, our new
Performance Hall click HERE for more info
Aggers opens new Sports Hall click HERE for more info
