Our Curriculum

At King’s Oak Academy our curriculum is underpinned by our vision and values. Our curriculum has been designed to cover the expectations of the National Curriculum. We work towards children knowing more, remembering more , understanding more and are able to talk about their learning using rich vocabulary.

In the academic year 2022-2023 we revised the school curriculum for  both the core and foundation subjects . The team revised and developed knowledge progression documents for the Foundation subjects.  Each term a thematic approach is adopted and staff use the long term and progression documents to plan and deliver lessons.  An emphasis is placed on building skills and deepening knowledge by revisiting and linking previously learnt concepts.

The newly developed curriculum is intended to be inclusive in order to meet the specific needs of the children in our school community; ensuring the learning encompasses both local and national places and people. The curriculum design takes into account our children’s starting points and life experiences in order to ensure further learning , develop their cultural capital and opportunities.

Within our planning and delivery of our school curriculum we aim to: –

• Inspire, motivate, excite and engages children in their learning
• Provide purposeful thematic opportunities for enquiry based learning
• Encourage and respond to pupils own interests and enquiry
• Raises aspirations; provides challenges and develops a ‘can do’ attitude
• Develops excellent numeracy and literacy skills within meaningful contexts
• Provides opportunities and strategies to practise and consolidate learning
• Uses effective assessment and teacher responses to enable progress and deepen learning
• Provides a range of computing resources and focused opportunities to develop e-skills, e-safety and independence
• Develops emotional well-being, self-regulation and positive social interaction
• Develops caring individuals who appreciate and contribute to the school and broader communities
• All children are able to demonstrate how they “S.H.I.N.E.” : Click on shine document for more details.

Please navigate the individual subject tabs to read more about each area. The class pages will have details of the termly theme and the areas of learning with ideas for how you can support your child with activities at home.

At King’s Oak Academy, to ensure that your child’s learning has a purpose and to minimise the impact of the pandemic,  we need  to create a structured, safe and stimulating learning environment with well-planned continuous and enhanced provision. This is delivered through a balance of whole class/small group adult led learning and child initiated learning.

We aim to provide opportunities for all children to develop into confident, independent, aspirational, life long learners. 

Each term we have an over arching theme alongside ideas taken from the children’s interest. We create opportunities for children to acquire knowledge, develop understanding and practise skills through physical exploration and hands-on investigation. Learning is carefully planned by the staff to support early reading, phonics ,writing, mathematics and language development as well as social skills.

We use TAPESTRY to record your child’s learning moments and share these with you. Please make sure you have activated your account. If you have problems please talk to your child’s teacher who will be happy to support you with this.

The “Characteristics of Effective Learning” are at the heart of the Early Years Curriculum and explore the different ways in which children learn. They highlight the importance of playing and learning (being curious and asking questions) so that children become engaged.  It is very important for your child to be an active learner to encourage them to be motivated and have control and choice about their learning . All children will have opportunities to find out and explore, play with what they know and develop the confidence to ‘have a go’. They learn to become involved, concentrate, keep trying (be resilient) and creating and thinking critically so that they have their own ideas, can make links in learning and can choose ways of doing things.

The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum which begins in the Nursery Class and continues into the reception classes; has seven areas of learning which are divided into Prime and Specific areas.

Prime areas of learning – Physical Development- Communication and Language – Personal, Social, Emotional Development  The Prime areas of learning and development are universal to all children. Learning in the Specific areas is dependent on a secure foundation in the Prime areas, for example if a child is not able to hold a pencil correctly they will find writing in Literacy very difficult. If they are unable to express their ideas in a clear and coherent manner, they will have difficulty putting their ideas down on paper.

Physical Development covers both fine motor skills such as being able to hold a pencil to form letters correctly and gross motor skills such as throwing and catching a ball. In this area of learning they are also developing the skill of managing their own personal hygiene. Communication and Language covers the areas of speaking, listening and attention, and understanding. These areas are about the child making sense of the world around them, being able to understand and communicate with others. Personal, Social and Emotional Development develops the children’s social skills. We look at how children make relationships and relate to each other, about how confident and self-aware they are, and about how they are able to manage their own feelings and behaviour.

Specific areas of learning – Literacy- Mathematics- Understanding the World- Expressive Art and Design

The positive impact of the EYFS curriculum can be seen in the progress children make from their own starting points, both academically and socially. They will be able to demonstrate links with their learning and apply skills across the curriculum. so they are well prepared to continue their learning journey in Key Stage One.

For more information about the Early Years’ Foundation Stage please see the link below-

EYFS Parents Guide

Click here for a parents’ guide to the EYFS Framework. The revised curriculum was introduced in September 2021.

EYFS age related expectations : Click here for a guide.

Please go to the class pages to read about the skills your child will be learning at school this term and the suggestions for supporting your child’s learning.