‘Outstanding teaching across the school inspires the pupils to want to learn and do well.’
‘Pupils’ excellent opportunities for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development underpin their outstanding learning. They appreciate the value of differing beliefs and are keen to celebrate other’s successes.’
‘Pupils’ behaviour is impeccable. They are very polite and exceptionally enthusiastic about their work.’
‘Pupils feel extremely safe at school because members of the staff provide a high standard of care. They teach them about safety and how to stay safe.’
‘Pupils achievement is outstanding.’
‘The curriculum is rich and varied and provides valuable and meaningful experiences for the pupils, preparing them well for life in modern Britain.’
Subsequent visits from County and annual test results confirm that the school is still outstanding.
At Fulmer Infant School, children's learning is cross curricular as we believe this creative approach enhances and embeds learning and more importantly makes learning FUN!
Click here to visit the National Curriculum online National Curriculum
Children contribute to the direction of the topics. Subjects that do not naturally fit into the theme are taught as discrete units.
Reception children have loved their owl baby topic, which has produced some wonderful opportunities for writing and expressive arts and design, including collecting natural materials to make nests for their baby owls!
Trip to the Science Museum Trip to Windsor Castle
Models using electric circuits The four layers of the Rainforest
The curriculum is enhanced by a number of trips throughout the year, for example to the Science Museum, the Iver Environmental Centre, the Roald Dahl Museum, Windsor Castle, River and Boat museum and Pizza Express.
Each Friday, a class spends time in our garden learning how to grow a variety of plants and food which they then sell to their parents. Thank you to Sue Kirby and her volunteer parents who run this club. All volunteers have DBS checks.
There are also enriching traditions such as the children baking their own Christmas cakes, designing and publishing their own Christmas cards, country dancing with local schools, Easter bonnet parades, outside learning in our outdoor writing hut, raising chicks (see the time-lapse video of a hatching chick below), musical morning for Mothers’ day, Christmas and Summer productions, fund raising for a variety of charities, World Book Day activities and much, much more.
Follow this link to watch the first chick hatch: Hatching Chick
Outdoor learning in a Teepee
Buddy reading on World Book Day
EYFS CURRICULUM
Here at Fulmer Infant School we pride ourselves on an enriching and child centred approach to learning. Within the Early Years Foundation Stage the children learn through play and child initiated learning. We cater for the different learning styles and support the children’s holistic development alongside their academic. Our children are provided with diverse opportunities to become responsible, enthusiastic and independent learners who make links within their learning.
The Early Years Foundation Stage is split into two main areas:
Three Prime Areas –
Personal, Social and Emotional Development – Children are encouraged to ‘have a go’ and become confident people and learners. They learn to play together, sharing and caring for one another. This in turn will develop their social skills in group/class situations, talking to children and adults alike. Asking your child what they did at school will increase their confidence! Breaking this down into smaller questions such as, “What sound did you leanr in Phonics?”, “What did you have for lunch?” or “Who did you play with at play time?” will get a more detailed response.
Communication and Language – This fundamental strand is the key to showing their knowledge and questioning, especially in other strands. They can follow and respond to different ideas or instructions. Immersing your child in a rich language environment and listening to stories regularly is one of the best provisions you could give them!
Physical Development – This strand is about developing children’s control and co-ordination in small (fine motor skills) and large movements (gross motor skills). They learn an awareness of exercise, being healthy and safety. Further development of these skills will be with the use of equipment, such as pencils, tweezers and bikes.
Four Specific Areas –
Literacy – Children learn their sounds and start to blend them to make words, making labels for the classroom, lists etc. We use a mixture of Letters and Sounds (incorporating reading and writing) and Jolly Phonics (incorporating songs and actions which help the children consolidate their phonics). You can Google these two schemes, along with the songs. The children understand that spoken words can be written onto paper. Questions can be answered on stories that are heard and a continued keen interest is essential. It needs to be FUN and emergent writing (marks made gradually including letters and then words) will produce confident successful writers! Writing for a purpose is vital for children’s creativity so we link it to role play.
Mathematics – Children learn to count reliably, recognise numbers and order them. Understanding the value of a number and the numbers that are larger and smaller than them are essential so many practical activities are undertaken to aid this understanding. Number rhymes are great for this so get singing! During the course of the year, they will begin to add and subtract numbers in different contexts, e.g. with money, frogs on a log etc. Shape, space and measure will be explicitly taught as well as continuously carried out in different topics, e.g. how much water do we need to give the plants? Using mathematical language in your home would be a great idea, for example spotting a circle sticker!
Expressive Arts and Design – This strand will show your child’s flair, creativity and imagination the most! Whether it be role playing, singing, dancing, painting or building a fire engine out of junk... it is all crucial to extending language and details. You can help your child by playing a part in their drama or just doing something as simple as singing a song!
Understanding the World – This strand is the widest so is further split into three; People and Communities, The World and Technology. Children learn about different types of people, families, traditions and languages, while highlighting the similarities and differences. We say hello in different languages during the register so if you know any greetings, teach them to your child so we can hear them too! Teaching children to value their own culture, as well as respect the ideas and beliefs of others, is an essential part of our equal opportunities, especially as we live in a culturally rich society. Being outside is crucial to young children’s development so we explore our environment, making observations of plants and animals. Computing is a powerful resource so simply pointing to different letters on a keyboard is developing their skills.
An activity may cover more than one/several points through the prime and specific areas. The children are assessed continuously throughout all the areas. The provision is tailored to each individual child and support and extension is provided accordingly.
We excel in creating strong parent partnerships, which are extremely vital for the Foundation Stage. Communication and liaison with parents is extremely valuable to gain an insight into the children’s achievements, interests and hobbies. These can then be followed and discussed at school. This is done is a variety of ways such as:
Our paramount importance at Fulmer Infant School is to create happy and confident children with solid learning foundations, which in turn will be creating their whole future.
KEY STAGE ONE CURRICULUM
YEAR 1 AND YEAR 2
Curriculum Aims
National Curriculum
English and maths are taught for one hour every day. Other topics are taught weekly or are organised into topic units. There is a range of small group and whole class teaching. Teachers are aware that children learn in different ways and adapt their lessons for the visual, kinaesthetic and aural learners.
ENGLISH
Our English curriculum aims to ensure all children become proficient in reading and writing as well as speaking and listening.
Speaking and Listening
Children are taught to speak clearly and listen to others. We are an accredited story Telling School which develops children's aural and oral skills.
Reading
At Fulmer Infant school we put great emphasis on reading for pleasure. All children are heard to read three times a week. Children's reading skills are monitored every month and if a child is not on track then he/she becomes a daily reader. There is an expectation that children are heard to read at home every day. The main reading scheme is the Oxford Reading Tree.
We are very grateful to Mrs Khan a former parent who volunteers to run the well stocked library every Thursday afternoon. All volunteers have DBS checks. All children receive a reading book with a plaque inside to celebrate their birthday. County does an annual audit of the library to ensure that the titles are up to date.
All children have a daily phonics session following the Letters and Sound phonics scheme.
Writing
Children are taught to write in a variety of writing styles and for a range of purposes and audiences. Grammar and punctuation are taught discretely. Spellings are sent home each week and there is a weekly spelling test. Children are given a piece of written homework every week.
Handwriting
Children are taught cursive writing from Reception.
MATHEMATICS
At Fulmer Infant school we aim to instill a love of mathematics and encourage children to understand the relevance of mathematics in every day life. Children are taught to use logical reasoning, problem solving and the ability to think in abstract ways. We use the Inspire mathematics scheme supplemented with other schemes to ensure investigative reasoning, every Friday there is an opportunity to do investigative work. Children who have potential to exceed in this subject have extra support from a specialist and have extra challenging homework.
SCIENCE
At Fulmer Infant school we aim to develop a curiosity of the world. We develop their knowledge and investigative skills and enable them to observe, record and report their findings.
Children learn Science through the following key areas:
HISTORY
In History we aim to ensure that the children develop an awareness of the past using common words and phrases relating to the passing of time. They know and understand where the people and events they study fit into a chronological framework and identify similarities and differences between ways of life and different periods. They are encouraged to use a wide range of vocabulary of everyday historical terms. Through topic work children are taught about;
GEOGRAPHY
Through Geography we aim to help children become more aware of the world in which they live, starting with the local area where they live and go to school. Through topic work the children are taught to:
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
Through creativity and innovation , design and technology continue to shape our lives. Children are taught to:
ART AND DESIGN
Art and design teaching instils in children an appreciation of beauty and an awareness of how creativity depends on technical mastery. Children should learn to draw, paint and sculpt and evaluate artistic works.
RE
We are a multi faith school and teach children to respect each other's faiths. Members of the community lead assemblies celebrating their different beliefs and display their religious artefacts in the library. The school follows the Buckinghamshire RE framework.
MUSIC
In music we aim to ensure that all pupils
PE
In PE we aim to ensure that all pupils:
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