Key Stage 1
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In Years 1 and 2, the children broadly follow the Key Stage 1 National Curriculum, adapted and enhanced in order to prepare them for entry into their next schools. Play-based activities still feature but are increasingly phased out during Year 1, completing the transition to a more formal curriculum. We make a feature of the children growing to be the ‘big’ children at the school by the time they reach Year 2. This carries many special roles and responsibilities and is a key reason for the special Herne Hill spark and confidence with which they move on. This really sets them - and us - apart.
Throughout, we aim to customise the curriculum to meet the children’s individual needs since we are well aware that not all will achieve the same levels of understanding at exactly the same time. This is enabled by our high levels of staffing as well as our dedicated learning support teacher; she works with small groups or indidivuals both to reinforce learning and to ’stretch’ those who benefit from greater challenges. The high levels of staffing also enable us to listen to the children and encourage them to learn by questioning and practical experiences.
Thanks to their expertise and the good basis laid in the Foundation Stage, our teachers are able to rapidly teach the essential skills of the core subjects (literacy, numeracy and science) without compromising on thoroughness. This frees up valuable time to reinforce the core knowledge by going laterally into a broad range of subjects, projects and activities. The children find this both exciting and enjoyable. They thrive in this uniquely happy, stimulating and supportive environment which enables them to feel valued, secure and confident.
Literacy
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We build on the strong reading skills developed through the synthetic phonic approach in Reception and follow several reading schemes to widen the children’s reading experience. We regularly send home reading books, and parents are kept fully informed of progress in a contact book which goes home daily and provides a valuable link between home and school. Beyond reading, we want the children to become strong communicators and emphasise the development of their speaking, listening and writing skills.
Numeracy
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We follow the New Heinemann Maths Scheme already introduced in Reception. We supplement it with additional work and often use our interactive whiteboards to model and demonstrate in whole class teaching sessions. Practical materials are used so children can see and understand the processes they are learning. All children follow the topics in the scheme, but some children will move more quickly than others. Teachers plan appropriate extension work to ensure that each child continues to be challenged.
Science
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We like to provide plenty of opportunities for pupils to carry out simple experiments and encourage them to observe closely and draw their own conclusions. They learn to record their findings and develop investigating and problem solving skills. We regularly use the school’s Nature Area to allow the children to make their own explorations in a safe outdoor environment.
Other Subjects
We feel strongly that at this still young age the children must have continued opportunities to develop all their multiple gifts. Therefore, in addition to the core subjects of literacy, numeracy and science, the broad curriculum includes physical education, French, music, art and design, history, geography, ICT and religious education. Music, dance, gym and French are taught by specialists.
The variety in our timetable is further enhanced by outings, visits from outside people, small and large drama productions and the preparation of our Harvest, Christmas and Easter festivals. We celebrate events with lively assemblies and encourage the children to participate. Through it all, we aim to nurture a love for learning and a pride in trying one’s best which remain with the children for life.