Stages of Learning

Education is divided into phases of learning linked to the National Curriculum.

Foundation Stage

This covers the period of education from 0 to 5 years. It begins in St Clare's Pre School and continues to the end of the Reception year. Children in the Foundation Stage will be working towards the Early Learning Goals which summarise the knowledge, skills and understanding across the seven areas of learning and development that young children should gain. The seven areas consist of three prime areas: Communication and Language, Physical Development, Personal Development and four specific areas of learning; Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design. Most children will be able to reach these goals by the end of Reception. This will prepare them for work on the National Curriculum at Key Stage 1.

Key Stage 1

In years 1 and 2 children are following the National Curriculum. The learning is delivered via a topic based approach when appropriate. Statutory Assessments in Mathematics and English are undertaken at the end of Year 2.

Key Stage 2

Years 3 and 4: in Year 3 children begin studying the next phase of the National Curriculum. They continue with a topic based approach with more opportunity for independent research. They will use and further develop skills learned in earlier phases.

Years 5 and 6: the children continue with Upper Key Stage 2 phase of the National Curriculum. They will continue to develop independent skills building upon prior resilence to make decisions about how they learn best. This will culminate in formal assessment (SATS) at the end of Year 6. Their curriculum prepares them for the challenges of secondary education at Key Stage 3.

As part of our transition programme, Year 5/6 children are given the opportunity to experience lessons and themed visits to local secondary schools. In Year 6 these links are more fully established and visits to and from High Schools are made.