Reading

Phonics is important for children to become effective readers, but it is not the only strategy used.  It forms part of our language rich curriculum, so that pupils develop their wider reading skills at the same time.   From an early age pupils take home picture books to enjoy with parents and siblings.   families are encouraged to enjoy familiar stories, talk about the pictures and retell the events of the story.  As children become ready to start to take reading books home, they follow the progressive colour banded Read Write Inc scheme to develop their growing reading skills.  As children progress through school and their reading confidence and skills grow, books from a variety of reading schemes together with books written by popular children's authors are introduced to further develop their confidence and accuracy.  We encourage children to read at home with parents and carers at least four times a week.  Once a child has read 4 times a week for 10 weeks, they will be awarded a special Hilltop Reading pin badge.  There are three badges (bronze, silver & gold) to be earned in each year group.

Maths

Within Key Stage 1 and 2 we use the White Rose Maths programme.  This programme actively supports the challenge of mixed classes in each Key Stage.

The national curriculum identifies three main aims in the primary phase:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language
• can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

White Rose planning supports these aims effectively.  All classes have a daily maths lesson as quick challenges or tasks to develop fluency in key areas of competency.  Weekly maths home learning is set using MyMaths and children from Year 2 upwards are encouraged to practise their times table knowledge using TimesTable Rockstars.

Key Stage 1 & 2 Foundation Subject Curriculum

We believe that children need to learn core knowledge whilst developing the necessary skills to make them independent thinkers who will progress through school and beyond.  With this in mind, our staff have worked hard to develop a curriculum which is dynamic, broad, balanced and innovative to ensure that the children enjoy a practical, fun, challenging learning experience that will prepare them for life in 21^st Century Britain.  We recognise that children need a curriculum that is wider than the statutory National Curriculum.   Where possible, content is covered within the context of whole term topics.  Staff within each Key Stage plan together to cover all areas of the curriculum over the course of a two year rolling programme.  Examples of topics at each Key Stage include:

Key Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2): Living in Windsor, Rainforests, Space

Key Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4): Exploring Japan, Ancient Egypt, Chocolate

An overview of the different curriculum areas can be seen in the Windsor Schools Curriculum Site.  Specific details of this term and previous term's learning can be seen in the Learning Updates published each half term.