INFANTS
Years 1 - 2 (for ages 5-7yrs)
Children at Queenswood School leave their Reception class as increasingly confident and independent individuals; excited, curious and well-prepared to move on to the next stage of school life in Infants. The Infants' curriculum is based on an enhanced version of the National Curriculum: with our small class sizes and excellent teacher-pupil ratio our pupils thrive and gain confidence.
Children take part in more extended formal teaching for in their curriculum subject areas and then take part in directed independent learning. They also have the opportunity to access continuous provision and learning resources throughout the day. Numeracy and Literacy are taught daily through group teaching and independent activities. Numeracy tasks are differentiated to support all children: the topics cover everything from addition and subtraction; shape, directional language and fractions. In Literacy, a wide variety of texts are introduced: fiction, non- fiction and poetry. The children enjoy a wide variety of written activities; including writing letters and postcards, writing menus, learning to write stories - all using interesting writing skills; adjectives, nouns and verbs.
The children enjoy a wide range of History and Geography topics such as 'The Great Fire of London', 'Seaside Holidays', 'Hot and Cold Climates' and 'The Titanic'.
Electricity is one of the favourite topics within Science: making electricity circuits to make buzzers and lights work. Growing and Planting is a very popular Summer topic, where the children are able to use our wonderful outdoor garden. They have planted sunflowers- seeing who can grow the tallest, observed their beans growing, and then planted a range of produce; such as potatoes, carrots and strawberries. which they have then eaten! Another popular Science topic, ‘All About Materials’ , looks at a range of materials and the children enjoy looking at how strong they are and whether they are waterproof.
The curriculum also includes RE and PSHE where the children learn about traditions and beliefs: this is very much a strength of our school provision and reflects our inclusive 'Rights Respecting' ethos.
PE takes place twice a week, using the large hall space. Topics covered are gymnastics, dance, ball skills and games, athletics and team games. The children have opportunities to work individually and in groups throughout the lessons. The large playground is ideal for netball and football games.
Music is a weekly activity and the children learn basics of singing, rhythm, pitch and use percussion instruments. They enjoy sharing their performances with other children and wider audiences where these opportunities arise.
Learning is further supported by a range of educational trips and visits alongside a wide programme of extra-curricular activities.