Wootton Bassett Infants’ School provides a learning environment where each child is helped and encouraged to develop his or her full potential in a happy, caring and stimulating environment. ‘Where learning is fun’ is at the heart of our curriculum intent.

As an infant school, we have designed our curriculum to reflect the needs of the children at our school. We begin with the individual child and what we want them to learn about themselves. We then widen our learning intentions to develop their understanding of the locality around our school, and finally, to the wider world. In our school every child matters. The curriculum will be the means of providing all children with creative opportunities for enjoyment and achievement.

Curriculum Intent

We aim to equip the future generation with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed as educated citizens in modern day society with sound judgement and strong core values which will enable them to thrive, be safe, and be the best that they can be. Our intention is for every child to leave us well prepared with a broad skillset, interest in the world around them, and a range of life-long learning experiences which will inspire them throughout their future education and beyond, contributing positively within our community.

• To provide all pupils with equal access to a rich, broad, balanced and immersive curriculum matched well to their ages, abilities, interests, attitudes and special needs.
• To increase pupil’s knowledge, skills and understanding as they grow and develop and strengthen their connections with the world around them by providing a wealth of opportunities to immerse children in the world around them, gaining first-hand learning experiences.
• To execute a curriculum that is creative, carefully planned and structured to ensure that learning is continuous and that pupils make good progress in the development of their learning with language and vocabulary at the core.
• To engage the children’s interest by offering excellent opportunities to extend creative learning, challenge their imagination, value originality and to encourage and motivate them to want to learn.
• To be exciting and to offer pupils lots of first-hand experiences to reinforce their learning and to underpin their growing knowledge, skills and understanding of the world.
• To open their eyes to awe and wonder and cause them to marvel at the incredible and fantastic world in which they live.
• To provide children with a curriculum which enables them to develop their talents, skills and a love of learning.

Curriculum Implementation

At Wootton Bassett Infants we offer an ambitious, cross curricular and topic- based curriculum with quality texts at its heart. Reading is a fundamental part of everything we do at Wootton Bassett Infants as it is the skill that underpins everything that is taught and opens the door to learning across the curriculum.

The intent of our curriculum begins from the outset in the Early Years. Here, children are provided with creative, play-based learning and engaging ways to explore and investigate their learning so that foundations are laid for a lifelong love of learning from the beginning- this then continues throughout Key Stage 1. Through cross-curricular, play-based learning experiences, and the development of the characteristic of Effective Learning, the children are encouraged to become inquisitive, resilient learners who challenge themselves.

The foundations are then built on further in Key Stage 1, where a knowledge rich curriculum allows children to embed their core skills through a variety of learning experiences. Offsite visits and visitors into school, linked to the curriculum, provide first-hand experiences for children to ensure that the children’s learning is memorable and enables them to challenge themselves further. Regular sporting experiences, library sessions, book weeks, art  and craft and extra-curricular events also widen children’s opportunities. Other experiences, e.g. theatre, cinema and seaside trips serve to further enrich the wider curriculum for the children and develop cultural capital.

Throughout their time at Wootton Bassett Infants, our pupils engage with the local community through local area visits, engaging with different cultural and generational groups and supporting local charities. Our core values are central to everything we do and ensure that our pupils make a positive contribution to society. Working in partnership with families is an integral aspect of life at Wootton Bassett Infants and parents are regularly invited to school to participate in their child’s learning and celebrate their achievements. The implementation of the curriculum is underpinned by our core vision and values, and these are routinely highlighted, encouraged and celebrated throughout the school community. 

At Wootton Bassett Infants, we use the following resources to support then teaching of the curriculum:

• ·         The Statutory Framework for Early Years Foundation Stage (effective from 1^st September 2021)
• ·         The National Curriculum for Year 1 and Year 2 children
• ·         Letters and Sounds (2007) (currently under review following the new reading framework and phonics validation process)
• ·         Working alongside these are our curriculum maps which coordinate the use of Big Questions, progressive skills and key themes through a topic-based approach which embraces cross-curricular activities.

Some subjects are taught discretely, and all national curriculum subjects are covered throughout Key Stage 1.

The Seven Areas of Learning provide the framework for the Early Years curriculum, but young children’s learning does not divide into distinct areas and a particular experience may develop learning over several areas at one time.

A set of key themes and concepts that underpin our curriculum ensure that children can make connections and build on their learning, and exposure to ambitious and subject- specific vocabulary means they can talk and write about it.

Delivery