Our Curriculum

“The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences.” Loris Malaguzzi

We have a holistic curriculum, which we believe it is ambitious, broad and balanced to meet the needs of all children. We have high aspirations for all of our children.

We have developed some key learning ambitions and aspirations that we want our children to develop before they leave us, for their next stage of education. The ambitions are not an exhaustive list of everything a child will learn during their time with us, but they celebrate the things we think our children need to know before they continue their learning journey in their next school.

These are:

1. Be kind, respectful and resilient young people
2. Communicate their wants, needs and interests
3. Be 'thinkers and doers' of the future, who are curious, creative and have a love of learning
4. Be eco-warriors who care for the planet and environment
5. Love early reading and sharing books
6. Solve mathematical problems through play
7. Be active and stay healthy
8. Be ready for their next stage of education 

Communication and Language is the golden thread that runs through our curriculum. Communication and Language is an important building block for all other areas of development and learning.

Through the curriculum, the children have a wide variety of opportunities to develop these skills, using intelligent resources within out learning environments, with support from our dedicated and knowledgeable staff.

Our holisitic curriculum covers these areas:

·        * The power of books and stories

·        * Celebrations and festivals of people around us

·        * Nature and the Seasons

·        * Mathematical ‘thinkers and doers’

·        * Nurturing health and wellbeing

·        * Community Links

·        * Seasonal Events

Book Led Curriculum – Core Texts

“Reading is the gateway for children that makes all other learning possible.” Barack Obama

We have a detailed 2 yearly cycle of key texts which begins in Preschool, through into Nursery. The core books and stories are carefully chosen to support the children’s development of language and vocabulary, at an age-appropriate level.

We ensure that the children have plenty of opportunities to revisit key texts and vocabulary, to enable them to understand the new words and be able to use them in their own interactions with others.

Our book led curriculum helps us to:

• Stimulate children’s curiosity and spark imagination 
• Inspire children to ask questions and learn new knowledge, skills and vocabulary
• Develop children’s background knowledge and cultural capital
• Enhance and develop children’s vocabulary
• Support children to foster deeper and more transferable learning
• Engage and deepen children’s understanding across all areas of the curriculum
• Encourage discussion of big ideas and themes
• Provide models for writing
• Make early reading a focus point
• Help all children to fall in love with books and reading

“Reading is dreaming with your eyes wide open” – Anon

Curriculum Enrichment

In our schools, we are growing the adults of the future. We are helping them to be responsible for and care for the world in which they live and the people they live alongside in it. Our curriculum has been designed to provide a wealth of opportunities for children to learn to recognise similarities and differences between themselves and others and to care for the natural world.

Caring for nature

At both schools, the children are immersed in nature in the amazing outdoor areas. They are supported to care for the plants and flowers, both inside and out. We have greenhouses and vegetable patches, so that the children can grow, care for and eat their own produce, having seen the growing cycle.

We also care for different creatures throughout the year, hatching butterflies and keeping eggs warm in the incubator so that they hatch into chicks. The children learn how to handle these creatures carefully and about providing the correct environment for them to thrive.

We have an annual visits from the farm and a man who brings all sorts of creatures into school including snakes, skunks and tortoises, so that the children are able to find out about looking after different animals and creatures.

Community Links

Our children learn about the different roles that people have in the community and the importance of respecting these. We have had visits from the Police, Fire Service, guide dogs and CAP lady, as well as many more visitors. We have also been very lucky to have dance sessions and Rhythm Time sessions brought to school, to give the children these learning experiences.

Festivals and celebrations

Our children come from different family types, religions and homes and we teach them that we might have some things in common but that it is okay to have differences. We do celebrate different festivals and celebrations with the children in school from different cultures and religions. Here are some of the celebrations we engage with:

·         Harvest Festival

·         Chinese New Year

·         Shrove Tuesday

·         Easter

·         Eid

·         Diwali

·         Christmas

We also celebrate things such as: birthdays, new siblings being born or awards and achievements from home, e.g. getting a certificate or badge from a club they attend out of school.

In order to ensure all children achieve their full potential, we enhance the curriculum by providing children with extra-curricular opportunities such as:

·        * Working with artists from The Hepworth Gallery on projects

·        * Taking part in regular Rhythm Time sessions

·        * Taking part in weekly dance sessions which develop children’s physical development – delivered by a local dance school

Please see our Curriculum Enrichment Statement for further detail.

“Play is the highest form of research” – Albert Einstein

In our federation, the children learn through play, via interesting provocations, thoughtful questions and rich problem solving, in the same way that mathematicians, artist, writers and scientists learn in the world. The children are pilots in their own learning and play. Also embedded in our curriculum are the Characteristics of Effective Learning: Playing & Exploring, Active Learning and Creating and Thinking Critically.

Our pedagogy is anchored on a strong understanding of child development. Our practice is based on a combination of early years pedagogy including Te Whariki and Montessori.

We enable our children through our curriculum by . . .

·        * Staff being present and in the moment

·        * Supporting, scaffolding, facilitating, modelling, praising, demonstrating (by highly skilled practitioners)

·        * High quality teaching and learning opportunities

-            Providing rich, powerful learning environments

-            Invitations and provocations to learning

-            Prolonged access to free-flow play, with the attention and support of key adults

-            Key people who understand the child deeply, fully meeting their emotional needs, as well as physical and intellectual needs

·        * The Unique child – following and supporting their schematic learning styles and urges

·        * Allowing children to be curious, inquisitive learners, who have an intrinsic desire to learn

"Children are born with all the curiosity they will ever need. It will last a lifetime if they are fed upon a daily diet of ideas.” Charlotte Mason

Please see our Curiosity Approach section for more information about how we deliver the curriculum and what the Curiosity Approach is.

If you would like to know more information about our curriculum,

please speak to your child's class teacher or email:

criggadmin@crigglestonecastle.wakefield.sch.uk or castleadmin@crigglestonecastle.wakefield.sch.uk