Our Curriculum

English

At Cecil Gowing Infant School our motto of ‘Where Greatness Grows’ is firmly rooted in our English Curriculum and we aim to instil a love of speaking, listening, reading and writing in every child. From Reception we create language rich classrooms where speaking and listening is key to all of the learning.

As the children move through the school we use picture books, drama, our topic work and a creative writing style called “Big Writing” to inspire our imaginations when we write and the children create a wide range of styles and genres of writing. Children are taught handwriting and letter formation from the very start of Reception and in Year 2 they are taught to join up their handwriting.

Children take part in short phonics lessons every day which help them to develop the skills they need for reading. Every child reads with an adult at school once a week and we send home levelled books from our reading scheme (which are matched to your child’s phonetic ability) for you to share with your child at home. We strive for all children at Cecil Gowing Infant School to love reading, writing, speaking and listening and we teach them the skills they need to feel confident, to progress and to be successful.

Phonics and Reading

At Cecil Gowing Infant School we believe that all children can become fluent readers and writers, and we also believe that using Systematic Synthetic Phonics is an effective approach to achieve this. Since September 2022 we have been using “Twinkl Phonics” across our school to teach our daily phonics lessons.  “Twinkl Phonics” is a DfE validated phonics scheme and using it ensures we have fidelity in teaching phonics across our school.  In their daily phonics lessons children are taught the skills they need to recognise phonemes and graphemes and to segment and blend words. Every phonics lesson contains elements of both reading and writing to ensure these skills are strongly embedded. 

 The following link has a useful guide for parents about learning to read and write using the Twinkl Phonics scheme.

The videos below are to help parents and children when learning how to say the phonemes which the children learn at school.

Twinkl Phonics Level 2 Sounds and Actions – YouTube
Twinkl Phonics Level 3 Actions and Sounds – YouTube
Twinkl Phonics Level 5 GPCs: Pure Sounds, Actions and Mnemonics – YouTube
Twinkl Phonics Level 6 GPCs: Pure Sounds and Mnemonics – YouTube

As a school we understand and appreciate the joy of reading for pleasure.  We have an amazing library which is full of wonderful books which the children can bring home to share.  We prioritise story time throughout our school and every class enjoys a daily story time with their teacher.

Maths

At Cecil Gowing we follow the standards outlined in the Maths Curriculum. Rooted in research on the teaching for mastery approach, we provide a comprehensive progression for pupils from Reception to Year 2 through White Rose maths

Mathematics is a creative and highly interconnected subject that has been developed over centuries, providing the solution to some of history’s most intriguing problems.  There are three main aims in the National Curriculum that underpin the teaching of the subject:-

• Fluency
• Reason mathematically
• Solve problems.

At Cecil Gowing we teach maths as both a standalone subject and as part of a topic or theme.

In Reception, the children learn about the ‘ness’ of a number.  This gives them a real understanding of what the number means.

The maths curriculum is taught through a mix of teacher input and exploration through carefully chosen play based practical activities.

In Key Stage 1, the children continue to have many opportunities to learn through engaging practical activities and exploration.  As the children’s understanding develops children are introduced to more abstract ways of working and learn about different strategies for solving calculations.  Children begin to learn to use maths through ‘real life’ problems, for example, buying things and giving change.

Children practise counting daily and have quick mental maths sessions to help broaden their knowledge and confidence in this subject.

Science

At Cecil Gowing we believe that science is a key subject to inspire and ignite the imagination of a child. Investigating the world around them, exploring and asking questions to support a life long love of learning. Our Outdoor Learning curriculum supports much of our science teaching which includes observing the changing season, recognising different plants and insects in our local habitat and investigating different materials.

Through carefully planned and sequenced lessons and regular knowledge assessments, we will strive to provide children with a foundation of scientific understanding on which they can build future knowledge and the confidence to challenge themselves. We want children to be able to think scientifically and take risks with their learning and in order to do this we will provide hands-on experiences, carefully chosen trips and extra curriculum opportunities for all children. 

Geography

When teaching Geography at Cecil Gowing Infant School, we seek to inspire in children a curiosity and excitement about people, places and environments. We want children to feel connected to the world around them and recognise the important part we all play in looking after it. Children will have opportunities to explore and investigate their local area, and they will seek to make comparisons with places further a field using key geographical skills.

Our International Week is where every class studies of a non-European country in-depth from around the world. We share our learning about the physical and human aspects of each country with each other and parents. We recognise, describe, explain, compare and evaluate natural and human features, gaining respect and appreciation of the world we live in, different cultures and ways of life.

Computing

We believe that computing has a very vital role to play in this generation of young children.  Technology already forms an important part of their lives and this role will be even greater in years to come.  We follow the School’s Curriculum with the main elements of the National Curriculum which gives children experience in using technology.  

We use Purple Mash as a tool to create documents on the computer and to support learning across the curriculum. Each class has their own set of Beebots to practice programming and debugging.

History

Our History curriculum first focuses on the recent past, looking at the children’s own history; their family experiences and photographs. In the Reception home corner, photos of the children and their families are used to create a familiar feel and children can talk about what they do with their families.

The use of historical artefacts and visits to local museums help children to understand how and why changes occur, including Norwich Castle in Year 1 to learn about castles.  We investigate significant historical events such as the Titanic in Year 1 and the Great Fire of London and the Moon Landing in Year 2. We also focus on local Norfolk historical figures and their impact, including Henry Bloggs.

Art and Design

At Cecil Gowing, we aim to inspire our children to be creative and enjoy art and design. Throughout the year groups children are encouraged to be independent in their exploration of art and design using a variety of different materials tools and methods. We experiment with the different elements and skills: including colour mixing, texture, pattern and forming both 2 and 3 dimensions. 

We look at a variety of designers and artists, from the past, the present and all around the world, and love to take our learning outside into our outdoor learning sessions. Every individual’s work is valued and encouraged to foster confidence and successes.

Design Technology

At Cecil Gowing, DT is embedded into our curriculum, opportunities to design, crate, make and evaluate our products are provided through our creative topics.  Children are encouraged to be creative with food, designing their own pancakes and toppings, in construction and joining as well as learning the skills of joining and making levers and axels.

All children’ works is valued and children are encouraged to evaluate their work and thinks about what could be done better the next time. DT has been embedded in our outdoor learning , with fairy houses and story sticks, weaving all being part of our rich development of design projects. Reception children are encouraged to develop safe practice in wood work , and strive to get their saw licence that allows them to use the woodworking bench.

PSHE

Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED) is taught in the Foundation stage and Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) is taught in Key Stage 1. This is also linked to our RHE curriculum and the two subjects are interlinked to ensure coverage is thorough and well taught. The children participate in Life Lessons every week to ensure they understand the skills they are being taught and how they can use these throughout life. It is taught through a variety of ways and aims to encourage children to think about how to:

• Relationships
• Health and Wellbeing
• Living in the Wider World

Our outdoor learning sessions are a fundamental part of developing children’s wellbeing.

P.E.

Physical activity is a key determinant for maintaining good physical and meantal health (Publich Health England, 2014) leading to higher attainment and great academic success (McPherson et al., 2018) and sustaining positive emotional wellbeing (PHE, 2015)

Physical Education should inspire pupils to succeed and take part in competitive sports and other physically demanding activities.  The P.E. curriculum at Cecil Gowing is inspired by the ‘Real P.E.’ scheme of work.  Children are actively encouraged to celebrate their personal goals of achievement.

We believe children’s physical health and well-being is a fundamental part of their development.  Children have two timetabled sessions of P.E. each week, however, in addition to this we promote physical outdoor learning activities daily.

At Cecil Gowing our P.E. enables our children to develop the fundamental movement skills that allow them to become increasingly competent and confident in accessing a broad range of fun opportunities that enhances their agility, balance, coordination and social relationships with both peers and adults.

Children at Cecil Gowing have the opportunity to be involved in extra-curricular activities including a visit to a gymnasium, a visit from a local professional karate club a range of competitive tournaments organised by Active Norfolk.

Outdoor Learning

We are proud of our commitment to outdoor learning at Cecil Gowing. Not only do our outdoor learning sessions cover a wide range of curriculum objectives but they provide vital time for children to learn within nature. We believe that outdoor learning sessions contribute to our children’s mental wellbeing, as well as their academic progress.

R.E.

At Cecil Gowing, Religious Education is taught in accordance with the new Norfolk Agreed Syllabus, a copy of which can be viewed at the school on request.

Our aim is to support the children in our school become religiously literate i.e. enable the children” to hold balanced and
well informed conversations about religions and worldviews.”
(Norfolk Agreed Syllabus).

The children are taught about Christianity, Judaism, Islam and other religious beliefs in a way that is appropriate to their age and level of understanding. They are taught to have respect for other people’s beliefs.

We have links with local churches and opportunities for each year group to visit different places of worship as well as having occasional visits from representatives from different religions.

Music

At Cecil Gowing, we make music an enjoyable and inspiring part of our curriculum. We encourage children to participate in a variety musical experiences to build up their confidence, and help the children feel a part of our school community. The children learn through creating, playing, performing and listening to music, developing the skills in practice. Each year group has opportunities to sing with a pianist once a week , and do a performance of their songs to the parents. We showcase their talents in Christmas plays, and a Year 2 leavers show.