Curriculum
Reception and Year 1
The main focus of the first years of school is to foster children’s curiosity and love of learning. It should enable the children in the class to realise they have power and ownership over learning and their own progress. School should encourage self-reflection and perseverance. Children should ultimately learn how to learn and the learning itself should be a little bit magical. To achieve these aims we deliver a playful curriculum through child-led topics. We are constantly observing the children and their learning and steer the weekly topics to reflect the children’s interests.
Our continuous provision provides children with stimulating, active play experiences that interest and inspire them to learn. Our enhanced provision is changed weekly to link with the class topic. It is a time for children to play with others and for staff to help them develop their ideas and language skills
Year 2
In Key Stage One we build the foundations of a child’s future. Year 2 is the final year in Key Stage One. The children continue to build upon the progress they have made in Year 1 and prepare for life in Key Stage Two.
Within the Lower School we have high expectations of the children and value academic rigour. However, we recognise the absolute essential nature of curiosity, sense of wonder and magic within the curriculum. We hope to inspire self-motivated children with a real thirst for knowledge. Our Year 2 pupils have an exciting creative curriculum. Our curriculum is planned to suit the needs of each individual using a cross-curricular approach to learning. This level of creativity is what wills the children to do their very best every day and enthuses them to the point where learning goes beyond the school gates. No task is without purpose and each string of the National Curriculum is cleverly interwoven into topics that provide the breadth to teach a range of subjects in an engaging way.
Year 3
Year 3 is the final year our pupils spend in the Lower School, which is important for many reasons. Whilst the children will continue to receive all the support and nurturing they need, it will also be an important transitional year before entering the Upper School. Focus will be placed on being independent, as well as taking on more responsibility for both their actions and their belongings. As the top of the Lower School, pupils in Year 3 will also need to remember that they should be positive roles models to the younger children, always modelling the behaviour expected of pupils at Horris Hill School.
When pupils enter Year 3, they benefit from additional coaching in our three major sports (football, rugby and cricket), as well as a variety of minor sports too.