British School of Washington

Early Years Foundation Curriculum Guide 2011-12

Nursery - Reception (Nursery - Pre-School)

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International Primary Curriculum (IPC) – Early Years Foundation Stage

Introduction

The Early Years Foundation Stage is for children from 2 years 9 months up to 4 years of age. Children move on

from Nursery in to Reception class in that time.

The International Primary Curriculum (IPC) underpins all the learning at the British School of Washington. It is

a challenging curriculum focused explicitly on developing children’s learning. Its structure is based on subject;

personal and internationally-minded learning goals. These unique units of work help children acquire

knowledge, skills and understanding in active, exciting and involved classroom environments. Play is the foundation of development and learning for young children and your child will continue to take part

in many indoor and outdoor play experiences that will help them to learn and have fun.

At the very heart of the IPC are clearly defined learning goals for all areas of learning. There are also learning

goals for children's personal development and international understanding. Children will be taught their initial

reading and writing skills using Ruth Miskin phonics scheme.

Nursery and Reception Curriculum

At the age of 2 years 9 months, children are enrolled in the Nursery unit and progress into

Reception at 4 years of age.

Children are encouraged to enquire, ask questions, investigate and develop their social

interactions. The skills, knowledge and understanding the children gain are the foundation to

their future learning. Children begin to develop their phonics, literacy and mathematical skills

which they continue to build on throughout their school life.

Q: What can I expect to see in my child’s classroom?

The school provides a positive and stimulating learning environment both inside and in the outdoor learning

area. This helps children to engage with their surroundings. Classrooms are colourful and well resourced.

Areas for role-play, art, construction, maths, investigation, water and sand are created to increase children’s

knowledge and understanding of the world around them and promote learning through play.

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Q: How is the curriculum structured in Nursery and Reception?

The school focuses on developing the ‘whole child’ and aims to build independence skills and confidence,

whilst fostering the ability to work collaboratively.

International Primary Curriculum (IPC)

The International Primary Curriculum adopts a skills based approach which is taught through topics. The

curriculum has a simple but comprehensive structure designed to ensure that children’s learning experiences

are as stimulating as possible. This is achieved through both teacher led and child led activities.

Learning at the Nursery and Reception level is divided into six areas:

Personal, social and emotional

Communication, language and literacy

Problem solving, reasoning and numeracy

Knowledge and understanding of the world

Physical development

Creative development

This celebrates and embeds the school’s culturally diverse student population and promotes an ethos of

respect and independence.

The topics covered in Nursery and Reception follow a two year rolling programme to ensure that children who

spend more than one year in Nursery are not repeating topics. These are as follows:

Nursery Phase 1 Nursery Phase 2 Reception

All about me All about me Treasure

Food Patterns Shopping

Clothes Let’s Pretend Houses and Homes

Bears Animals Up and Away

Transport Plants Changes

Transport Plants Family and Friends

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How does the learning take place?

The Foundation Stage curriculum is based around play, as this is a vital part of children's development and

learning. The classrooms are set up in different areas, such as role play, mathematics, writing, cooking,

construction, creative, investigation, sand and water to enable children to develop holistically. The activities

are both child initiated and adult led and focused.

Learning time is divided into both indoor and outdoor learning. Both the adults and the children view our

outdoor area as an extension of the classroom and learning areas. The outdoors provides a range of different

experiences for all types of play, building on first hand experiences. It gives the opportunity to move on a large

scale, to be active, lively and noisy and uses all their senses. Through outdoor play, children enhance their

skills of social interaction in an environment where there is more freedom and opportunities to explore a

different space.

Children learn through activities that are practical and fun. They are given opportunities to explore,

investigate, discover, create, practise and review their developing skills, knowledge and attitudes.

Phonics The Read Write Inc. is a programme for primary school children learning to read. It is a systematic programme

to teach phonics, enabling children to decode and build words for reading and writing.

Reading

The children will:

learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letters/letter groups using simple picture prompts

learn to read words using sound blending

read ditties and stories featuring words they have learnt to sound out

show that they comprehend what they have read by answering discussion questions

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Writing

The children will:

learn to write the letters/letter groups to represent the 44 sounds

learn to write words using phoneme fingers and sounding out skills

learn to write simple sentences

Languages

In Nursery and Reception children will receive taster lessons in Spanish or French from their class teacher.

Languages will be taught through songs, stories and games to introduce children to the language.

Nursery - French

Reception- Spanish

Homework

Once ready, a child will be given appropriate letter sounds, key words, ditties or books to take home and

practice.

How will I find out about my child’s progress?

Throughout the year there will be opportunities for the children to share their learning with parents in class

assemblies and entry and exit points at the beginning and end of IPC themes.

Marking and Feedback in the Early Years Foundation Stage

In the Foundation Stage, marking and feedback strategies include:

Verbal Praise

Stickers and stamps

Written annotations, short and narrative observations (written) Annotation of work and photographs

by staff

Pupils beginning to annotate their own work and pictures

Oral dialogue with pupils about their play or work

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Learning Review Conferences

An opportunity to discuss a child’s progress is made available twice a year at a Learning Review Conference.

Parents are invited to schedule an appointment with their classroom teacher at this time.

Reports

Each year, parents will receive four reports a year. These will consist of two full written reports and two

reports highlighting two skills of which they are beginning, developing or mastering within the six areas of

learning.

International25 Buckingham GateLondon, SW1E 6LD, United Kingdomwww.wclgroup.com

North America4211 Watonga Blvd. Houston, Texas 77092Phone: 713.290.9041www.wclgroup.comm.harter@wclgroup.com

2001 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20007Phone: 202.829.3700Fax: 202.829.6522www.britishschoolofwashington.org