Our Curriculum

Curriculum

At St James Infant and Pre-School, our curriculum nurtures curious minds, kind hearts and confident learners. Our values of Respect, Kindness, Inclusion and Teamwork run through everything we do, helping children feel a strong sense of belonging. Everyone is welcome here, and every child is supported to learn, contribute and flourish.

We bring learning to life through engaging termly themes that connect subjects and help children make sense of the world around them. Our curriculum carefully sequences the knowledge, skills and understanding within the Early Years Foundation Stage and National Curriculum, building on what children already know and preparing them for what comes next.

Strong relationships are at the heart of learning. We take time to get to know each child—their interests, strengths and needs—and build warm, trusting relationships with children and their families. Through everyday interactions, shared play and collaborative challenges, children learn to listen, communicate, understand feelings and develop friendships. Feeling safe, valued and understood gives them the confidence to ask questions, try something new and keep going when learning feels tricky.

In Early Years and Year 1, carefully planned teaching works alongside continuous and enhanced provision. Continuous provision offers familiar spaces and resources that children can return to, explore and use independently. Thoughtful enhancements introduce new ideas, resources and challenges that deepen learning and respond to children’s interests. Whether building, creating, investigating or role-playing, children have meaningful opportunities to practise skills, make choices and work together. Adults support and extend this learning through conversation, modelling and well-chosen questions.

Learning extends beyond the classroom. Outdoor experiences give children space to move, explore nature, notice seasonal changes and investigate the world first-hand. Building together, exploring materials and solving practical problems develop communication, creativity, physical confidence and teamwork, while encouraging care and respect for our environment.

Our curriculum aims to:

Spark curiosity and a love of learning through joyful, stimulating experiences that encourage children to explore, question and discover.
Include and value every child, ensuring access to a broad, balanced and ambitious curriculum, with support and challenge matched to individual needs.
Nurture the whole child, supporting intellectual, creative, physical, social, moral, spiritual and emotional development.
Build strong foundations for the future, developing communication, reading, writing and mathematical understanding alongside independence and problem-solving.
Grow confidence and resilience, helping children recognise their strengths, take pride in their progress and learn from mistakes.
Put our values into action, teaching children to respect themselves and others, show kindness, celebrate differences and work cooperatively.
Prepare children for their next steps, equipping them with the knowledge, skills and positive attitudes to approach new experiences with confidence.

Our Big Question Curriculum

At St James Infant and Pre-School, every topic begins with a Big Question—an exciting starting point that sparks curiosity and gives learning a shared purpose. Throughout the term, all learning contributes to answering this question, helping children make connections between subjects and understand how each new discovery adds to the bigger picture.

Children become investigators: asking questions, exploring ideas, noticing patterns and trying things out. Through practical experiences, purposeful play, discussion and carefully planned teaching, they gather the knowledge and skills they need to develop their answers. Opportunities within continuous and enhanced provision, outdoor learning and collaborative challenges allow them to revisit ideas and apply their learning in different ways.

We return to the Big Question throughout the term, encouraging children to reflect: “What have we discovered?” “How does this help us?” and “What do we still need to find out?” By revisiting and practising learning, children strengthen their understanding, remember more over time and become increasingly confident in using what they know. By the end of the topic, they bring their discoveries together to answer the question and explain their thinking.

Our values of Respect, Kindness, Inclusion and Teamwork underpin this journey, as children listen to different ideas, investigate together and discover that everyone has something valuable to contribute.

English

At St James Infant and Pre-School, we believe every child has something worth saying—and we help them discover the joy of putting it into writing!

From the first meaningful marks in Pre-school to imaginative stories in Year 2, our writing curriculum builds confidence, creativity and independence, step by step. Wonderful books, exciting experiences, role play and drama spark ideas and give children a reason to write. Talking comes first: children explore vocabulary, share their thoughts and practise sentences aloud before putting pencil to paper.

In Early Years and Year 1, opportunities to write are woven through all areas of our enhanced and continuous provision—the spaces, resources and activities children explore during their learning. Whether making a sign for a construction, taking orders in a pretend café or writing a message to a friend, children discover that writing is useful, meaningful and fun.

As children grow, they learn to shape their ideas for different purposes and readers, choosing words carefully and developing their spelling, punctuation and grammar. We use High 5 Heroes to support children as they develop and check their writing, alongside Colourful Semantics, which uses colour-coded visual prompts to help children organise their ideas and build sentences. These tools help make the writing process clear and manageable, supporting children towards greater independence.

Read Write Inc. phonics helps children turn sounds into written words, while Kinetic Letters builds the strength, coordination and letter formation needed for comfortable, confident handwriting. We teach children that writers revisit their work, too—reading it aloud, checking that it makes sense and making thoughtful improvements. With support and challenge matched to their needs, every child is encouraged to take pride in their progress and see themselves as an author.

At home, you can nurture this enthusiasm by sharing stories, talking about adventures and inviting your child to write a card, a message or a shopping list. Every little opportunity helps them discover that their words have a purpose!

Mathematics

At St James Infant and Pre-School, maths is something children explore, build, create and talk about every day! From comparing towers to spotting patterns, we help children discover the maths all around them and see themselves as confident, curious mathematicians.

Practical experiences come first. Children handle real objects, move and arrange resources, build models and investigate problems before moving towards more formal written recording. By exploring ideas with objects, then pictures and finally numbers and symbols, they develop a secure understanding of what the maths means. Practical resources remain available as children meet new challenges.

Talking is an essential part of this journey. We encourage children to describe what they notice, explain how they know and listen to different ways of solving a problem. Questions such as “What has changed?”, “How could we check?” and “Can you find another way?” help children deepen their thinking and develop mathematical vocabulary.

In Early Years and Year 1, maths is woven through our continuous and enhanced provision—the everyday spaces and resources children explore, alongside carefully planned additions that extend their learning. Building a bridge, creating a repeating pattern, filling containers in the water tray or sharing items in a pretend café all offer meaningful opportunities to count, compare, measure and solve problems. Adults join children’s play to introduce language, ask questions and move their understanding forward.

Alongside these experiences, carefully sequenced teaching builds knowledge in small, manageable steps. Children develop a strong understanding of number, learn to calculate confidently and explore shape, space and measures. We provide support and challenge so that every child can experience success, persevere and take pride in their discoveries.

At home, everyday moments make wonderful maths opportunities: play a board game, match socks, count out plates or compare quantities while cooking. Talking together about what you notice helps your child see that maths is useful, enjoyable and everywhere!

The Outdoor Curriculum and Environment

At St James Infant and Pre-School, we believe that some of the most exciting discoveries happen outdoors! Our outdoor spaces inspire curiosity, imagination and a love of learning, giving children opportunities to explore, build, create and connect with the natural world.

We are fortunate to have our own Forest School, which all year groups access through weekly opportunities and planned termly Forest School lessons. Our qualified Forest School teacher leads sessions that enrich our curriculum and support children’s confidence, independence and wellbeing. Children also have opportunities to enjoy this space at lunchtimes, playtimes and through our after-school club.

Each year group has direct access to its own outdoor classroom, where carefully planned continuous and enhanced provision brings learning to life. Familiar resources invite children to revisit and practise their skills, while new materials and challenges extend their thinking. From constructing a shelter and making a muddy mixture to investigating minibeasts or creating an imaginative adventure, outdoor learning gives children meaningful reasons to talk, count, measure, write and solve problems.

Outdoor experiences also help children build relationships. Working together to move materials, develop an idea or overcome a challenge encourages listening, cooperation and trust. Our values of Respect, Kindness, Inclusion and Teamwork guide these experiences as children care for living things, share resources and support one another.

With thoughtful adult guidance, children learn to judge and manage appropriate risks, try different approaches and persevere when something does not work straight away. There is space for independent discovery as well as shared exploration, helping every child build on what they know and take pride in what they can achieve.

Children with Special Needs

The curriculum in our school is designed to provide access and opportunity for all children who attend the school.

If we think it necessary to adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of individual children, then we do so only after the parents of the child have been consulted.

If a child has a special need, our school does all it can to meet these individual needs. We comply with the requirements set out in the SEN Code of Practice in providing for children with special needs.

If a child displays signs of having special needs, his/her teacher makes an assessment of this need. In most instances the teacher is able to provide resources and educational opportunities which meet the child’s needs within the normal class organisation.

If a child’s need is more severe, we use the support provided by Teaching Assistants, and we involve the appropriate external agencies.

The school provides an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) for all children who are on the special needs register. This sets out the nature of the special need, and outlines how the school will aim to address the need.

It also sets out targets for improvement, so that we can review and monitor the progress of each child at regular intervals.

Progress against IEP targets is recorded in the child’s individual IEP book.