At Highfields we use the Learning Challenge Curriculum to help structure and teach the National Curriculum.
Principles And Overview
The Learning Challenge concept is built around the principle of greater learner involvement in their work. It requires deep thinking and encourages learners to work using a question as the starting point. The Learning Challenge approach is used as a structure and ethos for curriculum design. In designing the curriculum teachers and learners are using a prime learning challenge, expressed as a question, as the starting point. Using the information gained from pre- learning tasks, the new National Curriculum and the school’s context a series of subsidiary challenges are then planned. Each subsidiary learning challenge is also expressed as a question. The subsidiary learning challenge is normally expected to last for one week but this does not need to be the case. However, initially it may be useful for the learners and indeed the staff to get used to the weekly learning challenge. The important point is that the learning challenges need to make sense to the learners and it is something that is within their immediate understanding.
EYFS
In the Early Years we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile to plan and assess the learning. It is very much an integrated approach where the children learn in a very hands on environment with a big emphasis on curiosity and exploration.
KS1
We continue the journey of learning through KS1 using the Learning Challenge Curriculum mentioned above alongside the RML Phonics program. RML Phonics teaches the children to sound out their letters using pure sounds and then to blend them to create words.
Watch the video below which demonstrates the way we pronounce our phonic sounds
KS2
In KS2 we continue to use the Learning Challenge Curriculum and put a great deal of emphasis on hands on learning opportunities and experience days.
Please see the class pages for the learning overviews and year group expectations.