Curriculum

Maximising your child’s development

Our programme is especially designed to promote the Early Years Foundation Stage for all children in each of the six areas of learning, and is complimented by the Montessori philosophy of Sensorial  development.

The Early Learning Goals can be separated into two areas – the Three Prime Areas, and the Four Specific Areas:

The Three Prime Areas:-

  • Personal Social and Emotional Development
  • Physical Development
  • Communication and Language

Our aim is to prepare each child to cope with the challenges of tomorrow’s world. We provide a wide range of experiences and activities that will develop the child’s concentration, self-discipline, social skills and love of learning. Children are confident to try new activities, and say why they like some activities more than others. They are confident to speak in a familiar group, will talk about their ideas, and will choose the resources they need for their chosen activities. They say when they do or don’t need help.Children talk about how they and others show feelings, talk about their own and others’ behaviour, and its consequences, and know that some behaviour is unacceptable. They work as part of a group or class, and understand and follow the rules. They adjust their behaviour to different situations, and take changes of routine in their stride. Children play co-operatively, taking turns with others. They take account of one another’s ideas about how to organise their activity. They show sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings, and form positive relationships with adults and other children.

Fine motor – Gross motor – Dexterity – Skills – Strength – Muscles – Growth – Milestones.

Children show good control and co-ordination in large and small movements. They move confidently in a range of ways, safely negotiating space. They handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing. Children know the importance for good health of physical exercise, and a healthy diet, and talk about ways to keep healthy and safe. They manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs successfully, including dressing and going to the toilet independently.

The Montessori language activities cover all aspects of language development and provide a solid foundation for literacy skills. Children listen attentively in a range of situations. They listen to stories, accurately anticipating key events and respond to what they hear with relevant comments, questions or actions. They give their attention to what others say and respond appropriately, while engaged in another activity. Children follow instructions involving several ideas or actions. They answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions about their experiences and in response to stories or events. Children express themselves effectively, showing awareness of listeners’ needs. They use past,
present and future forms accurately when talking about events that have happened or are to happen in the future. They develop their own narratives and explanations by connecting ideas or events.

The Four Specific Areas:-

  • Literacy
  • Mathematics
  • Expresive Art and Design
  • Understanding the World

Children read and understand simple sentences. They use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately. They also read some common irregular words. They demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read. Children use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. They also write some irregular common words. They write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible.

The characteristic quality of Montessori education is shown with great clarity in the approach to mathematics. Children learn by moving from the known to the unknown and from the concrete to the abstract. This process is carefully structured through the use of materials that enable children to recognise that their perceptions of the world around them have a mathematical element, and to
nurture this understanding in a carefully structured way. Children count reliably with numbers from 1 to 20, place them in order and say which number is one more or one less than a given number. Using quantities and objects, they add and subtract two single-digit numbers and count on or back to find the answer. They solve problems, including doubling, halving and sharing.
Children use everyday language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects and to solve problems. They recognise, create and describe patterns. They explore characteristics of everyday objects and shapes and use mathematical language to describe them.

Children sing songs, make music and dance, and experiment with ways of changing them. They safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function. Children use what they have learnt about media and materials in orginal ways, thinking about uses and purposes. They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role-play and stories.

Children are enormously inquisitive about the environment, about people and about the world. We divide these broad themes into discrete topics to integrate different aspects of the curriculum including geography, biology, science, history, cookery, and festivals and celebrations from around the world. Our children observe, explore and talk about their experiences, while developing their knowledge and understanding. Children talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members. They know that other children don’t always enjoy the same things, and are sensitive to this. They know about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families, communities and traditions. Children know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things. They talk about the features of their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another. They make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur, and talk about changes. Children recognise that a range of technology is used in places such as homes and school. They select and use technology for particular purposes.

“Can’t believe it’s nearly here and also five years at WPMS nearly over, feels really sad! Best wishes. ”

~ Sophie

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