Year 1 builds upon the strong Explorative foundations laid down by our Reception experience, with enquiry and collaborative learning remaining of great importance. Everything that children have learnt in their first year underpins their continued development and we encourage them to start taking more risks, knowing that mistakes help them learn, and further developing their confidence and resilience across all aspects of their learning.
Our curriculum is carefully designed to be both broad and balanced, covering a wide range of topics. It is in Year 1 and 2 that we start to develop focused English and Maths knowledge and understanding, and we support the children to develop enquiry skills, teaching them an understanding of the world around them from both a scientific, geographical and historical perspective.
All our Year 1 and 2 children have both a Form Teacher and a Teaching Assistant who maintain an overview of the whole child, liaising with all other staff to ensure that children remain cared for, valued, challenged, engaged and, above all, happy. We extend the range of educational visits and experiences outside of school and we introduce more specialist teaching in areas such as Science and RE. All our teaching is responsive and adapts to suit individual learning styles and each child’s unique understanding.
We introduce concepts and skills in an engaging manner and we ensure that we tailor the right amount of stretch and challenge to each child. Our expectations are high and we continue to recognise that every single child develops and progresses at a pace unique to them and, therefore, we seek to foster their particular potential and identify their particular strengths, passions and areas for further development.
We recognise the significant benefit of extending children’s learning beyond the curriculum delivered in the classroom. As such, trips, in Year 1 and 2, go to a wide variety of locations, including the Leicester Space Centre, Burghley House, Barnwell and Wicksteed Parks, and a number of local theatres. The children also spend time in our own Woodland Garden, being led through our outdoor learning programme by our trained Forest School Leaders.
We have a Mastery approach to teaching and learning at LJS, which means we believe that every single child is capable of success and that nothing should inhibit their ability to achieve it. Our environment is supportive and encouraging, and we pride ourselves on maintaining a flexible curriculum to ensure that at any given time, every single child is being challenged appropriately, inspiringly and above all, successfully.
