Our school mission statement is ‘learning, loving and growing together’.  By living this statement through all we do, including our curriculum we aim to empower children with a love of learning.  We teach the EYFS curriculum and the National curriculum through child led themes and a child centred approach to learning.

Much of our fundamental beliefs about the way children learn best come from the works of Ferre Leuvers (Wellbeing and involvement) and Reggio Emilia (An Italian Early years setting based on children centred learning)

Our curriculum should always engage and motivate children through topics and themes of interest to them, through explorative play and an ability to take risks with their learning.  Teachers scaffold and model these skills with children, creating a safe environment where children are able to become increasingly independent, curious and search for the answers to their questions.  Our curriculum is underpinned by our Christian values.  These help adults and children to approach learning in a positive, caring and respectful way. 

We understand that for children to access the curriculum their wellbeing must be nurtured.  We take the time to know each individual child, their needs, personalities, interests and families.  We promote good health and emotional wellbeing and aim to support children and their families in order to give them the best possible learning experiences at the start of their learning journey. 

Part of learning and growing through the curriculum is the acquisition of life skills.  We encourage interaction, team work, problem solving, independence, creativity, resilience, perseverance, respect, using initiative, questioning and challenge.  The world is an ever evolving place and we want our children to be equipped for the future.

Speaking and listening is a huge part of our curriculum.  We want children to be able to articulate what they are thinking, doing and feeling.  The children are given many opportunities to do this throughout the day by all staff and in in every area of the school.

Wherever possible we teach the curriculum through real life experiences.  Our location enables us to use the local woods, church, windmill, Herne Bay seaside, Canterbury and it’s many resources such as the cathedral, museum and galleries to name but a few.  We invite visitors to talk to the children and give them first hand experiences.

We believe that every moment of the day is a learning opportunity, academically, socially, emotionally and spiritually.

Therefore we do not follow a prescribed topic term by term but instead shape our children’s learning in a way that is appropriate to their individual needs.