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Foundation and Keystage 1

students in class

Foundation

The Foundation Stage is the first part of the National Curriculum focusing on the distinct needs of children aged 3 to the end of the Reception year in primary school.

The philosophy underpinning the Foundation Stage curriculum is that learning should be carefully planned and structured, with an emphasis on activities that are fun, relevant and motivating for each child.

Teachers delivering the Foundation Stage curriculum therefore support children’s learning through planned play and extending and developing children’s spontaneous play.

The Foundation Stage Curriculum is organised into the following six areas of learning:

  • Personal, social and emotional development
  • Communication, language and literacy
  • Mathematical development
  • The development of knowledge and understanding of the world
  • Physical development and
  • Creative development.

Although it has its own curriculum outline, when there is no Preschool, the Reception year is often considered part of Key Stage 1.

Keystage 1

The transition from Foundation to Key Stage 1 occurs once the children start Year 1. This year and Year 2 lead the child towards Key Stage 1 SATs. These SATs are mostly based around teachers’ assessments but give us our first external benchmark against which to gauge the children’s progress.

At Key Stage One we aim to pursue excellence, develop broad interests, excite curiosity and prepare pupils for lifelong learning and work.

Our sensibly sized classes (maximum of 24) foster a constructive relationship between teacher, teaching assistant and pupils, and enable each child’s needs to be met at this important stage in their development.

Having the children develop in their literacy and numeracy skills is only one aspect of their early development – we are just as concerned about their spiritual, emotional and physical development as well. So, although the children are taught most lessons by their Class Teacher, at SFBS, we are also able to use the expertise of PE, Music and ICT staff to offer subject specialist teaching in these curriculum areas.

There are many opportunities for the children to learn about their new home country as we have Korean Days in the autumn term where we bring in many cultural exhibitions (both static and live!) and have many field visits to museums, cultural sites and local services (such as the fire station). As part of the children’s life in Korea we also teach basic Korean language to newcomers and more advanced Korean to those who speak it as a heritage language.

In Key Stage 1, we aim to have your child nurtured and challenged so that they become confident in what they can do and where they can go next on their learning journey.