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The Primary Curriculum has its foundation in the
National Curriculum for England. We mix an academic
foundation with the enjoyment of learning. We aim to
ensure that students coming from and returning to
Britain or to the curriculum of England ,are able to do so easily, whilst benefiting
from their Indian experience. Our children get a
healthy submersion in the arts with a couple of
music lessons, drama, art and plenty of sport.
 We
have adapted parts of our curriculum to our special
circumstances, especially where our programme
relates to History and Geography, which are taught
as a cross curricular subject called, Topic.
Students work in the normal range of English
subjects with an emphasis on honesty, pride and
integrity. The knowledge, skills and attitudes of
religion and DT are included with other areas of the
curriculum. Students begin to learn Hindi in year 2
and, once they reach year 5 are given a choice
between Hindi and French. All students begin to
learn violin when they are in Year 3. One of the
areas for which the Primary School receives many
compliments is its programme for afternoon
activities. The school day is from 7.55 am to 2.10
pm, after which our students are given the option of
either going home or choosing from a large variety
of different options of their own interest. We have
many craft, music, sport and dance classes to choose
from which may involve an extra payment based on the
cost of teacher (if employed from outside on an
hourly basis) and materials. Use of the building and
facilities during the evenings for parent activities
is in its early stages. Children are grouped within
the class for different purposes either in ability
groups or mixed ability groups depending on the
objectives of each particular lesson.
The school is structured into the three National
Curriculum key Stages known as The Foundation Stage,
Stage One and Stage Two. The curricula and teaching
practices of each of these stages is currently under
review with some variations likely in the coming
year. In our Foundation Classes, there are no
distinct subjects, rather our students are helped
and encouraged to develop their skills and
understanding in several areas of learning described
in more detail below. As they develop as learners
some of these areas need slightly more focused
teaching. Children in Stage One of their British
School education begin to learn through the core
subjects of English, Maths and Science plus ICT and
Topic. (A cross curricular approach to History,
Geography, Art, Personal, Social, Health Education
and Citizenship) These subjects continue into Stage
2 of the curriculum which presently culminates with
students taking the DfEE Stage 2 Standardized tests
from England.
All of our Primary students go to specialist
teachers for PE, (100 minutes each week) Music,
(40-80 minutes each week) drama, (40 minutes each
week) and Library. (1 hour each week) Children
receive lessons in Hindi from grade 2 upwards. In
years 5 and 6 our students receive lessons in French
or Hindi.
THE FOUNDATION STAGE
The programme for children in our Reception Class is
based on six areas of learning set out by The
English National Curriculum Guidance for the
Foundation Stage. A profile for each child is made
using the National Curriculum Stepping Stones and
Early Learning Goals.
 The
philosophy behind our work at this stage is that
children of a young age should acquire basic
concepts through a variety of planned learning
experiences and structured play. As the children
begin to play cooperatively, learn to listen and
join in discussion, they start to express their
ideas, feelings and preferences for colours, music
and games. They gradually sharpen their gross motor
skills and become aware of and use written words,
patterns and numbers. It is at this stage that our
children are introduced to reading and writing for
themselves. As part of this introduction we use the
?Jolly Phonics? system. This is a synthetic phonics
programme. Rather than simply interrupting children
whilst they are reading and then trying to sound
out the letter sounds, we actively teach the
children the 42 sounds of the English language and
then help them to use this knowledge with their
early writing and reading. This is done using a
story driven, multi-sensory approach. Four sounds
are introduced each week through two different
stories. The children then learn how to make the
sounds, the actions that go with each sound and what
the sound looks like when it is written. This
teaching happens in nine week cycles that are
repeated reinforcing their learning and gradually
increasing levels of difficulty throughout the year.
By the time children leave the Foundation Stage,
they should be able to read a number of words and
write their first sentences.
STAGE-1 YEARS 1 TO 2
This is also a stage where paper-based, written
activities are outweighed by practical, active
learning and problem solving. Children are learning
the symbols for transferring their developing
understanding of the world onto paper and they are
beginning to write and manipulate numbers. By the
time children leave Stage 1, they should be able to
read and write their first sentences. It is also at
this stage that children are introduced to the
characters from the Oxford Reading Tree scheme.
Similarly, for Numeracy and the other main
curriculum areas, our expectations are in line with
those set out by the National Curriculum of England.
STAGE-2 YEARS 3 TO 6
In most subjects, the objectives as set out in the
National Curriculum are followed using the advice
set out by the UK Qualifications and Curriculum
Authority. (QCA) As is happening in the UK, we are
developing our teaching of all curriculum areas with
the hope that we can keep our standards high whilst
encouraging the creative, fun side of learning. We
have worked hard to adapt our teaching to the new
Frameworks for Literacy and Numeracy published in
October 2006. Interestingly, we have found it easier
to fit our more flexible approach and emphasis on
enjoyment with the structure promoted by the new
documents. In the 2006-7 and 2007-8 school years, we
benefited from visits by Charles Cripps, a well
known authority in Spelling and Handwriting from the
UK.
 We
have adapted our approach to these areas using his
advice and training and we will continue to work on
these areas throughout the Primary years. We work
with the belief that a strong foundation in proper
letter formation will help spelling and fluency in
writing. We begin with joined handwriting in our
early years' classes and continue to stress this
skill throughout each child's primary years. When
children arrive with us and have already learnt a
handwriting style, we do not try to alter it as long
as it is legible and well formed. Topic (World
Studies, Social and Environmental studies) is a
strong cross-curricular area of the curriculum. It
appears to include most of the individual learning
objectives and outcomes of the National Curriculum
though, thankfully, it isn't fixated on the content
of Tudors etc.
Our programme covers a whole range of themes and its
continuity of knowledge and skills is again based on
the objectives of the English National Curriculum.
This year we have added 5 schools based in the UK
and Australia to our list of link schools. We are
working with the British Department for International
Development (DfID) and the Leprosy Mission on one
project advancing our students' Global Awareness. We
are also working with the British Council on a
similar project. Our digital facilities allow us to
easily contact these schools through video
conferencing. In the 2006-2007 school year, we
introduced a new scheme to assist students in their
understanding of numeracy.
The 'Abacus Evolve' system is built on the
experience gained by Heinemann with their 'Abacus'
scheme and makes full use of computer technology
both in teaching and learning. In 2007-8 we
consolidated this approach and ensured that all
teachers understand and are able to use the
approach. 'Abacus Evolve' has a digital element,
allowing our teachers to plan precisely, using the
Abacus software. Our students also have the
advantage of being able to practice their skills on
a PC in the class, on a lap top from our trolleys or
on the Promethean Interactive Whiteboard that is
provided in each class. In order to advance our
students skills in Maths, we are also in the process
of becoming the first school in India to use the
well known British and American software called
Maths-Whizz.
 In
the 2007-8 year we did a small pilot of this product
and we were so impressed that, we are in
the process of inviting our whole school community
to join up. Following the recent addition of a
specialist 'computer teacher' to our staff, we have
worked hard to strengthen our facilities and
teaching of Information Technology. We now have at
least one Pentium 4 computer in each classroom. We
have several PCs in some of our Lower Primary
classrooms and we have a set of 20 laptops on a
trolley which are reserved by our Upper Primary
classes for specific lessons. We have a computer
Room where all of our children from Reception to
Year 6 go for at least 40 minutes each week to work
with our ICT teacher and pick up all of the basic
skills and knowledge of this area that they will
need. The philosophy is that they learn the skills
in the computer room and have lots of opportunities
to practice them in the classrooms. All classrooms
also have a printer/scanner and we have new digital
cameras in all of our year groups. For the 2008-9
school year, we anticipate the addition of a further
8 digital whiteboards and to augment the 9 that are
already in classes. In September, 2008 we will be
piloting a scheme to have one laptop per student in
our primary school. This will begin with one class
and may become the choice for all of our students.
Whether we choose to have one laptop for every one
of our students will depend on the success of this
trial. Each year we provide time for each of our
year group teams to plan for the coming semester. In
this time they develop a curriculum map, which will
give a clear picture of what we do in each year
group, in each subject, and will tell us how well
they relate to each other and fulfill our
expectations for a broad and balanced curriculum.
This, in turn, informs our development plan. From
our work so far, our priorities for the coming year
will be the policies for Numeracy, Literacy and PSHE,
together with the development of our plan for Topic
and the best structures for the planning and
assessment of these areas.
HOMEWORK
Homework in the Primary School is viewed as a
valuable activity. It is given to support and
reinforce work taught in school and to train
children to work independently and to manage their
time. The time spent on homework ranges from 15
minutes in the lower primary classes to 45 minutes
in Years 5 and 6
ASSESSMENT
Assessment takes a variety of forms in the Primary
school with progress reported twice a year through
the use of parent teacher conferences for all
parents and twice a year in written form though
paper reports. Our standards are measured against
the UK Stage 2 SAT tests for Year 6 and standardised
progress tests for other age groups. Giving
consideration to our unselective
 admissions
process and the huge variety of nationalities and
levels of initial proficiency in English, the
results tend to be excellent, In 2006, in Literacy,
Numeracy and Science, 89%, 93% and 89% respectively
of our Year 6 Students achieved a grade indicating
that they were working at level 4 or above. This is
well above accepted norms in the UK. The use of the
SATs tests and the British Progress tests that we
have been using for years 3-5 has given us important
information on our strengths and weaknesses,
however, they come a little late to have much effect
on learning for the year in which they are taken. In
the 2008-9 school year, we will be either replacing
or augmenting them with an online system of tests
from the UK which will be able to give us similar
information but at any time of year, when we are
able to use the results to affect learning at that
time. In April, 2007, we worked with Ruth Sutton, a
recognised authority on the areas of curriculum and
assessment. We will be setting out our philosophy,
aims and objectives for these areas making the
groundwork for a thorough and complete Learning and
Teaching Policy for our school. |
