Close

Twitter Wall

18/03/24

Y6 cyclists enjoyed a fantastic start to bikeability! Team Shakespeare learnt how to stay safe by controlling speed, looking over our shoulder for approaching traffic and how to signal to other road users a desired direction of travel. pic.twitter.com/yNKr3ctiyf

18/03/24

Y6 cyclists enjoyed a fantastic start to bikeability! Team Shakespeare learnt how to stay safe by controlling speed, looking over our shoulder for approaching traffic and how to signal to other road users a desired direction of travel. pic.twitter.com/grLClqOlUT

18/03/24

Y6 cyclists enjoyed a fantastic start to bikeability! Team Shakespeare learnt how to stay safe by controlling speed, looking over our shoulder for approaching traffic and how to signal to other road users a desired direction of travel. pic.twitter.com/nX2FE6OwVl

14/03/24

In DT, Year 2 have been experiencing different ways of joining fabric. They used staples, safety pins, sewing and gluing. pic.twitter.com/DILMMrnbon

14/03/24

Year 5 having great fun at the hockey festival pic.twitter.com/DaTjFGNt7o

13/03/24

Why not read a. Exciting science book this week in celebration of science week. We started the week with the mind-blowing book ‘Atoms’ (one of our beautiful new library books) and here are some further recommendations. pic.twitter.com/IgTGrIvliG

13/03/24

Our fantastic school choir performing at the Scholars’ Education Trust annual music concert. pic.twitter.com/QyiTeMpGRd

13/03/24

Year six basketball players deciding whether to pass or not in their tactics unit. pic.twitter.com/ZxfcsTZvSO

13/03/24

One of our wonderful year six pupils delivering a session on dyslexia and neurodiversity in advance of Autism Awareness Week. Amazing confidence and engagement with her audience and I particularly loved the book recommendations section! pic.twitter.com/qrO37QBJsf

13/03/24

Happy International Women’s Day to all our lovely girls, mums, aunties, grannies…Why not read one of these books about women who have changed the world…

13/03/24

A little late - but photos from Team Dahl's World Book Day trip to . We explored their wonderous library, solved riddles and delved into the mysteries of their cataloguing system! (2)#English pic.twitter.com/UIjtQNRGQ7

13/03/24

A little late - but photos from Team Dahl's World Book Day trip to . We explored their wonderous library, solved riddles and delved into the mysteries of their cataloguing system! (1)#English pic.twitter.com/yNfHmmfjOJ

12/03/24

Ladybirds have been investigating shadows this week as part of . We also added holes using a hole punch to see how this affected our shadows. pic.twitter.com/q5i3xR8Ame

12/03/24

Year 3 Investigating the motion of pendulums as part of pic.twitter.com/M5R8YtgjNq

11/03/24

Wishing the SET Muslim community the blessings of the holy month pic.twitter.com/McyutIKdIT

11/03/24

Y5 & Y6 keen writers were treated to a day of poetry, short and creative story writing. We were inspired by Simon Lamb’s ‘A Pocket Poem,’ Kit Wright’s ‘Magic Box’ and Harris Burdick’s picture stories. A fantastic day for our children to showcase their writing talents. pic.twitter.com/ERXPJ2GIcF

08/03/24

Happy International Women’s Day to all our lovely Harpenden Academy girls, mummies, aunties, grannies…Why not read one of these fantastic books about women who have changed the world…#reading pic.twitter.com/WYZFJBkiyY

08/03/24

What a wonderful morning already celebrating World Book Day: watching Gandalf teaching a lesson and receiving a visit from Harry Potter to share his book review! pic.twitter.com/7k8gldtIb8

07/03/24

Year 4 creating movie trailers for our class text Coming to England by pic.twitter.com/G2wejV5OGX

07/03/24

Book swop in Y6 went down a treat! pic.twitter.com/0AEbjKcHul

07/03/24

Ladybirds loved using the library today to choose books and enjoy them with their friends. pic.twitter.com/6ezryjUYvL

07/03/24

Year six reader enjoying their Drop Everything and Read session! pic.twitter.com/rPdCWUTY3O

07/03/24

Ladybirds have loved coming to school as their favourite characters today. Can you guess who we are? pic.twitter.com/vP5MrIQv6U

07/03/24

Elmer Class enjoyed a book themed PE lesson this morning. They made letters out of their bodies and did a book themed relay. pic.twitter.com/NgIu7U32In

07/03/24

Potter Class have been enjoying reading books for pleasure in the library this morning. pic.twitter.com/1AQeUzXo3u

Curriculum Overview

"The school's curriculum is strong and well planned. The curriculum meets the needs of current pupils very well." School Ofsted Report, June 2019

We hold the ladder for our children to reach the stars

We are passionate in our aims to create a curriculum which allows our children to become real learners. We believe we have developed a balanced, rich and inspiring curriculum which specifically meets academic, personal and social needs of our pupils and has them at its core.

We have therefore adopted 3 drivers which we feel must lie at the heart of our curriculum design and allow us to build upon pupils' experiences, knowledge and also address any areas of development in terms of cultural capital.

Our curriculum drivers are: -

First Hand Experiences: We know that our children learn best through providing them with learning experience outside of the classroom. We have a full and active calendar of events which are aimed at developing the semantic rather than a one-off event in the children’s memory.

Diversity: We are aware that our children come from a wide variety of local areas which means we need to instil within them an understanding and appreciation of the differences, that are existing in our school community, particularly cultural, so that everyone’s rights and needs are understood.

Communication: We realise that in today’s world the ability to send and receive information, understand speech and writing is paramount. We have an embedded approach to promote communication both verbal and nonverbal so that our children are able to interact in the world inside and outside school life.

Underpinning all of these is social, emotional, spiritual and cultural development of our Hearts and Mind Programme all of which combine together to create a curriculum which supports the children’s academic strength and precision teaching but also their wider developments such as nurture sessions and social skills.

EYFS/Reception Curriculum

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth until the end of the Reception year.

It aims to develop each child to their full potential by offering a ‘principled, play based approach to learning and development’. Young children learn best through play and Early Years Practitioners will be able to provide your child with appropriate play and learning experiences for their stage of development and help them develop new skills. The activities that are provided for young children will underpin the skills they need to work towards the Early Learning Goals at the end of their Reception year at the school. The EYFS curriculum enables practitioners to recognise your child’s strengths and areas where they need more support to develop new skills.

For young children it is important that they are made to feel safe and secure in their surroundings. This is aided by having a key person within the class who gets to know you and your child well and builds a positive relationship with you as a family. In the Reception at Harpenden Academy your key worker will be the class teacher and the teaching assistant in your class.

The areas of learning and development are broken into seven areas. Three areas are particularly important for igniting children’s enthusiasm for learning. These are the three prime areas of:

  • Communication and language
  • Physical development
  • Personal, social and emotional development

Leaving four specific areas through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied.

  • Literacy
  • Mathematics
  • Understanding the world
  • Expressive arts and design

All areas of learning and development are important and interconnected and many activities will cover many of the areas. Each area is divided into stages of development and practitioners are able to identify resources and learning opportunities for individual children dependent on their developmental needs.

The EYFS also encourages practitioners and parents/carers to work together. This is an opportunity for you to provide input into your child’s development in discussions with your class teacher. At Harpenden Academy we have an open door policy which means we are always ready to help and discuss anything concerning your child’s welfare and education.

Should you wish for more information on the curriculum please email office@harpendenacademy.co.uk

Reception EYFS Reading 

Key Stage Curriculum Overview

EYFS Curriculum Overview

View Key Stage 1 Curriculum Overview

View Key Stage 2 Curriculum Overview

Your browser is out-of-date!

Update your browser to view this website correctly. Update my browser now

×