At
Links we follow the National Curriculum which is a document
devised by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority of
U.K. specifying what children must study and what they are
expected to know at different ages, thus ensuring that
schools all over England and British schools all over the
world are following the same courses.
Lower Primary School Curriculum
LANGUAGE/LITERACY
Reading:
We encourage children to see books as a source of pleasure
and information. We use Oxford Reading Tree
reading scheme as our core reading
schemes and have a range of accompanying books to extend
the reading skills that the scheme begins to develop. The
teaching of phonics and phonetic reading is introduced. As
children become more independent reader
s,
they are encouraged to choose from a selection of fiction
and non-fiction books to broaden their reading
experiences. we ensure that these are available to the
children in their classrooms and the library. Parents play
a vital role in helping their child read. Teachers can
suggest ideas and strategies for helping children with
reading at home.
Writing:
Children begin writing with the teachers' support, with
an emphasis on 'emergent' writing. As their skills develop,
they are encouraged to use their knowledge of common
words and familiar spelling patterns to writing with
increasing accuracy. We aim to provide a stimulating
and exciting environment in which to write for a variety
of purposes. These include factual, creative, descriptive
and imaginative writing.
Speaking
& Listening:
It is important for children
to experience a range of speaking situations to develop
their confidence and awareness. They need to be able
to adjust their language to suit different audiences
and purposes. We help children to develop their speaking
and listening skills so that they can express themselves
accurately and fluently. Children should feel comfortable
when asking and answering questions, and these skills
are developed throughout the school through various
activities, subjects and situations. Children are encouraged
to listen and respond to other children and adults in
an appropriate way.
Drama:
We encourage children to develop confidence and competence
in drama activities using approaches such as role-play,
improvisation and scripted performance. Children are
given opportunities to express themselves in a very
creative way. Drama classes may be whole class sessions
led by the teacher or group work. In these groups, the
emphasis is on collaboration, cooperation and expression.
Drama has many cross-curricular links as well as being
recognised as a subject in its own right. It is seen
as an activity that offers great scope for children
to develop their confidence, creativity and expression.
MATHEMATICS
Our core schemes SPMG & Ginn mathematics. Supplementary
materials are also used to give additional practice
and to extend the work the children are doing. Topics
that are taught include computation (addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division), shape,
time, measurement and money. We teach children that
understanding and knowing how to do something is as
important as getting the right answer. Practical investigations
and problem-solving show them that there may be several
ways to find the answer to a question.
SCIENCE
Topics are in place for each term. These are based on the
National Curriculum areas of study in science. The
children undertake practical investigations. Our aim is to
encourage children to ask questions, test out their ideas,
solve problems and find suitable ways of recording their
work. We want our pupils to engage fully in all aspects of
science, to develop ideas and understanding of the world
in which we live, to observe our environment in a
systematic way, to gain skills through experimentation and
investigation and to be given opportunities to communicate
this. Progression in each area is planned so that children
build on previous knowledge. Not all science work is
investigative, though. A range of experiences is
encountered using demonstrations, class teaching, research
using the library, videos, computers, visits.
INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
Information technology is important, as its use is
widespread in the world today
and likely to grow. We feel that it is an important part
of every child's education to experience and use the
benefits of such technology. Information technology has a
cross-curricular role and the skills learnt by the
children are used to support and enrich learning in the
other curricular areas. The school has a network of
computers, with one workstation inside each classroom.
There is a large range of software available to cover the
variety of levels and needs in different areas of the
curriculum.
GEOGRAPHY
The children learn about a variety of people, places
and environments around the world. They find out how
people affect the environment and how they are affected by
it. As
far as possible, within the National Curriculum, we
draw on the pupils' own experience and that of their
families. There is an active learning approach towards
history, making use of photographs, pictures, artifacts,
visits and visitors to the school.
MUSIC
We aim to foster and develop children's enjoyment of,
and sensitivity to, a diversity of music. This is done
through an active involvement by all children in performing,
listening and appraising. All the children have the
opportunity to play a wide variety of tuned and untuned
percussion instruments and are introduced to rhythm
through basic sound and movement. They are also taught
to describe and make judgments about what they hear.
ARTS & CRAFT
Art
and craft resources have been organised so that they
are easily available and the children have the opportunity
to experiment and used a variety of materials and approaches.
In each year group, children will experience a variety
of activities, often linked to ongoing topic work.
Children's
work is displayed attractively and all work is valued
for the effort involved and not just the finished result.
Art and craft is taught both in a group and as a class
lesson, either by the class teacher or increasingly
in the higher classes, by a more specialist teacher
as part of a rotating system.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
The children gain experience and skills in a variety
of physical activities. We encourage cooperative as
well as competitive sports.
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Upper Primary School Curriculum
LANGUAGE / LITERACY
Pupils
learn to change the way they speak and write to suit
different situations, purposes and audiences. They read a
range of texts and respond to different layers of meaning
in them. They explore the use of language in literacy and
non literacy texts and learn how language works.
Reading:
Pupils
read enthusiastically a range of materials and use their
knowledge of words, sentences and texts to understand and
respond to the meaning. They increase their ability to
read challenging and lengthy texts independently. They
reflect on the meaning of texts, analysing and discussing
them with others.
Writing:
Pupils
develop understanding that writing is both essential to
thinking and learning, and enjoyable in its own right.
They learn the main rules and conventions of written
English and start to explore how the English language can
be used to express meaning in different ways. They use the
planning, drafting and editing process to improve their
work and to sustain their fiction and non fiction writing.
Speaking & Listening:
Pupils
experience a range of speaking situations to develop their
confidence and awareness. They learn to express themselves
accurately and fluently while making presentations in
assemblies, participating in debates and elocution
contests.
Drama:
Children
are given opportunities to develop confidence and
competence in drama activities through scripted
performances.
MATHEMATICS
Pupils
begin to use the number system confidently. They move from
counting reliably to calculating fluently with all four
number operations. They are encouraged to tackle problems
with mental methods as well as more elaborate written
ones. Pupils explore features of shape and space and
develop their measuring skills in a range of contexts.
They discuss and present their methods and reasoning using
a wider range of mathematical language, diagrams and
charts. They take increasing responsibility for planning
and executing their work. They extend their calculating
skills to fractions, percentages and decimals, and begin
to understand the importance of proportional reasoning.
SCIENCE
Pupils learn about a wide
range of living things, materials and phenomena. They
begin to make links between ideas and to explain things
using simple models and theories. they apply their
knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas to
familiar phenomena, everyday things and their personal
health. They begin to think about the positive and
negative effects of scientific and technological
developments on the environment and in other context. They
carry out more systematic investigations, working on their
own and with others. They use a range of reference sources
in their work. They talk about their work and its
significance and communicate ideas using a wide range of
scientific language, conventional
diagrams, charts and graphs.
INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
Pupils use a wide range of ICT
tools and information sources to support their
work in other subjects. They develop their research skills
and decide what information
is appropriate for their work. They begin to question the
plausibility and quality of information. They learn how to
amend their work and present it in a way that
suits its audience. Pupils have access to appropriate
software and hardware to enhance their
learning and are given a clear understanding of how to use
equipment safely, correctly and responsibly.
Pupils are able to access and use the Internet, Intranet
and email effectively and confidently.
HISTORY
Pupils
learn about significant individuals, events and eras in
the history of the world. They show their understanding by
making connections between events and changes in the
different periods and areas studied, and by comparing the
structure of societies and economic, cultural and
political developments. They look at history in a variety
of ways, for example from political, economic,
technological and scientific, social, religious, cultural
and aesthetic perspectives. They use different sources of
information to help them investigate the past both in
depth and in overview, using dates and historical
vocabulary to describe events, people and developments.
They also learn that the past can be represented and
interpreted in different ways.
GEOGRAPHY
Pupils
investigate a variety of people, places and environment at
different scales around the world and begin to make links
between the various places. They find out how people
affect the environment and how they are affected by it.
They carry out geographical enquiry inside and outside the
classroom. In doing this, they ask geographical questions
and use geographical skills and resources such as maps,
atlases, aerial photographs and ICT.
MUSIC
Pupils
sing songs with increasing confidence, skill, expression
and awareness of
their own contribution to a group or class performance.
They respond to
a variety of different stimuli with increasing personal
involvement,, independence and creativity. They explore
their thoughts and feelings through responding physically,
intellectually and emotionally to a variety of music from
different times and culture.
ART & DESIGN
Pupils
develop their creativity and imagination through a wide
range of complex activities. These help to build on their
skills and improve their control of materials, tools and
techniques. They become more confident in using visual and
tactile elements and materials and processes to
communicate what they see, feel and think.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Pupils
learn new skills, find out how to use them in different
ways, and link them to make actions, phrases and sequences
of movement. They enjoy communicating, collaborating and
competing with each other. They develop an understanding
of how to succeed in different activities and learn how to
evaluate and recognize their own success.
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
Pupils
work on their own as well as part of a team on a range of
designing and making activities. They think about what
products are used for and the needs of the people who use
them. They plan what has to be done and identify what
works well and what could be improved in their own and
other people's designs. They draw on knowledge and
understanding from other areas of the curriculum and use
computers in a range of ways.
FOREIGN LANGUAGES
Pupils are
exposed to French and have the option of being introduced
to Arabic as well. They are taught how to use and respond
to the foreign language, how to listen carefully in order
to discriminate sounds, identify meaning and develop
auditory awareness, correct punctuation and intonation as
well as how to ask and answer questions using basic
vocabulary.
URDU AND ISLAMIAT
Pupils follow local textbooks and
guidelines as determined by the majority of schools in the
city.
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