Our Enriched Curriculum
Curriculum Enrichment
Wider curriculum opportunities and Cultural Capital
At Radcliffe On Trent Infant and Nursery School we believe that the curriculum is the sum of all the experiences that are available to our pupils. Our curriculum extends beyond the National Curriculum and includes a wide range or enriching experiences both within and beyond the school day.
In addition to our exciting and stimulating cross-curricular topics, we also provide further opportunities to enhance children’s learning wherever possible. Below are some examples of the events and activities that provide the children of Radcliffe On Trent Infant and Nursery School with the knowledge and skills, to ‘Learn, Grow, Achieve Together’ in line with our curriculum intent.
Whole School Theme Days/Weeks
Throughout the year, themed days/weeks are woven into the curriculum to extend the breadth and balance of opportunities we offer our children. These include, Anti-bullying week and Safety week, World Book Day, Sports and health week, Mental Health week, Online Safety day, NSPCC Number Day and many others.
Forest School and Outdoor Learning
Forest Schools is offered to all our year groups on a rotational basis, with an all year round provision for children in our Caterpillar nursery. Sessions are designed around the needs of the group to ensure that they are learner-led and also based around a theme. Themes are sometimes subtle such as evolving or exploring the site or more obvious such as butterflies, spies, fairies or nature investigators. Many areas of the National Curriculum are intrinsically covered in the Forest Schools experience without the programmes needing to be curriculum led. Teamwork skills are developed through games and activities. Individual skills and self-esteem are heightened throughout activities such as hide and seek, shelter building, tool skills, lighting fires or environmental art, the list is endless. Each activity develops intra and inter-personal skills as well as practical and intellectual skills.
We value the benefits of outdoor learning and this supports our ambition to become an Eco School. Children are stimulated by the outdoors where they can undertake a range of practical activities to support and enhance learning across the curriculum. Each class has its own outdoor area in which children benefit from tending their own growing beds to produce fruit and vegetables.
Learning in Radcliffe
Opportunities are built into the curriculum for children to continue learning beyond the classroom including undertaking fieldwork and enquiry based-work in the local area. Examples include: Church visits, seasonal walks, field trips and visits to the local library.
Educational Visits
School trips are an integral part of the education of children at Radcliffe Infants. We value the opportunities such visits offer our children and the commitment of staff and adults undertaking them.
Trips include year group visits aimed at bringing learning alive and providing first-hand experience of current learning. Extra-curricular outings include school choir performances and participation in sporting events.
Visitors into school
Visitors have a valuable role to play and can contribute to many aspects of school life and learning. They deliver talks, workshops and full day activities across a wide range of subjects, giving children access to outside experiences and expertise. Visitors provide a link with the wider community and we utilise local experts including our parents. Children have the opportunity to meet and work alongside artists, authors and performers.
Lunchtime and after school clubs
We offer children the opportunity to participate in extra-curricular clubs both at lunchtime and after school. Our programme of clubs and activities is revised regularly, for our current offer please follow this link.
Music, Art, Dance and Drama
We provide a range of opportunities, within and beyond the curriculum, for children to showcase their talents and skills in this area. For example every year our Year 2 children take part in Young Voices where school choirs across the region come together to perform in the largest school choir at Sheffield Arena. Our choir also performs regularly at local events such as the school Spring Fair, Christmas Carol concert at St Mary’s and enjoy performing songs at christmas to people living in our local Residential homes. We are looking forward to welcoming back Drumba sessions in the near future.
Many of our whole school events are Art based and have included the creation of a totem pole and art galleries showcased at school fairs eg celebrating the Queens Jubilee. Our recent projects have included the creation of our Rainbow Values display in the hall. In Spring term all children have worked alongside local artist Clare Taylor, creating work to celebrate our love of reading and decorate our new library.
As a school we understand the important part role play can play in developing children’s physical, emotional, social and cognitive development. As such it is included as a strategy to explore and embed learning across the curriculum for example exploring our high quality texts and acting out scenarios in subjects including PSHE, RE and history.
Annually we undertake a teacher led literacy project with the site specific theatre group Punchdrunk and invite the Westend Theatre Group to lead performance based workshops.
We have been working towards gaining Artsmark status and have recently submitted our Statement of Impact. We look forward to hearing the outcome shortly!
Performances
In addition to the performances mentioned above, and those that children undertake as part of an extra-curricular club, children have the opportunity to take part in the Nativity, Year 2 Leavers’ Assembly and class assemblies. At the end of every year, the whole school takes part in a ‘Carnival’ which showcases costumes they have designed and created by themselves. Children enjoy performing their chosen song to their family members and it is a real celebration of how our school community ‘Learns, Grows and Achieves Together’.
Respectful Roles
In line with our Rainbow Value ‘We are respectful’, children in every class have the opportunity to take on various responsibilities such as table monitors and Ipad monitors, to help ensure equipment and the classroom are treated with respect.
In addition children can volunteer to become part of a number of committees and councils, including Pupil Council. Eco Council, Wellbeing Champions and Librarians where they have the opportunity to successfully contribute to school life and decisions we make.
Competitions
Throughout the year we take part in a number of whole school competitions, including ‘Find a View’ photography and decorating an Easter egg. We hold competitions which are used to share information about important events that have taken place within school such as Road Safety and Energy Saving weeks. Our children are also regularly asked to compete in competitions to advertise local events including ‘Radcliffe Carnival’ and ‘Radcliffe Firework Display’.
Assemblies
Our assembly programme is an important part of our curriculum offer, contributing to pupils; spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. It is an opportunity to reinforce key messages from our statement of intent, launch themed weeks, emphasise key PSHE teaching/learning and explore our Rainbow Values. Many of our themes are planned in advance but there are also times when we adapt the focus in response to what we observe or hear within the school, local community or wider events. We regualry watch Picture News to explore and discuss current news stories. Every Monday we celebrate children who have embraced our Rainbow Values in our Rainbow Values Celebration Assembly.