Dunsville Primary School

At Dunsville Primary School, we offer an ambitious curriculum that is rich in wonder and memorable experiences. We work hard to provide a stimulating environment that provides exciting opportunities, promotes challenge, exploration, adventure and a real love of learning.

It is our intent that all pupils develop physically, verbally, cognitively and emotionally in an environment, which values all cultures, communities and people. We aim for our pupils to be confident and independent, to believe in themselves and interact positively with others.

We understand that play is an integral part of learning and this is at the heart of our Early Years curriculum. We believe that the correct mix of adult directed and uninterrupted child-initiated play ensures the best outcomes for pupils. Warm and positive relationships between staff and pupils, consistent routines and strong relationships with parents are key. We recognise the crucial role that Early Years education has to play in providing firm foundations upon which the rest of a child’s education is successfully based.

At Dunsville Primary School, we meet the welfare requirements laid down in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and actively safeguard and promote the welfare of all of our pupils.  We prioritise creating a ‘language rich’ environment by using songs, nursery rhymes, stories and providing time for quality interactions between adults and between peers. Trained staff ensure that interactions are positive and progressive, allowing them to flourish and gather words at pace in order to become confident communicators. Pupils are encouraged to become early readers through enjoyment of books and the systematic teaching of phonics through the Essential Letters and Sounds programme. The pupils learn nursery rhymes and develop their mathematical thinking through direct teaching and exploration. We want our pupils to become confident mathematicians who can apply what they have learnt to real life experiences. We have built our school environment to enable our pupils to strengthen their core muscles through physical play; pupils spend time outdoors in their natural environment in all weathers. They develop through wonderful, exploratory, sensory experiences in our mud kitchen, sandpit and gravel pit. Our learning environment is adaptable in order to reflect pupil's interests and progression. The pupils are supported to learn to work together, manage their feelings and ask questions through skilled adult facilitated play.  The curriculum is taught through topics, which are enriched with classroom enhancements, trips and visitors. Topics are supported by quality key texts. These are chosen carefully to encourage pupil's speech, language and communication development. All planning however is flexible and responsive to pupil’s needs so plans can be changed and adapted dependent on pupil’s interests. We understand the importance of parental engagement and believe that our parents have a crucial role to play in their pupil's education. We work hard to create strong partnerships between home and school.  Parents receive curriculum information at the beginning of each half term to inform them of what their child is learning and to explain how they can support this at home. Parents can contribute to the pupil’s learning and are able to share experiences from home using Seesaw used across school for home learning and to support liaison with the home. As part of the learning and teaching process, pupils are assessed in relation to their progress towards the Early Learning Goals (ELGs). These judgements are made on the basis of accumulative observations and in-depth knowledge of the pupils acquired through ongoing assessments. These ongoing assessments are used to inform planning and next steps in teaching and learning for all pupils throughout the year.

Our curriculum and its delivery ensure that pupils, from their own starting points make good progress. During their time with us, pupils make progress towards the national expectation for a Good Level of Development (GLD) at the end of the year. Pupils also make good progress toward their age-related expectations both academically and socially, developing a sense of themselves before transitioning into Year One. 

Pupils develop their characteristics of learning and are able to apply their knowledge to a range of situations making links and explaining their ideas and understanding. Pupils are confident to take risks and discuss their successes and failures with peers and adults drawing on their experiences to improve or adjust what they are doing.