Value Statement
Mount Street Infants School is a caring, happy, inclusive and stimulating learning community where all our children feel safe and secure. Our wonderful school and our own woodland provide children with unique opportunities to achieve, develop confidence and self-esteem through learning and experiences both indoor and outdoors.
The School Curriculum
As an Infant school, we follow the statutory curriculum for 3-7 year olds. Welsh is taught as a second language in accordance with the Local Authority and National policy. Our pupils’ bilingual skills are developed through the use of “Cymraeg pob dydd” encouraging pupils to speak Welsh in their daily routines.
Pupils learn about the world of work through visits to various businesses in town such as The Shoe Shop, Tourist Information Centre, and The Castle Hotel. Visitors to the school include Nurses, Dentists, Fire service and people with various other forms of occupation.
The New Curriculum in Wales
Learning, Progression and Assessment
Our curriculum will support learning through designing learning opportunities that draw upon the pedagogical principles.
Our curriculum, supported by effective learning and teaching enables learners to make meaningful progress. Over time our learners will
develop and improve their skills and knowledge. Our curriculum focuses on understanding what it means to make progress in a given Area or discipline and how learners should deepen and broaden their knowledge and understanding, skills and capacities, and attributes and dispositions and is informed by the Progression Code. This in turn supports our approach to assessment, the purpose of which is to inform planning for future learning. Assessment will be embedded as an intrinsic part of learning and teaching. All learners will be assessed on entry to the school.
Welsh and English
As an English medium school learning will take place in Welsh and English from the early years onwards.
Cross curricular skills
Our curriculum will develop the mandatory cross-curricular skills of literacy, numeracy and digital competence. Our curriculum will enable learners to develop competence and capability in these skills and to extend and apply them across all Areas. Learners will be given opportunities across the curriculum to:
- develop listening, reading, speaking and writing skills
- be able to use numbers and solve problems in real-life situations
- be confident users of a range of technologies to help them function and communicate effectively and make sense of the world.
UN Convention on the Rights of the child (UNCRC) / UN Convention on the Rights of the Person with disabilities (UNCPRD)
Our school will promote knowledge and understanding of Part 1 of the UNCRC, and of the UNCRPD, among those who provide learning and teaching.
Career and Work Related Experiences (CWRE)
Our curriculum will incorporate careers and work related experiences for all of our learners.
Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE)
Our school curriculum embraces the RSE guidance and mandatory RSE Code. Our RSE provision will have a positive and empowering role in our learners’ education and will play a vital role in supporting them to realise the four purposes as part of a whole-school approach. Helping learners to form and maintain a range of relationships, all based on mutual trust and respect, is the foundation of RSE. These relationships are critical to the development of emotional well-being, resilience and empathy.
RVE
Religion, values and ethics (RVE) is a statutory requirement of the Curriculum for Wales and is mandatory for all learners from ages 3 to 16.
There is no parental right to request that a child is withdrawn from RVE in the Curriculum for Wales
As RVE is a locally determined subject, the agreed syllabus specifies what should be taught in RVE within the local authority and our curriculum will reflect this guidance.
Review and refinement
Our school curriculum will be kept under review in order to respond to the outputs of professional inquiry, the changing needs of learners and social contexts and needs. This will ensure our curriculum is both inclusive and responsive, meeting the needs of all learners. The reviews will take into account the views of stakeholders and will be signed off by the Governing Body. We will publish a summary of our curriculum and revise the summary if changes to the curriculum are made during the review process.
Additional Learning Needs
All children are special and have individual needs; a differentiated approach to learning is therefore maintained in each class. However, if a child has specific gifts or learning difficulties, appropriate help and support is given. Pupils who are identified as having ALN are placed on the ALN register. Parents are involved as soon as possible and are kept informed of progress.
More Able and Talented (MAT) pupils are placed on the MAT register. By providing for these pupils we raise the standards for all.
The ALNCo is Mrs C Hutch and has responsibility for Looked after Children (LAC) in the school and to ensure that their academic and emotional needs are met. Mrs. L Hyde has responsibility for EAL pupils.
Specialist Centre
The school hosts a Specialist Centre for children with more complex needs, supporting and working with children from Brecon and surrounding areas. These are children who have been identified by the Area Educational Psychologist who require specialist teaching and the nurturing environment the experienced staff provide. The children are fully included in the life of the school and pupils are integrated into their peer groups as and when appropriate. The centre has its own outdoor area and interactive whiteboard to support the children’s multi-sensory learning.
The staff work as part of a multi agency team eg. SALT, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and the school nurse. The centre is easily accessible via a paved pathway suitable for wheelchairs.
Estyn Report
To read the latest Estyn Report about Mount Street Nursery and Infant School please click here.