Children’s learning is the central purpose of everything we do. Helping children learn – academically, socially, spiritually, emotionally, and physically – is the key purpose of our setting. An effective curriculum is one that develops children’s learning and facilitates teaching.

What children learn should reflect the past but should be of help to them in their future lives. Children’s learning must respond to their current and future personal needs, their future career needs and the needs of the varied societies and cultural groups in which they are likely to play a part.

Learning needs to be active, in the sense that children must engage with their own learning. For children, this means that learning which is relevant to the future must be placed in a context that is meaningful to their present lives.

Children need to share responsibility for their learning with their teachers, parents and carers. The proportion of responsibility each bears will depend on the age and characteristics of the child. Nevertheless, learning must be constructed in such a way that, by the end of the primary years, children begin to see and experience the potential for taking responsibility for their own learning and the choices they make.

The purpose of teaching is to facilitate children’s learning in appropriate and diverse ways. To be more successful in helping children learn we will endeavour to work closely with colleagues, parents and other members of the child’s community.