We follow the Diocese of Southwark Religious Education Syllabus which enables the children to experience learning about Christianity and all the major world faiths.  Within RE lessons, children have the opportunity to develop a wide range of skills which help to develop religious understanding and to ask and answer thought provoking questions about their own and other’s beliefs. 

Our Early Years setting at Coulsdon Church of England Primary School follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework (DfE, 2025). This is supported by Development Matters (DfE) guidance, alongside our own carefully developed skills progression documents, to ensure clear and coherent progression in children’s learning.

Staff plan purposeful activities and experiences that enable children to learn and develop effectively. Planning places a strong emphasis on the three prime areas of learning: Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Physical Development; and Communication and Language. At the same time, staff carefully consider each child’s individual needs, interests and stage of development, ensuring learning experiences are inclusive, challenging and enjoyable.

Where a child may have a special educational need or disability (SEND), staff consider whether additional or specialist support is required. We work closely with families and, where appropriate, with external agencies to ensure that every child receives the support they need to thrive. When planning and guiding learning, staff reflect on the different ways children learn and adapt their practice accordingly.

Outdoor learning and first-hand experiences play an important role in Early Years provision at Coulsdon C of E. Our curriculum topics have been developed over time to provide a rich, balanced and engaging learning experience. Topics link to seasonal opportunities and celebrations, while remaining flexible so that children’s interests and curiosity can be followed.

We teach early reading and phonics using the Read Write Inc programme, and mathematics through the NCETM Mastering Number approach. Phonics and maths are taught daily, with clear progression towards the Early Learning Goals (ELGs) and the key knowledge and skills children need as they move into Year 1. Careful consideration is also given to progression across the wider National Curriculum subjects throughout children’s Early Years experience at Coulsdon C of E Primary School.

We use Kapow Primary to help with our teaching of PSHE, Computing and Music.  It provides engaging and progressive schemes of work and lesson plans which are linked to the National Curriculum.  It includes teacher CPD videos and supporting materials that help teachers to develop skills and knowledge across EYFS, KS1 and KS2.  We believe that the CPD materials empower our teachers to deliver these subjects by ensuring their subject knowledge is secure and that the language and strategies they use are consistent and appropriate. 

We use White Rose Maths (WRM) to lead our planning for our maths curriculum.  It links to the aims and objectives of the National Curriculum, has number at its heart and provides plenty of opportunities to build reasoning and problem solving elements into the curriculum.  The WRM schemes of learning clearly outline the progression of skills into yearly frameworks that break down what children need to learn during each week of each term into small steps of learning. WRM helps children develop their conceptual understanding of mathematics by using concrete objects, pictorial representations and abstract thinking. The philosophy behind White Rose Maths focuses on making maths fun for children and helping them to find enjoyment in number problems fits with the Coulsdon way of learning.

Investigative Maths is integrated within WR teaching but there is also one explicit investigation lesson taught at least once a fortnight.  The lessons focus on the development of these learning skills:

• Resilience and Perseverance
• Learning by making mistakes
• Collaborating
• Questioning
• Making links
• Noticing 

We use the ‘Read, Write Inc’ scheme which is a synthetic phonics programme to promote early literacy skills. The structured programme is designed to ensure all children learn to read accurately and fluently through daily fun with engaging rhymes, characters and props.  The children are taught within group sets, tailored to their phonic ability to ensure they are learning and recapping the sounds they need to know and make individual progress more quickly.  As the children learn each group of sounds they are provided with the appropriate books to support them in using and practising these sounds.The children are assessed on their phonics and reading skills every half term and moved within their phonic teaching groups in line with this.