Key Stage 1 curriculum (Foundation subjects)

History

Children learn to place events in chronological order, and about the lives of men, women and children from the history of Britain and the wider world. They also look at significant events, such as Remembrance Day or the Olympic Games. They use books and other sources to help them ask and answer questions. They listen to stories and respond to them. They learn how the past is different from the present and ask: how have I changed? How has life changed for my parents, or others around.

 Around age 7, most children are able to:

• use words about the passing of time (such as before, after, a long time ago, in the past) and put events in order
• realise that some things happened before anyone living now was born
• begin to recognise why people acted as they did and why some events happened
• understand that their own lives are different from those of people in the past
• ask questions about the past and answer them by talking to people, reading books, looking at photographs, handling objects, using computer sources or by visiting museums and historical sites
• see that the past has been represented in different ways and talk about some of these ways.

Geography

Children learn to use geographical skills, and resources including maps and plans, to find out about places:

• where features are located (for example, shops, bus stops, streams and trees)
• how and why features change (for example, heavy rain causing floods)
• how to care for the environment.

• the immediate neighbourhood of the school and the school's own buildings and grounds
• a similar-sized area, either in the UK or overseas, that is different from the area in and around their school.

Around age 7, most children are able to:

• describe the main features of places they study, using geographical words like 'hill', 'river', 'motorway'
• understand how places may be similar to and different from each other
• recognise where things are and why they are there (for example, why a pedestrian crossing is on one part of a road rather than another)
• spot changes in the places they study
• see how people affect the environment
• find out about places by observing them, asking and answering questions and using other resources such as maps and photographs
• give their views about places.

Art and Design

Children are taught to:

• explore and develop their ideas by recording what they see and imagine, and by asking and answering questions about it
• try out different materials, tools and techniques (such as painting, printmaking, modelling clay)
• review their own and others' work, saying what they think and feel about it
• work with colour, pattern and texture, line and tone, shape, form and space
• find out about differences and similarities in the work of artists, craftspeople and designers in different times and cultures.

Around age 7, most children are able to:

• explore and express ideas in colour, shape, form and space
• experiment with a variety of materials, tools and techniques
• comment on differences in others' work, and suggest ways of improving their own work.

Design and Technology

Information and communication technology

Children learn how to use ICT to find out information, and then to share and exchange it. They become familiar with some hardware and software - for example, learning how to use a word processor and 'paint' software. They store information on computers, present it in different ways, and talk about how ICT can be used both in and out of school.

Around age 7, most children are able to:

• use ICT to handle information in different ways, including gathering it, organising it, storing it, and presenting it to others
• start to feel comfortable using computer software in their everyday work (for example, they might write and change their class work using a word processor or other computer packages and make use of graphics and sound)
• use programmable toys, putting together computerised instructions in the right order
• explore what happens using ICT.

Music

Children are taught how to sing and play musical instruments. They explore sounds and create their own short compositions. They learn to listen carefully, finding out and describing how sounds can change: for example, getting higher, lower, louder, quieter. They experience a wide range of music from different times and cultures.

Around age 7, most children are able to:

• sing songs from memory, knowing when the tune goes up and down
• keep to a steady rhythm when singing and playing music
• start making their own simple musical patterns, carefully choosing different sounds
• describe sounds using words such as 'high' and 'low', and by using musical symbols
• improve their own work.

Physical education

Religious education

Children are taught about the stories, festivals and events that help to provide the pattern and meaning to their lives. Teachers encourage children to talk and write about the variety of ceremonies, buildings and people, in Christianity and other religions. Children learn to think about these and put forward their own ideas about them. For example, children are taught about the celebration and meaning of Christmas.

Targets for RE

Because RE doesn't have a fixed national curriculum like other subjects, it doesn't have national targets either. But there are some suggested levels designed to help teachers decide where children stand. These levels suggest that around age 7, most children are able to:

• Retell religious stories, identify some religious beliefs and teachings, and know that some are characteristic of more than one religion.
• Suggest meanings in religious symbols, language and stories.
• Respond sensitively to the experiences and feelings of others, including those with a faith, and to other people's values and ideas of right and wrong
• Realise that some questions that cause people to wonder are difficult to answer.

Personal, Social and Health education and Citizenship.

Children are taught personal skills, such as how to:

• be more independent and confident
• see what their strengths are
• think about what's fair and unfair, right and wrong
• set themselves goals, and try to achieve them
• keep themselves safe and healthy.

Children also learn social skills:

• they think about what kind of groups they belong to, and how they contribute to them
• they learn that it is important to respect others and get on with them.

Schools look for opportunities to teach these skills and ideas in everyday life. For example, your child might learn about their strengths through doing classroom jobs. They might discuss classroom rules with other children and the teacher. And in science, they will learn simple hygiene rules such as the importance of washing their hands.