Joseph Hood School seeks to nurture the whole child and to help them grow into engaged and motivated members of society. We want our pupils to become lifelong learners, who take their education seriously and who achieve their goals. We work from and develop the National Curriculum to meet our children's needs, ensuring all our pupils receive a broad and balanced curriculum.

The Early Years Foundation Stage  
(Nursery and Reception) 

The Foundation Stage begins when a child enters Nursery and finishes at the end of Reception year. The Foundation Stage is divided into seven areas of learning: Personal, social and emotional developmentCommunication and LanguageLiteracyMathematicsKnowledge and understanding of the worldPhysical developmentExpressive arts and design 

Children will learn through first hand experiences, play (both child and adult led), and speaking and listening supported by school staff. Adults working in the Foundation Stage make observations and keep records to track how each child is progressing. These are recorded in the Foundation Stage profile for each child.

Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2)

There is a transition phase as children start Key Stage 1 and make the change to a slightly more structured day and way of learning.

Key Stage 1 builds on the skills learnt in the Foundation Stage. Year 1 and Year 2 pupils have daily literacy and maths lessons and will cover all the subjects in the National Curriculum. We explore these subjects through our Creative Curriculum. They link all areas of learning to one theme and help children to apply their learning using an exciting topic based curriculum.

Subjects taught are: Literacy, Maths, Science, History, Geography, Art, Design & Technology (D&T), ICT (computing), Music, Physical Education (P.E.), Religious Education (RE) and Personal Social & Health Education (PSHE) and French.

We encourage our students to ask questions and discuss their ideas and to become independent learners. Teachers set targets based on the needs of the child. Pupils’ progress is tracked and assessed each term.

In Key Stage 1 the children experience school trips that link with their class topics. In addition they enjoy visitors that enhance enjoyment and achievement and make learning fun.

As in Reception, reading is the key to success. Through reading children can access all areas of the curriculum. Children in Key Stage 1 enjoy lively phonics sessions taught in small groups matched to their reading ability.

In Key Stage 1, children have French lessons every week taught by a specialist teacher.

Key Stage Two (Years 3, 4, 5 and 6)

In Key Stage 2, the children continue to develop their knowledge and understanding in Literacy, Maths, Science, History, Geography, Art, Design and Technology, Music, PSHE, RE, Computing, PE and French. PE is taught by sports coaches and French is taught by a specialist teacher.

These subjects are linked by a common theme every term according to the Topic each Year group are studying and the teaching staff are innovative and creative when planning activities for the children to develop a wide range of skills and their knowledge of the Topic.

Teachers continue to set challenging targets for each child through the use of tracking and termly assessments.

In Key Stage Two, the children begin to take more responsibility for their own learning and are encouraged to develop their understanding of subjects further through homework tasks. Recently, the homework tasks have involved the children thinking more creatively and more ownership has been given to the children as they begin to decide how they could present their understanding of their subjects. There are a range of opportunities for children to participate in Sports events which are often organised with other schools within Merton. 

In Key Stage 2, the children continue to experience school trips that link with their class topics, including residential trips in Years 3&4 and 5&6. In addition, they enjoy visitors who enhance enjoyment and achievement and make learning fun.