LEARNING AND TEACHING POLICY Dulwich College Beijing Early Years
At Dulwich College Beijing, our children live and learn in a diverse, exciting and challenging environment. We believe that in order for children to grow and develop into lifelong learners and responsible global citizens, learning and teaching should be underpinned by: Creativity Play Effective communication Developing independence Making decisions and problem solving Positive relationships Celebrating diversity
Creativity • Learning opportunities that are practical, engaging and use diverse and exciting resources • Offering open-ended learning activities that encourage children to express themselves • Following the children’s interests and being flexible in our approach to planning
Play • Promoting play as a planned and purposeful part of our curriculum • Providing opportunities and sufficient time for play through appropriate stimuli such as role-play areas and resources
Effective communication • Placing speaking and listening opportunities as a priority in all areas of school life • Respecting children’s home language and its role in the development of learning English • Promoting a range of different models for communication throughout the curriculum, in areas such as ICT, reading, writing, music, art and drama
Developing Independence • Giving children the confidence and belief in themselves to take risks • Encouraging class routines that allow children to take responsibility for themselves and their environment Â
Making Decisions • Offering choices to children and equipping them with the skills to make those choices • Providing opportunities for learning that are open-ended and challenging • Encouraging children to make connections in their learning
Positive Relationships • Creating an environment based on respect and care for others • Explicitly addressing relationships and emotional needs • Planning activities that encourage collaboration and team work • Developing a working partnership with key carers
Celebrating Diversity • Ensuring the curriculum reflects and promotes a global viewpoint • Creating a sense of belonging within our school community • Offering children the opportunities to express themselves as unique individuals
A Learning Environment that should: • Support and extend children’s development and learning • Promote effective partnership between Teachers, Assistant Teachers, support staff and the wider community, working together to ensure a high standard of learning and teaching • Be stimulating and attractive, complemented by and a wellconsidered and flexible lay out • Reflect the positive behaviour management policy of the school • Enable free movement between indoors and outdoors, where possible • Have resources that are open–ended, attractive and multifunctional
Learning and Teaching in the Foundation Stage The Curriculum • Is based on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which focuses on the six areas of development – Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Communication, Language and Literacy; Problem Solving Reasoning and Numeracy; Physical Development; Knowledge and Understanding of the World; and Creative Development. • Is play-based • Includes provision for Chinese language and culture Planning • Is responsive –based on observations and the interests of the children • Takes into account the next steps of each individual child’s development • Involves all practitioners in the class • Reflects the areas of provision such as sand and water, role-play and mark-making
Learning and Teaching in Key Stage 1
The Curriculum • Follows the National Curriculum for England and Wales, but is adapted to suit our international context • Has an emphasis on practical activities: investigation, problem solving, and activities that develop children’s skills, creativity and understanding • Recognises the importance of children recording their work but not as the focus of their learning • Reflects the importance of ICT and integrates technology throughout all subjects • Makes cross curricular links where relevant • Includes provision for Chinese language and culture Planning • Has clear Learning Objectives that are shared with the children and build on previous learning • Shows differentiation and how the needs of all children are being met • Encompasses all areas of the curriculum and recognises that many unplanned learning opportunities will present themselves throughout the day