Overview of Girls’ School Key Stage 1 – Years 1 & 2

Key Stage 1 is where teaching and learning gradually becomes more formal. The Curriculum is broad, balanced and offers pupils a wide range of learning opportunities. Maths is taught daily using the White Rose Maths framework where daily opportunities are created to develop fluency, reasoning and problem – solving skills.

English writing is taught using the Talk for Writing approach in which children spend time getting to know the structure of a text and building their own composition around a well-known framework. This strategy is particularly effective for children who speak English as an additional language and combines spelling, punctuation and grammar alongside creative writing skills and an exposure to quality vocabulary.

Phonics is taught in sets via Read, Write Inc. where children enjoy daily discreet phonics lessons suitable for their ability. In addition to the phonics lessons, children also take part in Guided Reading lessons in which they spend time studying a text together with a focus on a different area of reading such as inference, prediction or language. Spelling and handwriting are incorporated as part of all written work. Time is taken to deeply embed understanding and provide children with the chance to reach mastery level within each concept.

Science, History, Geography, Art and Design Technology are delivered thematically through enquiry based / project based learning and the STEM education approach. This means that the children are following a line-of-enquiry in order to answer specific questions. We are passionate that an enquiry-led / project based curriculum will enable children to take more ownership of their learning and be more creative and inquisitive in their studies.

Arabic, Islamic Studies and Qatari History are taught throughout this Key Stage in line with the Ministry of Education guidelines.