Pre-school

Reception

Learning Support

Primary

Pre-school

Curriculum

Our dedicated preschool – the Acacia Early Learning Centre (ELC) – has qualified teachers and stimulating indoor and outdoor facilities. We have two classes Nursery (3 to 4 years) and Reception (4 to 5 years). We follow the UK’s Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which promotes teaching and learning to ensure children’s ‘school readiness’ and gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress.

Four guiding principles shape practice in the EYFS. These are:

  • every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured;
  • children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships;
  • children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers; and
  • children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates. The framework covers the education and care of all children in early years provision, including children with special educational needs and disabilities.
There are seven areas of learning and development that shape educational programmes in the EYFS. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected.
  • communication and language;
  • physical development;
  • personal, social and emotional development;
  • literacy;
  • mathematics;
  • understanding the world; and
  • expressive arts and design.

The ways in which the child engages with other people and their environment underpin learning and development across all areas and support the child to remain an effective and motivated learner. The EYFS calls these ways of learning the “characteristics of effective learning”.

  • playing and exploring
  • active learning
  • creating and thinking critically

The characteristics of effective learning run through and underpin all seven areas of learning and development, representing processes rather than outcomes – focusing on how children learn.

For full details of our curriculum please download our Preschool Curriculum Framework.

If you would like to find out more about how your child is learning and developing during their first five years, in relation to the EYFS, please download this booklet “What to Expect, When”. Children develop more rapidly during the first five years of their lives than at any other time. This booklet has been written to help you as a parent know what to expect during these vitally important years by focusing on the seven areas of learning and development which are covered in the EYFS.

Reception

Curriculum

In Reception class we follow the UK’s Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework.

The Early Learning Goals

The Early Learning Goals (ELG) define the level of progress children should be expected to have attained by the end of the EYFS which is the end of their Reception year. There are 17 Early Learning Goals in Reception across the 7 areas of learning. The 7 areas of learning are a bit like subjects. These areas of learning are exactly the same as those in Nursery class, so the ELG should be viewed as the final stage in your child’s early learning journey. When your child finishes Reception in December you will be given a report which tells you whether or not your child has met the Early Learning Goal (ELG) in each aspect.

Communication and Language

ELG 1 – Listening and attention:  children listen attentively in a range of situations. They listen to stories, accurately anticipating key events and respond to what they hear with relevant comments, questions or actions. They give their attention to what others say and respond appropriately, while engaged in another activity.

ELG 2 – Understanding: children follow instructions involving several ideas or actions. They answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions about their experiences and in response to stories or events.

ELG 3 – Speaking: children express themselves effectively, showing awareness of listeners’ needs. They use past, present and future forms accurately when talking about events that have happened or are to happen in the future. They develop their own narratives and explanations by connecting ideas or events.

Physical Development

ELG 4 – Moving and handling: children show good control and co-ordination in large and small movements. They move confidently in a range of ways, safely negotiating space. They handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing.

ELG 5 – Health and self-care: children know the importance for good health of physical exercise, and a healthy diet, and talk about ways to keep healthy and safe. They manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs successfully, including dressing and going to the toilet independently.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

ELG 6 – Self-confidence and self-awareness: children are confident to try new activities, and say why they like some activities more than others. They are confident to speak in a familiar group, will talk about their ideas, and will choose the resources they need for their chosen activities. They say when they do or don’t need help.

ELG 7 – Managing feelings and behaviour: children talk about how they and others show feelings, talk about their own and others’ behaviour, and its consequences, and know that some behaviour is unacceptable. They work as part of a group or class, and understand and follow the rules. They adjust their behaviour to different situations, and take changes of routine in their stride.

ELG 8 – Making relationships: children play co-operatively, taking turns with others. They take account of one another’s ideas about how to organise their activity. They show sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings, and form positive relationships with adults and other children.

Literacy

ELG 9 – Reading: children read and understand simple sentences. They use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately. They also read some common irregular words. They demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read.

ELG 10 – Writing: children use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. They also write some irregular common words. They write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible.

Mathematics

ELG 11 – Numbers: children count reliably with numbers from 1 to 20, place them in order and say which number is one more or one less than a given number. Using quantities and objects, they add and subtract two single-digit numbers and count on or back to find the answer. They solve problems, including doubling, halving and sharing.

ELG 12 – Shape, space and measures: children use everyday language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects and to solve problems. They recognise, create and describe patterns. They explore characteristics of everyday objects and shapes and use mathematical language to describe them.

Understanding the World

ELG 13 – People and communities: children talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members. They know that other children don’t always enjoy the same things, and are sensitive to this. They know about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families, communities and traditions.

ELG 14 – The world: children know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things. They talk about the features of their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another. They make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur, and talk about changes.

ELG 15 – Technology: children recognise that a range of technology is used in places such as homes and schools. They select and use technology for particular purposes.

Expressive Arts and Design

ELG 16 – Exploring and using media and materials: children sing songs, make music and dance, and experiment with ways of changing them. They safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function.

ELG 17 – Being imaginative: children use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about uses and purposes. They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role-play and stories.

Primary School

We follow an integrated curriculum combining the Cambridge Primary Curriculum and the Zambian National Curriculum. We take a cross-curricular approach, with specialist teachers for PE, Music and ChiTonga. Children in their final years have the opportunity to sit the Cambridge Primary Checkpoint and the Zambian Grade 7 exams. We have consistently excellent results at the Grade 7 National Exams, with 100% of entrants achieving a Division 1 pass. Our school leavers are enthusiastic, caring and responsible learners who progress to top secondary schools in Zambia, South Africa and the UK.

The Acacia Primary curriculum consists of the following subjects:

  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Science
  • Social Science (including Zambian Social Science curriculum and international content)
  • Global Perspectives (Cambridge curriculum)
  • Art (including Zambian Creative and Technology Studies, Technology Studies, Expressive Art and Home Economics curricula and international content)
  • Music
  • ICT
  • PE

 

English

The Acacia English Curriculum Framework is based primarily on the Cambridge curriculum, and contains the full Cambridge English Curriculum Framework (2018) from Stages 1 to 7. This framework also covers all content from the Grades 4 to 7 of the Zambian syllabus to fully prepare students for success in the Grade 7 Zambian National Exams. This framework also integrates the Letters and Sounds Phonics Programme for the teaching of reading.

Mathematics

The Acacia Mathematics Curriculum Framework is an integrated framework for Grades 1 to 7 combining the Cambridge Mathematics Curriculum Framework and the Zambian Mathematics Syllabus. This framework is based primarily on the Cambridge curriculum, and contains the full Cambridge Mathematics Curriculum Framework from Stages 1 to 7. This framework also covers all content from the Grades 4 to 7 of the Zambian syllabus to fully prepare students for success in the Grade 7 Zambian National Exams.

Science

The Acacia Science Curriculum Framework is an integrated framework for Grades 1 to 7 combining the Cambridge Science Curriculum Framework and the Zambian Integrated Science Syllabus. This framework is based primarily on the Cambridge curriculum, and contains the full Cambridge Science Curriculum Framework from Stages 1 to 7. This framework also covers all content from the Grades 4 to 7 of the Zambian syllabus to fully prepare students for success in the Grade 7 Zambian National Exams.

About Cambridge

Cambridge Primary is an education programme for learners aged 5 to 11 years. Cambridge Primary develops learners’ skills and understanding through the primary years in English, mathematics and science. Cambridge Primary is a great place to start the learning journey. Cambridge Primary enables learners to build their knowledge and skills progressively, through each year of the programme. It is an excellent preparation for progression to other educational systems. With the Cambridge programme, your child is joining a community of learners from more than 1000 schools in over 160 countries.

The Cambridge approach develops learners who are:

  • confident in working with information and ideas, their own and those of others
  • responsible for themselves,responsive and respectful of others
  • reflective as learners themselves, developing their ability to learn
  • innovative and equipped for new and future challenges
  • engaged intellectually and socially,and ready to make a difference in the world

For more information on the Cambridge Primary Curriculum, please download the Parents’ Guide.

Learning Support

At Acacia we aim to enable all our children to realise their potential. To this end we have a dedicated Learning Support Department providing assessment and support services to those pupils requiring extra support.

Services include:

Acacia School is an inclusive school and aims to do all that is reasonably possible to adequately accommodate the needs of applicants who have disabilities and special educational needs within the schools’ resources or with reasonable adjustments.

For more information please contact us.