Enquiry and Investigation

“The Enquiry and Investigation Pathways have been designed to ensure all pupils leave Castle Wood School with a good understanding of the world they live in and the people around them together with a strong sense of identity and belonging.”

The People and Communities pathway has been designed to support the spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development of all our children. Our pupils will have the opportunity to immerse themselves into real life learning to develop an understanding of the world around them, similarities, differences as well as a range of faiths and beliefs. This will help our young people to understand themselves, how they grow and how they fit in to the wider world whilst developing both a sense of self and respect for others. Through carefully selected activities inside and outside the classroom, our children will enjoy learning about themselves, their families as well as those in the wider community and will be involved in a range of charitable events throughout the year. Through cross-curricular application the children will engage in a range of musical, drama, and sporting activities to further support them to be active participants in their own community.

The Science and the World Pathway allows our children to learn about the natural and man-made world around them whilst developing early scientific skills through a range of hands-on learning opportunities that allow them to explore, compare, make sense of, predict, test, and evaluate. Children will take part in one off experiments, challenges, and longer-term projects, will use simple scientific equipment, and will have the chance to gain recognised awards along the way. Visits to specially selected local places of interest such as farms, nature reserves and country parks to give our children access to a wide range of environments where they can observe the growth of both animals and plants and will learn about waterways, the water cycle and water safety. These are valuable experiences to develop scientific vocabulary, knowledge and skills and help to prepare children for the next stage in their lives. They will develop life skills whilst learning about the weather, seasons, and the passing of time and how to dress appropriately and will use observational skills to communicate what they see and feel. The topic bases curriculum ensures children will learn about a wide range of issues including how to look after the world around them and will investigate issues such as rubbish and recycling.

We want our children to be able to participate in today’s world where technology is everywhere. The Digital Learning Pathways will support our children to safely select, access and use a range of technology for a variety of purposes. Our children will learn about cause and effect from an early stage and have access to a range of switches, talking panels and tiles to support their communication needs. Children can access a wide range of cross-curricular educational games using the large interactive whiteboards in every classroom to develop hand eye coordination as well as learning about programming using Bee-Bots and robots. We aim to foster the children’s natural curiosity and enable them to use an assortment of technology including I-pads, computers, laptops, and remote-controlled toys and develop their skills in locating, saving, retrieving, and printing information to support them across all curriculum areas.

CREST AWARDS - supporting the teaching of science

Each year the children at Castle Wood, get the opportunity to take part in the CREST Awards, a nationally recognised scheme which is managed by The British Science Association. CREST inspires children to think and behave like scientists and engineers in a setting that allows them to explore, get involved in hands on learning and be creative.

Children complete eight challenges across the year all logged in their very own passport, then at the end of the year they will receive a certificate and an iron on badge.

As children move through the school, they will experience a range of different challenges, all linked to our termly topics and take part in both the Star and Superstar awards.

Year A

Year B

Digital Learning

All children and parents/carers at Castle Wood have access to 'purple mash' and 'mini mash'; an award winning website with an online bank of creative tools, themed resources and educational games. Purple mash can be accessed from school or home to support children to develop their functional ICT skills whilst bringing the whole of the curriculum to life.