At Rainbow Education Multi-Academy Trust, we aim to give children a range of experiences to help them understand the world around them. This starts with our youngest children and is built upon throughout school life. 

Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increases their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries and museums to meeting important members of society such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. 

We have a carefully planned out curriculum which provides a range of these experiences, helps children to understand the world and the people within it, and prepares them for the Key Stage 1 curriculum. For example, our “Let’s Celebrate” topic in the autumn term covers a range of religious celebrations such as Hanukkah, Diwali and Christmas, while “Down on the Farm” in spring provides enrichment experiences such as farm visits and a chick-hatching experience.

As well as building important knowledge, communication and language underpin all that we do. Our curriculum extends children’s familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will ensure children are able to access the full curriculum and support later reading comprehension.