Foundational Skills Framework 

At Heamoor, we believe that every child deserves the strongest possible start to their education. The early years and Key Stage 1 lay the foundations for everything that follows, and research is clear: when children secure essential knowledge and skills early, they thrive throughout primary school and beyond.

Our Foundational Skills Framework sets out the core knowledge, behaviours, and learning routines that all pupils need in order to access our broad, ambitious curriculum. It brings together our evidence‑informed programmes for early reading, writing, mathematics, language development, self‑regulation, and wider learning, ensuring that no learning is left to chance.

The framework reflects national research, including Ofsted’s Strong foundations in the first years of school report, and outlines how we teach foundational skills deliberately, systematically, and with high expectations for every child. It also explains how we adapt teaching for pupils with lower starting points, ensuring they receive the precise practice and support needed to keep up, not catch up.

This document is designed to give families, governors, and our wider community a clear understanding of how we build strong foundations from EYFS to Year 6 — and how we work together to give every child the best possible start.

You can download the full framework below.

Our Curriculum

At Heamoor School, we want every child to experience a rich, inspiring and carefully sequenced curriculum that builds knowledge, skills and confidence over time. To support this, we use the Kapow Primary Curriculum to teach our foundation subjects. Kapow provides a coherent, well‑structured progression of learning from Early Years to Year 6, ensuring that pupils revisit and deepen key concepts while developing subject‑specific expertise.

Kapow’s approach is grounded in research‑informed practice. Lessons follow a clear, consistent structure that supports children to build knowledge gradually and securely. New learning is introduced in small, manageable steps, with strong teacher modelling and high‑quality visual resources to help pupils understand and apply key ideas. Retrieval practice is woven throughout the curriculum, enabling children to revisit prior learning regularly so that knowledge is remembered and strengthened over time.

The pedagogy emphasises active, hands‑on learning. Children are encouraged to explore, create, discuss and problem‑solve, developing both subject knowledge and wider learning behaviours such as curiosity, independence and resilience. Each unit includes opportunities for deliberate practice, allowing pupils to refine skills and apply them in meaningful contexts. This helps them make connections across topics and subjects, supporting deeper understanding.

Kapow also promotes inclusive teaching. Lessons are designed with clear scaffolding, step‑by‑step guidance and adaptable activities so that all pupils can access the curriculum and experience success. Teachers retain the flexibility to tailor learning to the interests, needs and strengths of our pupils and our local community, ensuring the curriculum feels relevant, engaging and ambitious for every child.