CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT POLICY STATEMENTS: FOUNDATION PHASE

1. CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT POLICY STATEMENTS: FOUNDATION PHASE AN OVERVIEW LORAYNE EXCELL WITS SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

2. WHAT IS CAPS? • Envisaged changes to the NCS • To be introduced in 2012 • Aim is to streamline curriculum implementation • CAPS will not be introduced until it is gazetted – this has not yet happened

3. BACKGROUND • Developed to improve implementation of NCS WHY? • NCS high on idealism and rhetoric • Low on implementation strategies

4. CAPS … • An attempt to make the NCS more accessible • Provides pacing, sequence, methodologies, content, resource BUT • No curriculum document can replace the teacher in the classroom

5. TIME TO THINK • What has changed, what has stayed the same? • What was the general that was articulated in the NCS? • What were the principles upon which the NCS was based? • What type of learner did the NCS aim to produce?

6. SOME CHANGES • Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards have been dropped – yet content, skills and concepts children are to learn have been drawn from these LOs and Ass • Learning areas have been replaced by subjects • CAPS is in many ways a repackaging of the NCS

7. PROPOSED CHANGES • Learning areas are to be replaced by subjects • In FP 4 subjects • Home Language 6hrs/week • First additional language 4/5 hrs/week • Mathematics 7hrs/week • Life skills 6 hrs/week Subjects guided by underpinning principles, for example, valuing indigenous knowledge and learning to be contextualised.

8. CAPS DOCUMENTS INCLUDE: • Detailed progressive learning plan for each grade – but CAPS acknowledge children need to have mastered specific concepts or skills before proceeding to subsequent ones • Content to be covered • Methodologies • Resources It is neither a curriculum policy nor a syllabus??

9. Languages – HL FAL Mathematics Life Skills Beginning Knowledge Creative Arts Physical Education Personal and Social Well-being/ Health Education 6 4 (5) 7 6 (7) 1 (2) 2 2 1 TIME ALLOCATIONS

10. SPECIFICS OF TIME ALLOCATIONS • In Languages 10 hours is allocated in Grades R-2 and 11 hours in Grade 3. • A maximum of 8 hours and a minimum of 7 hours are allocated for Home Language and a minimum of 2 hours and a maximum of 3 hours for Additional Language in Grades R – 2. • In Grade 3 a maximum of 8 hours and a minimum of 7 hours are allocated for Home Language and a minimum of 3 hours and a maximum of 4 hours for First Additional Language. • In Life Skills Beginning Knowledge is allocated 1 hour in Grades R – 2 and 2 hours for Grade 3.

11. The skills are: Listening and Speaking Reading and Phonics Writing and Handwriting Thinking and Reasoning and Language Structure and Use are integrated into all four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) Home language

12. THE CONTENT (KNOWLEDGE, CONCEPTS AND SKILLS) • an introduction – guidelines how to use the FP document • content, concepts and skills to be taught per term • requirements for formal assessment activities and suggestions for informal assessment • list of recommended resources per grade INTEGRATION ACROSS ALL SUBJECTS STRESSED

13. TIME ALLOCATION (MINIMUM TIME INDICATED IN BRACKETS) • Home language Grade R-2 8hours (7) FAL 3 (2) Grade 3- 8 (7) 4 (3) • Suggestions are given for Grades 1-3 on how to break down this time. • Listening and speaking – 15 minutes for 3 days 45 min • Reading and phonics: 4h30 Phonics 15 minutes per day for 5 days • Shared reading 15 minutes per day for 3 days • Group reading -30 minutes per day (2 groups each for 15 minutes) for 5 days = 2h30 • Handwriting: 15 minutes for 4 days 1h00 • Writing: 15 minutes for 3 days 45 mins 7 hours

14. ASSESSMENT • GRADE TERM 1 TERM 2 TERM 3 TERM 4 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 3 1 3 3 2 • In Grade 1 –do a baseline assessment in term 1. • In Grades 2-3 the Annual National Assessments (ANA) will be used at the beginning of term 1. • Informal assessment to inform daily teaching and learning is also advised (not formally recorded) • Assessments will be made up of a number of parts dealing with different aspects of language.

15. LISTENING AND SPEAKING • Oral work at the beginning of the day: suggested ideas weather, news, special events, birthdays, register, show and tell, general events, stories. • Focused activities: provides time for daily and weekly practicing of these skills. • To be integrated into Life Skills – Dramatisation (part of Arts and Crafts)

16. READING AND WRITING Daily clear focused lessons including: • Shared reading • Group guided reading • Paired/Independent reading • Phonics including phonemic awareness • Input is given re methodology including forming ability groups and providing steps for guided, paired and independent reading. Input is also given on the five components of reading – phonics, word recognition, comprehension, vocabulary and fluency. These components are briefly described and examples given. • Schools may choose their own phonics programme

17. WRITING • In Grade 1 children begin ‘writing’ using pictures but as they master the skills of letter formation they can start copying individual words, captions etc. • By middle of Grade 1 children should write their own captions for their pictures and construct at least one sentence. • By Grade 3 drafts, writes and edits own story

18. HANDWRITING • Pre-writing programmes to develop the perceptual-motor skills (gross motor, fine motor, visual discrimination etc. Correct sitting position • End of Grade 1 – form lower and upper case letters correctly and copy sentences correctly • In Grade 2 begin teaching cursive and by middle of Grade 3 most children should have made the transition to cursive writing • Writing materials are also suggested. beginning with blank pages and wax crayons to writing on 17mm lines with a pencil in Grade 2. By Grade 3 children use 8.5mm lined book

19. HL- GRADE R • Integrated and play-based • Teacher is a mediator who makes the most of incidental learning opportunities • Daily programme –routines, free play and teacher-guided activities and examples are given on how these can promote literacy learning • In Grade R CAPS emphasizes that children acquire the underpinning skills and concepts enabling the successful acquisition of the literacy skills in Grades 1-3 • Assessment in Grade R is informal • Assessment tasks should integrate a number of skills

20. MATHEMATICS WHAT IS MATHEMATICS? • It is a language that uses symbols and notations for describing numerical geometrical and graphical relationships • It is a human activity that involves observing, representing and investigating • It helps to develop mental processes that enhances logical and criticalthinking

21. GRADE RMATHEMATICS • Stresses informal nature of learning • Acknowledges that learning should progress from the kinaesthetic, to the concrete (3 dimensional) to semi concrete using paper and pencil representations (2D), using matching cards, representations on paper, worksheets • CAPS specifically states worksheets are a final OPTION and only to be used when the other stages have been presented and understood by the learners • Recognition of incidental learning and the integrated nature of learning

22. CONTENT AREAS AND GENERAL CONTENT FOCUS • Numbers, operations and relationships- weighting Grade R -3 =55% • Patterns, functions and algebra – weighting Grades R-3 = 7.5% • Space and shape (geometry) – weighting Grades R-3 = 15% • Measurement –weighting Grades R-3 = 15% • Data Handling - weighting Grades R-3 = 7.5%

23. Grade R Counts to at least 10 everyday objects reliably Grade 1 Counts to at least 50 everyday objects reliably Grade2 counts to at least 100 everyday objects reliably Grade R Counts forwards and backwards in 1s from 1-10 Grade 1 Counts forwards and backwards in 1s from any number from 0 – 100 Grade 2 Counts forwards and backwards in 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 10s, between 0 - 200Counts forwards and backwards in 2,5s and 10s between 0 and 500 Grade 3 Counts forwards and backwards in 2s, 5s, 10s and 100s between 0 and 1000 WHOLE NUMBER

24. LIFE SKILLS • It is a subject that is central and holistic to child’s holistic development. • Comprises social, personal, intellectual, emotional and physical growth of learners and ways in which they are integrated • 4 Study areas: Beginning knowledge, Personal and social wellbeing, Creative arts and Physical education. • This organization is to ensure that the foundational skills, values and concepts of early childhood development and of the subjects offered in Grade 4-12 are taught and developed in Grades R-3. • Beginning knowledge and Personal and Social wellbeing are integrated under topics • Life Skills should be cross cutting and strengthen the teaching of the other core FP subjects, namely HL, FAL and Maths.

25. Life skills • Beginning knowledge 1(2) hrs/week • Arts and craft 2 hrs/week • Physical Education 2 hrs/week • Personal and social wellbeing 1/hr/week Health Education • The content for Beginning Knowledge and Personal and Social Well being is drawn from Social Science (history and geography), Natural Science (Physical science, biology and zoology), Technology. • Topics (themes) can be used to organise this knowledge.

26. PERSONAL AND SOCIAL WELL-BEING/HEALTH EDUCATION • An important area because they are still learning to look after themselves and keep themselves healthy. • It includes social health, emotional health, and relationships with other people and our environment, including values and attitudes. • Children helped to make morally responsible and informed and accountable decisions about their health and the environment. • Topics covered include nutrition, diseases including HIV/AIDS, safey, violence, abuse, and environmental health. • Learners develop the skills to relate positively and make a contribution to family, community and society while practicing the values embedded in the Constitution. • Embraces constitutional rights and responsibilities, to respect the rights of others, to show tolerance for cultural and religious diversity in order to contribute to a democratic society.

27. CREATIVE ARTS • Includes dance, drama, music (performing arts) and visual arts • Purpose: Develop learners as creative, imaginative individuals with an appreciation of the arts • Process orientated with an emphasis on developing skills, enjoyment and experiential learning rather than on the end product • The visual and performing arts are closely linked to the development of the sensory-motor skills and fine and gross motor movements. Children should be exposed to a variety of art techniques and to creative dance and exploratory movement

28. PHYSICAL EDUCATION • Links are made to gross and fine motor as well as perceptual development • The importance of physical and motor development underpinning holistic development is acknowledged • Focus is on perceptual and loco motor development, rhythm, balance and laterality • Focus in FP is on games which will form the basis of playing sport in later Grades • Physical growth, and development and recreation and play is emphasized

29. LIFE SKILLS AND GRADE R • Need to link to NELDS • Informal approach • Daily programme – routines, free play and teacher –guided activities – examples given • Perceptual development

30. POINTERS FOR GRADES 1-3 • Topics • Beginning knowledge and personal and social well-being organized under topics. Topics will help to integrate the content from different study areas where appropriate. • Topics should be adapted to meet learners needs – i.e. contextualized • Teachers may also choose their own topics • The topics are weighted - 2 hours per week is given to each topic. Teacher may organize the time allocated to each study area as they wish • Sequencing and progression • Basis is because learning in young children is best done beginning with the familiar and introducing less familiar topics later on in the year.

31. FIRST ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE • Not the same as teaching home language • FAL might be the LoLT • Provide multiple opportunities for learners to hear and use the FAL informally • Time allocated to writing and language use increases in Grade 3 • Document acknowledges that it takes time to master an additional language

32. INSTRUCTION IN FAL • Same skills as mentioned in HL need to be developed but pace is different (not hand writing) • Importance of contextualising learning is stressed • In Grades R -1 the focus is on listening and speaking • This includes greeting people, simple manners • By Grade 1 talking about oneself, the home, school etc.

33. INSTRUCTION IN FAL • Short, frequent lessons advised • Importance of vocabulary stressed • Reading Introduction of reading is informal in first half of Grade 1

34. FAL • FAL only to be formally introduced from Grade 1 • In Grade R do rhymes, songs, stories in FAL, but these must be  informally introduced

35. SOME GRADE R SPECIFICS    Workbooks/sheets are an additional resource • They cannot be the only activity that the teachers can do with children or use to evaluate the children • Teachers must be creative and imaginative • Workbook activities can be randomly chosen • Workbooks are a resource and not a must do!

36. ASSESSMENT GUIDELINES • No formal assessment • Reports to parents must be more informative and teachers must comment on the development of the child. • Reports must be according to the components (Learning Area) of the subjects.

37. GRADES 1-3 ACKNOWLEDGES THAT: • All concepts should be thoroughly taught before moving onto the next one • Learners abilities must be taken into account when deciding upon alternative teaching methods • Activities are designed to consolidate learning on a concrete, semi-concrete and abstract level

38. IMPLEMENTATION GOOD LUCK