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We're thrilled to confirm that our Ofsted report has been published - Outstanding in all areas!

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Our Prospective Nursery and Reception Parent tours are now open for bookings. Please see our Admissions page on how to book.

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We are thrilled to confirm that we have been awarded the Inclusion Quality Mark. Go to our Inclusion page to read our report.

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We are thrilled to announce that we have been awarded the Quality Mark Gold for History following an assessment carried out by the Historical Association on 7th February 2023.

Barrow Hedges Primary School

Understanding the World

In this section...

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. As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later reading comprehension.

Children at Barrow Hedges love to explore the world around them, they are naturally curious, as all children are. They enjoy looking at what nature has to offer. For example, using magnifying glasses to hunt for minibeasts and using gardening tools to plant flowers and dig for weeds. Children have first-hand opportunities to develop their knowledge and understanding through leading their own investigations, which are carefully supported through the resources on offer, as well as adults intervening at the right moment to extend children’s learning through targeted questioning.

Here's an example of high quality interactions that support understanding the world development, captured on our electronic platform, Tapestry. 

We are so excited to see the chicks. (T) "I love these chicks, I love them so much that I wish I was fertilised and came out of an egg and hatched! Why do you think they are together in the middle?" (I) "I think they might be fighting." (C) "I think they are trying to keep warm cause they are only babies and the mummy hen would look after them on the farm." (I) "Cor, when I went to say hello he just ran away. I think I scared him. They are so cute." (K) "I think they are just so cute. I think I would like to name the chicks. I would call the girl one Bella, cause that's my name." (T) "I would call the boy one Tweet Tweet cause that's the sound he makes but his real name would be William. I think I know a bit of chick language, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet." (S) "I think they go under the light to keep warm. They hatched out of an egg into the brooder box when they were stronger." (C) "There are two poorly birds, they are in the incubator." (K) "I would like to hold them. You can tickle the backs of their head and make them go to sleep." Mrs Covey comes to help the children hold the chicks carefully. Everyone knows to take great care and to be kind and respectful. They hold the chicks so gently. (S) "They feel all tickly on my hand. I am being so careful so I don't drop him." (I) "He feels so warm and fluffy. Oooh he's tickling me!" (C) "He feels very warm. His feathers are so soft." (K) "I am tickling his head. I think his feet feel all prickly." (T) "His body is so warm, I think he feels really nice." We learn about the features of the chick and draw a picture of a boy chick. We look at the different body parts and look carefully at the colours. We write about the features using our sounds like 'The chick is yellow' or 'The chick has a beak.' I really like the way you all remembered to use finger spaces to help your writing make sense.


Wow everyone, I can really see that you know so much about chicks already. I know that you really enjoyed learning all about how we can look after them and about how they will change and grow. Super learning today. I love how you were able to initiate requests, make choices and express ideas.
Great Job 👏