EYFS Curriculum Statement

Intent

We have called our EYFS curriculum

‘Where are we going and who will we meet?’

A Recipe for Awe and Wonder!

We are fully committed to taking the time to understand and follow children’s interests and provide a rich curriculum that supports learning, consolidates and deepens knowledge, develops vocabulary whilst taking our children on an exciting journey around the world. This curriculum ensures that children achieve their next steps

(see our curriculum overviews to see where we are going and who we are going to meet!?)

We believe that children’s early learning experiences deeply affect their future physical, cognitive, emotional and social development. We understand that building secure relationships with children and their families at this early stage is key to understanding how we can get the most out of learning opportunities for each and every child in our setting.

 (see overviews for how we value parental involvement and work with our families through training workshops and Stay and Play sessions)

Both our indoor and outdoor provision is carefully planned and demonstrates a thorough knowledge and understanding of the way in which our children learn. We aim to prepare our children to achieve the Early Learning Goals at the end of their foundation stage year. We ensure that all children have made good or better progress from their individual starting points. Our ultimate aim is to prepare our children with the understanding and skills needed for the next stage of their learning journey in KS1. This is so important as we know that what our children learn in these first years of life will stay with them forever and children’s early education is the best investment we can make in ensuring their future success.

Implementation

As a team we follow the EYFS curriculum and ensure that the learning opportunities and experiences we provide are clearly linked to both the Prime (Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language and Physical Development) and Specific (Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts) areas of learning. We begin each year by looking at the individual needs of our children and their different starting points and carry out a gap analysis and with this information in mind, we are then able to plan a range of broad and balanced learning experiences. Staff come together as a team to plan for each new topic and to design the learning environment accordingly (see curriculum planning for further detail)

We place huge importance on the development of children’s communication and language which includes explicit teaching and development of vocabulary.  We support children in being able to communicate their thoughts and ideas and explore the meaning of new words

(see our Language and Literacy Curriculum for further detail)

Staff use their knowledge of the Characteristics of Effective Learning to ensure that they plan appropriate activities and organise the provision in a way that demonstrates a clear understanding of the way in which our children and are motivated to learn.

We know that all children are unique, with their own individual interests and it is for this reason that we believe a balance of child and teacher led activities is vital in order for our children to become fully engaged and excited by their learning. We feel that effective provision both indoors and out is based on a clear understanding of what we want our children to learn and how we plan to achieve this. We want our children to be independent in accessing quality play-based experiences that encourage curiosity and inspire them to notice, question and wonder.

Effective interactions between staff and children and regular home/school communication ensures that our curriculum planning and provision is flexible and continuously adapted to meet the needs of all learners and to reflect children’s needs and interests as they continue to develop and grow. The children have their own pegs where they can display their independent work, we use Literacy books to demonstrate progression in writing, record observations on the children's Class Dojo Profiles, and use Insight to assess, monitor and identify next steps. Regular parent training workshops and Stay and Play sessions ensure that parents are kept up to date with their children’s development and progress and are fully aware of how they can continue to support their children’s learning outside of school. Our Wow Wall offers the opportunity for parents/family members to send in information about their children’s news and achievements outside of school and this provides us with a really well-rounded picture of our children. Parents can access our Curriculum Working Wall to see what their children are learning about in school. We also use Class Dojo learning platform to share children’s achievements between home and school.

Impact

We make every effort to ensure that all of our children make good or better progress during their time in Foundation Stage. Children who achieve the expected standard within the Early Learning Goals have the knowledge and skills needed to continue to maintain the good progress they have made in Key Stage 1 and beyond. We understand that when assessing children against the Early Learning Goals, there will be many children who are awarded the same level but may be working at differing levels within this range. Effective communication between FS and KS1 staff is therefore crucial to achieve an effective transition for children and to plan accordingly for the next stage of their learning journey.

Children develop knowledge and skills across all seven areas of learning. Vocabulary is developed and children use it across the EYFS curriculum. By the end of Reception children achieve well and can use their knowledge of phonics to read sentences with increasing speed and fluency and write sentences with increasing confidence. Children have the physical, personal and social skills they need to succeed in the next stage of education. They demonstrate their positive attitudes to learning through high levels of curiosity, concentration and enjoyment, children listen intently and respond positively to adults and each other. Children are developing their resilience to setbacks and take pride in their achievements. They manage their own feelings and behaviour, understanding how these have an impact on others.

(see Language and Literacy and Maths statements for subject specific detail on Intent, Implementation and Impact)