Early Years

The Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage sets the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to 5 years.

Intent

Our curriculum is designed to recognise children’s prior learning, both from previous settings and from their experiences at home. We work in partnership with parents, carers and other settings to provide the best possible start at Scarning Primary, ensuring each individual reaches their full potential from their various starting points.

We aim to provide a happy, caring, safe and secure environment for learning, where children’s wellbeing is nurtured and children grow the confidence and resilience to take risks, make progress and develop a love of learning.

Our curriculum has been designed to enable children to succeed through creative and collaborative learning principles. There is a strong emphasis on the Prime Areas of learning; Personal, Social and Emotional Development and Communication and Language, including Oracy and Physical Development. At Scarning Primary, we recognise that ‘talk’ is the foundational building blocks which success in all subjects is built upon, as well as being a life skill to ensure success beyond school. Language and communication is at the heart of our curriculum. We prioritise talk within all areas of the curriculum and plan to extend vocabulary and language skills. Our daily ‘time to talk’ sessions support children’s language, vocabulary and reasoning skills. Adults also use talk to model and extend language within every interaction within their play. Oracy develops children’s thinking and understanding, which in turn promotes self-confidence, resilience and empathy which support the child’s well-being.

Our enabling environments and warm, skilful adult interactions support the children as they begin to link learning through their play and exploration right from the start. We believe that high level engagement ensures high level attainment. We therefore provide an engaging curriculum that maximises opportunities for meaningful cross-curricular links and learning experiences, as well as promoting the unique child by offering extended periods of play and sustained thinking.

By the end of the Reception year, our intent is to ensure that all children make at least good progress from their starting points and equip them with the skills and knowledge to have a smooth transition into Year 1.

Implementation

Each half term, EYFS staff introduce a new over aching theme to provide inspiration for learning, whilst providing the flexibility for children to follow their own interests and ideas. Within the theme, we create a weekly plan for adult led experiences and enhancements to the provision.

We believe that children learn best when they are taught in a relevant, meaningful and purposeful way and have opportunities to actively engage in rich and varied learning experiences. Children learn through a balance of child-initiated and adult-directed activities. The timetable is carefully structured so that children have directed teaching during the day and long periods of self-chosen play. The timetable changes throughout the year to take into consideration the changing needs of the children.

Planning is deeply rooted in practitioners strong understanding of child brain development. Much of the planning happens within the moment, through high quality interactions which moves learning forward. When children’s levels of well-being and involvement are high, the brain is at its most active and children are able to make the best progress and development. High level involvement occurs most often when children are able to pursue their own interests in an enabling environment, supported by skilful adults. Our children are provided with plenty of time to engage in play with open ended resources in the continuous provision, where children can revisit and practise skills and through a variety of experiences that are carefully planned to engage and challenge them in the provision. The curriculum is planned for the inside and outside with equal importance. We know that children learn best through actively engaging with the world around them, through exploring and participating in real life experiences. Being physical also helps children develop their core strength to set them up for becoming a writer.

As well as ‘talk’, early reading is key priority in Reception. Our aim is to encourage a love of reading right from the start by exposing children to a range of high quality books. Our ‘Book talk sessions’ not only develop a love of reading, but have been chosen specifically to develop their speaking, vocabulary and comprehension skills. Alongside daily phonics sessions through our DfE validated scheme Supersonic Phonic Friends, children have weekly one to one time with an adult to practise blending skills and reading a book that matches their phonic knowledge. This allows children to apply their phonics learning with the aim of becoming successful, confident and fluent readers. Our choice of phonics reading books are aligned to Supersonic Phonic Friends and also have a focus on developing vocabulary.

In mathematics we follow the NCTEM Mastering Number Programme for our daily maths carpet sessions. The programme aims to secure firm foundations in the development of good number sense and develops fluency. The use of concrete manipulatives and pictorial structures and representations, such as the use of 5 frames and tens frames are used and available in the provision. Subitising skills are modelled and recourses are available in the learning environment for children to apply their skills within their own child-led play. High quality learning environments and meaningful interactions with adults, support children in developing mathematical thinking and discussion. Shape, space and measure is also planned in.

We strive to we ignite children’s innate curiosity and enable them to become independent individuals who enjoy learning. Our wider curriculum is taught through the learning areas; ‘Understanding of the World’ and ‘Expressive Arts and Design.’ EYFS staff have a good understanding of how ELG’s feed into the National Curriculum through our robust planning and subject leaders understand how the EYFS is the building blocks for future learning within the National curriculum. All children experience a block of four forest school sessions throughout the year.