INTENT
In the EYFS at Randlay Primary School and Nursery our curriculum is driven by our school ethos of ‘Working together as one’, which values collaboration, aspiration, courage, excellence, respect and creativity.
Across our EYFS, we follow the Early Years Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, published in September 2021 by the DfES. The Foundation years are crucial to enable children to develop into resilient, independent learners who are creative and think critically and thus become school ready. Through the Foundation Stage curriculum, we believe children have the right to reach their full potential and be the best that they can be.
IMPLEMENTATION
Our ethos is that children learn best through active learning and play. Play helps children to learn and develop through doing and talking, which research has shown to be the means by which children think. Our Early Years setting is equipped with a wide range of resources across a variety of learning areas that supports the seven areas of the EYFS curriculum. These are skilfully developed and planned for by staff to provide meaningful experiences and create learning opportunities for pupils across an engaging and enhanced environment both inside and out. Adults work alongside children during their play modelling skills, encouraging independence, giving them chance to rehearse and embed newly acquired knowledge and skills, whilst providing opportunities to scaffold learning, deepen understanding and challenge thinking. Within the EYFS we recognise the importance that the environment has on learning. Hence practitioners provide a rich, inquisitive environment to spark the children’s natural curiosity. Our EYFS environment is an organic space in which learning opportunities are rich, inviting and high quality. Continued investment by staff in this environment is essential in developing an evolving and engaging learning haven for young children. Pockets of beauty encourage further exploration that enhance the life chances of our youngest learners. Our use of natural materials enables our children to engage with seasonal changes and the real world first-hand, enhancing their learning offer exponentially. We place great emphasis on outdoor learning with access to our outdoor and Forest school areas built into our curriculum.
Alongside our enabling environment we ensure children learn through a careful balance of both child led and adult led activities. As children start our Nursery there is a greater emphasis on child-initiated learning, this balance changes as children move through the EYFS. More emphasis is put on ‘planning in the moment’ with our youngest children, again, as they move through the EYFS a strong over-arching theme then drives the learning and provides real life contexts for children to develop skills and knowledge about their world. Our themes are chosen to give a balance of all areas of learning across the curriculum with a focus on creativity, discovery and exploration. The theme, along with the children’s interests and needs, is reflected in the environment, which is enhanced to create awe and wonder, and to enthuse children to engage in and extend their own learning. There is a clear focus on stories, vocabulary, communication and language-all integral skills that enable learning across all areas. We endeavour to adapt our offer to meet the needs of each cohort, offering additional support and learning opportunities for those who need it, catering for the unique child. We review and reflect our EYFS offer across the seven features of effective practice outlined in the Early Years Statutory Framework (2021).
IMPACT
At Randlay Primary School and Nursery we want to ensure children leave the Foundation Stage ready for the next stage in their learning. We want them to have a rich vocabulary, deep knowledge and enjoyment of stories ad be equipped with the learning abilities and characteristics that will enable them to become successful learners. We strive to develop readers and writers who are phonically able and independent, mathematicians who have a deep number sense, and learners who have experiences that develop a rich sense of the world around them. We aim to create happy, healthy children, who are good citizens and friends, and who truly love to learn. We endeavour for our pupils to have all six of our school’s core values embedded by the time they leave EYFS.