Curriculum
The aim of our curriculum is to equip children with the skills and knowledge they need to explore and understand the world around them.
We believe that children grow and develop when they have access to a well thought out learning environment and engaged adults.
The teaching and learning of new skills and knowledge is delivered through both adult and child led opportunities both indoors and outdoors.
We focus on the importance of knowledge and skills that will support children in every way possible so that they can make the most of opportunities and fulfil their potential along with promoting their independence.
There are seven areas of learning and development within the Early Years curriculum.
Prime areas of learning
- Personal, social and emotional development
- Communication and language development
- Physical development
Specific areas of learning
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the world
- Expressive Arts and design
In planning for children, we consider the different ways in which children learn. The three characteristics of effective learning are
- Playing and exploring
- Active Learning
- Creating and thinking critically
| Our intent is for children to leave us confident in - | Implementation - How we will support children |
|---|---|
|
Knowing about themselves and others, and how to keep safe. PSED / CL / PD / UW |
Observe children at play and plan activities that follow their interests and introduce them to new ideas and concepts. |
|
Having the social skills and confidence to play alongside / with other children PSED / CL / UW |
Being specific with our praise, noting how well children solve problems have ideas and negotiate. |
|
Being able to make a simple choice CL |
Use additional funding to support children as identified |
|
Having a go and keep on trying PSED / PD/ L / M |
Work with parents to ensure they are able to support their child’s learning at home. |
|
Listening and taking turns CL/ PSED / M |
Share and discuss experiences |
|
Following simple instructions CL |
Role model positive language and positive behaviour |
|
Knowing a number of songs and rhymes and enjoy joining in with singing L /M / FAD / CL / PSED |
Provide supervised opportunities for turn taking. |
|
Sitting at a table for snack and meal times PSED/ UW/ PD |
Provide real life experiences |
|
Talking to an adult CL / PSED / UW |
Use flashcards to support basic English language / for children to express their own wants and needs. |
|
Using gross and fine motor skills to do things independently PD |
Well planned leaning environments indoors and outdoors that promote the focus on learning. |
|
Using mathematical concepts and language in play and everyday experiences. M |
Know and understand the areas of learning and development |
|
|
By building a good relationship up with both key children and their immediate family |
|
|
Know how each child plays and learns. |
Over time we offer a range of experiences to support the children’s knowledge and skills development. Some of these include:
- Planting seeds watching them grow and earing what has been grown
- Meeting people from the local community who help us such as the dentist and police
- Visiting local care home
- Trips to local parks and walks around the local area
- Raising money for charities
- Baking activities
We will celebrate a range of festivals and share special occasions with the children throughout the year. Some of these include:
- Shared meals and food tasting
- Dressing up
- Dancing to music
- Books and stories
- Visitors
- Making cards
Assessment
Assessment links our children’s learning and to our curriculum.
Most of the assessments we do at nursery are formative, so that it quickly helps us to make a difference to children’s learning. However, we also need to have an overview of children’s progress, so that we can take further actions where needed. We notice what children can, and can’t do. We are good at deciding when it will be helpful to step in and support, and when it’s best to be encouraging but hang back. It is important that we are certain that children are secure in what they know and can do, before introducing them to something new
We complete
- a baseline assessment of the child’s development shortly after they start with us. This is completed in partnership with parents.
- termly summative assessment of where the child’s development is in relation to typical milestones and the characteristics of effective learning
- leavers
- summative assessment of where the child’s development is in relation to typical milestones, the characteristics of effective learning, child’s interests and any other relevant comments about the child’s time with us.
Assessment helps with
- the early identification of children who need temporary extra help, and children who may have special educational needs.
- checking that individual children, and groups of children, are making progress and taking prompt action where this is not the case
- reporting formally and involving parents in the statutory 2-year-old progress check
- celebrate children’s achievements with parents and share focus for learning
- discussions with other professionals who maybe involved with a child and family. For example, a health visitor or social care worker
- sharing information with receiving schools in the summer so that children can continue their learning journey through the EYFS as seamlessly as possible
Evaluation
We will check that our curriculum is meeting the needs of our children by
- gathering feedback from the children, parents and other professionals.
- review the progress children are making and how they are accessing the learning environment
- as a team discuss our observations of the educational programmes we offer
- individually with the manager of the setting discuss the curriculum