Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
Our Early Years curriculum (EYFS) and learning environment supports, enhances, and invites our pupil’s curiosity and builds their confidence regardless of their background, circumstances or needs. Our curriculum develops independent and enthusiastic learners. It is where our pupils begin their lifelong learning journey by developing physically, verbally, cognitively and emotionally and embeds a positive attitude to school and a love of learning.
It is diverse, ambitious and carefully planned to ensure lessons link to the seven areas of learning in a meaningful way and cover what pupils need to know and understand in order to reach their end of year Early Learning Goals at the end of Reception. By the end of reception, our pupils are ready for their next stage of learning in Year 1.
The EYFS Curriculum incorporates the statutory requirements of the ‘Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage’ as well as other experiences and opportunities that meet the developmental needs of the children in our school. Across the seven areas of learning, vocabulary is carefully planned so that pupils can communicate effectively when talking about what they have learnt. Specific key vocabulary is taught across all subjects that is pupils are encouraged to use independently, with appropriate scaffolding when required.
Throughout this period and beyond our pupils are still developing their phonic knowledge and their fluency in reading through the Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) phonics programme. The programme is planned and structured systematically to ensure pupils are taught the phonemes they need to be able to accurately read words and simple sentences by the end of Reception.
In EYFS, pupils are encouraged and supported to develop positive attitudes towards learning. This is done by understanding how best to support individual needs in creating these positive attitudes such as working on pupil confidence, motivating pupils to develop their listening and attention skills and building pupils’ reliance within lessons and individually.
Our EYFS PKC curriculum materials support teachers to plan and teach interesting and engaging curriculum content that focuses on the ‘Understanding the World’ area of learning in Early Years. Through the carefully selected and sequenced content of our plans, we want to enable our youngest children to begin to develop a sense of identity, through engaging with the world around them. They can begin to ask and answer questions about the world and their place in it.
Children will learn about their local area and community, their bodies and how we grow, transport and journeys around the world, dinosaurs, space, plants, animals, Greek Gods, heroes, adventurers and much more! The curriculum plans are packed full of interesting ideas to support play, stories to tell, investigations to undertake, words to learn and use. The plans support Early Years teachers and practitioners to focus their teaching, to scaffold learning and to be ambitious for all children to meet the Early Learning Goals in Understanding the World, but also to develop a love for learning that will last a lifetime.
