Wales Primary SchoolFoundation Stage
Curriculum Drivers
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Aim
At Wales Primary School, our aim in the Early Years is to build strong foundations rooted in academic success as well as moral and spiritual development so that ultimately our pupils can be successful in their lives and happy, curious life-long learners. We want our children to have a love of learning and to experience the awe and wonder of the world.
Intent
At Wales Primary School we want our children to be motivated, resilient, kind and respectful of others and the environment. We want them to grow into happy, confident individuals and begin a lifelong love of learning. Our Early Years curriculum is designed to provide children with a range of rich, exciting, first-hand experiences. Our curriculum allows children to gain the basic skills, knowledge and understanding, as they start out their educational journey supporting them to progress from their individual starting points and preparing them for the next stage of their education. Through the carefully planned provision, we offer language rich opportunities to ensure children can communicate confidently, accurately and fluently. It is our intent that all children develop physically, verbally, cognitively and emotionally in an environment which values cultures, communities and people. We work in close partnership with parents and carers to encourage happy, independent learners who thrive in school with high aspirations to reach their full potential. We develop a strong sense of belonging within our school and local community.
Implementation
Throughout EYFS at Wales Primary School, we follow the Early Years Statutory Framework and Development matters as children work towards achieving a Good Level of Development by the end of the Foundation Stage. We plan for all seven areas of learning. We recognise the importance of the prime areas and prioritising personal, social and emotional development and communication and language to meet the needs of our children. The children will also develop their characteristics of effective learning which are, playing and exploring, active earning and creative and critical thinking.
Early Years Statutory Framework
Prime Areas
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Specific Areas
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive arts and design
The Characteristics of Effective Learning
- Playing and exploring– children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’;
- Active learning– children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements;
- Creating and thinking critically– children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas and develop strategies for doing things.
The Characteristics of Effective Learning underpin our provision, curriculum design and structure of our day. We aim for children to develop strong characteristics of effective learning so they are highly motivated, sustain good concentration and are eager to join in and have good self-regulation when beginning to make friendships and play alongside other children. We build on children’s attitudes to learning so children show resilience and keep on trying hard and learn that making mistakes are all part of the learning process.
Our enabling environment provides many opportunities for children to initiate their own play based learning independently, with peers and adults. We encourage high quality adult interactions to support the children as they begin to link learning to their play and exploration within the provision both indoors and outdoors. The curriculum is taught through themes which are enriched with classroom enhancements, the wider school grounds, visits and visitors. The themes are supported by quality key texts which are chosen carefully to encourage children's speech, language and communication development. Our curriculum is planned but personalised and flexible to equip each child with the knowledge, skills and experiences they need, in a holistic way, to ensure learning is embedded and meaningful. Our learning environments both inside and outside are adapted regularly to meet the needs of all our children. We ensure the areas are stimulating, exciting and are accessible to all children to allow them to access the curriculum independently, confidently and with the appropriate level of challenge. We weave our language opportunities throughout our provision, which can be visible through the environment but also through the high quality adult and peer interactions within the provision.
Children are encouraged to become early readers through enjoyment of books and the systematic teaching of phonics (Little Wandle).The children develop their mathematical thinking through daily routines, direct teaching and exploration. We want our children to become confident mathematicians who notice within the world around them and apply what they have learnt to real life experiences. We ensure all our children keep up and not catch up and offer specific same day interventions. We recognise and celebrate diversity and the achievements of all our children and promote good health and wellbeing while representing different realities. We ensure parents and carers feel supported and welcomed into our setting. We work closely with our families and feeder nurseries to create positive and supportive relationships.
Impact
Our curriculum and its delivery ensure that children, from their own starting points make good progress. During their time with us children make rapid progress towards the national expectation for a good level of development at the end of the year. Pupils also make good progress toward their age related expectations both academically and socially, developing a sense of themselves before transitioning into Year One. They are ready for the next stage of their development and journey in their education. Children are confident, enthusiastic, happy learners who have aspirations to achieve the very best they can. They enjoy coming to school and develop a sense of belonging to our school community. Our children rise to a challenge and take pride in their achievements and success. They show great respect for each other, our school and wider community.
Books to support our learning in EYFS
EYFS at Home
Phonics /English
Phonics Play (start with phase 1 games)
Maths
Helping children to learn can be as easy as talking, listening and playing with them whenever you can.
Tiny Talkers is a Rotherham LA group aimed at developing speech, language and communication skills for children in their early years (0-5 years).The Tiny Talkers website has lots of useful ideas and tips for supporting your child with their speech, language and communication. Please see the link below for their website.
Early Help - supporting families going through difficult times
