Curriculum

Below are our curriculum plans explaining what we want our children to learn, and the pedagogy including strategies for learning to take place.
As a setting we understand that children will come to us with different experiences in play. We will support and provide learning opportunities ensuring that cultural capital is reflected in success in our children’s future development and education. 
Providing children with the skills and knowledge to improve their life chances is essential, and by narrowing the gap in children’s development we seek to achieve a strong early start in educational experiences for our children. 
As practitioners our role is to help the children experience the Awe and Wonder of the world in which they live. This is achieved through the seven areas of learning. In this document each of the seven areas of learning is split into three sections. Our intent for learning, the implementation, and the impact on children in the setting.

Our Intent for learning in PSED

‘Children achieve a positive sense of self’

• We want all children to feel valued and secure, and create a culture where children care for each other.

We seek to promote positive interactions for children through shared experiences and activities.
Supporting children’s moral, spiritual and social development, linking to the British Values.
We want them to learn independence and confidence in themselves and their own abilities.
We seek to help children to develop good negotiating skills in building relationships with their peers and to be able to know how best to deal with conflict.
To create an environment where children’s self esteem and sense of achievement are nurtured and developed.
Ensure that children have the opportunity to learn to develop skills, such as turn taking and sharing and that there is opportunity for daily practice of this.
We want children to understand and co-operate with boundaries and rules of the setting, supporting and modelling positive behaviour.
We want to encourage children to talk about their feelings, and emotions and support them to share thoughts and experiences.

Implementation – How

• Celebrating and acknowledging mutual respect and inclusivity and tolerance for all children.
• Shared activities where children learn respect for things, and themselves.
• Small group games where children learn to take turns and share resources.
• Celebrating children’s achievements praising them and sharing their achieved goals with other children and staff. Also sharing the information with parents and encouraging them to actively celebrate their child’s achievement too.
• Encouraging kindness and care for their friends and families, through story telling, and sharing feelings.
• Supporting children’s learning of boundaries and routines, through verbal instructions and modelling good behaviour. Examples of this include supporting good manners, behaviour at meal times. Encouraging tidying away toys and equipment, and being polite to adults and their friends.
• Supporting children’s emotional needs through interventions such as Thrive, and validating their feelings and concerns.
• Supporting children to plan play activities and choose their preferred areas of learning, so that they begin to develop competencies.
• For children to seek challenges and acquire skills in areas of development not yet attained.
• Fostering a feeling of being valued and supported when a challenge is completed.
• Encouraging children to ask adults for help and developing a setting where children help one another showing care and concern for their peers.

Impact for Learning

• Children’s progress in Personal, Emotional and Social development is observed through observations.
• Next steps are chosen and planned for.
• Priorities for learning are included in planned activities.
• Children understand boundaries and routines and new children are beginning to develop understandings in this area. This information was gained form recent tracking of children.
• Children are good at tidying away the toys and some enjoy helping staff to achieve this.
• Children are becoming more excited about exploring feelings and sharing their ideas within small groups. Children are starting to share their feelings and are developing confidence in turn taking in conversations particularly in the Thrive group. We are seeing an increased level of interest in this area which has been collated through observations.
• The children going to school are developing play scenarios and planning the direction of their play. Some children are clear leaders and lead the game, whist others in the younger cohort are following and beginning to copy their older peers. We are seeing an increase in the amount of language being shared across the setting.
• Positive interactions are happening between peers and adults, and this is an area of strength within the setting.
• Planned activities are working to support children’s PSED and we are seeing higher levels of attainment through observations.

Our Intent for learning - Communication and Language - CL

‘Children become strong and confident communicators.’

• We seek to promote an environment where shared ideas and conversation is valued and encouraged.
• To encourage listening skills to develop, and create a place where listening to others happens regularly.
• To encourage an environment where language is fostered and modelled to support children to become confident talkers, and where conversations with peers are promoted.
• We seek to share information with children to support their understanding of basic concepts and help them to follow instructions.
• To support parents, informing them of appropriate language techniques to use at home.
• Where speech has been identified as needing interventions, support is given as to the child’s next steps, or area of need.

Implementation - How

• Children are supported to maintain focus on their activities for a period of time.
• Encourage talking opportunities in daily activities and play based scenarios.
• Support children’s understanding of messages, instructions, and rules.
• Encourage children to share their ideas and retell events and information.
• Create a listening environment where information and conversation is heard.
• We use interventions to support children’s language development and create space for children with SALT, and SLC to access small group or individual help.
• Identifying key children who may need targeted support, and referring them to the SENCO, as well as observing to gain evidence.
• Praising and encouraging children’s progress and shared language, either by telling the parents verbally or on tapestry, or by congratulating the child publicly.
• We provide Early Talk boost sessions for children identified as needing specific support in listening and speaking. Sessions are run on a daily basis and parents are kept informed of the content of each session.

Impact for Learning

• Children’s progress in communication and language is observed through observations.
• Next steps are chosen and planned for.
• Priorities for learning are included in planned activities.
• Children are developing communication skills and staff are observing that children’s language skills progressing well. Those who are receiving ongoing SLC support are making steady progress, particularly are non verbal children.
• Children are becoming strong communicators and are seeking opportunities to share their ideas and thoughts during group times.
• Children are beginning to listen to one another and older children are becoming leaders in sharing conversations. We are seeing a rise in the number of children wanting to take part in sharing their thoughts at circle time, and an increased ability to self evaluate and put those thoughts into words.
• We are seeing an increase in the number of children communicating peer on peer and using language to develop conversational skills.

Our Intent for learning - Physical Development - PD

‘Children are learning physical challenge, and confident in making good choices.’

• We seek to promote physical challenge for children to achieve.
• Support children’s independence in being active.
• Developing children’s co-ordination in gross motor and fine manipulative skills.
• Provide the opportunity to access activities involving differing range of difficulty.
• We seek to encourage and support children to achieve and develop skills and independence in Self care.
• Provide an environment for children to explore mark making in many forms, developing confidence and skill.
• Support children to make healthy choices, and understand about health and fitness.
• Create an environment where independence can be achieved in acquiring knowledge and experiences in handling safety practices.

Implementation - How

Impact for Learning

• Children’s progress in physical development is observed through observations.
• Next steps are chosen and planned for.
• Priorities for learning are included in planned activities.
• Children are showing interest in physical activities and enjoying moving their bodies in a range of ways, through music and yoga.
• We have seen as increase in children’s abilities specifically around the area of physical play and many children can now throw, catch and kick a ball.
• Mark making is an ongoing challenge, and we are supporting children through key activities to target development in this area. Included in this is pen control, and getting them to positively approach the activity through linking in with their interests.
• We have seen a rise in children developing in the area of self care and independently washing their own hands, and an increased rise in those children becoming toilet trained. Children are becoming more independent across the setting and many are having a go at putting on their own coat and hat, as well as serving themselves snack ad pouring themselves drinks.

Our Intent for Learning in Literacy

‘Children are able to demonstrate competencies in phonics’

• We seek to provide an environment where vocabulary is shared through different media where children’s knowledge is extended and challenged.
• Developing children’s listening skills.
• Encourage children’s joy of reading and enjoyment of books.
• Where phonic knowledge is developed and new words are explored.
• Support children’s understanding of the composition of stories, and rhyme.
• Providing opportunities and making space for children to express themselves in different mark making media.
• We revisit activities to help children store information and skills into their long term memory.
• We work with disadvantaged children to narrow the gap in their learning.
• We support children to move from a baseline assessment towards achieving goals in age appropriate areas of learning and beyond.

Implementation - How

• Providing children with access to a range of books in the setting, as well as children taking books home.
• Support children to bring books from home to share with their friends linking to aspects of the British values-Individualism, and boosting children’s self esteem.
• Staff reading to children, building an enthusiasm of stories and rhyme.
• Supporting familiarisation of phrases and key words in books.
• Using a range of story bags and visual props to support story telling, and focus children’s interest.
• Providing opportunities for children to build confidence in recognising written words such as logos and children’s names.
• Identifying initial letter sounds and hearing them in words.
• Supporting more able children to word build using CVC, CCVC and CVCC words.
• Using a range of phonic based resources to teach familiarisation of letter sounds and words.
• Providing a range of tools for children to make marks and form letter shapes.
• Encourage children to describe the marks they make and see around them.
• Use flash cards and visual support to teach children alphabet sounds in readiness for early reading, both in structured groups and individually.

Impact of Learning

• Children’s progress in literacy is observed through observations.
• Next steps are chosen and planned for.
• Priorities for learning are included in planned activities.
• Staff assess children’s progress in literacy and knowledge of initial letter sounds, as well as understanding of rhyme and story structure. We have seen a small amount of change in the cohort going to school (2020). Some children are now beginning to show interest in letter sounds and others are becoming more confident in sharing this information with adults. Some children are playing phonic games and beginning to word build CVC words.
• We have seen an increased level of children loving books and story telling has been observed regularly. Children are using story bags and puppets to retell and recreate stories captured by their enjoyment of books.
• Children are developing interests in phonic sounds and are finding enjoyment in phonic activities.
• We are seeing a rise in the number of children being able to listen to stories and confidently recall the information from within them.

Out Intent for Learning - Mathematics.

‘Children are enabled to be confident with numbers.’

• Children achieve an understanding of a range of mathematical concepts.
• We support children to problem solve in tasks, collaborating with their peers and work individually.
• Providing challenge in counting on and back, from any given number.
• We provide an environment where children can explore time, weight, and capacity.
• Promoting mathematical language in relation to describing everyday objects.
• Providing a rich learning environment for conversations about numbers to develop.
• Provide a range of visual prompts for children to explore and use in activities.
• Provide a range of activities focused on shapes.

Implementation - How

• Children learn about shapes through a range of resources, and practical activities.
• Children count using a range of resources and gain confidence in their understanding of numbers.
• We provide opportunities for children to access and recognise numerals in the environment.
• Providing ways for children to record marks, and findings related to their own interests.
• Supporting children to estimate and check their thoughts by counting.
• Creating opportunity to look at money, and develop children’s understanding in this area.
• Linking in to children’s interests encourage and scaffold conversations about numbers.
• Supporting children to play number games, where decision making and problem solving is developed.
• Exploring units of measure in practical activities using scales, measuring tape, and clocks.
• Supporting children’s understanding of positional language relating to in-front, behind, first, last.
• Supporting children to count beyond 10 and understand more complex mathematical concepts.

Impact for Learning

• Children’s progress in Mathematics is observed through observations.
• Next steps are chosen and planned for.
• Priorities for learning are included in planned activities.
• We have seen a rise in the number of children showing progress in counting and recognising numbers. This data comes from observations and tracking of children’s development. We are still working with children who need support in this area.
• Children are showing a increased enjoyment in participating in number games and wanting to work with an adult to do a variety of activities such as puzzles.
• Children are becoming more aware of shapes in the environment and noticing links to shapes during play. We have seen a high number of boys interested in weighing using vehicles and scales. They have been discovering words like ‘heavy’ and ‘balancing’.

Our Intent for learning - Understanding the World - UW

‘Children seek knowledge in their natural environment.’

• We seek to provide a learning zone where children can explore their environment.
• Where celebrating children’s families and faiths and customs is encouraged.
• Where individualism of each child is encouraged linking to the British Values.
• We seek to promote a caring environment and teach knowledge of growth.
• Make positive links with the local community.
• Beginning to explore multi-generational learning.
• Supporting children’s interest in technology.
• To create keen and inquisitive questioners who are highly excited by the world around them.

Implementation - How

• Encourage visits within the local community for children to explore their environment.
• Support learning through practical activities relating to how things work and why things happen.
• Encourage children’s use and competency in a range of technology.
• Provide activities that involve a range of natural resources.
• Promote discussion about what children know, and support extension of ideas and thoughts.
• Follow and link in with children’s ideas and interests to support aspects of in the moment planning.
• Looking at scientific experiments and exploring children’s ideas. What will happen if ?
• Support children to explore the world around them and learn about animals, plants, and objects.

Impact for Learning

• Children’s progress in Understanding the World is observed through observations.
• Next steps are chosen and planned for.
• Priorities for learning are included in planned activities.
• Children are becoming keen explorers showing interest in the world around them. We have seen a developing rise in boys showing interest in things in the environment and investigation. Through activities we have seen children keen to explore and find out how things work and what happens if? Children are excited to share their findings and thoughts with adults. This information can be seen in observations.
• In the current cohort we have seen a slight decrease in the interest in technology. This data is focused on children’s lower rate of interest in using laptops and computer programmes based on observations. They are however keen to use pretend laptops and mobiles in play scenarios.

Our Intent for learning in EAD

‘Children are creative and construct with a purpose’

Implementation

• Providing a range of music and songs for children to sing and move their bodies.
• Support children’s enjoyment of music by using scarves, musical instruments, bean bags incorporating them into movement activities.
• Support children’s development by providing a range of resources catering for their learning needs.
• Initiates play with other children and works together to remain engaged in a theme.
• Constructs with purpose and is able to achieve a planned result.
• Explores colour mixing and what will happen if?

Impact for Learning

• Children’s progress in Expressive arts and Design is observed through observations.
• Next steps are chosen and planned for.
• Priorities for learning are included in planned activities.
• We are seeing an increased number of children excited to build and create towers and structures with a variety of bricks.
• We have seen a high numbers of girls role playing and developing imaginary play skills. We have also seen a slight rise the number of boys also enjoying this play.
• Our children enjoy painting and developing their ideas through this media. This information can be seen through observations and assessments.
• The children also show a real enjoyment in musical activities, particularly using scarves and beanbags to move their bodies to music. Every child joins with this activity and through feedback from staff and assessment, this information can be clearly observed.