Early years foundation stage

Our EAD Curriculum is taught through teacher directed sessions and child initiated learning.  Our environment enables children to independently choose how to show their creativity, fostering a learning atmosphere that embraces individual children’s strengths enabling them to frequently access and revisit these skills.  They will have had ample opportunities to observe and experiment with different materials, tools, techniques, music and movements. For our pupils, emphasis is put on the process they go through rather than on the finished product.  In creating, designing and making, children have investigated and used a variety of materials and techniques as well as explored colour, line, texture and pattern.  They have developed their visual, spatial and tactile awareness and used marks, picture drawings, paintings and constructions to create products. Through music pupils will express feelings and emotions.  They will have participated in playing instruments, using everyday objects to make music, singing, moving rhythmically and expressively to music, listened to music and created their own.  Children are supported to develop their confidence and pride in their creative achievements.    Activities such as dance, role-play, stories, art, and music lessons, ignite children’s creativity which they further explore through provision and child-led activities. We use practical activity, enquiry and purposeful play, with consolidation through practice, talk and reflection.

The impact of our curriculum is that by the end of Early Years Foundation Stage all of our children will have been exposed to range of skills, experiences and language to help them express their creativity.  They will be more confident in their skills, proud of their achievements and more able to articulate their ideas and opinions.  Most of our children will have achieved the Early Learning Goals for Creating with Materials and Being Expressive.

Our teaching of literacy within the Early Years is on a weekly cycle with teaching and learning opportunities within the continuous provision. Our continuous provision is carefully planned to ensure that literacy knowledge is practised and embedded through specific challenges and through an open-ended approach to learning. Children build upon previously taught knowledge both within and across year groups. We implement KTC which is a quality first approach to teaching phonics, reading and writing in Early Years.

The impact of our curriculum is that by the end of Early Years Foundation Stage all of our children will have made measurable progress in Literacy. Our children will demonstrate their ability to write simple sentences that are phonetically decidable, read simple sentences and to be able to comprehend. Most of our children will have achieved the Early Learning Goals for word reading, writing and comprehension.

We prioritise care opportunities and a collaborative approach including families to support the development of life long positive attitudes to self- care and healthy decision making.

Our expert practitioners understand the intimate connection between the brain, the body and the mind, so we provide extended periods of active physical play where children are encouraged to take risk and challenge themselves.  Our Indoor and outdoor learning environments allow for gross and fine motor experiences. These are offered daily through a combination of direct teach and continuous provision to develop core strength, co- ordination and stability. Our continuous provision enables application and replication of physical knowledge and skills taught in different contexts, with pertinent cross curricula links, offering a more open ended approach to learning which challenges and empowers children to demonstrate their learning and skills in imaginative and different ways.

The impact of our curriculum is that by the end of Early Years Foundation Stage all of our children will have made measurable progress in their Physical development. Our children will demonstrate their ability to move and control their bodies with confidence.  Most of our children will have achieved the Early Learning Goals for Gross Motor and Fine Motor skills.

At Uplands Infant School our expertly designed environments, quality first teaching and interactions support children to manage and regulate emotions and develop a positive sense of self. The appropriate combination of teacher directed and child initiated learning is utilised to optimise the learning potential. Strong positive relationships, clear boundaries and routines are established with the children to secure their wellbeing.  Children and their families are assigned a key worker who responds sensitively to children’s feelings and behaviours in order to meet their emotional needs and supporting families by offering guidance. Our curriculum sets out a clear breadth of topics that will be taught and built upon across the Foundation Stage. Our children will organise their knowledge and understanding around the following key topics as set out in the Jigsaw scheme of work: Being me in my world, Celebrating difference, Dreams and Goals, Healthy Me, Relationships and Changing me. Our expertly designed environments, quality first teaching and learning opportunities promote the characteristics of effective learning which underpin the entire Early Years Curriculum.

Our continuous provision enables application and replication of personal, social and emotional knowledge and skills taught in different contexts, with pertinent cross curricula links, offering a more open ended approach to learning which challenges and empowers children to demonstrate their learning and skills in imaginative and different ways.

The impact of our curriculum is that by the end of Early Years Foundation Stage all of our children will have made measurable progress in their Personal. Social and Emotional development. Our children will demonstrate high levels of involvement and wellbeing.  Most of our children will have achieved the Early Learning Goals for Self Regulation, Managing Themselves and Building Relationships.

In our foundation stage we provide carefully planned environments, quality first teaching and interactions that allow for curiosity, enjoyment, the ability to draw on personal and cultural knowledge and apply their mathematical thinking through real life experiences and contexts. Children are able to freely explore how they represent their mathematical thinking through gesture, talk, manipulation of objects and their graphical signs and representations.

Our curriculum includes rich opportunities for children to develop their spatial reasoning skills through shape, space and measure. There is a balance and appropriate combination of teacher directed and child initiated learning to optimise the learning potential. Children are provided with effective early mathematical experiences that involve seeking patterns, creating and solving mathematical problems through engaging with stories, songs, games, practical activities and imaginative play. Our mathematical concepts are revisited within the year group and built upon across the key stages. Children are given time to revisit, develop and make sense of the mathematical concepts and skills being taught. This is supported by sensitive interactions with adults who observe, listen to and value children’s mathematical ideas and build upon their knowledge and ability to apply their understanding.

The impact of our curriculum is that by the end of Early Years Foundation Stage all of our children will have made measurable progress in their mathematical development. They will develop a positive self-esteem as learners of mathematics and feel confident to express their ideas, spot connections, ‘have a go’, use vocabulary confidently to talk about what they notice and not be afraid to make mistakes.

Our continuous provision will enable application and replication of mathematical skills taught in different contexts, with pertinent cross curricula links, offering a more open ended approach to learning which challenges and empowers children to demonstrate their learning and skills in imaginative and different ways. By the end of the foundation stage most of our children will have achieved the Early Learning Goals for Number and Numerical Patterns.

At Uplands Infant School our expertly designed environments, quality first teaching and interactions provide a language rich environment. The appropriate combination of teacher directed and child initiated learning is utilised to optimise learning potential. The daily speaking and listening opportunities which include activities that provide a stimulus for talk, story telling, role play, songs and rhymes are specifically chosen to meet the learning needs of our children. Through conversation children are encouraged to share their ideas with support and modelling from their practitioners.  Sensitive questioning invites children to elaborate their ideas strategies such as self- talk and parallel talk to build and progress children’s language acquisition. We implement carefully sequenced programmes of study including Phase 1 phonics, Talk for Writing, Word Aware to secure Communication and Language development.  We recognise that the children’s preferred language provides the roots for developing additional language. Parents are therefore encouraged to continue to use their home languages so that it can be used to strengthen and improve their children’s language and communication.

The impact of our curriculum is that by the end of Early Years Foundation Stage all of our children will have made measurable progress in their Communication and Language development. Our children will communicate effectively, articulating their ideas and thoughts. Most of our children will have achieved the Early Learning Goals for Listening, Understanding and Attention and also Speaking.

Our teaching of Understanding of the World is taught by a range of children’s personal experiences that increases their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries to meeting important members of society such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In addition, children are introduced to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems that will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world.  In early years learning is interweaved throughout continuous provision with a particular emphasis in Understanding of the World. Our key concepts are revisited throughout the children’s time at school. This is to ensure that progression will enable children to build on previously taught knowledge from working in to long term memory.

The impact of our curriculum is that by the end of Early Years Foundation Stage all of our children will have made measurable progress in Understanding of the World. Our children will demonstrate important knowledge which extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Most of our children will have achieved the Early Learning Goals for people, culture and communities, the natural world and past and present.

Our expert practitioners understand the intimate connection between the brain, the body and the mind, so we provide extended periods of physical outdoor learning through play. The outdoors is carefully planned to provide our children with opportunities to participate in tasks on a much bigger scale and complete them in ways they might not when they are indoors. During times of outdoor learning children make calculated decisions, experience risk-taking and are encouraged to challenge themselves. We offer outdoor learning every day for at least 90 minutes with opportunities for children to move freely across a range of learning spaces to explore and investigate new and exciting discoveries. It is designed so that key knowledge can be observed in action acting as a catalyst for interactions. These are offered daily through a combination of direct teach and continuous provision allowing for application and replication of knowledge and skills taught in different contexts. Pertinent cross curricula links across the seven areas of learning are forged offering a more open ended approach to learning where the characteristics of effective learning can be further developed. The children are challenged and empowered to demonstrate their learning and skills in imaginative and different ways.

The impact of our outdoor provision is that by the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage all of our children will demonstrate an appreciation and care for the world we inhabit and a deeper understanding of the natural processes that happen around them. They will make progress and achieve in all seven areas of learning. Children will be confident in taking risks, demonstrate improved social skills, resilience and independence which some of them may find challenging to demonstrate within the constraints of a smaller confined space.