Early Years

curriculum intent statement

It is widely recognised that a child’s experiences between birth and the age of five have a major impact on their life which is why we ensure each child is offered a secure and happy environment where they feel special and safe. All our children are encouraged to make the most of their skills and talents as they grow within the Loseley Fields family, ensuring they develop the confidence and self-belief to become learners who show compassion, act with integrity and are ambitious to be their best. 

At Loseley Fields Primary School we aim to provide a learning environment which is inclusive, innovative and creative. Our intent is that whilst following the EYFS Framework we will provide a wide range of both discretely planned and child-initiated activities and opportunities for learning through play.  We aim to nurture a child who shows compassion, demonstrates aspiration and act with integrity that will allow young children to develop and flourish as learners.  We also believe that through this approach children can discover their own unique interests and talents and to develop these to a high standard. 

Our curriculum is carefully planned to promote curiosity and foster independence for all our learners to make good progress against the Early Learning Goals where learning is revisited throughout the year to ensure our children learn more and remember more. Our themes are expertly tailored and inclusive to meet the needs of all our individual children. We use fiction and non-fiction texts to ignite our children’s interest and steer their learning. Our environment is rich in language to promote positive communication and language skills to ensure our children feel happy and safe.

Underpinning the whole curriculum framework is the recognition of the importance of reflective practitioners, the values they hold and place upon the characteristics of effective learning – how children learn. As stated within the statutory EYFS (DfE, 2017:10) 1.9. 

In planning and guiding children’s activities, practitioners must reflect on the different ways that children learn and reflect these in their practice. The three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are: 

•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

We are determined to enable our children to achieve their very best outcomes and therefore our teachers will use their expert knowledge of the children to assess what the children know. They monitor and make judgements on their progress, and use this information to plan next steps, taking into account the child’s interests and learning styles.

implement

The curriculum the children experience is determined not only by the intentions set out above but how those intentions are delivered.  The objectives from the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile along with Birth to 5 Matters are skilfully translated into discrete teaching and sequences of learning that are delivered to pupils. This includes specific plans for coverage of the daily Literacy, Mathematics, Handwriting and Phonics whole class teaching sessions, where learning objectives will be shared verbally with the children. Through the enhanced provision planning, as well as objective led planning, all staff are able to effectively respond to children’s interests and provide a good balance of continuous provision and adult-planned activities. This enables children to choose from a range of activities which provide challenge and the opportunity to practise and embed play, skills and knowledge throughout the different areas of learning. Children have the opportunity to learn inside the classroom, outside in the garden and on the playground. Teachers ensure new knowledge is connected to existing knowledge to ensure that children learn more and remember more. This is conducted through a range of teaching strategies including: communicating and modelling (particularly language), showing, explaining, demonstrating, exploring ideas, encouraging, questioning, recalling, providing a narrative for what the children are doing, facilitating and setting new challenges. 

In addition to our daily whole class teachings and continuous provision, we also ensure our children receive a rich range of extra-curricular activities to enhance their learning. Gross and fine motor skills are essential skills for our children to develop and we want to engage our pupils through creative, exciting and engaging activities. Every afternoon children develop their gross motor skills out on the playground. Children are encouraged to use a range of equipment including: trikes, a large climbing frame, tyres, crates and many more items to promote gross motor. These gross motor skills form the basis for fine motor skills. The children enjoy Funky Fingers once a week where all children have the opportunity to develop their fine motor skills, finger strength and coordination to support pencil grip and letter formation. Music is played and children stand or sit during activities to help improve their core strength. We also have a range of outside visitors including author visits, theatre productions, farm visits and many more to ensure every child experiences an enriched curriculum.

impact

At Loseley Fields Primary School, ongoing assessment and children’s success is an integral part of the learning and development process. Staff deliver meaningful interactions daily, observing pupils to identify their level of achievement, interests and learning styles. These interactions and observations are used to embed, consolidate and challenge children’s learning and shape future planning. 

During the children’s first half term in Reception the teacher assesses basic skills, knowledge and understanding by completing a baseline assessment across the Foundation Stage curriculum areas using the Birth to 5 Matters guidance. Children’s progress and attainment is assessed at regular points throughout the year. EYFS teachers moderate and discuss children’s attainment regularly and each term the EYFS teachers meet with the senior leadership team to discuss their findings and next steps. Parents are able to discuss their child’s progress with the teacher at the regular parent teacher meetings which take place throughout the year.

At the end of the EYFS, staff complete the EYFS profile for each child. Pupils are assessed against the 17 early learning goals, indicating whether they are: 

▪ Meeting expected levels of development or,  
▪ Not yet reaching expected levels (‘emerging’) 

Parents receive a detailed written report outlining their progress in all 17 aspects of the curriculum. In addition, the EYFS and KS1 team meet to ensure a smooth transition to Year 1.