EYFS Curriculum

The Early Years Foundation Stage at Plymouth Grove Primary School

Our EYFS leader is Mrs Barker

Article 29 of the UNCRC: a child or young person's education should help their mind, body and talents be the best they can

Global Goal 4: Quality Education

Intent

The curriculum in early years is designed to provide a broad and balanced education that meets the needs of all pupils. It facilitates them to gain knowledge, concepts and skills through Communication Language and Literacy, Numeracy, Personal Social and Emotional Development and  Knowledge and Understanding of the World, supporting them to progress from their individual starting point and preparing them for their next stage of education. 

Our EYFS curriculum is building towards all children achieving key stage 1 readiness by the end of reception. It takes account of the  starting point of each child and their readiness for the next stage of their education.

Through our 7 areas of learning we provide topics that excite and engage children, building on their own interests and developing their experiences of the world around them. Our curriculum is carefully planned to ensure that pupils’ learning in all subjects is planned and sequenced so that new knowledge and skills build on prior learning and provide progression in learning towards the end of the EYFS expectations, ensuring they are Y1 ready.. 

At Plymouth Grove, our aim in spoken language is to provide a sound foundation for the development of oracy skills At the heart of good oracy is a dialogic classroom.In EYFS, Communication and Language is a key area in the Early Learning goals and is developed through the use of oracy. 

We recognise that all children come into our setting with varied experiences and all staff work hard to ensure that the learning opportunities provided widen their knowledge and understanding of the world, setting ambitious expectations for all children, taking into account the learners with English as an additional language.

The curriculum celebrates diversity and supports the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Those children with particular needs, including SEND, are supported appropriately, allowing them to be successful. 

Implementation

As an experienced EYFS team, we have an expert knowledge and understanding of the EYFS curriculum, constantly supporting each other, sharing ideas and adopting a collaborative approach to curriculum planning, ensuring teachers are supported to address any gaps in knowledge.  

Our curriculum is delivered through floor book planning in which all children can make contributions. There is a high emphasis on speaking and listening and Wellcomm is used alongside the EYFS curriculum. This  starts with an exciting hook to engage children in the topic, using talking tubs children are encouraged to join in with discussion and share thoughts and ideas. 

Allowing children to be successful in their attempts at an activity and then using effective feedback and high quality questioning and interactions to check understanding and address any misconceptions which will help to facilitate their next steps in learning. 

Through continuous provision children are given the opportunity to further investigate skills and consolidate learning through all seven areas of the EYFS curriculum.

The curriculum is designed to ensure that the seven areas of learning are entwined. This ensures that children can make connections in their learning. The curriculum builds on what has been taught already introducing new knowledge and skills to ensure progression can be made. 

Communication and Language development is targeted as soon as children enter school. Children are screened through Welcomm language program and currently whole class sessions are delivered in Nursery and interventions are delivered in Reception as well as incorporating sessions into curriculum planning to increase vocabulary and understanding of key concepts and language - eg, positional language in Maths.

Early reading and writing skills are taught through a daily synthetic phonic programme, beginning with phase 1 in Nursery and moving to phase 2 when the children are assessed as ready to move to the next phase. Phonics is taught as a whole class group in Nursery and Reception, so that all children access quality first teaching and can be role models for their peers. Children requiring additional support are then targeted with additional phonic support both in small groups and in the learning environment. 

In Reception, reading books are matched to a pupil's individual phonic knowledge to support learning that has occurred in class. This is also true for Nursery when the children are ready to access them. 

Training in teaching phonics is held regularly with staff and opportunities to share good practice takes place through peer observations.

Early maths is taught using Number sense and white rose approaches to maths. Staff are skilled in the developmental knowledge of number and the number systems that children need a secure knowledge of so that they can then apply this knowledge in different mathematical problems. 

PSE is a high priority, particularly building resilience after Covid. Zones of regulation are taught from Nursery using the Colour Monster books and children are able to move their names to different colours and are supported to talk about their feelings and emotions and how to get themselves ready to learn. Age appropriate Rights respecting language is used to reinforce school rules.

Weekly P.E and Music sessions are taught by specialist teachers and all children have access to this quality teaching. 

Daily personalised meet and greets are an important part of the school day where information can be shared and events of the day celebrated. Through the year workshops are planned to support learning and behaviour and other areas identified by parents.

Seesaw is used from nursery to engage parents in their child’s learning - through the use of photos, notes and videos. Through lockdown this was very useful to share activities, videos of taught sessions and activities and stories.

Through observation children are assessed and this information formulates their learning journey. This information is used to plan future learning and continuous provision activities to help children embed and fully understand their learning. 

Impact

At Plymouth Grove, the EYFS curriculum ensures children make good progress from their baseline on entry into nursery or reception to the end of reception.  The children are able to demonstrate their attitude to learning through the 3 key elements of the characteristics of effective learning;  playing and exploring, active learning and  creative thinking and thinking critically. 

Pupils with SEND, EAL and disadvantaged backgrounds access the EYFS curriculum. They are provided with a breadth of learning opportunities that build on life and learning skills that they will need in the future. 

Throughout EYFS children are working towards a good level of development in all areas of learning by the end of reception class. This good level of development ensures they are Year 1 ready and can move confidently into the next stage of their learning. 

The evidence for this is collated through observation, focus activities and floorbooks. Constant dialogue between staff quality assure the judgements made. As a team, we carry out regular moderation sessions to quality assure our assessments and judgements, this involves meeting with the EYFS team, the KS1 team, and our local cluster schools to ensure that we feel confident with our judgements and that these judgements are consistent with a range of other settings.

Please see our Curriculum Progression maps for nursery and reception below 

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