Welcome to The Early Years
Our EYFS Curriculum
Our Whole School Curriculum Drivers
What do we want for our children in Reception at Coxhoe Primary School?
- To engage in enriching and inspiring play in a safe and stimulating environment
- To be an independent learner
- To feel confident to take risks
- To enjoy challenging experiences
- To work as part of a team to achieve a shared goal
- To continue to learn how to be a kind, helpful and resilient member of our school
- To understand rules and expectations and behave accordingly
Intent:
Our curriculum ambitions:
Our Early Years curriculum is based on the Early Years Framework, Development Matters 2021 and Birth to 5 Matters. These documents set expectations for children to achieve by the end of the Reception year. Children joining Coxhoe Primary School come from a range of settings with varied experiences; we aim to plan and deliver a carefully considered curriculum which meets the needs of all children.
We aim to provide an enriching, purposeful and stimulating learning environment both indoors and outdoors which promotes exploration and curiosity. Play is an incredibly important part in the learning process and as a team is something that we value. We pair this with adult-led tasks to ensure a balanced curriculum.
We aim to create an environment based on mutual respect between adults and children which allows children to grow in confidence, gain knowledge and skills and manage their own emotions.
Please see our key curriculum documents below.
These include our Coxhoe EYFS curriculum, our topic webs and our current areas of provision planning.
Implementation:
At Coxhoe Primary School, we ensure a 'language rich' environment through a variety of stories, non-fiction texts, songs and nursery rhymes. We introduce new vocabulary regularly through class and group sessions as well as in play through high quality conversations and interactions with children. We ensure that our environment is engaging with stimulating enhancements including texts and make sure that adults are available to play in provision so that new vocabulary can be modelled effectively. This also encourages children to initiate conversations, share ideas and ask questions about the world around them and is something that we actively encourage and support.
All staff at Coxhoe Primary are trained in our Phonics scheme 'Little Wandle' and will deliver a session each day to the children in Reception. The children also access group reading sessions and additional 10 minute phonic sessions where necessary. Staff in the Early Years promote a love of reading by carefully planning separate adult-led English lessons based around stories or books of interest from our EYFS core book spine. These lessons include drama and writing and often have links to other areas of the curriculum. Each day, there is also an adult directed Maths session where children can gain a greater understanding of a range of mathematical concepts. Following these sessions, the children are encouraged to apply this knowledge in their play through high quality provision.
Characteristics of Effective Learning are an integral part of the Early Years and are important when carefully considering the learning environment and the opportunities that will be available. They include 'finding out and exploring', 'being willing to have a go', 'being involved and concentrating' and being a 'creative and critical thinker'. Our learning spaces are planned out carefully with the Characteristics of Effective Learning in mind and are constantly adapted to meet the needs and interests of our children. As a team, we value the impact that provision can have and therefore have a range of opportunities for children to develop their Reading, Writing and Maths, but also fine and gross motor skills. These skills can be developed both indoors and outdoors and can be targeted through engaging activities that encourage curiosity and exploration.
Our curriculum is taught through a mixture of topics based on the interests of the children and high quality texts identified on our core book spine. It focuses on teaching a balance of skills and knowledge through play and is based on the needs of the current cohort. Regular assessments are carried out through observations, 'objective led planning' and class, group and 1-1 sessions. The knowledge of the children is then used to inform future planning.
In the Early Years, we pride ourselves on developing strong and positive relationships with our families. Communicating effectively with parents is vital in ensuring good progress for our children. We communicate weekly through a home/school diary and have an Early Years inbox where parents can email to share worries or ask any questions. Parents also get the opportunity to share information about their child during a 1-1 initial parent meeting. During this time, we complete a pen portrait and learn a great deal about our new starters which enables us to begin to think about the bespoke curriculum that suits their likes and interests.
Impact:
Our carefully planned curriculum and continuous assessment ensures that our children make good or rapid progress towards the Early Learning Goals and reach 'good level of development' by the end of the Reception year. We use 'Assessment Narratives' to ensure that all children are assessed holistically. It also ensures that children are 'Year 1 ready' and can continue to make good progress as they move on to the next steps in their journey. Children at Coxhoe Primary School leave Reception as resilient, independent risk takers with a good understanding of our school rules and expectations.
Our curriculum is reviewed regularly to ensure that it meets the needs of our current cohort of children.