Introduction

Our Vision

At Horbury St Peter’s and Clifton Primary School, we intend to instil the “St Peter’s and Clifton School Spirit” in all our children. Our Foundation Stage curriculum does this by:

• Service – All children in the early years are provided with important learning opportunities where they are able to build a sense of belonging and learn from those in their community.
• Perseverance – We support our children to use problem solving skills, resilience and self-regulation techniques. We challenge and encourage all our learners to do their best.
• Inquisitiveness – Through enabling environments, children are actively engaged to seek their interests. We ask the children open-ended questions to develop inquisitive thinkers.
• Respect - Children are taught and given opportunities to learn to respect and understand other cultures, beliefs and values. We learn to listen, share, use our manners and to be kind to each other. We respect our environment and are taught the importance of looking after our world.
• Inspiration – We plan and provide all learners with an exciting and engaging curriculum. We encourage children to have their own ideas and support them in following their own interests.
• Trust – We provide children with a safe and secure environment and they are supported to build positive and trustworthy relationships around them.

Intent

At Horbury St Peters and Clifton CE Primary School we believe that all children deserve to be valued as an individual and we are passionate in allowing all children to achieve their full, unique potential. We offer a curriculum rich in wonder and memorable experiences. We work hard to provide a stimulating environment that provides exciting opportunities, promotes challenge, exploration, adventure and a real love of learning. It is our intent that all children develop physically, verbally, cognitively and emotionally in an environment which values all cultures, communities and people. We aim for our children to be confident and independent, to believe in themselves and interact positively with others.

Our curriculum is designed around the needs, interests and stages of development of the children at St Peter’s and Clifton CE Primary School. We value children’s prior learning, both from previous settings and their experiences at home. We work in partnership with parents, carers and other settings to provide the best possible start for our children. Our curriculum is flexible and may change depending on our current cohorts needs. We understand that play is an integral part of learning and this is at the heart of our early years curriculum. We believe that the correct mix of adult directed and uninterrupted child-initiated play ensures the best outcomes for children. Warm and positive relationships between staff and children, consistent routines and strong relationships with parents are key.

By the end of Foundation Stage, our intent is to ensure that all children make at least good progress from their starting points and are equipped with the skills and knowledge to have a smooth transition into year one.

Implementation

Within the Foundation Stage we have developed our Curriculum to prepare our children for Key Stage One across all subject areas. We have carefully constructed learning opportunities, which are underpinned by The Early Years Framework (2021). This includes seven educational programmes based upon the three prime areas and four specific areas.

The three Prime Areas are –

• Communication and Language,
• Physical Development,
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development.

The four Specific Areas are –

• Literacy (Reading & Writing),
• Mathematics,
• Understanding the World Expressive,
• Arts and Design.

All these areas are important and inter-connected. The prime areas are particularly important for building a foundation for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, forming relationships and thriving.

We prioritise creating a ‘language rich’ environment through the use of songs, nursery rhymes, poems, stories and providing time for quality interactions between adults and between peers. Trained staff ensure that interactions are positive and progressive, allowing children to flourish and gather words at pace in order to become confident communicators. Children are encouraged to become early readers through enjoyment of books and the systematic teaching of phonics. (See phonics and reading policies)

Mathematics is valued and promoted through daily direct teaching and purposeful learning opportunities across all areas of provision. We want our children to become confident mathematicians who can apply what they have learnt to real life experiences. Each area of the provision is equipped with relevant maths resources to enable children to practise and apply their mathematical knowledge and skills. Specific maths continuous provision offers a variety of open-ended resources that promote a conceptual understanding of number encouraging children to become confident and fluent. Adults appreciate that maths can be taught everywhere and that the conceptual understanding of number is the basis for all other mathematical learning. (See mathematics policy) Our learning environments, both inside and outside are adapted regularly to meet the different and developing needs of the children in our care. We aim to ensure that these areas are always stimulating and exciting and that, importantly, they are accessible to all children, regardless of where they are on their learning journey. The environments are developed to promote independence within our children and allow them to access the curriculum independently and confidently with the necessary level of support and challenge.

The curriculum is taught through topics which are enriched with classroom enhancements. Topics are supported by quality key texts. These are chosen carefully to encourage children's speech, language and communication development. All planning however, is flexible and responsive to children’s needs and interests.

The Early Years Foundation Stage team consists of high quality, experienced practitioners, including teachers, nursery nurses and teaching assistants, and we ensure a good ratio of adults to children. We understand to maintain high standards of quality first teaching we have to invest in our staff by providing high quality CPD to match the current needs of the staff and also to match the needs of our children.

We understand the importance of parental engagement and believe that our parents have a crucial role to play in their children's education. We work hard to create strong partnerships between home and school. Parents receive newsletters to inform them of what their child is learning each half term and to explain how they can support this at home. We use Evidence Me to record ‘wow’ moments to create each child’s learning journey. We share this regularly with parents by sending them reports. Parents can add to their child’s learning journey by sharing experiences from home.

Impact

The broad and balanced curriculum design ensures that the needs of individual children including EAL, SEND and disadvantaged children can be met within the environment of high quality first teaching supported by targeted interventions where appropriate.

The impact of the EYFS curriculum is reflected in having well rounded, happy and confident children transitioning into Year 1. We have high expectations to ensure that all our children make good progress across the EYFS curriculum.

As part of the teaching and learning process, children are assessed by observation and discussion on a regular basis. These ongoing assessments are used to inform planning and next steps in teaching and learning for all

children throughout the year and to make a final judgement against the end of Reception Early Years Foundation Stage Profile for each child.

We believe our high standards are due to our carefully planned environment, enriched play-based curriculum, quality first teaching and the rigour of assessment.