Intent
At Swain House Primary School, we will:
At Swain House Primary School, we will:
- Provide a curriculum that offers a range of first hand experiences and is meaningful, memorable and ensures that our children are ready for the next stage of their education.
- Provide a learning environment that puts stories and early language at the heart of it
- Offer experiences which build on children’s existing knowledge and understanding in order to challenge, stimulate and extend their learning
- Ensure our curriculum excites our children in order to encourage and develop their natural desire, interest and motivation to learn
- Ensure quality and consistency in teaching and learning so that every child makes the best progress they can
- Provide a secure foundation for future learning so that our children leave us as happy, confident and skilful communicators who are curious about the world around them
Implementation
Impact
- Our curriculum will follow the Early Years Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage
- We will introduce four themes with cross-curricular links and develop a wide range of vocabulary which will underpin learning whilst providing flexibility to follow children’s interests and ideas
- The opportunity to learn by playing and exploring, being active and thinking critically and creatively will take place both indoors and outdoors. Children will be able to make their own decisions about where they want to learn and teachers will ensure that there are opportunities for this learning
- Through our knowledge of the children, we will plan exciting, engaging and memorable activities that will move learning forward
- We will ensure there is a balance of whole class, guided, adult-directed and child-initiated play activities dependent on the nature and needs of the children
- Sustained shared thinking will support staff to gain a deeper understanding of children’s knowledge and understanding
- We will plan visits and have visitors in school to enhance learning and make it memorable
Impact
- From their own starting points, all children will make the best possible progress and attainment across the Early Years. Children will be challenged to exceed their limits
- Through our story led approach to learning, our children will develop social skills, speaking and listening skills, cooperation and resilience
- Through our memorable and meaningful learning opportunities and experiences, children will be curious and show enthusiasm for learning which will continue throughout their school life and beyond
- Children are confident to take risks and discuss their learning with adults, drawing on their experiences to improve or adjust what they are doing
- Our children leave Early Years with a wider sense of the world around them and can link this to their new learning
Early Years Curriculum
We used the Early Years Statutory Framework and Guidance from Development Matters to create a Swain House Centric Early Years Curriculum that meets the needs of all our children. The Early Years Curriculum consists of seven areas of learning which are split into three prime and four specific areas as follows:
Prime Areas
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
Specific Areas
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
The following characteristics of effective teaching and learning over pin everything that we do here in Early Years at Swain House Primary School and are an integral part of our Early Years planning and provision:
- 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.
Topic Overview
Core Stories and Reading for Pleasure
At Swain House Primary school we try to instil a love of reading within all our children and this starts from our Early Years.
We immerse our children in our curriculum through the use of carefully selected, high quality core stories. These stories link with our themes/topics each half term and support the children's language development alongside their knowledge of story structures and rhyming. #
We also expose children to a range of 'reading for pleasure' books throughout each half term to widen children's experiences and repertoire of stories and to support and encouraging them in forming positive views of reading.
Parental Support
The relationships between our staff and parents is a vital part of our aims in the Early Years Foundation Stage. We will often share links to important documents and ways in which parents can support with their child's learning at home. We also aim to invite our parents into school each half term for a stay-and-play session. This enables parents and carers to engage with their child's learning and provides children with the opportunity to showcase their amazing progress!
Here are some helpful links for parents and carers of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage:
Health and Self-Care Support
Communication and Language Support
Phonics Support