Early Years at Culmstock
The Early Years Foundation Stage at Culmstock Primary School
Vision Statement: Early Years Foundation Stage
At Culmstock Primary School our intention is to provide the children with the best possible start to their education, teaching them valuable skills and providing rich learning opportunities which can be used as the building blocks for the children’s futures.
In the Early Years Foundation Stage at Culmstock Primary School we want our children to be confident, happy, unique individuals with a love for their learning. We believe in providing a safe and stimulating environment where all children can thrive and succeed which then allows them to believe in themselves and achieve their full potential. Children should have the opportunity to learn through their play. These learning experiences need to be fun, engaging and challenge the abilities of each individual child. Through high quality adult interactions and questioning, children view the adults as great role models for their learning. We value outdoor learning and are often seen outside the classroom in our school grounds. Here we inspire the children’s curiosity and develop their sense of awe and wonder of the world around them.
Our Early Years Topics
We have created an exciting rich curriculum on a rolling programme with a range of topics for our Reception children. Through each topic, children will access all areas of learning and will be exposed to some rich learning opportunities and exciting experiences. Although Year 1 children in Class 1 explore the same topics as the Reception children, the Year 1 children still follow the Year 1 National Curriculum which is linked into these topics too.
|
Year |
Autumn 1 |
Autumn 2 |
Spring 1 |
Spring 2 |
Summer 1 |
Summer 2 |
|
A |
Marvellous Me! |
Autumn leaves and winter trees |
Adventures |
Up sprung spring |
Once upon a time |
Where we live |
|
B |
The Wheels on the Bus |
Paws, Claws and whiskers
And
The Jolly Postman |
Inventions |
All about weather |
Happily Ever After |
Beside the seaside |
We ensure the curriculum that we provide is based on the themes that underpin the Early Years Foundation Stage Development Matters. We recognise the importance of these themes and how they contribute to good learning and development in the Early Years Foundation Stage.
The Early Years Curriculum: Development Matters
At Culmstock Primary School, we understand and recognise the importance of the Characteristics of Effective learning and how these can engage children, motivate them and develop critical thinking at a young age through any learning experience.
The Characteristics of effective learning:
- Playing and exploring – engagement
- Active learning – motivation
- Creating and thinking critically – thinking
We use the development matters Early Years Foundation Stage which is a curriculum which runs from birth until the children leave Reception at the age of 5.
There are seven areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage. These are then split up further into different aspects within them. There are three prime areas and four specific areas.
The Prime Areas of Learning:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Physical Development
- Communication and Language
The Specific Areas of Learning:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the world
- Expressive Arts and Design
At the end of the Reception school year there are early learning goals that children are aiming to achieve. We assess the children using these learning goals. We hope that most children achieve a good level of development by the end of their time in Reception with us. We also realise that children learn at their own pace and if they do not achieve a good level of development, they will continue to have the support that they need as they transition into Year 1 at Culmstock Primary School.
Parental Engagement: Working in Partnership with Parents
Here at Culmstock Primary School, we recognise the importance of working alongside parents and in partnership with them. Together, we can build a ‘bigger picture’ of the children and enjoy celebrating their success and achievements from both in school and at home. As well as planned parent consultation meetings and school reports, we also use Evidence Me online learning journey, collect wow moments and provide parent workshops throughout the year. We also use 'Class Dojo' to update parents on any news, information or exciting learning experiences from Class 1. All parents can send us pictures of things they have been doing at home via Evidence Me and Class Dojo so that we have strong two way communications and can celebrate all the children's achievements and experiences together.