EYFS

EYFS and Year 1 Nativity please click here for the powerpoint presentation, here for a PDF version and here for the links to the songs on Youtube

EYFS Curriculum Intent

At Paganel our EYFS curriculum aims to provide opportunities for our children to develop as independent, confident, successful learners with high aspirations who know how to make a positive contribution to their community and wider society.

In our ‘Pursuit of Greatness’, our goal is to ensure that all children are happy and engaged in our EYFS setting. At Paganel, through our child led curriculum, we provide an environment that allows each child to display high levels of concentration, creativity, energy and persistence. The rationale behind this is that high levels of well-being and involvement lead to high levels of child development and deep level learning. This curriculum concept should result in significant changes in a child’s learning capacity, leading to better pupil outcomes.

At Paganel, we believe children need rich opportunities to initiate ideas and activities so that they can develop the learning characteristics that will support lifelong learning. Through the EYFS curriculum that we provide the children continually demonstrate their ability to;

  • play and explore
  • learning actively
  • create and think critically

The core values of respect, enquiry and perseverance underpin all areas of our EYFS curriculum and promote inclusivity and equality to establish a school community where all members are of equal worth and differences are celebrated.

We hope that all children will be inspired and motivated to actively participate in the curriculum;   experiencing enjoyment and transitioning into key stage one with the confidence and character to meet the challenges of an ever changing world.

Early Years Foundation Stage

Together, Nursery and Reception form what is known as the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The EYFS has its own curriculum based on the main developmental stages of a child’s life from birth to age five which lead to the Early Learning Goals at the end of the Reception year.

 

At Paganel Primary School we know that:

“Babies and young children are experiencing and learning in the here and now, not storing up their questions until tomorrow or next week. It is in that moment of curiosity, puzzlement, effort or interest – the ‘teachable moment’ – that the skilful adult makes a difference. By using this cycle on a moment-by-moment basis, the adult will be always alert to individual children (observation), always thinking about what it tells us about the child’s thinking (assessment), and always ready to respond by using appropriate strategies at the right moment to support children’s well-being and learning (planning for the next moment).”

From National Strategies document Learning, Playing and Interacting

Our Ethos:

Child-initiated learning through play is at the heart of our practice and is embedded in every aspect of our learning environment. We believe that children learn best through active engagement with the world around them; and through meaningful and relevant experiences, supported by responsive adults. We aim to give children the broadest opportunities to play and make sense of the world. We observe their play and plan around their interests. Self-initiated learning and exploration are key ingredients to having independent children who are motivated to learn. Our outcomes show that all children make significant progress across all areas of learning, especially their Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language, Physical Development, Literacy and Mathematics.

Characteristics of Effective Learning:

The characteristics of effective learning underpin our pupils learning within the Early Years Foundation Stage. The ways in which they engage with others and their environment – playing and exploring, active learning and creating and thinking critically – underpin learning and development across all areas and support the children to remain effective and motivated learners. We make judgements about a child’s demonstration of the Characteristics of Effective Learning at their particular age and whether or not the learning behaviours defined within these characteristics describes the child.

Below are the details of each area of the EYFS curriculum

Prime Areas

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

Specific Areas

  • Literacy
  • Mathematics
  • Understanding the World
  • Expressive Arts and Design

This provides the children with experiences and support to help them to develop a positive sense of themselves and others. This area underpins all the other learning in the foundation stage. It encourages children to make relationships, value themselves and others, develop the skills to help them to learn and increases their independence.

Physical development covers all aspects of healthy bodies and movement – from moving confidently and safely with co-ordination and control to understanding their own needs and what they need to do to stay healthy. It also covers the range of gross and fine motor skills needed to be able to handle equipment effectively – this is an essential step in learning to write.

Speaking and listening runs throughout the whole of the EYFS. There are stories, rhymes and role play every day where the children have the opportunity to talk, listen and join in. We encourage the children to take their first steps in early reading and writing through role play, free choice activities and focussed teaching sessions. Reception has a library session each week, where the children are invited to choose a library book to take home to share with you. They will also be bringing home early reading books, letters, sounds and words to practise and learn.

Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children will engage in a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other written materials) to match their interest.

This covers anything to do with number and shape. Your child will be counting and recognising and writing numbers through play and focussed teaching sessions. There will be opportunities to play with games and puzzles which will help them to be able to solve simple problems and see and create patterns.

Through this area, the children learn to make sense of the world that they live in. This covers a whole range of subjects which includes designing and making; information technology; learning about people and places and changes over time. All our classrooms are equipped with interactive whiteboards and our Foundation classrooms have computers for the children to use.

Expressive Arts and Design is about is about children doing all the things you would expect like sing songs, make music and dance, painting and role play, it covers so much more. Our aim is to ensures that children feel secure enough to ‘have a go’ at new things. It is through this creative play that children learn to initiate their own learning by making choices and then express their ideas through whichever medium they choose.

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