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EYFS

Intent

At Southwark Park Primary School we recognise the importance of giving children the best start to their education, in order to build a secure foundation for future learning and development. We want our children to develop a love of learning and the skills needed to succeed in an ever-changing world. 

We have designed a stimulating curriculum which meets the needs and interests of our children, taking into account the opportunities we have in our local area. It offers knowledge, skills, understanding, as well as careful consideration of progression. We ensure that children have memorable, high quality experiences throughout their Early Years. Our curriculum is personalised, reflecting the background, interests and experience of our pupils. We aim to give our pupils opportunities and experiences that support the development of rich background knowledge that will support their learning in the years to come. The curriculum will enable children to develop key skills, enrich and widen their vocabulary and encourage creativity and curiosity about the world around them.  

It is our intention to provide an enabling learning environment where children can work with adults and peers to develop confidence with their ability to learn. Our outside space is equipped with a well organised, interesting, safe and active learning environment that provides exciting opportunities to promote challenge, exploration, adventure and a real love of learning.

We recognise that children learn most when their individual needs are met and when they have positive relationships with the adults who care for them. We provide a setting that is rooted in the development of warm and supportive relationships between adults and children. This ensures children receive the emotional and nurturing care needed to enjoy learning and develop the confidence which will help them achieve their potential.  

Implementation

At Southwark Park Primary School we believe that play underpins the delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum. Through play, our children explore and develop learning experiences which help them make sense of the world. They have the opportunity to think creatively alongside other children as well as on their own, and have many opportunities to communicate with others as they investigate and solve problems.

There are seven areas of learning. In order to fully participate and enjoy learning, children need plenty of energy and language to learn with others. The prime areas of learning are:

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

With these foundations in place, children are ready to explore and learn from the world around them. At Southwark Park Primary School, we create a rich and stimulating environment both inside and outside the classroom. This encourages children to take risks and immerse themselves in real and imaginary worlds.

We follow the Power of Reading scheme, which places high quality texts at the centre of the children’s learning. Books are chosen to reflect the children’s interests and expand their horizons.

Through well thought out and planned activities, our pupils are enthused by learning. They are excited about their writing, resilient in their problem-solving and motivated to share their creativity. 

The specific areas of learning are:

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

Our pupils learn through a mixture of child-initiated and adult-directed activities. Children benefit from meaningful learning across the curriculum and staff plan opportunities for communication, sustained shared thinking and physical challenge to build on existing skills taking into account the Characteristics of Effective Learning.

The timetable is carefully structured so that our children have daily direct teaching in Literacy, Maths and phonics. These sessions are followed by group work where children work with a member of staff to develop the skills and knowledge being taught. This focused group time allows the teacher to practise the skills directly with the children, check for understanding and respond to misconceptions quickly. There are daily circle times to focus on Understanding of the World, Expressive Arts and Design, Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development. These sessions are followed up during small group adult led tasks, or during continuous provision where children can practise and apply skills in play.

Literacy and Reading are at the heart of our curriculum and our aim is to encourage a love of reading right from the start. In EYFS, we use books that have been chosen specifically to develop their oracy, vocabulary and comprehension using the Power of Reading approach. These books will be embedded in our provision through activities, story sessions and on display for children to access independently. Through this, children begin to internalise new vocabulary, language patterns and begin to retell stories.

We follow the My Letters and Sounds programme to ensure consistency across the school. In Nursery children focus on Phase 1, with a concentration on developing children’s  phonological awareness which is the ability to discriminate and manipulate various units of sound, including words, syllables and phonemes.This learning lays the foundations for the phonics work, which starts in Phase 2. The emphasis during Phase 1 is to get children attuned to the sounds around them and ready to begin developing oral blending and segmenting skills. In the last half term, children will be introduced to Phase 2 sounds. In Reception, the work with phonological awareness continues as they are introduced to Phase 2 and 3 where they will develop GPC, segmenting, and blending skills to decode words. During the summer term, children move on to Phase 4. Throughout the year, children are encouraged to read at home and are listened to regularly in school. They are given books that match their phonic knowledge in order for them to apply their learning with the aim of becoming successful, confident and fluent readers. 

In Maths, the reception children are taught using the White Rose Maths Scheme. Our high quality learning environments and meaningful interactions with adults, support children in developing vocabulary and mathematical thinking through discussion. Pupils learn through games and tasks using concrete manipulatives and pictorial structures and representations, which are then rehearsed, applied and recorded within their own child-led exploration. 

In Nursery, we developed our own mathematical scheme, based on the mastery on White Rose Maths. Children develop a love of maths through games, songs, rhymes, and play using concrete manipulatives. There is a focus on the following counting principles; one to one correspondence, stable order and cardinal principle. 

Our wider curriculum is taught through the learning areas: Understanding of the World, Physical Development, Personal Social and Emotional Development and Expressive Arts and Design. EYFS staff have a good understanding of how ELG’s feed into the National Curriculum through our robust planning and CPD opportunities. In reverse, colleagues throughout the school are also aware of the key ELG is that link to each foundation subject and the progression of the subject. 

Parents are valued as first educators and every effort is made to inform them of the EYFS curriculum whilst providing them with the tools to continue in learning at home. Parents are encouraged to share their child’s achievements through Evidence Me and these are celebrated within school. Experiences to include and inform parents include phonics/ numeracy/ writing workshops, reading records, Evidence Me, Spring Show and an open door policy.

Our Long Term curriculum map outlines how we plan to implement and deliver the curriculum. Throughout the year key concepts are revisited regularly, to ensure that children have embedded them in long-term memory and can apply them across different contexts.

Impact

Our curriculum meets the needs of our children, including our disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND. A variety of assessment methods are used to record, track and measure the impact of children’s learning. These include observations of the children at play, both from staff and family members, conversations with children, work samples, photographs and videos. These observations are shared and stored on an online platform called Evidence Me. 

As a team, we carry out regular internal moderation sessions and also ensure that staff attend external meetings and training to ensure that we feel confident with our judgements and that these judgements are consistent with a range of other settings. Assessment starts with careful observations which are then used to inform planning. 

Our children are actively engaged in their learning and the enjoyment of this learning is apparent in their daily provision.  All children will have experienced a curriculum that provides exciting and enriching learning experiences and opportunities for them to learn through educational visits and practical experiences. We know that by the end of Foundation Stage at Southwark Park Primary School, our children will have developed knowledge and skills required for everyday life and lifelong learning. 

Our curriculum and its delivery ensure that children make good progress. We believe our high standards are due to the enriched play-based exploration alongside the rigour of assessment and teaching the children have as they move through the early years.