Welcome to our EYFS Page

Curriculum Intent

The early years foundation stage (EYFS) sets standards for the learning, development and care of your child from birth to 5 years old. At The Grange, it is our aspiration that children will become confident, self-motivated learners with the necessary skills and attitudes to achieve the best possible outcomes in their learning and development. At the same time, we want to help each child to develop the self-esteem, resilience, and confidence necessary for a full and happy life. This will be achieved through the delivery of a high-quality curriculum, the provision of a nurturing environment and the development of effective partnerships.

Implementation

Our Curriculum is drawn from:

• The ‘Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage’ published by the Department for Education, which we use as a starting point.

• The non-statutory ‘Birth to Five Matters’ published by Early Education, which we use to support assessment, tracking and planning for children’s next steps.

The curriculum of the Foundation Stage underpins all future learning, and we employ a rigorous and systematic approach to teaching each of the 7 statutory areas of learning and development:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development,

• Communication and Language,

• Physical Development,

• Literacy,

• Mathematics,

• Understanding the World and

• Expressive art and Design.

Our carefully planned curriculum and learning environment aims to expose children to high quality experiences, through a mix of adult focused and child-initiated activities. Planning is flexible to allow practitioners to respond to developing interests and dispositions.

We recognise that for children to learn effectively they need to develop a curiosity and enthusiasm for learning. High priority is given to the development of the Characteristics of Effective Learning:

• Playing and exploring- exploring and investigating, playing with what they know and being willing to ‘have a go’.
• Active learning- being involved and concentrating, persisting when difficulties occur and enjoying achievements.
• Creative and critical thinking- developing their own ideas, making links and developing strategies.

We are also committed to developing ‘Cultural Capital’ - ‘the essential knowledge that children need to be educated citizens’ (OFSTED Inspection Handbook 2019).

Impact

At The Grange Primary School our curriculum is designed to ensure that the curriculum is not merely covered, but that children achieve greater depth in their learning, enabling them to utilise their knowledge and skills across all areas of the curriculum. It is our aim that the vast majority of children will make expected progress in their learning and that a significant number will make accelerated progress from their on entry starting point.