FOUNDATION STAGE CURRICULUM OFFER 2022-23

The Foundation Stage Curriculum Offer 2022-2023

INTENT is about our staff knowing what we want our children to learn.

IMPLEMENTATION is about staff knowing how we want to deliver that learning.

IMPACT defines what our children will have achieved and measures how effective this has been.

These elements are the fundamentals of quality first teaching and learning here in our EYFS.

For each of the seven areas of learning and development we will constantly revisit three key questions;

• What is it like to be a child in our provision?
• What skills and knowledge we want our children to leave us with?
• How ready will children be for the next stage in their learning?

Intent

The Sutton Manor Early Year’s team is dedicated to supporting and developing  young children through high quality care and education.  We want the best for every child and combine effective pedagogy with a broad and progressive curriculum to continually assess and review the children’s learning alongside key observation checkpoints to ensure that no child is ‘left behind’. Our emphasis on self-regulation, developing resilience and executive function, in conjunction with our close partnership work with parents enables the children in our care to thrive.  Our broad and exciting curriculum is based upon careful observations and interactions with the children and reflects the needs of our community.  We have a mix of adult led and child initiated learning opportunities with PSED, Communication and Language, Literacy and Outdoor Learning considered to be fundamental in all that we do. All activities are planned with the characteristics of effective learning in mind to enable children to play and explore, encounter active learning and be able to create and think critically.

Implementation

We have a strong emphasis on PSED to enable the children to build appropriate relationships, manage their self-confidence and self-regulate their feelings and behaviour appropriately.  Regular circle times, puppet work and social stories help the children to understand their place within the world and encourages effective communication.  Staff are trained to make appropriate interventions in children’s learning in order to move learning on.  

Effective communication and language skills are fundamental to our curriculum and we work hard to develop the children’s speaking, listening, attention and understanding. We have close links with our Speech and Language Therapy service and run Oxford University’s NELI (Nuffield Early Language Intervention) program with children who may require extra support with expressive and receptive language skills. We have a teaching assistant whose focus is to work with those children who need extra support in the area of communication and language.

Structured daily phonics sessions provide the building blocks for our literacy curriculum.  Sutton Manor are working in partnership with the English Hub, and follow the DFEs validated Little Wandle Letters and Sounds programme to establish a strong foundation of word building in preparation to read.  Children are encouraged to share books with their parents / carers from the two’s room, nursery children take home ‘story sacks’ and in reception the children have a reading book to share at home, a story book to promote reading for pleasure and read with an adult on a one to one basis at least once a week as well as participating in guided reading sessions matched to their phonic ability. 

Our curriculum is centred upon high quality picture books and texts to develop vocabulary and language skills, stimulate and respond to children’s interests and to develop a love of reading and writing.  Our curriculum has been carefully, sequentially planned to ensure that by the time the children leave the EYFS unit they know a wide variety of songs, nursery rhymes, poems, traditional tales, non-fiction texts and contemporary stories that build upon their prior experiences and learning. Comprehension is viewed as key to developing children’s love of reading and discussion of texts occurs during daily ‘story time’ sessions.

Meaningful reading and writing opportunities, linked to the children’s interests are available inside and outside of the classroom with books and writing equipment placed all areas of the unit to encourage mark making and writing.  Daily ‘finger gym’ exercises and ‘funky fingers’ activities ensure the development of fine motor skills.

Our outdoor area has been specifically designed to meet our children’s needs with children spending as much time outdoors as they do inside on a daily basis.  We ensure the development of gross motor skills with our climbing, balance and digging areas as well as providing daily planned enhancements to meet the children’s specific interests.  Once a week reception children have access to our Forest School woodland area which is used to facilitate learning across all aspects of the Early Years curriculum.

The layout and resourcing of our unit provides continuous provision learning opportunities for all areas of ‘Development Matters’.  Maths is taught on a daily basis.  Our ‘number sense’ approach to mathematics concentrates on a numeral per week and enables deep learning opportunities for ordinal, cardinal and nominal number work, numerical patterns and space, shape and measure. We have fidelity to the White Rose scheme to support our learning in mathematics.

Children are encouraged to create with different materials and to be imaginative and expressive with the varied resources that are presented to them on a daily basis.  Children’s knowledge and understanding of the world is broadened via exploration of the past and present, people cultures and communities and the natural world via  texts and hands on experiences.

Throughout the foundation stage, from 2 to 5 years, our children are assessed in relation to their progress within Development Matters and the Early Learning Goals. These judgements are made on the basis of regular observations and in-depth knowledge of the children acquired through ongoing assessments. Next steps are taught in the moment during continuous provision and adult led activities to ensure children are challenged. End-of-year assessments are finalised during the summer term, summarising each child’s development at that point against the Early Learning Goals and Development Matters. It is our intention that all children are supported in reaching a good level of development at the end of their time with us in the EYFS.

Impact

The EYFS curriculum at Sutton Manor has the needs of the children at its heart.  It is reactive and responsive to the children.    

Quality adult interventions ensure that teaching and learning is of the highest quality and that the children in our care receive the best possible start to their education with a positive sense of self –worth and ‘can do’ attitude.  

We provide fundamental experiences and opportunities that the children may not otherwise encounter so that the children leave the EYFS unit at Sutton Manor confident, happy individuals ready for the challenges of The National Curriculum.

Our children are able to self-regulate, demonstrate focus and express themselves effectively. Our children are equipped for Year One able to read, write, have an in-depth understanding of numbers to 10 and beyond. Our children are ready for the rigours of subject specific teaching as a result of the experiences that we have provided.  Children leave the Sutton Manor Early Years Foundation Stage as kind and caring individuals with a firm understanding of the wider world and their place within it.  Like the children we care for, the early years’ experience at Sutton Manor is unique and bespoke to enable all to have the best opportunity to reach a good level of development and to ‘shine’.