EYFS Curriculum Statement of Intent
Intent
Below, we have four main drivers, which help drive our curriculum.
Communication
We believe that helping our children express their thoughts, ideas and feelings with confidence is an important part of their personal development and wellbeing. Children have a right to be heard – their voice is important. They will have access to a wide range of carefully planned opportunities and experiences that will support them to develop a rich and broad vocabulary enabling them to communicate with confidence in a variety of situations.
Community and Diversity
Our school provides opportunities for the children to embrace the diversity of the school, local and international communities to which we all belong. Through their learning and the curriculum, the children will develop a sense of fairness and empathy in order to make a positive impact whilst building genuine relationships. We believe in the power of the school community to change and enhance lives.
Initiative
We will give children opportunities to think critically and develop resilience by embracing challenges, overcoming difficulties and solving problems. By igniting the natural curiosity of our children, we enable them to become independent learners, empower them to question, and challenge their own and others’ thinking.
Environment
We want our children to see the world through the eyes of others by developing an understanding of global issues. We empower our children to be champions for change, knowing that they will leave a legacy. We encourage our children to have a positive and sustained impact on the environment around them and to be proactive promoters of Raglan eco values.
At Raglan, we strive for our children to be good communicators, use their initiative and value the community and environment. We believe our curriculum is inclusive and allows children to become independent learners. The EYFS team strives to build positive relationships with children, parents, carers, and staff. We value parent/carer partnership and believe it is crucial to the development and growth of all children. We plan and follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and we ensure the children make progress across the seven areas of learning through play. We do this by providing a balance of child initiated and adult led learning using continuous play and small group activities. We are enthusiastic about establishing opportunities for children to communicate more easily through developing language and communication skills and specifically teaching vocabulary. We want our children to believe in themselves and their abilities and capabilities.
We believe in improving children’s life chances through cultural capital and we deliver this by providing a curriculum rich in wonder and memorable experiences.
Implementation
At Raglan Primary School, we offer a curriculum, which is broad and balanced and builds on the knowledge and understanding of all children whatever their starting points. We have created a bespoke curriculum that reflects what we would like a ‘Raglan child’ to learn, know and remember by the time they leave the Early Years Foundation Stage. Learning in the EYFS, takes place through a balance of child-initiated play and adult learning. We offer a curriculum that is child-centred and immerses the children into their learning through exciting topics that motivate and engage the children. We take the time to get to know children’s interests to support their learning. We ensure children are taught reading, writing and maths in well-planned structured activities.
The children follow a structured phonics programme which builds on from what they have learned in nursery. They have a reading book at their appropriate phonic level which is changed weekly. Structured language interventions are in place to ensure that all children make progress.
Impact
We endeavour to ensure that all the children’s progress across the EYFS curriculum is at least good from their different starting points. We have high expectations for all our children and strive for them to reach the early learning goal at the end of Reception and to match or exceed National expectations. We assess all children using development matters.
Evidence in learning journals support all areas of the EYFS curriculum.
We moderate regularly internally and externally to ensure accurate judgements are made.