Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum Overview

At Ravenor Primary School, we believe that every child deserves the best possible start to their school life and we strive to give all our children individual support that enables them to fulfil their potential.

We aim to ensure that all our pupils learn and develop and are kept healthy and safe. The Foundation Stage is a vital time in which our children settle into school life and are supported to become happy, confident and independent learners. We give children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.

The Early Years Foundation Stage covers learning and development from birth and continues until the end of FS2 (Reception).

The curriculum is divided into the following four main themes, expressing important principles which are fundamental to the children’s learning and development:

1. A Unique Child – Every child is a unique child who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
2. Positive Relationships – Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.
3. Enabling Environments – Children learn and develop well in enabling environments in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between Practitioners and Parents and/or Carers.
4. Learning and Development – Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates. The framework covers the education and care of all children in Early Years provision, including children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Here at Ravenor, we plan collaboratively with the children and base learning on their interests. This allows children to develop to their full potential as learning is accessible for all and uniquely tailored to meet each child’s needs and abilities and above all, enjoyment of learning.

The activities in which the children choose to engage with independently, encompassing all seven areas of learning (see below), are always available to the children. There are also focused activities to promote the children’s communication and attention skills.

Children’s progress throughout their Early Years is observed. The purpose is to notice what children know and can do and how this information can be used to shape the children’s’ further development.

The Areas of Learning and Development

There are seven areas of learning and development. The three prime areas are particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive.

The experiences that our children meet often enable them to develop a number of competencies, skills and concepts across several areas of learning at a time.

The three prime areas of learning and development are:

1. Communication & Language 

The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. We strive to provide a language-rich environment for our children, that encourages talk in order to develop language. Children are introduced to a wide range of vocabulary through the various topics taught and are encouraged to use these words in their every day speech. Children are read to frequently and have opportunities to engage in a range of texts, we provide extensive opportunities for children to explore, use and embed the new words that they have learnt.

Children are supported in listening and responding appropriately in a range of situations, adults’ model, echo and introduce correct vocabulary in order to develop the quality of back and forth interactions.

1. Personal, Social & Emotional Development – Children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives. We work hard to build strong, warm and supportive relationships with the children so that they are comfortable in exploring their own feelings as well as those around them. We want all of our children to have a positive sense of self and confidence in their own abilities. The children will learn how to look after their bodies, including healthy eating, and manage personal needs independently. They will learn to play cooperatively and take turns, forming positive relationships with adults and other children and to resolve conflicts using the strategies they have learnt.

1. Physical Development

Physical activity is very important to a child’s all-round development. Children are exposed to gross and fine motor experiences to develop their strength, co-ordination and positional awareness. Children are given opportunities for play both inside and outside. In our outdoor area, gross motor activities are carefully planned in order to support the development of the children’s core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Children will have plenty of daily opportunities to explore small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and use a range of small tools in order to develop their fine motor control.

Children are also supported in the four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied.

The specific areas are:

1. Literacy

We aim is to instill a life-long love of reading in our children. We have created areas for our children to read that are comfortable and engaging. Children are given daily opportunities to enjoy a range of stories, non-fiction texts, poems, rhymes and songs. Books are used to support the children in developing a sense of the world around them.

Twice daily phonic lessons are taught via our chosen program ‘Bug Club’. The children will learn to read individual letters by saying the sounds for them, they will eventually be able to blend these sounds into words. They will show an understanding of what they have read and will learn to write simple words using their knowledge of letter sounds and write sentences. Children take part in regular guided reading sessions with their teacher and are given books to take home weekly to enjoy with their families, this gives the children an opportunity to build on the phonic knowledge they have learnt at school.

1. Mathematics

Children will learn to count confidently, develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers. The children will be given regular and varied opportunities to apply and build on this knowledge and understanding by using a range of manipulatives to support their learning. Children will be encouraged to ‘have a go’ as well as talk to adults and their peers about what they are doing and things that they notice. The children will also be given opportunities to develop their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of mathematics including shape, space and measures.

1. Understanding the World

The children will be guided in making sense of their physical world and their community. Children will have regular opportunities to talk about themselves and their personal experiences. They will be exposed to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems that will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. Through the topics we teach, the children build on important knowledge that will enrich and widen their vocabulary. This will continue to build and develop as the children move up throughout the school and make links to previous learning.

1. Expressive Arts & Design 

Children will Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function. They will share their creations and talk about what they have done. Children will sing songs and make music and develop their artistic and cultural awareness. They will explore a variety of musical instruments.

The ‘Characteristics of Effective Learning’ underpins all learning and development. They demonstrate the particular learning style the child shows at any particular time. These are:

• Playing and Exploring – Children investigate, experience things and ‘have a go’.
• Active Learning – Children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties and enjoy achievements.
• Creating and Thinking Critically – Children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas and develop strategies for doing thing.