Welcome to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), the first steps of your child's learning journey at Didsbury CE Primary School.

We are passionate that every child should have the opportunity to access a rich learning experience that allows them to build a secure foundation for future learning and fulfil their potential. 

Throughout your child’s time within the Early Years Foundation Stage, we aim to;

“grow a diverse and creative educational community where we encourage belonging and nurture believing: together becoming fulfilled and responsible members of God’s world.”

Our broad and balanced curriculum ensures a progression of key skills throughout the EYFS and opportunities to return to previous learning and build upon it. We are dedicated to ensuring that children leave our Early Years with a depth of knowledge, secure understanding and are well equipped with the skills to become effective learners now, throughout the rest of their schooling and into their future. 

 

The Four Overarching Principles of the EYFS

Four guiding principles should shape practice in early years settings. These are:

• Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
• Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.
• Children learn and develop well in enabling environments with teaching and support from adults, who respond to their individual interests and needs and help them to build their learning over time. Children benefit from a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers.
• Importance of learning and development. Children develop and learn at different rates. 

                                                                                                                                 Statutory Framework for the Early Years 2025

 

The EYFS Curriculum at Didsbury CE Primary School

 

What We Aim To Do - Our Curriculum Intent

We are passionate that every child should have the opportunity to access a rich learning experience that allows them to build a secure foundation for future learning and fulfil their potential, regardless of SEND, gender or background. Our curriculum has been carefully designed with this in mind. 

We recognise that children will join our Nursery and Reception classes with a range of experiences and starting points. The Early Years is a crucial point in children’s education and, for many children, this will be their first experience of formal education. Therefore, we endeavour for every child to have a positive experience of school and learning in the Early Years at Didsbury CE Primary and aim for them to feel confident in expressing their needs, exploring new activities and taking risks in their learning. 

We aim for our broad and balanced curriculum to enable children to become confident and independent learners who act as a ‘force for good in society’. Our curriculum ensures a progression of key skills throughout the EYFS and opportunities to return to previous learning and build upon it. We are dedicated to ensuring that children leave Reception with a depth of knowledge, secure understanding and well equipped with the skills to become effective learners now, throughout the rest of their schooling and throughout their future. 

We plan for a challenging indoor and outdoor learning environment which encourages children to be independent in making choices, innovating, taking responsibility for their learning, facing challenges and thinking flexibly and critically. 

We aspire to provide children with the knowledge and skills to become independent in managing their own needs and looking after their physical and mental wellbeing. 

We recognise mothers, fathers and carers as children’s primary educators and aim to work in partnership with them to support children’s progress across all areas of development. 

We aspire for all children to make excellent progress throughout their time in the EYFS and be well prepared for their transition into Year 1. 

Finally, we endeavour for children to leave our EYFS with resilience, independence and, most importantly, a passion for learning.

 

How We Will Do This - Curriculum Implementation

We aim to achieve the best for every child by implementing a challenging curriculum. Our curriculum has been carefully planned to ensure a progression of key skills throughout the year and opportunities to return to previous learning and build upon it. This ensures that children will enter KS1 with a depth of knowledge and a secure understanding.

Communication and Language is at the heart of our curriculum as this forms the foundation for all other learning. All children have a communication screening within the first six weeks of starting school and gaps in children’s understanding and/or speaking are addressed through targeted interventions. EYFS staff are trained in the ShREC approach and high-quality interactions take place within all aspects of the school day. Vocabulary progression is planned so that children learn new words and practise applying them within their independent learning. Our curriculum also provides children with a breadth of new experiences through regular enrichments such as baking days, religious celebrations and trips. 

We believe that children learn best when they have a wealth of opportunities to learn in a range of different ways and this is reflected within our pedagogy. Play is key and is at the core of all learning in the Early Years.  Children are given time to explore their own interests independently, but they are also introduced to new learning and concepts through high-quality teaching from experienced adults. Children learn through a blend of adult-led teaching, guided group work activities and independent/supported learning within our learning environment. Our environment is viewed by all as the children’s third educator. Here, children are provided with a rich array of open-ended resources which they can use to further explore what they have learnt in lessons and initiate new learning of their own. Staff observe children’s independent learning and know when to become involved in scaffolding learning and when to stand back. Mistakes are welcomed and embraced, and children understand that this is an important part of their learning. We develop children’s executive function skills and equip them to become effective learners now, throughout their schooling and throughout their future by creating opportunities for children to make choices, innovate, take responsibility for their learning, overcome challenges and think flexibly and critically. The characteristics of effective teaching and learning are therefore integral and weave throughout all aspects of our pedagogy. These include;

·         playing and exploring – children investigate and 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 things

Assessment is undertaken both formally and informally, but the majority of our assessments are informal and take place every day in the classroom. Formal assessments are kept to a minimum.  Practitioners spend time observing children and scaffolding their learning, both within the continuous provision and though adult-led activities and whole class teaching. Teachers continually evaluate children’s learning and use their in-depth knowledge of each child to plan whole class teaching, group work sessions and activities within our continuous provision. Where necessary, targeted interventions are put in place which build on children’s prior learning and help them to achieve their next steps. 

All learning is carefully planned as part of a spiral curriculum that builds from Nursery through to Year 6.