Early Years Foundation Stage
Curriculum Intent
At Ludwell Primary School we intend to provide a nurturing and trusting environment which enables the children in our care to become confident, resilient, independent learners who are curious, creative and kind in their approach.
We encourage our children to ask questions, listen carefully and build on their knowledge and understanding, actively seeking to find solutions to problems. We plan meaningful opportunities for children to pursue and build on an enquiry and an area of interest through child-initiated learning, with careful scaffolding by adults within the setting. We aim to inspire self-belief, responsibility and ambitious attitudes as they develop their own unique talents and explore different states of being.
It is our intention that our environment promotes a love of reading through our environment, guided teaching, modelling during story time and focus on oracy. Furthermore, our aim is to develop good early number sense through progressive lessons.
We aim to to ensure children achieve a good level of development and are prepared for the transition into Year 1 and have a secure foundation to their journey as life-long learners.
Curriculum Implementation
Phonics -Read Write Inc.
Read Write Inc. Phonics is a dynamic, vigorous programme that teaches children to read and write quickly and easily. First children learn the common sounds in the English language and how to sound-blend words for reading. At the same time they develop skills of handwriting and spelling.
As part of Read Write Inc we focus on the 5 R’s. Respect, Resilience, Resourceful, Reciprocal and Responsible. We use these principles in all lessons as they are the foundation of effective teaching and learning.
We are currently using a variety of resources to support the children’s pronunciation and recognition of sounds. To support with this at home, please find a link below to a video that demonstrates the key sounds we learn spoken as pure sounds. This will help to support the children in their pronunciation and enable them to translate this more effectively to written spelling. We use this regularly in school to review and practise spoken sounds and sound recognition.
Providing opportunities for talk and the development of Oracy is a key foundation of our practice. The development of turn taking, conversation and communication are vital in equipping those in our care with the ability to express themselves and share their wants, needs, feelings, thoughts and interests. By developing these skills children have the opportunity to then access and benefit from sustained shared thinking “when two or more individuals ‘work together’ in an intellectual way to solve problems, clarify a concept, evaluate an activity, extend a narrative…” – EPPE project – 2004. Through our enquiry led approach, open-ended questioning, speculative thinking, and extending understanding is prioritized. Our class environment both inside and out should facilitates and support this.
Being a Mathematician
In Reception, we follow the White Rose Maths Scheme of work. Children experience being a mathematician daily to develop fluency, revisit key concepts and address misconceptions. Lessons are progressive and the curriculum is designed to offer a balance of guided teaching and opportunity wider exploration and play.
High quality learning environments and meaningful interactions with adults, support children in developing mathematical thinking and discussion. Pupils learn through games and tasks using concrete manipulatives and pictorial structures and representations which are then rehearsed applied and recorded within their own child-led exploration.
Environment and Characteristics of Effective Learning
Our curriculum is designed so that children make good progress in their acquisition of skills through an interesting range of both adult and child-led opportunities to play, explore, problem-solve and learn. Our developing approach is one that is enquiry-led and holistic.
Children learn independently in both the indoor and outdoor continuous provision, while adults support their play and carefully and skillfully intervene. The environment is carefully organized and allow children to learn through play, develop their language and cooperation skills, inspire creativity and promote independence.
Curriculum Impact
- Children develop good attitudes, listen intently, respect others’ learning and are respectful in their approach.
- Children show high levels of attention and engage in their learning well.
- Children share and co-operate well, developing good levels of self-control and discipline.
- From a variety of starting points, the vast majority of pupils in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) make expected progress and many achieve at least national average standards. Our setting is inclusive and provides children with experiences which meet individual needs both inside and outside the classroom across all curriculum areas.
- Children are resilient in their approach and consistently keep on trying hard, particularly if they encounter difficulties.
- The characteristics of effective learning are consistently demonstrated; resulting in children who are engaged, motivated, want to succeed and are happy to participate in a range of planned, purposeful activities.
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