At Our Lady School, we have a large inside and outside classroom where our Early Years pupils can learn and develop. Our safe and stimulating environment reflects the needs and interests of all the children in our setting. We want our children to feel happy, relaxed and comfortable in their classroom and so we strive to create an environment where our children feel they belong. We recognise the importance of the children having ownership of their learning environment and therefore we provide learning spaces and resources that reflect their interests and their needs.

We have recently invested heavily in our Early Years environment and continue to strive for the best and provide the best for our children. Our inside and outside learning classrooms have all been redesigned and resourced together with the Early Years team and the children. The classrooms are continuously enhanced and adapted in response to the individual children in the setting to ensure the children are stimulated and excited and they want to learn.

Intent

At Our Lady School we promote communication and language, physical development and personal social and emotional development as the golden threads that are woven into our every day curriculum. Through our bespoke curriculum, we facilitate and unlock a world full of potential for our children. We effectively plan experiences and learning environments that meet the needs of all of our pupils and builds upon their interests and fascinations.

We treat every interaction as a positive opportunity to create a connection and shape a life. Through our focus observation and effective adult interaction we promote curiosity, independence, and enrich our children’s vocabulary; promoting exploration, learning and curiosity through play.

We provide a learning experience that is bespoke to Our Lady School and to every unique cohort, based on their needs identified at baseline, emerging trends and our continual gap analysis that supports our planning and provision.

Each child has their individual starting points which we value and recognise. Smooth transitions are enabled due to visits to the nursery, and reports from these settings, home visits, seeing children in their natural environment. Alongside these we have welcome assemblies for new children and parents, stay and play sessions to enable children to come and visit the school and classroom and get to the know the enabling environment and staff on a regular basis.

Implementation

At  Our Lady School we prioritise creating a ‘language rich’ environment through the use of open ended provision indoor and outdoors, through songs, nursery rhymes, stories and providing time for quality interactions between adults and between peers. Trained staff ensure that interactions are positive and progressive, allowing children to flourish and gather words at pace in order to become confident communicators. Staff run effective communication programmes such as Wellcomm which enhance communication, vocabulary and expressive skills. Children are encouraged to become early readers through enjoyment of books and the systematic teaching of our phonics programme.  

We effectively plan and design an early year’s curriculum that not only meets the emerging needs of the children but also supports, extends and develops curiosity and engagement with learning. Long term planning is frequently improved to ensure that it is well sequenced and progressive. Our planning is responsive and flexible, ensuring that we cater to emerging needs, interests and fascinations. The curriculum is planned to ensure that the unique child is considered. The sequence of the curriculum builds on prior knowledge of the child from their nursery and home experiences.

Children learn number rhymes, stories and songs to develop their mathematical thinking through direct teaching and exploration. Our maths teaching is applied outside of the context of the maths lesson, such as when following a cooking recipe (measurement, capacity, number recognition etc.), tidying up, construction, role play and counting the daily book vote.

As we place a high priority on physical development, we have built our school provision to give children many opportunities to strengthen their core muscles through physical play and weekly PE lessons. The children spend time in our purpose built outdoor area to develop through wonder, exploration and sensory experiences in our forest area, mud kitchen, climbing equipment, garden and raised beds, large sandpit and water area.

Weekly Forest School sessions promote self-esteem, creativity, confidence and independence. In a series of long term sessions that builds on the need and development of the child. It enables children to participate in risk taking under a controlled environment through child centred learning, exploration and play supported. Laying down skills that children need as they grow into adults.

At Our Lady School we understand the importance of the parent partnership as part of the school community and the crucial role as part of their child’s learning journey. This is started before the children attend reception class and these are built upon through the year.

We create that bond through our welcome to school meetings, home visits and stay and play sessions at the start of the school year. During the school year, parents receive updates through our online learning journey Tapestry and also receive Curriculum Planners to inform them of what their child is learning and how they can support learning at home. We also provide an open door policy, enabling parents/carers to have ongoing relationships with staff.

As part of the learning and teaching process, children are assessed through a balance of observation during play, adult directed play and information from home. This is then used to help determine where the child is with their learning and at the end of the year in relation to the Early Learning Goals.

Impact

Our curriculum and its delivery ensure that all children, from their own unique starting points make good progress. On starting school in Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), a large majority of pupils’ skills and abilities are generally below national expectations, especially in Communication and Language. Children are supported with developing language in line with their peers through a range of research interventions. Evidence shows this has a significant impact on how children develop social and communication skills.

Daily immersive storytelling is impacting significantly on children‘s attitudes to books alongside our Drawing Club that is impacting on children’s love for literacy.

Through our open ended provision, children develop their characteristics of learning and are then able to apply their knowledge to a range of situations, making links and attempting to explain their ideas and understanding. Our children are confident to take risks, develop their resilience in relation to any set backs and discuss their experiences with their peers to improve what they are doing.  

By the end of reception, children are ready to transition into Year 1, providing the foundation skills for children to build upon as they move into Year 1 and beyond.

 

RECEPTION CURRICULUM AUTUMN

RECEPTION CURRICULUM SPRING

RECEPTION CURRICULUM SUMMER

 

EARLY LEARNING GOALS

Our early years setting follows the curriculum as outlined in the 2021 statutory framework of the EYFS. 

There are seven areas of learning and development that shape activities and experiences (educational programmes) at the Our Lady school Early Years setting of which three are “prime areas,” and four “specific areas.

Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development. The 3 Prime areas are:

• Communication & Language
• Personal, Social and emotional development
• Physical development

These prime areas are those essential for your child’s healthy development and future learning. As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and design

All children learn and develop in different ways and at a difference pace. Understanding how your child learns best is important in ensuring they progress to their maximum potential. The Early Years Framework sets out 3 characteristics of Effective learning.

• Playing and exploring
• Active learning
• Creating and thinking critically

The ways in which your child engages with other people and their environment – playing and exploring, active learning, and creating and thinking critically – underpin learning and development across all areas and support the child to remain an effective and motivated learner.

Child initiated learning is a very important part of the Early Years curriculum. It is a key way in which children learn. Through their play, in a secure environment, with effective adult support, children can:-

• Explore, develop and represent learning experiences which help them make sense of the world
• Discover new and exciting experiences
• Practise and build up ideas, concepts and skills
• Co-operate and collaborate with others
• Understand the need for rules
• Think creatively and imaginatively
• Communicate with others as they investigate and solve problems

Express fears or relive anxious experiences in a controlled and safe environment.

EYFS Learning Goals

Every Friday afternoon our children have the opportunity to attend Forest School. At Our Lady School we are lucky to have such wonderful grounds which we have developed to create our own Forest School. Here we promote self-esteem, creativity, confidence, and independence. It is a series of long-term sessions that builds on the need and development of the child. It enables supported risk-taking, child centred learning, exploration, and play.