Intent

The curriculum is designed to:

• Recognise and value children’s prior learning from previous settings and home experiences.
• Provide first hand engaging, stimulating and challenging, play-based learning experiences, allowing learners to build positive identities through managing and taking risks, having a go, developing resilience and promoting a ‘can do’ attitude.
• Provide high quality provision, along with high quality interactions, so that we are laying the foundations for the children becoming independent, active, successful and ambitious lifelong learners.
• Offer a balance of child-initiated and adult-led learning using a continuous provision based approach.
• Provide a rich outdoor learning experience using our wonderful surroundings
• Learner’s choices and interests are the driving force for building knowledge, skills and understanding – although as they are a part of a mixed age classroom, they have the opportunity to join in topics that the rest of their key stage are engaged in.
• Offer a balance of child-initiated and adult-led learning using a continuous provision based approach.
• Every child is valued as an individual, safe and well cared for.

Implementation

• In our EYFS, we follow the Early Years Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.
• The Framework specifies the requirement for learning and development in the Early Years and provides prime and specific areas of learning we must cover in our curriculum.
• Prime Areas covered - Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development , Communication and Language development.
• Specific Areas covered- Literacy, Mathematics , Understanding the World,  Expressive Arts and Design.
• Focus at first is on the prime areas of learning. These form the foundation of a child’s learning. Once the children are secure in these areas they will begin to work on the specific areas of learning.
• A vital aspect in the development of essential knowledge and skills is the use of continuous provision. This means that children are using and developing taught skills throughout the year on a daily/weekly basis.
• Continuous Provision practice and principles begin in the Early Years Foundation Stage and support children to develop key life skills such as independence; creativity, enquiry and problem solving.
• Continuous provision areas are set up to reflect children’s interests, as well as ensuring that reading, writing and maths are high profile.
• Throughout a typical day, learners will have the opportunity to work independently, work collaboratively with their peers and work with practitioners.
• There are several direct teaching sessions taking place. These include phonics, maths, literacy, PE, science, music, story, etc.
• We communicate with parents and share achievements using ‘Wow Moments’ which feed into teacher assessment and inform the children’s next steps. 

 Impact

• The impact of our curriculum is measured by our observations and assessments that we carry out on a daily basis.
• The impact on our curriculum is measured by how well practitioners know each individual child.
• The impact of our curriculum is measured by internal termly data, as well as measuring outcomes against the LA and nationally at the end of the EYFS phase.
• The impact of our curriculum will also, in fact, be measured by how effectively it helps our learners to develop into well rounded individuals who are independent, active, successful and ambitious lifelong learner

In EYFS/Year 1 we use ELS Phonics

Developing Early Language and Communication

Early language is the single most important factor in influencing literacy levels at age 11. More important than behaviour, peer relationships, emotional wellbeing, positive interaction and attention. Vocabulary at age 5 is also linked with wider outcomes in mental health and employment in adulthood.
At Lowther Endowed Schoo,l we place a strong emphasis on children developing competence in speaking and listening and acknowledge that all other areas of learning make a vital contribution to the successful development of communication. 

Language and communication is nurtured and developed through

•    children being exposed to daily high quality texts, rhymes and poems
•    key vocabulary being planned for
•    high quality interactions between both staff and children and children and children is scaffolded 
•    high quality role play within the indoor and outdoor ensures that children can use and develop language effectively 
•    Partnership working with parents and carers
•    Partnership working with external agencies such as Speech and Language Therapists  
•    Identified target support for children such as ‘Time to Talk’ and ‘Nuffield Early Language Intervention