Our school vision, ‘Together with God’s help we Learn for Life, Achieve our Best and Grow in Faith’ has been the driver of our Early Years Curriculum which has been developed to support children in our Reception Class to learn knowledge and skills that are foundational to their journey through our school, and that will eventually equip them for life beyond. We have planned an ambitious curriculum with a progressive sequence of knowledge and skills which will ensure that children are ready for KS1. We aim for the children to be confident in all areas of the curriculum, storing this knowledge and these skills in their long-term memory as they leave the Reception class.
Our curriculum is knowledge and language rich, develops the characteristics of learning, independence and self-regulation, and covers the seven areas of the Early Years Statutory Framework. It is unique to our context, and endeavours to meet the needs of those who join our setting.
We use specific schemes of learning for Phonics: Little Wandle, English ‘Herts for Learning’, Maths; Mastering Number (NCETM) and White Rose, RE; Emmanuel Project and Understanding Christianity, PE; Cambridgeshire Syllabus and the Cambridgeshire PSHE; Personal Development Programme (PDP). We use Curriculum Maestro to drive our half-termly topics which link to the overarching themes of ‘Marvellous Me’ in the Autumn, ‘Me and My World’ in the Spring, and ‘What a Wonderful World’ in the Summer. We aim for some flexibility in our curriculum to ensure that there are opportunities for learning to be driven by the children’s interests. This enables us to engage each child and ensures that they achieve their best.
The children’s learning is underpinned by positive relationships both with parents and each individual child, and this sound knowledge of the child, ensures that their needs are met and any gaps in their knowledge can be supported both in class and at home.
We have also developed an enabling environment for learning to take place, and have a well-resourced classroom, as well as a large outdoor space and extensive school grounds which support fascinations and interests on a different scale. We also have permission from Abbots Ripton Estate to use the wooded area next to our school grounds and weekly trips to the ‘Wild Wood’ are made there from the Autumn Term.
It is our hope that each individual child feels loved, nurtured and understood and has the opportunity to grow and develop in all areas of the curriculum.
Below is an overview of our Early Years curriculum which includes project titles and their core content under each area of learning. We have included other key elements which make up our curriculum including core songs, rhymes and texts as well as how we develop the foundation for learning about our British Values and how parents are involved.
Below you will also find our ‘Ready for’ documents. We have considered the needs of the children as they transition into Year 1, and these documents set out knowledge and vocabulary that is foundational to learning as they progress into Year 1.