EYFS

EYFS Curriculum
Intent, Implementation and Impact

Intent

At Montem Academy we believe that all children deserve an education rich in wonder and memorable experiences that allows children's natural creativity and curiosity to flourish, alongside the purposeful acquisition of skills and knowledge. We believe that an education that does all of this gives children the best chance to become well-rounded, happy individuals, ready to succeed in an ever-changing world.

We have 5 clear aims which are inextricably intertwined with Physical and Mental Wellbeing 
We want our children to be:

• Ready to learn: Children have a positive, confident attitude to learning.  They are both physically and emotionally ready to learn.
• Resourceful: Children show initiative, ask well thought out questions and are prepared to use a variety of strategies to learn.
• Reflective: Children are curious, able and willing to learn from their mistakes and can describe their progress
• Resilient: Children are prepared to persevere and stay involved in their learning, even when the process is challenging.
• Reciprocal: Children are prepared to help each other.

The curriculum in Early Years is designed to provide a broad and balanced education that meets the needs of all pupils. It facilitates them to gain the skills, knowledge and understanding as they start out on their educational journey, supporting them to progress from their individual starting points and preparing them for the next stage of their education.

Our ethos in Early Years is to support children’s personal, social and emotional development so that they feel safe and secure and are ready to learn.

Through the seven areas of learning we provide topics that excite and engage children, building on own interests and developing their experiences of the world around them. We recognise that all children come into our setting with varied experiences and all staff work hard to ensure that the learning opportunities provided widen their knowledge and understanding of the world, setting ambitious expectations for all children.

The curriculum celebrates diversity and supports the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Those children with particular needs, including SEND, are supported appropriately allowing them to be successful.

Implementation

At Montem Academy, we offer a curriculum which is broad and balanced and which builds on the knowledge, understanding and skills of all children, whatever their starting points. We follow the Early Years curriculum using topic themes and enrichment opportunities.

The aim of our curriculum is to develop a ‘ thirst and love for learning’ and ‘Awe and Wonder’ memories by:

• Carefully planning sequences of activities that provide meaningful learning experiences, developing each child’s Characteristics of Effective Learning, whilst promoting ‘self-discovery’ for our pupils
• Providing activity starting points for child initiated activities that enhance children’s learning and impact on progress.
• Developing an effective and engaging environment that is rich in language whilst taking into consideration the need for the children to be able to access all areas of learning, both inside and outside at any one time.
• Providing high quality interactions with adults that demonstrate and impact on the progress of all children.
• Ensuring that ‘The Unique Child’ is at the forefront of adult’s interactions and adopting a nurturing approach for those pupils who might need some reassurance to enable them to succeed.
• Using high quality questioning and interactions to check understanding and address misconceptions.
• Staff acting as role models to the children they teach in order for children to develop their own speaking and listening skills.
• Carefully assessing, through observations, which are recorded on Tapestry and shared with parents. These are used to inform the next steps of learning and meet individual needs.
• Allowing children to be successful in their attempts at an activity and using effective feedback to help facilitate next steps in learning but providing enough challenge to develop resilience.
• Suggesting home learning opportunities with information about what has been taught, allowing parents to build on their child’s school experiences, at home.

We recognise the changing needs and interests of our pupils and we are responsive to this, regularly developing existing topics.

 
The English curriculum is taught using Talk for Reading (T4R) in EYFS. Children develop their literacy skills by the imitation of stories that they learn using actions and story mapping techniques. They then move on to innovation of these well-known stories by including their own ideas. Literacy and phonics opportunities are also promoted in many of the continuous provision activities available to children during the week.

The Early Years uses core texts as a basis for topic planning and usually start with an exciting hook to engage children in both the topic and the book. We have developed our own suggested text list for Early Years as part of the whole school. Montem’s Marvellous Reads These texts are chosen for their level of challenge and quality language. They have also been chosen with a view to promoting reading for pleasure.

Phonics is taught daily using Read Write Inc. through differentiated phonic groups. Phonic sounds are introduced in a systematic manner and progress is monitored with children moving on to read books from the scheme and others of their own choice. The sessions are delivered in an engaging way and activities are revisited to embed over the year and supported in a range of ways including Hold A Sentence, Fred Talk and rhymes associated with each sound.
The maths curriculum is taught through daily dedicated sessions. These sessions are carefully planned using concrete resources and build on prior learning and real life experiences across the theme and year. This starts with mastering numbers 0-5 and then progresses through to 0-10 and 0-20. We want our children to become confident mathematicians who can apply what they have learnt to real life experiences.

Weekly Forest School sessions are run for children in early years; these support a range of skills and develop their social interactions. All seven areas of learning are encompassed within these sessions and allow all children to take risks in an unpredictable environment whilst developing leadership skills and promoting mental health and wellbeing. We have a dedicated space to run these sessions and the Early Years setting is in the process of training a ‘Forest Schools’ teacher.

Pupils have opportunities to share their learning with their parents and carers through Tapestry. Regular Welcome Wednesday sessions for Reception and Nursery, allow parents to join in learning activities alongside their children and share the EYFS experience. Parents are invited in to look at the children’s learning and leave positive comments on Reception’s Proud Cloud. We have a Montem App where children’s learning and successes are celebrated. The Building Learning Power values are promoted to children to develop their independence, motivation and perseverance.

Extra- curricular opportunities include:
Visiting our very own EYFS Library with family to further promote a love of books and reading
Trips to our local area travelling in our school mini-bus and an ‘Active Movement’ trip to the local park. After school clubs such as Little Explorers, Tuesday Tuition, Tasty Treats, Forest School, Crafty Creations, Green Fingers Gardening and Furry Friends pet club. All clubs are extremely popular leading to a waiting list.

Impact

• Children will demonstrate high levels of engagement in activities, developing their speaking and listening skills, enabling them to access more areas of the learning and communicate to both adults and children. Children will develop skills across all areas of the curriculum including literacy, mathematics and physical development using these in different ways.
• Children will have developed a wider sense of the world around them and can draw on these experiences during interactions with others and link this to new learning.
• Children will have developed their Characteristics of Learning and be able to apply their knowledge to a range of situations making links and explaining their ideas and understanding. 
• Children will be confident to take risks and discuss their successes and failures with adults drawing on their experiences to improve or adjust what they are doing.
• Children will be successful learners and fully prepared for the next stage of their education as they transition from Foundation Stage to Year One. We will also aim to help children to make sense of the world around them, to develop tolerance, compassion and an understanding of their rights and the rights of others in an ever evolving world. 
• Children at the end of Foundation stage will have developed essential knowledge and skills required for everyday life and lifelong learning. 
• Children at Montem Academy will be well rounded, happy, inquisitive and successful learners.