Intent
At New Park Primary School, our aim is to work collaboratively with parents and carers to encourage independent, enthusiastic learners who thrive and reach their full potential. It is our intent that children who enter our school Early Years Foundation Stage begin their lifelong learning journey by developing physically, verbally, cognitively and emotionally, whilst also embedding a positive attitude to school and a love of learning.
To ensure children make outstanding progress it is our intent to take into consideration the starting points and needs of our pupils as they join New Park. Every child then has access to a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum which prepares them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences for now and for the future. We believe that focussing on the child as an individual, following their personal interests and individual needs, allows us to plan and provide opportunities throughout our EYFS curriculum to support learning and development and identify and achieve next steps. We use our indoor and outdoor environment to enhance learning and prepare children to reach their Early Learning Goals at the end of the Foundation Stage.
Implementation
At New Park we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. This is made up of four overriding principles which our early year’s education is based upon:
The curriculum provides a play-based and experiential learning environment, combined with focussed teaching and basic skills, to ensure children make rapid progress before moving onto Year 1. The children in both nursery and reception are provided with ample opportunities accessible in our indoor and outdoor provision. They engage in planned, focussed activities as well as self-initiated and free flow activities. The learning experiences within our early years are linked to the seven areas of learning and development within the EYFS. These areas are split into three prime areas and four specific areas. The three prime areas are those which the children should develop first and are considered most essential for the healthy development and future learning of our children. These include:
As children grow and make progress in the prime areas, this will help them to naturally develop skills within the four specific areas. These are:
Impact
The children at New Park experience a smooth transition between nursery, reception and beyond. Effective communication and collaboration ensure the children leave the EYFS with a solid foundation of learning of which to build upon.
We use scrap book style learning journals which evidence to the children and their families the successes of the children throughout their time in early years.
By monitoring assessment procedures regularly, we can effectively demonstrate what learning is taking place and how each child is progressing in all seven areas of the EYFS curriculum.