Intent:
At Kemball School EYFS curriculum and delivery reflects our school mission:
To maximise each pupil’s potential by enabling him/her to achieve as much independence as possible and to enjoy a quality of life which is both stimulating and rewarding.
The curriculum is designed to meet the individual needs of our pupils. It aims to provide motivating and relevant learning to maximise pupils’ engagement and support progress. We strive to deliver wide and varied learning experiences that support the development of the prime areas of the EYFS. We recognise pupils’ prior learning, provide practical experiences, build resilience, develop communication and help every child to achieve their potential.
The EYFS at Kemball School focusses on developing the foundations for learning and works towards building concentration, interaction, communication, engagement and independence. Our aim is for children to build the skills to enable them to be confident and independent learners as they move through the school. We place a heavy focus on the prime areas of learning- Communication and language, Physical Development and PSED.
Our EYFS curriculum aims to enable our children to be:
Competent and creative learners who are curious about the world around them.
Secure and confident learners who enjoy coming to school and learning new skills and knowledge building on their existing learning.
Skilful communicators who connect with others through language and play
We recognise that parents and carers are a child’s first and most enduring educators and we aim for parents and carers to work closely with us in school. This can have a very positive impact on a child’s development.
Implementation:
The curriculum has been designed in line with EYFS statutory framework, and the non-statutory guidance in Development Matters. The topic based approach provides stimulating learning experiences and links concepts in a meaningful way. The current EYFS classes are within the Engagement and Multi-sensory pathways and beyond EYFS, pupils may remain within these pathways or move into the Progression pathway according to need. This meets the needs of our different cohorts of pupils ensuring that they access the learning experiences that are relevant and appropriate to them.
The EYFS curriculum at Kemball School is tailored to the needs of the children in the cohort at that particular time. Whilst our curriculum is structured to give children the skills to make progress towards the Early Learning Goals as set out in the statutory framework, our curriculum also works towards meeting seven curricular goals for the end of EYFS and the children may meet these in a variety of ways.
Learning and development takes place within seven areas of learning. These shape our curriculum. They are all important and are inter-connected. The prime areas of learning are particularly important for building a foundation for children’s learning, curiosity and forming relationships.
The prime areas of learning are:
· Communication and language.
· Physical development.
· Personal, social and emotional development.
We also support children in four specific areas through which the prime areas are strengthened and applied.
The specific areas of learning are:
· Literacy.
· Mathematics.
· Understanding the world.
· Expressive arts and design.
Throughout the year we have a number of special days where the children have the opportunity to take part in activities that link to many of the areas of the EYFS. Activities are carefully planned to increase children’s knowledge, understanding of and engagement with a particular topic or area of learning, and to provide fun and engaging experiences that they may otherwise not have the opportunity to access.
Impact
Pupils at Kemball School make outstanding progress in all areas of their learning. They move on from EYFS to continue their learning journey with an enjoyment for learning, strong relationships, increased engagement and concentration and the foundations towards independence.