How do we teach EYFS at Abbeyfield?

Intent

At Abbeyfield Primary academy, our early years curriculum lays a secure foundation for future learning. We engage children in learning from the very start and aim for our children to leave us as confident, happy and skilful learners who are curious about the world around them and are prepared for KS1.

It is our intention to provide a broadly enriched, rounded and stimulating learning environment where children can work with adults and peers in a climate of mutual respect to develop;

  • Confidence in their ability to learn.
  • The social skills necessary to learn.
  • The emotional capabilities to enable them to understand their feelings and to solve problems.
  • A unique child.

We aim to provide children, with a well-structured, safe, active learning environment both indoors and outdoors. This will enable them to develop the skills, attitudes and understanding that will form the basis of lifelong learning and encourage them to become useful, active members of a diverse and constantly changing society.

We recognise the importance of giving our children the best possible start to their education by planning and implementing teaching and learning opportunities that supports them in reaching their full potential. We know that our children enter the Nursery and Reception classes with varied life experiences and we aim to plan teaching and learning opportunities accordingly to address this.

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.

As a team we have worked together to embed a set of core values we weave through everything we aim to achieve with the children we have with us.  These include key skills, knowledge and dispositions we have at the heart of our school ethos and our aim for all the children by the time they leave FS2.

Implementation

We have a curriculum that is child-centred and that is based upon wow experiences and topics which engage and stimulate the children. We encourage active learning to ensure the children are motivated and interested. We take time to get to know children’s interests and their likes to support learning, resulting in a personalised, flexible curriculum.

All areas of the EYFS curriculum are covered and planned for to ensure there is a broad, balanced and progressive learning environment and curriculum. A vital aspect in the development of essential knowledge and skills is the use of continuous provision. Children use and develop taught skills throughout the year on a daily basis. Continuous provision practice and principles begin in EYFS and support children to develop key life skills such as independence, innovation, creativity, enquiry, analysis and problem solving.

How we learn in EYFS

There are 4 guiding principles for the EYFS framework which underpin our EYFS ethos and values, which are:

  • Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured
  • Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships
  • Children learn and develop well in enabling environments with teaching and support from adults, who respond to their individual interests and needs and help them to build their learning over time. Children benefit from a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers.
  • Importance of learning and development. Children develop and learn at different rates. The framework covers the education and care of all children in early years provision, including children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Abbeyfield Primary Academy EYFS Intent

EYFS Core Values

We have broken down our EYFS curriculum into the following core values.

FS2 Curriculum Overview

We have then used these core value strands to map out our curriculum overview.

FS1 Curriculum Overview

We have then used these core value strands to map out our curriculum overview.