We offer a broad and balanced curriculum which incorporates skills and knowledge as well as experiences that we believe all children should have. A cyclical approach ensures children can broaden and deepen their knowledge and understanding throughout the Foundation Stage and as they progress through school.

The curriculum is established around the Prime areas and Specific areas. The Prime areas are crucial in developing a love for learning and these are then strengthened and applied through the specific areas:

PRIME AREAS
Communication and language	Personal, Social and Emotional development		Physical Development
SPECIFIC AREAS
Literacy	Mathematics	Understanding the world	Expressive arts and design

 

For more information, use these links: Best start in Life, Development Matters.

Our yearly overviews can be found here: Nursery | Reception 

 

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives, and is fundamental to their cognitive development. We prepare children for life and learning inside and outside of school by supporting them to develop confidence, resilience and responsibility. 

Relationships with adults are nurturing and they help children to learn about others’ feelings and needs. Through developing an understanding of themselves, children will learn to be safe and responsible as they grow up and contribute to their community and wider world. 

We use picture books to explore the PSED themes which are then built on throughout the school as the children revisit the topics each year. 

Additionally, by the end of Nursery we would like the children to be able to:

• put on their coat
• use the toilet and wash their hands
• cover their mouth when they cough
• sneeze into their elbow
• put their litter in the bin
• tidy away resources and pick up toys when they have been dropped, sorting them by colour etc. 

 

By the end of Reception to do the above independently and also:

• leave the classroom to use the bathroom and return to the classroom

• select their lunch, get their cutlery and clear the table once they have finished eating.

 

Zones of Regulation

We know that children can come to school feeling unsettled, uncertain or unhappy. We use the zones of regulation as a way of helping children to explore and express their feelings. Using visual prompts empowers children to engage in activities that help to regulate their emotions. 

Read more about the Zones of Regulation here.

 

Physical Development

Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives. Through a range of gross motor and fine motor activities which happen daily for all children, we model how determination, risk taking and perseverance lead to achievements and positive changes that will be beneficial throughout their lives. 

Children in Reception are taught PE discreetly each week. 

 

Communication and Language

The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. We want all children to experience daily an environment which is rich in ambitious vocabulary and where there are countless opportunities for conversations between peers and adults. Sharing stories, rhymes, poems and songs and non-fiction books give the children a whole wealth of vocabulary and language structures which they can go on to use, practise and experiment with in their play. 

We try to ensure that each interaction we have with a child relates to or promotes and models mark making, making conversation and mathematics.

*taken from the work of Greg Bottril​​l

 

Literacy

English sits at the heart of our curriculum in EYFS and across the school. Through story, language and text children learn to express themselves, form and connect ideas and develop a rich vocabulary that they are adept at using independently. Through our teaching of reading and writing, children build up the skills they need to become able and confident readers and writers, along with the stamina to persevere.

 

Reading

We want every child to develop a life-long love of reading and hope that throughout their time at Roger Ascham a combination of daily story time, guided reading sessions with an adult, phonics input and well-stocked reading areas will enable children to continue this journey.

Parental input is also vital in this journey. Sharing a book with your child makes a huge difference along with regular reading time where your child reads to you. 

We have a collection of core books which are shared within the setting over and over. Rather than ‘studying’ them, regular re-reading of them allows the children to gain familiarity with the rhythm of the text. Once this is established they can go on to explore the language used and the impact it has on them as the reader, the characters’ feelings and actions but also the feeling and emotions it evokes in them. Children will make an emotional association with a story which they will want to re-visit. Once children gain fluency in the re-telling of the story they will go on to identify familiar letters then words and then eventually they will read the story for themselves.

We want children to leave Nursery and Reception being able to tell someone what their favourite story is and be able to join in with the repetitive text, re-tell it verbally or maybe read along with an adult. 

Nursery	Reception
Peace at last by Jill Murphy	When’s my birthday? By Julie Fogliano
Where’s Lenny by Ken Wilson-Max	Stick Man by Julia Donaldson
Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle	The gigantic turnip by Aleksei Tolstoy
We’re going on a bear hunt by Michael Rosen	Little Red by Bethan Woollvin
The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson	So Much by Trish Cooke
Orange, Bear, Apple, Pear by Emily Gravett	Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
10 little fingers and 10 little toes by Mem Fox	10 Black Dots by Donald Crews
When’s my birthday? By Julie Fogliano	Aliens love underpants by Claire Freedman
Rapunzel by Beth Woollvin	The Everywhere Bear by Rebecca Cobb
Shark in the park by Nick Sharratt	Errol’s Garden by Gillian Hibbs
The tiger who came to tea by Judith Kerr	Bog Baby by Jeanne Willis
A first book of nature by Nicola Davies	Surprising Sharks by Nicola Davies

 Writing

Across the school children are taught writing using high quality texts that demonstrate a range of styles and evoke emotion giving children a real reason to write.  We use drama, role play and discussions to engage the children’s imagination before moving onto exploring vocabulary, sentence construction and creative writing. 

The structural and technical knowledge is fostered alongside developing a love for writing which we hope every child has as a lifelong way of communicating and expressing themselves. 

At the very earliest stage we want children to see the reason we write and know they have something to say. 

 

Phonics

Phonics is a complex but exciting system of sounds within the English language. It begins when babies start to respond to sounds around them continuing through a whole range of skills such as hearing the beginning of sounds (phonemes) to blending letter sounds together to manipulating and deleting letter sounds to make words. 

Each day children engage in games and activities that develop phonological awareness (rhyme, syllable awareness, word awareness and alliteration) and phonemic awareness (the ability to hear and manipulate sounds). 

Once the children are ready, phonemes (letter sounds) are introduced to the children. They practise blending these to make words which they can read and write.

Children will also learn tricky words (those which cannot be blended).

 

Mathematics

We use mathematical language all of the time; to explain where we are, how much we have or have not got, time frames we are working in or when we communicate on technology.

Children need to understand this language in order to use it themselves. The ‘wow’ moments are incredible when children start to make sense of number and shapes and we hope that you experience these with your child, if you have not already.

 

Understanding the World

Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of the physical world and their community and to develop a sense of awe and wonder about what they see around them. We inspire children to be fascinated about the natural and human aspects of the world by growing plants, composting our food waste or feeding the birds. We hope to ignite their curiosity about life before they were born and help them to explore the beliefs, practices and ideas of others.

 

Expressive Arts and Design

Our learning environments provide on-going opportunities for children to engage with the arts and develop their creativity and imagination. Children are encouraged to think about how they want to express their ideas and the materials they might use. Adults introduce new artists and lead the children to be confident in their own expressions by teaching skills and a love of music, art, dance and theatre.  

 

As your child moves in Year 1, they will continue to build on the skills and knowledge that they have developed in the Early Years.