Early Years

Rationale

At FMPS, our key values in Early Years inform our vision, curriculum, provision and practice. FMPS is at the heart of a multicultural and diverse community.  We are a school that endeavours to “forever make pupils shine”. This underpins everything that makes Early Years at FMPS, ensuring that our children have the best possible start to their school journey.  Children are embraced as individuals in a nurturing, caring and stimulating environment, where they will;

• Learn to be respectful, kind and tolerant of others’ faiths and beliefs.
• Have opportunities to experience a rich and diverse multicultural curriculum.
• Be happy, secure and excited to learn.
• Be confident, resilient and independent learners.
• Develop age-appropriate self-care and safety skills.
• Develop a love of reading and books.

What we intend our children to know

At FMPS, we pride ourselves on knowing our children well, and use this knowledge to shape a curriculum that adds breadth, enrichment and ‘Cultural Capital’. Our EYFS curriculum is reflective of the needs and interests of our children, supported by the Early Years Statutory Framework 2021. In order for our children to meet age related expectations, the EYFS curriculum is progressive and will encourage school readiness. The experiences, knowledge and skills gained in EYFS are built upon in later years, and evidence of this is seen in our whole school progression documents for each school subject taught. This allows the children to embed and deepen their knowledge and skills; making progress in their learning by knowing more and remembering more.

How we will ensure pupils learn the knowledge we have identified

At FMPS, our holistic approach allows the children to thrive by experiencing an enriched learning environment where they develop both their Prime and Specific areas of learning. We work closely with families to gain an understanding of children’s starting points and previous experiences. Pupils learn through a balance of both adult-led and child-initiated learning opportunities that promote learning in all areas of the EYFS to help children achieve the ELG’s and beyond. We plan opportunities for indoor and outdoor learning, visits and visitors to enhance children’s learning experiences where possible. Staff regularly share their love of reading and books and we use books as hooks into learning. These texts are chosen specifically to develop vocabulary and comprehension skills. We follow Read Write Inc and White Rose Maths in Reception to ensure progressive teaching sequences to develop reading, writing and number.

Impact

The impact of our EYFS curriculum is measured by the excitement children show when learning and exploring. Children show that they can use the environment effectively, talk with confidence about what they know and voicing their own opinions. Children are able to evaluate and reflect upon their work. They have a wide range of vocabulary and work effectively as part of a group and independently. Children demonstrate school readiness upon their transition to KS1.