EYFS Provision 

We are particularly proud of our Early Years Provision and the approach we take in our setting to nurture the whole and ‘Unique Child’. We use Development Matters to inform our practice and follow the 17 Early Learning Goals as a  guide to ensuring our provision meets the needs of all learners.

We have beautiful outdoor spaces which we utilise to ensure that the learning journey continues outside of the classroom. We use assessment to inform our practice and further each learning opportunity. We know the difference early years provision can make to the life chances and opportunities that children have access to in later life; we value conversation, language and the ability to communicate effectively. We are proud to be developing our practice in ‘Sustained Shared Thinking’ and ensuring our children have a voice.

Curriculum Strands

Science

In EYFS, our continuous provision regularly provides new and interesting opportunities for children to explore and investigate. Science is taught through the use of high quality texts/ pictures books to introduce children to vocabulary that will build general knowledge and enable success in year 1 and later. Practitioners interact effectively with the children to encourage them to use their senses to explore the natural world, materials and forces. Our curriculum in EYFS is carefully planned to ensure the children have the knowledge and skills needed for Science in Key Stage 1.

Humanities

In EYFS, children begin to develop their geographical knowledge by exploring features of our school. Maps and atlases are used to investigate different places as we begin to compare and contrast different environments. Children have rich opportunities to make use of school grounds to enhance and apply their skills as geographers. In our continuous provision we display and share with children key vocabulary includes words relating to relative positions such as near, far etc. Throughout the year, children observe and discuss the weather and seasonal changes. Children also learn about the different jobs which people do in our community.

History is introduced with children have lots of opportunities to develop a sense of past and present, through lots of discussion. We use stories as vehicles to enable pupils to access unfamiliar content. Fictional stories can also be useful to illustrate concepts. Children are encouraged to talk about their experiences of events, for example, Christmas and birthdays, using the language ‘yesterday’, ‘today’, ‘last week’. Activities during continuous provision allow children to examine appropriate artefacts (for example: Our Curiosity Box) or discovering the meaning of old and new in relation to their own lives.

RE

In EYFS, RE is focused on the children’s knowledge and understanding of the wider world and community around them. Children enjoy a range of activities including exploring artefacts, tasting foods and learning stories related to a variety of festivals, for example Diwali. We also enjoy responding to the diverse religious and cultural backgrounds within our school community and have visitors share celebrations such as Chinese New Year and the Islamic festival of Eid-al-Fitr with the children.

We follow the Waltham Forest SACRE agreed syllabus for RE. This covers the beliefs, practices and values of the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions.

PSHE

In EYFS, our PSHE curriculum helps children to build confidence, resilience, self-esteem and to identify and manage risk. They develop the skills to make informed choices and understand what influences their decisions. It enables children to respect themselves, others and to celebrate diversity whilst managing their emotions and communicating effectively. Developing an understanding of themselves, empathy and the ability to collaborate with others helps children to form and maintain good relationships and better enjoy and manage their lives.

We follow the SCARF programme for PSHE. We follow half termly units as follows:

• Me and My Relationships

• Valuing Differences

• Keeping Myself

• Safe Rights and Responsibilities

• Being My Best

• Growing and Changing

Computing

In EYFS computing is based around continuous provision, unplugged (no computer) activities that focus on building children’s listening skills, curiosity and creativity and problem solving. 

Technology in the EYFS can mean: 

• taking a photograph with a camera or tablet

• searching for information on the internet

• playing games on the interactive whiteboard

• exploring an old typewriter or other mechanical toys

• using a Beebot

• watching a video clip

• listening to music