Early Years Curriculum
In the Early Years Foundation Stage at Crofton Anne Dale Infant School, our aim is to provide an enabling environment, which promotes the learning and development of every child attending our school. Learning is led through a balance of child and adult-led ‘Discovery’ sessions and carefully planned continuous provision where children have the opportunity to independently play, investigate and apply their learning using our new stimulating indoor and outdoor environments. We offer an exciting, stimulating curriculum that is often led by the interests of the children.
Outdoor learning is a key feature of our school and our curriculum. We make the most of the wonderful outdoor environment, which we are lucky to have around our school and we regularly visit the outdoor classroom.
Our new learning environments, alongside interactions with our skilled practitioners, are carefully planned and resourced to allow children the opportunities to:
- Develop their communication and language skills
- Expand their confidence, independence and resilience
- Learn through active play and exploration
- Extend their skills/ abilities by testing them out in a range of situations
- Enjoy learning and have fun
- Build positive relationships with adults and peers
- Seek challenge and learn from mistakes
- Develop their gross and fine motor skills
We believe that all children are capable of achieving amazing things and we develop this with a very nurturing approach as well as having high expectations of all the children in our setting. We also believe in building strong relationships with our parents to ensure that we can enable the best outcomes for our children.
We recognise the unique practice of nurturing the learning of young children with specific needs and we are aware of the importance of early intervention for children facing specific developmental/ learning challenges. Our SEND Team as well as our pastoral leader work closely with staff as well as parents and carers to ensure tailored support is available for children and families if necessary. All staff have received training in British Sign Language and Sign Supported English to enable them to communicate effectively with all children in our school community. Sing and sign is a regular feature in the Early Years!
Staff in the EYFS work tirelessly to create an environment that fosters personal, social and emotional development whilst also promoting a love of learning through our engaging topic based curriculum. Our strong focus on speech and language development allows children to access the EYFS curriculum and in turn make excellent progress towards reaching the good level of development at the end of Year R.
