EYFS Curriculum Statement 

At Shotton Primary 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, knowledge and vocabulary. We believe that an education that does all of this gives children the best chance to become well-rounded, happy individuals and responsible citizens, ready to succeed in an ever-changing world.

At Shotton Primary we recognise the importance of giving our children the best possible start to their education by planning and implementing teaching and learning opportunities that support and challenge them in reaching their full potential. We know that our children enter the Nursery and Reception classes with varied life experiences and starting points. We provide teaching and learning opportunities to enable equal access to an engaging and challenging curriculum. 

Our Early Years Curriculum has been developed to ensure that we are able to meet the needs of our children. Our end of Foundation Stage expectations are integrated into our curriculum across all areas of learning. Our Early Years Department have developed the curriculum in collaboration with subject leaders. 

Shotton Primary School recognises the crucial role that Early Year’s education has to play in providing firm and secure foundations upon which the rest of a child’s education is successfully based. 

It is our intent that the children who enter our EYFS department develop physically, verbally, cognitively and emotionally whilst embedding a positive attitude to school and learning. We will provide, within the context of our visions and values, a broadly enriched, rounded and stimulating curriculum within a nurturing and caring setting, where children can work with adults and peers in an environment of mutual respect to develop; 

• Resilience 

• Confidence in their ability to learn. 

• The social skills necessary to learn. 

• The emotional capabilities and language, to enable them to understand their feelings and to solve problems.  

We provide children, with a well-structured, safe, active learning environment both indoors and outdoors. We explicitly teach children how to take measured safe risks within their learning.This is to enable them to develop the language, confidence, skills, attitudes and understanding that will form the basis of lifelong learning and encourage them to contribute positively to their community and to a diverse and constantly changing society. 

Core Principles 

We believe that all children should be valued as an individual and are passionate in allowing all children to achieve their full, unique potential. With all of this in mind, we begin each new year by looking at the individual needs of our children and – taking into account their different starting points. Our EYFS Curriculum provision enables them to follow the path of their learning journey, at a point, that meets their individual needs and stage of development. 

Children in both our Nursery and Reception classes follow our EYFS curriculum, which has seven main areas of learning. 

The Prime Areas:- 

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development 

• Communication and Language 

• Physical Development 

The Specific Areas:- 

• Literacy 

• Mathematics 

• Understanding the World 

• Expressive Arts 

The teaching of these areas of learning is practical and playful with support and challenge from adults in class sessions, small group sessions and working with individuals. There is a combination of adult-led, teacher taught sessions as well as a wealth of stimulating continuous provision opportunities. 

 At Shotton Primary School, we strive to develop the key characteristics of “Playing and Learning”, “Active Learning” and “Thinking Critically” in order to give the children the skills that they will continue to draw upon throughout their development. All of the crucial skills, knowledge and vocabulary that we teach are presented to the children throughout the year which are designed with their interests in mind.

A vital part of the Curriculum design is our reading spine of dedicated high-quality texts. Our well thought out choice of texts enable us to: 

• Move children from the familiar, widening their experiences and awareness of different social contexts 

• Teach children essential social skills 

• Explore rhythm and rhyme 

• Expose children to a wide vocabulary within a meaningful context 

• Develop a life-long love of reading, books and the written word 

• Develop aspiration 

• Actively engage children in learning 

• Make meaningful links. 

• Support children’s learning across the curriculum. 

We have invested significantly in the quality of our outdoor provision, because we know some children learn best outdoors. As such the quality of our indoor and outdoor environments are now of equal parity- thus providing quality of opportunity irrespective of children’s preferred learning style. 

In addition to our outdoor classroom, all of our children have access to forest schools where they are able to: 

• Build resilience 

• Manage risks safely 

• Build confidence and self-esteem 

• Explore and navigate natural environments  

• Work collaboratively for a clear purpose as a team 

• Experience first -hand the change in seasons such as texture under foot and weather. 

• Have unique experiences- making fires, using tools, cooking, singing round a campfire 

• Have freedom to explore 

• Manage and self-regulate their own behaviour 

• Develop independence 

• Develop imagination and creativity 

Our learning environments, both inside and outside are designed to meet the different and developing needs of the children in our care. They are enhanced and developed throughout the year to engage children and directly support and challenge their learning. We aim to ensure that these areas are always stimulating and exciting and that, importantly, they are accessible to all children, regardless of where they are on their learning journey. The environments are developed to promote independence within our children and allow them to access the curriculum and resources independently and confidently, with the necessary level of support and challenge. 

Within our EYFS Curriculum, children are assessed through accurate, timely and important observations. These showcase children’s individual learning journeys and key milestones of development. They provide us with essential information for future planning, not only for our individual classes but also for individual children’s next steps in their learning. They enable us, as EYFS practitioners, to ensure learning is embedded and consistent and that all children have every opportunity to continue to make sustained progress within our EYFS setting.  

Statutory Requirements 
We actively safeguard and promote the welfare of all of our children. We recognise that children will learn most effectively when they are healthy, safe and secure, when their individual needs are met and when they have positive relationships with their peers and the adults who care for them. We provide a setting that encompasses a nurturing, safe, challenging and stimulating environment, where children are able to enjoy learning and grow in confidence and self-esteem, that help them to achieve their fullest potential. 

We meet the statutory requirements for: 

• Safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare. 

• Providing adults with appropriate qualifications, training, skills and knowledge. 

• Maintaining records, policies and procedures for the safe and efficient management of the setting and to meet the needs of the children. 

• Planning and organisation to ensure that every child receives an enjoyable and challenging learning and developmental experience tailored to meet their individual needs.