Our Curriculum
Our Curriculum
Our ethos is learning should be fun and learning happens through play, exploration and skilful support from sensitive adults. Children have opportunities to explore and develop own interests as well as being introduced to new ideas through our themes. Our themes are primarily based on our children’s interests but we also take into consideration changes in seasons, festivals, celebrations and current events. We believe a mixture of free non directed activities which allow children to experiment, explore and practice skills and some adult supervised activities which introduce something new they may otherwise not be exposed to will fully support and develop a child’s awareness and learning.
Our activities, themes and children’s interests are supported with hands on live experiences we buy in, which are presented and supported by experts such as chick hatching experience, caterpillar to butterfly, mobile farm, exotic animal handling and science experiments such as slime making. We take children on autumn walks and go on a pirate treasure hunt with a map, we organise trips to the theatre or bring the show experience to our preschool with our Christmas magic show or mobile theatre performing we are going on a bear hunt. These extra curricular activities bring the awe and wonder to our themes meeting the “Cultural Capital” element of Ofsted 2019 recommending that all children regardless of background and ability can access these experiences levelling up learning opportunities and access to memorable and meaningful activities.
Cultural Capital; “the essential knowledge that children need to prepare them for future success” and goes on to state “all children should experience awe and wonder” (Ofsted 2019)
We provide a range of resources without limiting that to “real” or “natural” we believe there is benefit in exploring properties of all materials including wood, metal and plastic (resources we have had for many years and would be more environmentally unfriendly to dispose of and replace). We are mindful of not overloading senses with lots of bright colours, labels and hanging displays but we also want to provide an environment which is reflective of home and the world around us with colour and a range of contemporary and old furnishings. We believe that by restricting colour or properties of materials you are limiting experiences and learning opportunities. We use resources which offer real experiences such as large plates, old clothes for dressing up and full size dustpan and brushes but we also offer child size resources enabling small hands to manoeuvre them. All children are different and we provide a range of materials and resources to suit and support these differences.
We use Development matters 2021 to underpin our curriculum. This is a development guide showing milestone expectations which informs our observations and assessment checkpoints.
The statutory guidance for early years require us to provide activities and support for children to develop in 7 areas of learning;
Prime Areas – Personal, Social and Emotional (PSE), Communication and Language (CL) and Physical Development (PD).
These are the areas of development that is outlined as important to focus on for our 2 year olds and underpins everything in the early years. We continue to assess and support these areas through your child’s time at preschool. The 2 year progress check will report how your child is progressing in these prime areas, there will also be an opportunity for you to discuss any development concerns you the parent or your keyperson may have and contribute to this report.
Specific areas of learning – Literacy (LD), Mathematics (MD), Understanding the World (UW) and Expressive Arts and Design (EAD).
As your child progresses through preschool we start to look at the other 4 specific areas of learning as stated above. We provide a variety of activities and resources to enable your child to meet their full potential in all 7 areas of learning. During their final term at preschool your keyperson will complete a transition report outlining your child’s progress within the 7 areas of learning. Parents will have an opportunity to contribute to this process.
Special Education needs and disabilities (SEND) If concerns are raised by the parent or keyperson we will seek permission from parents to observe and develop a plan to support the child through the Plan Do Review (PDR) targets process. Initially this may mean some short term targeted support or in the event of communication delay a referral to Speech and Language therapy (SALT)services. In the event of extended support required we will complete a SEN support plan and the First Assess Communication Tool (FACT). We have access to support from other professionals through the Milton Keynes SEN team, who will support with strategies for the PDR targets and referrals to other professionals. The SEN plan will show information from the parent, development milestones, the strategies in place to support your child and the progress your child makes. This plan can then be added to throughout your child’s time at preschool and will be transferred with your child to their next setting. This plan can also be used as evidence in the event that your child needs to progress to Education Health Care Plan (EHCP, a document which sets out the education, healthcare and social care needs of a child who needs extra support in school, beyond that which the school can provide within their normal financial budgets).
Our on going observations and assessments breaks down our learning intentions so that staff can assess that children are on track in achieving learning intentions. Staff support children who are falling behind with targeted support. Regular keyperson supervisions with the manager ensure children’s achievements or delays are discussed and ideas shared to ensure children can reach their full potential.
Our statements of Intent are printed in bold under each area of learning. Our statement of how we implement are under each statement of intent. Under the statements of intent are assessment and monitoring checkpoints of milestones as stated in the Development Matters documentation 2021. Keyperson progress tracking enables the manager to assess the children’s overall development progress to ensure that there are no areas of our curriculum which do not allow children opportunity to meet development checkpoints in the Development Matters curriculum guidance, ensuring our children remain on track in meeting the Early Learning Goals within all aspects of the EYFS.
