Welcome to Reception!
EYFS Curriculum Statement for Ashmead Combined School
INTENT
We aim to implement a curriculum that is designed to give ALL children, the knowledge, self-belief and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.
Our curriculum is planned and developed to build upon what children know and can do. We aim to increase children’s knowledge and skills for their future learning. There’s a strong focus on ensuring that our children acquire a wide vocabulary, communicate effectively and secure a knowledge of phonics, which gives them the foundations for future learning, especially in preparation for them to become confident and fluent readers.
Our school’s approach to teaching early reading and synthetic phonics is systematic and targets all children learn being able to read words and simple sentences accurately by the end of reception.
We have the same academic ambitions for all children and adapt our curriculum to effectively meet their need. For children with particular needs, such as those with SEN and/or disabilities, their curriculum is designed to meet their needs.
IMPLEMENTATION
We believe that early years’ education should be as practical as possible and in reception we have an ethos of learning through play. Play is an essential and rich part of a child’s learning process and supports them in all areas of development.
In reception we provide both structured and unstructured play opportunities both inside and outside. These activities are designed to engage children in practical, first-hand experiences which will support them to discover, explore, investigate, develop their personal interests and areas of curiosity and help them to make sense of the world around them. These opportunities are provided through child initiated and adult supported activities, embedded in opportunities for all to engage in sustained shared thinking. Play opportunities are also set up to provide children with experiences to apply newly acquired knowledge and skills, demonstrating their levels of understanding.
Over the EYFS, teaching is designed to help children remember long term what they have been taught and to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts.
The teaching of phonics ensures that children practise their reading from books that match their phonics knowledge.
IMPACT
By the end of reception most children achieve the early learning goals and are able to use their knowledge of phonics to read accurately and with increasing fluency. Most children are ready for the next stage of education. Our children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and those with SEN and/or disabilities achieve the best possible outcomes from their individual starting points and begin to diminish learning gaps. Our children develop detailed knowledge and skills across the seven areas of learning in an age-appropriate way.