Early Years Foundation Stage
Nursery → Reception
OUR CURRICULUM INTENT
Our Early Years Provision at Winsford High Street Community Primary School is driven by the needs of our pupils who join us from varied starting points and with varied life experiences. We strive to ensure that by the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage the children at Winsford High Street will be happy, confident, resilient, independent learners who embody the characteristics of effective learning to allow them to transition smoothly into Year One.
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AT THE HEART OF OUR CURRICULUM Our curriculum is rooted in rich experiences, stories, rhymes, conversation, play, direct interaction and purposeful teaching. Across Nursery and Reception, children build communication, personal and social development, physical confidence, early literacy, mathematical understanding, knowledge of the world, creativity and independence. Vocabulary is deliberately developed and revisited so that children increasingly understand, use, explain and apply what they know. |
OUR CURRICULUM JOURNEY
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NURSERY BUILDING FOUNDATIONS Children encounter, explore, practise and begin to use new knowledge, language and skills through meaningful experiences. |
RECEPTION DEEPENING UNDERSTANDING Children build on these foundations through increasingly precise vocabulary, more sustained thinking, direct teaching, application and greater independence. |
OUR CURRICULUM PRINCIPLES
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Experience → Key knowledge → Vocabulary → Application |
Introduce → Revisit → Deepen → Apply |
Introduce → Practise → Refine → Apply |
We look beyond completed activities or the number of vocabulary words introduced and focus on what children increasingly know, understand, use and apply. Adults deliberately revisit and strengthen previously taught knowledge through stories, sustained shared conversations, continuous provision, purposeful questioning, Drawing Club, play experiences and explicit connections to new learning. This helps children to recall, deepen and apply what they have learned in different contexts.
BRINGING THE CURRICULUM TO LIFE
Pedagogy, inclusion and ambitious learning for every child. Working together to achieve.
HOW CHILDREN LEARN - A BALANCED APPROACH TO LEARNING
Children learn through a balance of child-initiated play, carefully planned continuous provision, first-hand experiences, purposeful adult interaction and direct teaching. Adults observe, model, question, explain and engage in sustained shared thinking, extending children’s ideas and helping them make connections with previous learning
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PLAY |
PROVISION |
EXPERIENCES |
ADULT INTERACTION |
DIRECT TEACHING |
Through these experiences, children develop an increasing independence, curiosity, persistence and willingness to have a go through the characteristics of effective learning:
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PLAYING AND EXPLORING |
ACTIVE LEARNING |
CREATING AND THINKING CRITICALLY |
AN INCLUSIVE CURRICULUM
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EARLY IDENTIFICATION • ADAPTATION • PARTICIPATION • PROGRESS We identify children’s needs early and work to secure the right support promptly. WellComm is used to support the identification and development of language and communication skills. Where children need additional help, targeted interventions and additional adult support are provided. |
Continuous provision enables children to access learning at an appropriate level while remaining part of the same ambitious curriculum. Visual timetables support all children with routines, transitions and expectations. Adults use observation, interaction, Makaton, modelling, repetition and knowledge of the individual child to adapt support and help children participate, communicate and make progress.
Big Ideas That Build Across Our EYFS Curriculum
These recurring curriculum threads begin in Nursery and are revisited and deepened in Reception. They are not additional assessment criteria; they help make the conceptual progression across our EYFS curriculum visible.
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BIG IDEA |
NURSERY FOUNDATIONS |
RECEPTION DEEPENING |
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Change |
Seasons change; caterpillars become butterflies |
Life cycles; growth; environmental change |
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Community |
Family, belonging, jobs |
Local community, occupations, significant people |
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Place |
Home, maps, routes |
Landmarks, cities, transport, wider world |
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Environment |
Caring for plants and the natural world |
Conservation and pollution |
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Communication |
Stories, talk and sharing experiences |
Explaining, discussing and retelling |
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Number relationships |
Counting, comparing and recognising quantity |
Composition, addition, doubling and sharing |
Please see the full Early Years Curriculum by selecting the file below: