Intent

At Sandon JMI we firmly believe in the importance of the Early Years and providing a curriculum and environment that develops a lifelong love of learning. We want all our children to grow up as kind, resilient, and happy individuals with the foundations they need to flourish as they continue their learning journey with us. Our intent is to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum, designed with the needs and interests of the children in mind. High priority is given to developing children’s vocabulary and language and we want children to become confident, capable, and enthusiastic readers. The Early Years setting at Sandon JMI provides an inclusive, caring, and engaging place to learn and grow. 

Implementation

In our reception class, Fawns Class, children have access to our well-resourced indoor and spacious outdoor areas to facilitate their learning.

A typical day consists of a mixture of adult-led sessions (e.g. phonics, literacy, maths, RE, PE) and child-initiated play (known to our children as 'busy learning'). Learning through play is a crucial part of Early Years as this is when the children show the highest levels of involvement and motivation, leading to excellent progress and learning that is meaningful to the children. During ‘busy learning’ children have the opportunity to play, create, and explore the world around us.

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, there are 7 areas of learning which underpin our curriculum:

• Communication and Language
• Physical Development
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

Our EYFS curriculum is planned to incorporate the children's interests, as well as broaden their understanding, curiosity and love of the world around them. Curriculum topic planning is completed in advance of each half term, however daily activities, teaching, and learning are also led by the children’s interests. Our small class size enables us to give children lots of individual attention ensuring that every child makes good progress from their starting points and children’s individual needs are met.

We develop children's communication and language in a vocabulary-rich environment through our daily routines, conversations with peers and adults, interacting with stories and interesting texts, and engaging with a range of songs. New vocabulary is introduced during adult-directed sessions, ensuring children have the language they need to be ready for year 1.

Children's physical development is supported through the activities children engage with during 'busy learning'. In Reception we engage with 'busy fingers' (planned fine motor activities) to develop strength and coordination, supporting children in their writing and handling tools. We also love joining in with warm-up dances each day to wake up our whole bodies and support the development of gross motor skills. Weekly PE lessons are planned through Get Set 4 PE, supporting children's gross motor skills, balance, turn taking and listening skills.

Personal, Social and Emotional development is supported by weekly PSHE lessons, planned using the Jigsaw scheme. Being able to get along with other people is a crucial life skill; we want our children to develop kindness, be able to solve disputes and have the independence, resilience and self-belief they need when they go into a larger class and work independently or with others.