Curriculum

Our main aim at Ellergreen Nursery School and Childcare centre, is to foster happy and independent children who thrive in an environment which is fun, caring and full of new and exciting challenges and experiences. The children are given opportunities for both indoor and outdoor learning on a daily basis, with activities being planned to stimulate their senses and learning styles.

Every day is carefully planned by our qualified Early Years Teachers, to ensure that the children are offered both child initiated and teacher led activities in order to enable all of the children to achieve their full potential. The children experience specialist teachers coming in teaching them, football, music and yoga (we try to change these experiences termly, so the children can enjoy different exciting lessons)

We offer a happy, homely and vibrant atmosphere with an emphasis on forging strong home/school links, to ensure the children make a confident and happy start to their education.  Parents are welcomed into school and we very much operate an open door policy!

DFE Development Matters

A view of how children develop and learn in the early years.

A Balanced and Rich Curriculum

EYFS Quality of Education, Intent, Implementation and Impact at Ellergreen Nursery School and Childcare Centre

At Ellergreen Nursery School and Childcare Centre we intend that our curriculum educates all the children in knowledge, skills and understanding to be effective, inqusitive, curious, independent learners and influence their wider thinking across all areas of the curriculum.  Our curriculum is designed to give children the skills they need to succeed.  It is coherently planned and builds upon what children know and can do.  Staff ensure that the children develop skills across the seven areas of learning in an age-appropriate way.  The Prime areas are well planned for and it is through these three areas that the specific areas are taught.  There is a balance between teacher and child initiated activities.  All subjects are assessed through Tapestry against key objectives and progression of skills for each area of learning.

We take pride in providing a highly inclusive environment, where learners of all abilities demonstrate high levels of enjoyment in their education and make good progress in all areas of learning.  Children at all levels are helped to achieve their potential.  Those who are most able are challenged and supported through being offered tasks which provide opportunities for greater depth and those who present with a barrier to learning are encouraged and given targeted support to embed skills, to develop at their own pace or simply to learn in a style that best suits their individual needs.  Staff create awe and wonder with meaningful and rich experiences.  We place strong emphasis on the moral, social and cultural development of all our children.  Our school community has identified a clear set of values that underpin expectations for behaviour for all members of our school family.  Every child is recognised as a unique individual.  We celebrate and welcome the differences within our school community.

IMPLEMENTATION

At Ellergreen Nursery School and Childcare Centre we encourage children to demonstrate their attitudes and behaviours to learning through the Characteristics of Effective Learning.  Our curriculum is designed to recognise their prior learning by providing first hand learning experiences and allowing children to develop interpersonal skills, build resilience and become creative, critical thinkers to enable them to challenge themselves.  We ensure the content of the curriculum is taught in a logical progression so that children build on prior learning.

We recognise that reading is a key to all other learning and ensure quality phonic sessions are being taught daily.  A phonics session uses the Letters and Sounds / Jolly phonics materials.

As well as reading aloud to children, telling stories and rhymes.  We encourage parents to read with their child and to recognise the importance of reading to their child on a daily basis to promote an enjoyment and love of reading.  We also recognise that children need a vast range of vocabulary in order to suceed in life.  This is taught explicity through pre teaching sessions, Chatterbox and Speech and Language interventions.

IMPACT

We believe that every child is unique - they all have the potential to achieve; and our broad, varied curriculum allows every child to excel now and in the future based upon their own personal strengths, interests and core values.  The curriculum design ensures that the needs of individual children including SEND and disadvantaged, and small groups of children can be met within the environment of high quality first teaching supported by targeted interventions where appropriate.

Parents are valued as first educators and every effort is made to inform them of the EYFS curriculum whilst providing them with the tools to continue in school learning at home.  Parents are encouraged to use 'Our School App', Tapestry and Easy Peasy.  Parents are also encouraged to inform school of their child's interests and acievements at home as these are an essential part of each child's learning journey.

Phonics and Reading in the Early Years

Mathematics