Early Years Foundation Stage

EYFS Curriculum map 2024 - 2025

Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum

Intent

Children begin their learning journey in Reception at Deer Park School, and it is here that we equip them with the foundations for a lifelong love of learning, laying the building blocks for future success. We strive to develop a warm, welcoming, and stimulating environment where children can explore, discover, and grow, surrounded by dedicated staff who are passionate about helping them reach their full potential.
Our curriculum is ambitious, offering both a holistic and child-centered approach to learning, and teaching knowledge and skills needed to equip them as they continue into Year 1 and beyond. We aim to foster a love of learning by offering a stimulating learning environment, both inside and outdoors. We use questioning to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and reasoning skills. We want their vocabulary to be enriched and talk to be part of the day-to-day learning experience, while encouraging the children to build confidence and fluency in their communication skills. We love reading in Reception and aim to instil that love and enjoyment of books.
We strive to work in partnership with families to support the children's learning and to value and celebrate the diversity of cultures, traditions, and experiences that make our school community strong.
We seek to teach children to recognise, understand, and manage their emotions, as well as develop empathy for others. We value each child as an individual and the unique contribution they bring to our school, recognising that every child has their own strengths, interests, and learning style. We aim to help our children to develop a sense of self-awareness and self-regulation, to better equip them to navigate challenges, build strong relationships with others, and develop the resilience and confidence they need to succeed.
We aim to inspire our children to be active learners, critical thinkers and to develop a ‘have a go’ mindset by celebrating their enthusiasm and effort. By the end of Reception, children will be well-prepared to achieve the Early Learning Goals, making a strong start and smooth transition to the National Curriculum in Year 1.

Implementation

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum focuses on the ‘prime areas’ – Communication and Language, Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development – which are critical for the development of young children. It then emphasises the ‘specific areas’ – Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding of the World and Expressive Arts and Design. We use the stages of development in ‘Development Matters’ to support our curriculum, whilst following these seven areas of development.
We carefully plan teaching, experiences and opportunities to deliver a curriculum that inspires and challenges every child. Our weekly timetable includes specific teaching in each of the EYFS seven areas of learning as well as a weekly text that sparks imagination and fosters a deeper understanding of the world around us. We follow the Little Wandle systematic synthetic phonics scheme (see our school Reading Curriculum) and children in Reception have a daily phonics session as well as reading three times a week.
Alongside our planned curriculum, children in Reception enjoy building on their experiences with ‘Welly Walks’ to explore the natural environment at Marble Hill Park, celebrations shared by parent visitors, hosting caterpillars, dentists, authors and other outside visitors and a trip at the end of the year.
During ‘Exploring Time’, we follow ‘in the moment’ planning; following the children’s interests through a carefully planned self-select environment, including the use of a woodwork bench and enhanced provision that evolves as the children develop and make progress through the year. We ensure the environment is set up to support the Characteristics of Effective Learning and staff are skilled at using questioning and observation to support children move forward in their learning. We use the Zones of Regulation to support children’s personal, social and emotional skills.
We work closely with families in the Early Years and use Tapestry to support home-school links. Next steps are clear for all children and families can support us to ensure children make good progress. We also work closely with local nurseries and parents at the start of the year to ensure a smooth transition for all children as they start their school career at Deer Park School. Towards the end of Reception, we prepare the children for Year 1, working in collaboration with the Year 1 staff to ensure a happy and enjoyable move up into Key Stage 1.

Impact

At the end of Reception, children’s progress is formally assessed using the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile against the Early Learning Goals and these outcomes are shared with parents. Staff use Tapestry to record timely assessments, ‘wow’ moments and to build a picture of the child’s learning journey in Reception and parents are warmly invited to contribute to this.
The impact of our curriculum will also be measured by how effectively it supports our children to develop into well rounded individuals who embody our school’s HEART values. With the successful implementation of our Early Years Curriculum, the children will have developed a strong foundation, well-prepared for the years ahead.