EYFS

Learning through exploration and experience

Children learn best when they are actively involved, interested and able to experience learning in ways that are meaningful to them.

Our EYFS curriculum reflects the four principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage:

A Unique Child • Positive Relationships • Enabling Environments • Learning & Development

These are supported by the characteristics of effective teaching and learning – playing and exploring, active learning, and creating and thinking critically.

Staff use observation, high-quality interaction and ‘planning in the moment’ to recognise opportunities to scaffold, extend or challenge children’s learning.

Children are encouraged to explore, investigate, communicate, make choices, solve problems and develop their curiosity throughout the school day.

 

The Seven Areas of Learning

Newman’s EYFS curriculum is organised around the three Prime Areas and four Specific Areas of learning and development.

Communication & Language

Developing a voice and connecting with others

Communication is fundamental to learning at Newman.

We provide a total communication environment, recognising and respecting each child’s individual method of communication. Children are supported to express their thoughts, ideas, needs and preferences and to respond to other children and adults.

Learning takes place through stories, role play, drama, songs, quality interactions and continuous provision. Staff work alongside NHS services to implement speech and language programmes where appropriate, with approaches including Attention Autism and Intensive Interaction used to support engagement and communication.

As children progress, they develop vocabulary, listening and attention and their ability to understand and respond to increasingly complex communication.

Physical Development

Moving, exploring and becoming more independent

Children have daily opportunities to develop their physical skills.

We support the development of gross motor skills, including running, jumping, climbing and movement, alongside the fine motor control and dexterity required to manipulate objects, tools and writing implements.

Learning takes place through PE, outdoor provision, continuous provision and targeted activities. Approaches identified within Newman’s EYFS curriculum include Dough Gym, sensory circuits, Rebound Therapy and hydrotherapy, where appropriate to the individual child.

Physical development also contributes directly to independence. Children are supported to participate in their own health and self-care routines, including eating, using cutlery, handwashing and meeting their personal care needs.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development

Belonging, wellbeing and self-regulation

We want every child to feel safe, secure, valued and that they belong.

Children are supported to develop a positive sense of themselves, recognise their emotions and become increasingly aware of their own needs and those of others.

Daily routines, circle time, play and role play provide opportunities to develop relationships and social understanding. Individual support plans and targeted interventions can help children develop strategies for self-regulation and emotional wellbeing.

Every child has opportunities to develop secure relationships, make choices and become a valued member of their class community.

Literacy

Building the foundations for reading and writing

We create a language and literature-rich environment in which stories, books, songs, nursery rhymes, symbols and mark-making form part of children’s everyday experiences.

Children learn that print carries meaning and begin developing the skills that underpin reading and writing.

Daily Literacy and phonics sessions are complemented by stories, sensory experiences, props and opportunities for mark-making and writing throughout continuous provision.

Newman’s curriculum identifies Read Write Inc. (RWI) as its approach to daily phonics, with a weekly letter-sound focus supporting early reading and writing.

Most importantly, we want children to develop a love of books, stories and reading for pleasure.

Mathematics

Exploring numbers, patterns, shapes and measures

Children develop their mathematical understanding through practical experiences and the world around them.

Learning includes number, counting, measurement, pattern, shape and space, with children encouraged to recognise the importance of mathematics within everyday life.

Newman uses White Rose Maths to support daily Maths teaching, complemented by carefully planned opportunities within both indoor and outdoor provision.

Adults recognise mathematical opportunities within children’s play and use these moments to extend thinking, introduce new concepts and develop problem-solving skills.

The aim is to foster both mathematical understanding and an enjoyment of exploring and solving problems.

Understanding the World

Discovering the world around us

Children are encouraged to be curious about their surroundings and explore the natural and human world through first-hand experiences.

They observe, investigate, question, experiment, predict and make decisions, developing their understanding through sensory exploration, outdoor learning, STEM activities and real-life experiences.

Children use the outdoor environment daily and can access Forest School experiences and visits linked to different aspects of the environment. The curriculum also identifies experiences such as visits from mobile farms and small animals.

Children begin developing an understanding of the past, different environments and the wider world while also exploring technology and learning about online safety from the beginning of their school experience.

Expressive Arts & Design

Imagining, creating and expressing ourselves

Creativity provides another important means through which children can communicate and understand their world.

Children explore and express their thoughts, ideas and feelings through art, design and technology, music, movement, dance, imaginative play and role play.

A broad range of media, resources and sensory experiences allows children to experiment, make choices and discover different ways of creating.

Adult-led experiences are complemented by child-led creative exploration, practical activities, investigation and purposeful play.

We encourage children to take confidence and pride in their creative achievements while developing curiosity and openness to different materials and sensory experiences.

Communication • Independence • Resilience

Newman’s three curriculum drivers are embedded throughout EYFS.

Communication

Children develop early communication skills and establish clear communication systems appropriate to their individual needs. Communication is supported throughout play, exploration, adult interaction and active learning.

Independence

Children begin to develop their sense of self and take an increasingly active role in everyday routines, including self-care and regulation. Enabling environments provide opportunities to make choices, initiate activities and become increasingly independent.

Resilience

Children develop resilience through daily experiences and continuous provision. They encounter choices, challenges and problems that encourage them to persevere, explore different solutions and begin to think critically.

Learning Through Play & Continuous Provision

Following curiosity and creating opportunities

Continuous provision is an important part of Newman’s EYFS approach.

Carefully designed indoor and outdoor environments allow children to revisit learning, practise developing skills, explore their interests and initiate their own activities.

Adults observe children’s engagement and recognise ‘teachable moments’, using high-quality interactions to scaffold learning or introduce an appropriate level of challenge.

This allows planned curriculum learning and children’s individual interests to work together, creating experiences that are both purposeful and personally meaningful.

Preparing for Key Stage 1

Strong foundations for future learning

The EYFS curriculum provides the foundations upon which children’s later learning is built.

As children progress towards Key Stage 1, communication and language provide foundations for increasingly sophisticated listening, speaking and understanding.

Early literacy develops towards word reading, spelling and language skills, while mathematical learning develops towards greater confidence and fluency with whole numbers, counting and place value.

Exploration within Understanding the World provides foundations for later Science, History, Geography and Computing, while physical, social, emotional and creative development continue to support children’s learning across the wider curriculum.

Progression is carefully shaped around the individual child so that transition into Key Stage 1 builds upon what they already know, understand and can do.