Early Years

Intent

At Sandcross we believe in providing children with an outstanding education based on the Early Years Framework with exciting and engaging experiences built upon their individual needs.  We do this within a safe and stimulating environment that gives them the opportunity to become ‘lifelong learners’. We inspire all the children to flourish and become confident, independent and resilient individuals by careful and stimulating planning through our curriculum, school drivers and values that flow through all that we do.    

We are committed to providing children with half termly enrichment activities to build on their learning. This ensures that all children are provided with the cultural capital needed in order for them to grow a deeper understanding of the world around them.

“Children in the Early Years at Sandcross are happy, independent and successful learners.”

Implementation 

Staff

All of our staff are knowledgeable of children and how they learn. Our ethos is to ensure that staff are engaged, nurturing, flexible, fun and good role models. 

Environment 

Our accessible environment allows the children to free flow inside and outside in order to make links between and access all seven areas of learning independently. Our well planned provision enables the children to develop key skills, whilst taking risks, in order to ensure the children can be successfully challenged and engaged. 

Standards and Progress

We create a high quality, personalised and bespoke curriculum which provides inclusion for every child. We endeavour to ensure that all children can make rapid progress from their starting points to the end of the year. 

Our Early Years Curriculum

The Early Years Foundation Stage is based upon seven areas of learning, divided into three Prime Areas and four Specific Areas.

Prime Areas of Learning:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development is enabling children to develop a positive sense of themselves and of others.

We aim to develop:

• Relationships with other people
• Independence
• Self-discipline
• Respect for other people, for belongings and for self
• Co-operation 
• Respect
• Managing feelings
• Children’s confidence in their abilities 
• Positivity in themselves 
• An understanding of appropriate behaviour in groups 

Physical Development is helping children to develop their gross and fine motor skills, self-care and a positive sense of well-being.

We aim to:

• Build confidence in what they do, including taking risks
• Provide activities with physical challenges
• Develop spatial awareness and co-ordination
• Develop understanding of health and fitness
• Develop fine and gross motor skills
• Ensure understanding of the importance of personal hygiene 
• Ensure understanding of the importance of personal safety
• Ensure children can attend to all self-care needs
• Provide opportunities for children to be active and interactive 
• Provide the children with opportunities and an understanding of how to make healthy choices 

Communication and Language is developing understanding, listening and language.

We aim to: 

• Provide opportunities to develop language and vocabulary at home as well as school
• Encourage communication and language development through collaborative work and play
• Use language as a basis for literacy and learning development 
• Extend children’s attention and listening skills
• Provide continual opportunities for conversation with adults and with peers
• Develop good communication skills
• Develop good questioning and conversational skills
• Provide opportunities to experience a rich language environment 
• Children’s confidence and skills in expressing themselves 

Specific Areas

Mathematics is building on early numeracy skills and developing mathematical understanding in number, calculating and shape, space and measure.

We aim to:

• Provide a wide range of imaginative and enjoyable activities
• Develop specific mathematical language
• Provide opportunities to experiment with numbers, shapes and measures through practical activities
• Provide opportunities for problem solving and challenge
• Provide opportunities to develop skills in counting, understanding and using numbers

Literacy is promoting phonic skills and early reading, comprehension and writing. 

We aim to do this by providing opportunities for:

• Communication
• Sharing books, rhymes, poems and music
• Role play situations
• Opportunities for writing during both adult-led and child-initiated learning
• Activities which develop phonological awareness
• Developing reading skills
• Phonics following the Read, Write, Inc scheme 
• Access to a wide range of reading materials 

Understanding the World is helping children to make sense of the world around them.

We aim to:

• Stimulate interest and curiosity of the environment
• Help children communicate
• Help children explore and question issues of difference
• Give experience of practical activities
• Build investigation skills
• Investigate different types of technology
• Provide children with opportunities to explore similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, whilst drawing on their own experiences
• Provide exploration in their own environment 
• Explore processes and change 

Expressive Arts and Design is enabling children to make connections between art, music, dance, role play and imaginative play.

We aim to provide:

• A wide range of activities that children can respond to using all of their senses as appropriate
• Opportunities to express ideas through different mediums
• Opportunities for self-expression through role-play and musical activities
• Opportunities to develop imagination and creativity
• Opportunities to perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories in time with music 
• Opportunities for children to share their work and creations 

Impact 

Children make rapid progress from their starting points within a child centred context. They thrive in their social, emotional and physical development, along with developing an excitement and love for learning. Children are challenged and are confident with taking risks independently. They have a smooth transition into their following year and will talk positively about their Early Years experiences in years to come.