Our EYFS Curriculum

 At Offham Primary School our intent is to plan and deliver a carefully considered curriculum that meets the needs of all children. Our curriculum is ambitious and designed to give children, the knowledge, self-belief, and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. It builds on what children know and can do, towards increasing substantive knowledge and skills for their future learning.

By using the CUSP Early Foundations offer we plan our curriculum in three parts:

1. Foundational knowledge: what pupils should know and be able to do throughout the EYFS and how this will support their development and prepare them for Key Stage 1.

2. Opportunities and experiences: how this foundational knowledge can be learnt through play and through guided activities that will allow pupils to explore, experiment with and think hard about new and important concepts.

3. Structured Story Time: core texts that will introduce key language, ideas and themes that pupils will need to access the foundational knowledge, built into a framework that uses all that we know about effective literacy instruction.

Our Reception teachers have closely followed the National Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum in order to hone an EYFS provision that meets the needs of our children and community. The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum includes three prime areas of learning and four specific areas as follows:

Prime areas: are fundamental, work together and support development in all other areas.

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Communication and Language
• Physical Development

Specific areas: include essential knowledge and skills for children to participate successfully in society.

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

The Characteristics of Effective Learning 

When planning out the curriculum we used the research and guidance which can be found in 'Development Matters' (linked below) to inform our choices and decisions. The Characteristics of Effective Learning, outlined in this document, are an integral part of the Early Years and are important when carefully considering the learning environment and the opportunities that will be available.

The Characteristics of Effective Learning include;

‘Finding out and exploring’,

‘Being willing to have a go’,

‘Being involved and concentrating’ and

being a ‘creative and critical thinker’.

Our learning environment is carefully planned with these characteristics in mind and we constantly adapt to meet the needs and interests of our children. At Offham, we value the impact that getting provision right can have on a child's success and journey. The Characteristics of Effective Learning can be developed both indoors and outdoors and can be targeted through engaging activities that encourage curiosity and exploration.

Our EYFS Learning Environment

 We provide an enriching, purposeful, and stimulating learning environment both indoors and outdoors which promotes exploration and curiosity. Play is an incredibly important part of the learning process; this paired with adult-led tasks, ensures we provide a balanced curriculum with the same academic ambitions for almost all children. For children with particular needs, such as those with SEN and/or disabilities, their curriculum may be individualised, when necessary, to meet all of their needs.

In Reception, our resources are chosen to meet the children’s needs and promote learning. Our curriculum focuses on teaching a balance of skills and knowledge through play and is based on the needs of the current cohort. Regular assessments are carried out through discussion with children, observations of children during play, adult-led group and whole class sessions. The knowledge of the children, is then used to inform the substantive knowledge that we plan to explicitly teach throughout the term.

Our curriculum and care practices promote and support children’s emotional security and the development of their character. We pride ourselves on putting pupil wellbeing at the heart of everything we do.

Phonics, Reading and Oracy at Offham

 At Offham Primary School there is a sharp focus on language and vocabulary development, increasing opportunities for conversations and ensuring that all children can communicate effectively. By following the Essential Letters and Sounds synthetic phonics programme, we provide children with a secure knowledge of phonics, giving them the foundations for future learning and preparing them to become confident and fluent readers.

Essential Letters and sounds is both systematic and cumulative, ensuring that children learn to read words and simple sentences accurately by the end of Reception. We follow CUSP (The Unity School's Curriculum for Literacy) which has helped us to develop a strong literature spine for Reception, providing and immersing children in a range of high-quality literature that gives children a mirror in which to see themselves and offers a window for children to see a world beyond their own. 

 Reading is seen as an integral part of our EYFS environment with relevant texts in every learning area and weekly class trips to our wonderful school library. Children practise their reading both at home and in school using books that match their individual phonic knowledge and our Reception Team promote a love of reading by carefully planning adult-led Literacy lessons based around stories or books of interest which link to the topic of learning.

We understand the fundamental importance of all pupils having access to rich language from the earliest possible stage. We also understand that great Early Years practice responds to pupils’ needs, talents and interests. For this reason, using the CUSP EYFS Core Literature Spine we have set out over twenty-five core texts that have been carefully selected for the reception year. These core texts contain key themes, ideas and language that we believe are fundamental for laying strong foundations in the EYFS and beyond. This also leaves space in the academic year for the early years team to select key texts based on the individual cohort’s needs.

 Each core text will be presented with a Structured Story Time that include: vocabulary instruction, fluency, lots of oracy opportunities and the chance for children to be posed with thinking hard questions.

White Rose Maths in Reception 

Using the White Rose Scheme for Maths within our EYFS setting ensures that our Reception Team are knowledgeable and confident about the teaching of Early Mathematics. We provide regular adult-led Maths sessions where children can gain a greater understanding of a range of mathematical concepts. Following these sessions, the children are encouraged to apply their knowledge in their play; through the high-quality provision provided. We ensure that children have sufficient practice to be confident in using and understanding numbers as well as developing a strong basis for more complex problem-solving and reasoning later on. Across EYFS, the teaching is designed to help children remember long-term what they have been taught and to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts. White Rose Maths builds a strong foundational knowledge and provides a smooth transition into KS1 maths lessons.

Forest School Sessions

 In Reception we use the woods and the forests as a means to build independence and self-esteem in our children. We are lucky to have a fabulous Forest School base within the local Offham Woodland. One of our level 3 Forest School practitioners take the Reception children on a weekly visit to the woodland for the 2 hour afternoon session. Our Forest School curriculum is well linked with our Reception curriculum with links to the natural environment and the changes the we can observe over time. Personal skills of teamwork and problem solving are developed and the woodland environment is used to learn about more abstract concepts such as mathematics and communication. You can find out more in the Forest School section of our website.

Parental Partnership

 At Offham Primary School, we value working alongside parents and recognise the positive impact successful relationships have on a child’s learning and social and emotional development. Parents are the experts in their children; their first and enduring educators. We welcome parents into our setting to be partners in their child's journey, and offer regular 'stay and play' sessions. Offham children are confident and take pride in their learning and love to share this with their families.