EYFS
Intent, Implementation and Impact
Crofton Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is comprised of Crofton Cubs, a pre-school for children from 2 to 4, and our Reception year. Our curriculum is progressive and ensures a smooth transition for all children. The curriculum serves as the cultural capital that we recognise our pupils need to flourish.
Intent
We are committed to nurture the development of each child as a unique individual. We encourage them to develop independence, enthusiasm, emotional regulation and a positive attitude to learning to ensure they are ready for the next stage in their learning whether that be reception or KS1. We aim to support children to develop their working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control. We use consistent pedagogical approaches focusing on play-based and child-centred learning supported by knowledgeable adults. Our theme based, ambitious curriculum follows the Early Year Foundation Curriculum and has our Crofton Curriculum Drivers embedded throughout.
Global Awareness
We are aware that many children at Crofton are familiar about life in Petts Wood. We aim for children to learn about the world beyond Petts Wood by looking at globes, Google maps and atlases. A trip to London helps the children to understand our capital city. We think about where family members live and how we may travel to visit them and what it is like to live in these different locations.
Aspiration and Stereotypes
Crofton has an ethos of high expectations; we encourage our children to be broad minded and to develop understanding of their future prospects and life choices. We aim to inspire children that the world is their oyster. We encourage girls to aspire to become engineers, doctors and scientists. We support boys to realise that they are not limited to typically masculine roles and that they are not to be limited by stereotyping. Through our curriculum we also ensure that we teach children about a wealth of different jobs that could spark their interest in the future.
Environment
Our school is based in a suburban area surrounded by extensive green spaces. We support the children to understand the impact they individually have and the difference they can make collectively for our local community and the future of our planet. We encourage the children to be community champions by litter picking in the local community and teaching them the importance of recycling.
Cultural Diversity
We value the diversity within the Crofton Schools. Open-mindedness and respect are at the forefront of our curriculum and ethos. We aim to create an inclusive environment where all children feel included and valued. We celebrate the different cultures, languages and religions of the children within our schools and explore the benefits of differences, similarities and diversity within the schools and wider world.
Implementation
Crofton Cubs
- Prior to joining we spend significant time with children and carers to ensure we get to know each family, including personalised settling-in sessions, adapting the number and length of sessions to reflect the needs of each child.
- We prioritise the uniqueness of each child in our ambitious curriculum and continually revamp our classroom resources to ensure they reflect the cultural capital of each cohort.
- We take part in various cultural events including Diwali and Lunar New Year celebrations and invite parents to share their own cultural experiences with the children.
- With a particular focus on language and communication, key workers focus on developing and extending vocabulary daily throughout planned activities. In addition, all children are given the opportunity to take part in tailored performing arts sessions to help develop confidence. Children are encouraged to perform termly to an audience of parents and carers.
- We encourage the children to learn about their local community by visiting local shops, the church, by inviting community helpers into the setting and inviting our local seniors to join the children in the pre-school for craft and gardening activities.
- We encourage children to develop their focus in order that they can learn for extended periods of time using circle times, surprise box activities and small group sessions with our skilled practitioners.
- Utilising the modular play equipment and extensive outdoor environments we support our children to develop gross motor skills. Alongside this all children are given the opportunity to work with sports coaches on a regular basis and take part in a sports day in the summer term.
- All Crofton Cubs pupils have a key worker aiding their transition to school life. The timetable supports children to work towards the routines within the pre-school and is planned to increase the time the children are able to focus in exploration and adult directed activities. Key workers provide quality interactions, support and challenge throughout the day ensuring feedback supports further development. The curriculum focuses on an enabling learning in both indoor and outdoor spaces.
Crofton Reception
We devote significant time and energy to get to know new families and to maintain excellent home school links with existing families by visiting or making contact with all feeder pre-schools and nurseries and attending the local transition event with local borough SENCOs. Following this, children are invited to taster sessions with their new class friends whilst parents and carers meet school staff and attend information sessions led by senior leaders prior to starting school.
Our Crofton Reception Curriculum is progressive and ambitious, based on the skills and knowledge we want the children to learn during their time in EYFS. We focus on language and communication; all staff are trained to support children with speech and language differences recognising the fundamental importance to develop as successful writers.
We take care that our curriculum builds on the knowledge and understanding of all children whatever their starting points. Additionally, our curriculum is thoughtfully structured to promote cross-curricular connections. First hand experiences enrich the knowledge for all children. There are half termly themed dates where children are immersed in different experiences. This approach enables us to address all aspects of children's development, including fostering an understanding of the world and nurturing expressive art and design skills. Through cross-curricular planning, we encourage sustained thinking and active learning, ensuring that our pupils are engaged, challenged, and inspired throughout their educational journey.
In Reception the timetable allows time for exploration and adult directed activities. Each class has a teacher and teaching assistant, they receive training to ensure all staff are up to date in pedagogical methods and child development. Daily sessions of high-quality teaching in English, phonics (following the Read Write Inc scheme) and hand-writing, enable the children to learn the core skills needed to read and write. Following these core teaching periods, pupils transition into group work settings, where they collaborate with a dedicated staff member to hone their individual learning objectives. This focused group time allows our teachers to systematically assess comprehension, swiftly address any misconceptions, and offer real-time verbal feedback. This immediate feedback loop has a profound impact on the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, ensuring that our pupils progress effectively.
We teach daily Maths sessions, following the White Rose maths program to ensure that our children develop a deep understanding of number. During class inputs we introduce pedagogical approaches that are focused on immediate formative assessment. Within each lesson methods such as Think Pair Share and Show-Me Boards work to ensure teachers are extremely confident of where children are with their learning. This enables teachers to provide extra support and different teaching strategies when needed.
In addition to high quality whole class teaching sessions our pedagogical approach continues to be play-based and child-centred. During child-initiated activities, children are given opportunity to follow the characteristics of effective learning, follow their own interests and develop further understanding of our themes. Opportunities are also given for children to practice their new learning within their play.
Ample time is planned for children to engage in exploration. The curriculum provided a diverse array of experiences within our learning environment, fostering engagement and challenging our pupils' curiosity. These experiences are carefully crafted to promote both child-initiated and adult-directed learning. During this time, staff interact with children, furthering their language skills and moving their learning forward.
Our EYFS curriculum extends seamlessly to both indoor and outdoor classrooms, with equal emphasis on the value of learning in both settings. We believe that the natural world offers a rich tapestry for exploration and discovery. All children access our Forest School and learn with our Forest School teacher. The outdoor learning complements the indoor learning environment. Our curriculum encourages children to recognise the importance of the local community.
Our outdoor classroom was designed in association with a playground equipment specialist. It is designed to support the children to develop fine and gross motor skills, exploration and critical thinking. In addition to classroom activities, our curriculum extends to include enriching trips to the theatre, visits to the local library, and regular visits to the junior school garden to enhance the educational experience.
Impact
The impact of the richly planned curriculum enables our children to become happy, considerate and confident communicators with a passion to become lifetime learners. All children make good progress from their starting points by becoming deeply engaged in exploration and directed activities. They develop strong foundations across the curriculum and are ready for the next stage of learning.