Vision

Learn together, grow together is our school motto. We support all members of our school community – our staff, our families and our children—to make and keep this pledge so that our children learn, grow and thrive. Our curriculum has been developed by staff after careful reflection on the needs of our children at Springfield. Our curriculum belongs to them.

When our children start their Springfield journey, we aim to plant a special seed that we hope stays with them for life: a love of learning. We want all of our children to come to school every day excited about learning new things, confident to try new experiences and enthusiastic about facing new challenges. Woven through our curriculum are rich and engaging learning experiences which we hope become lifelong memories – both in the knowledge, skills and understanding our children develop, as well as the joy and sense of achievement they experienced whilst growing. By igniting their curiosity, we hope that our children will go into the world open and receptive to learning and growing throughout their life. 

Our EYFS curriculum consists of a carefully planned sequence of experiences we believe every child in the EYFS should have. We have been proactive about implementing the new EYFS Framework and our curriculum has full coverage of the Educational Programmes as well as Development Matters. We have carefully selected, taking into consideration our training with the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, high-quality picture books which offer a ‘way in’ to the powerful knowledge we want our children to have by the end of EYFS. A cross-curricular approach is then taken, focusing on hands-on experiences and highly engaging provision planning which give full curriculum coverage through the exploration of each text. Whilst learning in all areas is happening for all children across the year, each book-based unit has an area within ‘Understanding of the World’ which it focuses on, ensuring a broad and varied range of experiences across the year. 

Language development and oracy is at the heart of our entire EYFS curriculum. This reflects the fact that the majority of our children speak English as an additional language. With the EYFS often being their first English-speaking setting, our curriculum ensures both basic foundational language learning, as well as aspirational vocabulary instruction which is carefully planned and taught within each book-based unit. Our children become great communicators, speaking with confidence and fluency in a range of situations. We believe that helping children to find their voice is as important as them becoming readers and writers. We know that language acquisition starts with rich and frequent interaction and dialogue. Our time table ensures that adults have time to simply ‘be’ with the children, taking an interest in their own lines of inquiry and conversations they want to have. In this sense we are able to protect a child-led approach and simultaneously provide a clear vision and systematic curriculum which ensures progress for all.

How we plan and teach in the EYFS

In the Foundation Stage, the curriculum is made up of seven areas of learning:

• Personal and Social Development
• Communication & Language
• Physical Development
• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding of the World
• Expressive Arts & Design

The detailed unit overviews outline the main learning objectives in each area of learning, taught through each carefully selected core text. The full coverage of the Educational Programs for the EYFS are mapped on these units in a way which builds on and develops the children’s knowledge, vocabulary and skills over time. The core experiences all children will take part in are also mapped across the year to ensure that our children build the cultural capital they deserve. Naturally, these are supplemented by a wide range of additional learning experiences planned for by individual teachers. Teachers use the detailed unit overviews, alongside a skills progression which outlines the progression of skills in all areas across the year, to create comprehensive medium term plans tailored to their individual cohorts. Opportunities to practise and embed skills are planned for through engaging continuous and enhanced provision so that they are revisited and refined over time. All staff understand that in the early years, each interaction and each seemingly incidental moment is in fact teaching. Critically, our pedagogy upholds playfulness at its heart and teachers are committed to protecting the sanctity of each child’s early years by teaching through play at every opportunity. For the key areas of Reading and Writing, the Read Write Inc Phonics program is followed with fidelity and supplemented with additional opportunities to apply skills in creative contexts. For mathematics, our teachers are NCETM trained and deliver the Mastering Number program, which is supplemented with opportunities to apply skills in real life mathematical contexts.

Curriculum Overviews – Nursery and Reception

To find out more about our Nursery Curriculum, please follow this link: Nursery Curriculum Overview

To find out more about our Reception Curriculum, please follow this link: Reception Curriculum Overview 

How we evaluate learning in the EYFS

As our foremost aim is for children to become confident communicators in the EYFS, the impact of our EYFS curriculum can be most clearly seen and felt by interacting with our children in Nursery and Reception. The richness of the curriculum is also evident in the texts that we have selected for our children to read, the immersive, creative learning environments created by the teachers, the displays in our classrooms, class assemblies where children share their knowledge with their families and the showcase of rich experiences documented in the class floorbooks. Regular opportunities for children to reflect on learning by reviewing their floor book is provided, to enable the children to see how their learning is progressing. Children’s learning is assessed through EYFS staff’s on-going formative assessment which is formulated through the unique relationships between staff and children. Staff’s understanding of each individual child’s next step in learning is exceptional and is facilitated by a small-group or one-to-one approach to learning tasks. We also uphold a commitment to knowing and interacting with each individual through play, through which children are best able to truly showcase their independent application of learning taught through the curriculum.

Here you can find a reading list for Nursery and Reception children as well as useful app and website links to help support your child’s learning: EYFS Supporting Learning