At OLQM, our vision for the Early Years is to provide children with the skills and knowledge that they need in their ‘toolkit’ by the end of Reception, in order to enjoy learning throughout KS1 and KS2, tackle the National Curriculum and grow into well rounded individuals who make a positive impact on society.
Curriculum intent
For our curriculum intent, we use the ‘educational programmes’ within the EYFS statutory framework as our starting point, which outline the essential knowledge and skills that the children need to acquire during their time in the Early Years. We break this essential knowledge down into ‘composite’ parts, and then map the development of this key knowledge out into five ‘checkpoints’ across the EYFS.
These checkpoints are outlined in our own ‘OLQM toolkit for learning’ (see link below). We use the checkpoints to assess the children and ensure that they are acquiring the key skills they need across the EYFS, in preparation for their entry into Year 1.
Curriculum implementation
Our curriculum implementation is founded in the four principles with underpin the EYFS:
Unique child: We recognise every pupil in our setting as a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident, and self-assured. We adapt our teaching and learning environment to match the needs of the individual children in the setting.
Positive relationships: We believe that children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships, and we pride ourselves on knowing and nurturing the children in our setting.
Enabling environments: We plan our learning environments carefully, to cater for the individual needs and interests of the children in our setting, with teaching staff on hand to support.
Learning and development: We recognise that children learn and develop at different rates, and we use our checkpoints to track pupil progress and ensure that our teaching is directed accurately, according to where children are on their journey.
Curriculum impact
Teachers and Assistant teachers use formative assessment and assessment against the checkpoints to evaluate the impact of day-to-day teaching and the learning environment and make adjustments accordingly.
