Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum

Click here to find out more about teaching and learning in Nursery.

Click here to find out more about teaching and learning in Reception.

Intent

At Barrow Hedges we believe that every child deserves the best possible start in life, giving them the support that enables them to fulfil their greatest potential. We will accept nothing less. We know that children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances. We provide a secure, safe and happy learning environment, through high-quality teaching and learning experiences to support the development of skills, knowledge and understanding, providing the right foundation for good future progress throughout their time with us at Barrow Hedges and beyond.

The EYFS Curriculum at Barrow Hedges:

• Provides a structured, secure, nurturing and well-resourced and accessible learning environment both inside and out, which meets the individual developmental needs of all pupils.
• Provides a secure foundation by delivering exciting and rich learning and development opportunities planned to meet the needs, next steps, and interests of each individual child. Learning and development is assessed and reviewed regularly in an ongoing cycle of ‘observe’, ‘assess’, ‘plan’, ‘teach’.
• Enables pupils to become highly confident, well-motivated and happy learners, developing necessary skills and positive behaviours for learning.
• Enables their early development to take place within the caring and nurturing environment of Barrow Hedges Primary School, in line with the ethos and values, which the school upholds and promotes.
• Provides equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and well supported.

Overarching Principles

At Barrow Hedges we embrace the ethos of the Early Years Statutory Framework and believe that:

• Every child is unique. Children are constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
• Positive relationships enable children to be strong and independent learners.
• Children learn and develop well in enabling environments. We ensure that our early years’ environment responds to children’s individual needs.
• Strong partnerships between practitioners and parents/carers help children to thrive.
• Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates.
• Our curriculum covers the education and care of all children including children with special educational needs and disabilities.

To see how our overarching principles are implemented at Barrow Hedges, click on the tabs to the right of the page.

Learning at Barrow Hedges is personalised because we know our pupils well.  We support children’s learning and development by closely matching what we provide to every child’s current needs, interests and next steps.

At Barrow Hedges, children learn to develop positive characteristics of effective learning which move through all areas of learning. They learn to play and explore through active learning. Pupils learn to create and think critically as they interact with their environment, their peers and the adults in the setting.

We provide a well-planned, carefully structured curriculum to support learning and development, building on past experiences and achievements, understanding that all pupils are unique and develop at different rates. The curriculum covers the education and care of all children in Nursery and Reception, including children with special educational needs and disabilities.

See the attachment at the bottom of the page to find out more about what to expect in the Early Years.  This is a helpful overview for parents. 

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Booklet 2024

What to Expect in EYFS

Ms J Whittle (née Mrs J Covey) is the Early Years Leader