Curriculum
At Earlham Nursery School we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Guidance, set out by the Department of Education, which identifies the expected outcomes for children at the end of Reception.
In September 2022 the Department for Education updated the support materials for early years setting, including Maintained Nursery Schools, which required schools to develop their own curriculum models.
We have work closely with Jan Dubiel, a nationally and internationally recognised specialist in Early Childhood Education, to develop our own bespoke curriculum, which reflects our community, families and pupils, as well as meeting the statutory requirements set out by the Department for Education.
Take a look at our unique curriculum. This document identifies the main learning objectives staff will teach children during their time with us at the nursery.
Staff use a range of strategies to ensure children have access to this broad and rich curriculum. These include:
- Direct teaching
- Group sessions
- Working alongside a child during their child initiated play
- Setting up provocations which excite and motivate children to develop their own ideas, consolidate their learning and enables them to refine their thinking.
At Earlham Nursery School we use the government documents to guide our curriculum planning. We have whole school themes which each class use as a starting point for their weekly planning. Each theme includes focus songs, stories, rhymes and poems and key vocabulary linked to the theme. Staff uses their observations of the children to plan activities linked to the children's interest and motivations. Staff use this knowledge to assess every child and consider their next steps in learning and how these can be incorporated into the curriculum.
At Earlham Nursery School we use Letters and Sounds, Phase 1 within our nursery classes. This document supports the children to develop pre reading skills including:
- sound discrimination
- rhythm and rhyme
- alliteration
- voice sounds
- oral blending and segmenting
Once children demonstrate they are ready to move onto a synthetic phonics scheme we introduce Jolly Phonics, a Department for Education validated systematic synthetic phonics programme.
Letters and Sounds Phase One
If you want to learn more about our approach to teaching synthetic phonics please visit the website below:
