Early Years (Pre School) 2023 - 2024

Mrs Doig

Mr Knapton

Mrs Smith

Mrs Lloyd

“Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. 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. A secure, safe and happy childhood is important in its own right. Good parenting and high quality early learning together provide the foundation children need to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up” (Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage - setting the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five. 2021)

At Brookdale, we aim to provide a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum that will enable each child to develop personally, socially, emotionally, physically, creatively and academically to their full potential. Each child is valued as an individual; teaching and learning is rooted in the understanding that children progress at different rates. The curriculum in our Early Years is delivered through a balance of adult-led and child-led learning, meeting all the requirements of the educational programmes in the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and using guidance from non-statutory documents including Development Matters and Birth to Five Matters. Our curriculum allows us the flexibility to respond quickly to children’s new interests and/or needs and create an environment in which they develop independence and learn to play, share, co-operate, explore and investigate through a wide range of rich, varied and imaginative experiences.

Our curriculum encompasses seven areas of learning and development. All areas of learning and development are important and interconnected. Three areas especially underpin all learning and thinking, building a foundation for igniting children’s curiosity, engagement and enthusiasm, forming relationships and thriving as individuals and part of the school family.
These are called the prime areas:
· Communication and Language
· Physical development
· Personal, Social and Emotional Development.

Four additional areas of learning help children to develop skills and knowledge whilst applying the prime areas. These are called the specific areas:
· Literacy
· Mathematics
· Understanding the World
· Expressive Arts and Design

During their time in our Early Years, children access a highly stimulating environment in which to play, learn and grow which reflect the seven areas of learning and foster positive attitudes to thinking and learning. There is daily planned provision both indoors and outdoors where the Early Years team challenge, model, scaffold and support learning carefully, accounting for the individual interests, motivations and needs of all children in our setting.

Summer Term 2024

Our Big Question this term is...

Who helps me?

Over the course of the term we will be learning about who can help us. We will explore different people such as doctors, firefighters, nurses, teachers, family members, bus drivers and many more. We will discuss what they do and how they can help us. The children will also be learning how to keep themselves safe.

Also, this half term we will be looking for signs of spring, investigating our outdoor environment to look for seasonal changes. We will be planting seeds and taking care of the plants as they grow. This will link with 2 of our focus stories, Jack and the Beanstalk and Jaspers Beanstalk.

We will be exploring different forms of transport, beginning with more familiar forms such as cars, trains and bicycles and how we can move around. We will then be exploring how we might get to space, using our focus stories, Whatever Next!, Alien Tea on Planet Zum-Zee and We're off to look for Aliens.

As part of our phase 1 phonics activities, we will be engaing in activities to develop understanding of rhythm and rhyme, oral blending and segmenting and alliteration.

After the half term we will spend time supporting those children moving into F2 in September with a variety of transition activities. We will be looking forward to summer, exploring seasonal changes from spring to summer and talking about the seaside and ocean life. This will link in with some work on the environment and we will be looking at protecting our oceans through our focus text The Undersea Cleaning Spree.