Curriculum Implementation

At Bearbrook Combined School and Pre-School, we use the Department for Education Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (2021) and Every Child Matters (2003) to underpin our curriculum and planning. Teachers use statutory and non-statutory guidance to plan for, teach and assess each child, carefully scaffolding their experiences to promote learning and progress.

Across the Pre-School and Reception all staff observe, question and provide the children with resources needed to build on their next steps. Careful planning of in the moment, Guerrilla Curriculum, directed teaching and child-initiated provision helps build upon this.

This is intertwined carefully into the seven areas of learning:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Communication and Language
Physical Development
Literacy
Maths
Expressive Arts and Design
Understanding the World

Staff will ensure children develop skills and abilities in relation to the three key characteristics of effective learning which are:

playing and exploring - children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’
active learning - children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements
creating and thinking critically - children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.

These characteristics of learning underpin the seven areas of learning. Planning across Foundation Stage is typically book based and encompasses all areas of the curriculum. Children will have times where they are directed to work with an adult and times when they can independently access activities across the setting (Explore and Learn/Child Initiated). Phonics is taught daily across Pre-School and Reception.

Learning is captured in a variety of ways. Quality interactions drive the children to progress and allows them to steer their learning with thought provoking questions. Tapestry is used to collect Wow moments, we encourage families to share these moments from home as well.