Early Years at Tower Hill Primary School
Intent
At Tower Hill Primary School our core vision is that ALL children will be equipped with the skills, knowledge, understanding and empathy that will lead to them being able to make their own choices in life, successfully. Early Years is a vital stage of children’s development and one we value at Tower Hill. We believe that children’s time in the early years should be fun, engaging, physical and suitably challenging. We value the importance of creating an engaging environment where all children feel safe and valued, ensuring all our pupils thrive.
The developmental needs of our children are the foundation of our curriculum. Our curriculum planning is supported by the EYFS statutory framework and the non-statutory guidance in development matters. We have also established the following Tower Hill goals developed from, our observations of the children, our discussions with the parents, our understanding of our local community, and our transitions from previous settings (where applicable). We are flexible in our approach and adapt our curriculum and teaching to the children's interests, needs, and next steps.
- Terrific Talker
- Independent Individual
- Fantastic Friend
- Stunning Sportsperson
- Talented Tool User
- Brilliant Bookworm
- Wow Writer
- Master of Maths
- Eager Explorer
- Caring Classmate
- Proud Performer
- Clever Creator
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’ March 2021)
At Tower Hill children learn skills, acquire new knowledge and demonstrate their understanding through the seven areas of learning and development.
The prime areas are:
- Communication and language
- Physical development
- Personal, social and emotional development
The specific areas are:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the world and
- Expressive arts and design
Observation, planning and assessment
- All areas are delivered through a balance of adult led and child initiated activities, with a key focus on the prime areas as these are crucial for a child’s holistic development and future learning. These skills will support the child as they extend their development in the specific areas with the understanding that none of these areas can be delivered in isolation from the others.
- At Tower Hill we place the individual child at the centre of our planning. This is achieved through detailed observation and assessment. Each topic and area of learning is flexible and takes into account children’s cultural capital and individual needs to ensure children are making the best start by considering ways to support the child to strengthen and deepen their current learning and development.
- Our curriculum is carefully planned to help children work towards the Tower Hill Curriculum and Early Learning Goals. Children take part in activities that build on and extend their interests and develop their intellectual, physical, social and emotional abilities. Children are encouraged to communicate and talk about their learning, and to develop independence and self-management.
- Through play, our children explore and construct learning opportunities that aid in their understanding of the world. The adults model play and play sensitively with the children fitting in with their plans and ideas. The children are encouraged to explore new things and assess the risks involved. We talk to them about how we get better at things through effort and practice and that we can all learn when things go wrong. They put their concepts into practise as they learn self-control and the value of following rules. They have the opportunity to think creatively alongside other children as well as on their own.
- Tapestry is used to capture each child’s learning journey. Tapestry videos also provide a tool to enable children to take part in their learning and assessment. Tapestry can be downloaded as an app by parents/ carers to access at home. Learning from school can be viewed as well as learning experiences and adventures shared with family and friends at home uploaded to use to share within school.
