The Early Years at Rockbeare aim to nurture curiosity, ignite creativity and foster a love for learning.

'Most of what children need to learn during their early childhood years cannot be taught; it's discovered through play'

Albert Einstein

Our EYFS principles underpinned by our school values:

Confidence: building confidence in their abilities.

Active Engagement: encouraging active participation and exploration.

Reasoning: developing logical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Enrichment: providing opportunities for deeper understanding and enrichment.

Intent:

At Rockbeare School we offer a rich and stimulating curriculum for our children in the Early Years Foundation stage. It is our intent that every child will develop physically, cognitively, socially and emotionally whilst achieving academic excellence.

At Rockbeare we aim to provide a stimulating learning environment that promotes challenge, exploration, adventure and love of learning. We believe that Christian principles underpin all of our work with the children and these are the values we encourage children to reflect upon; creativity, respect, peace, perseverance, collaboration and confidence.

We believe that all children should be valued for their individuality. As an inclusive setting we are passionate in allowing children to achieve their full, unique potential. With this in mind, each year is a new starting point by which we carefully develop our flexible EYFS curriculum. Our curriculum follows children’s interests which enables a child to have input in the Learning journeys we embark on.

We strive for our pupils to be healthy, independent, self-regulated learners who positively with others and as such there is a strong emphasis on the prime areas of learning; physical development, Personal, Social and Emotional Development and Communication and Language, including developing Oracy.

We design our provision in the Early Years to ensure a good balance between adult-directed and child-initiated play to ensure all children are appropriately supported and challenged. Warm and positive relationships between adults and children, consistent routines in an enabling learning environment, and strong relationships between home and school, ensure that our pupils have the best support to achieve their full potential.

We aim to develop the whole child and have high aspirations for their learning in line with the ELG’s. We follow the statutory EYFS framework and use development matters when planning for the class. As we are a Year R/1 class we use curricular goals for our non-core subjects which enables us to meet the needs of both cohorts through a continuous provision approach. The curricular goals cover a broad curriculum but we also add other goals depending on the children’s needs and gaps. By the end of the Reception year we intend for all of our pupils to have achieved at least good progress from their starting points and ensure they have the right skills, knowledge and attributes for a smooth transition to Year 1 and beyond.

Play is an integral part of learning and this is at the heart of our Early Years curriculum. Adults will play with the children extending their learning through skills. We believe that the correct mix of adult directed and uninterrupted child-initiated play ensures the best outcomes for pupils.

We aim for our children to be confident and independent, to believe in themselves and interact positively with others.

Implementation. 

At Rockbeare, we create a nurturing environment where young learners explore, discover and grow.  Our implementation focuses on play-based learning, fostering curiosity and building strong foundations in communication, creativity and social skills.  Through purposeful activities, rich experiences and caring interactions, we empower children to thrive and develop a lifelong love for learning. 

IMPACT

Through targeted teaching, teaching and continuous provision activities, children will develop in the seven areas of learning in order to achieve good levels development at the end of the year.  Careful assessments will identify gaps in learning and this will be addressed through targeted tasks and continuous provision practice.