If you are interested in your child joining our nursery (Saplings) or reception class then please read our admissions information, which can be found under Policies/Admissions. There is a link straight to that page below:

The Early Years curriculum is relevant to our pre-school (Saplings) and reception children. The information below describes the ethos behind our early years teaching here at Birdwell.

Intent

The curriculum at Birdwell in Early Years is designed to provide a broad and balanced education that meets the needs of all pupils. It facilitates them to gain the skills, knowledge and understanding as they start out on their educational journey, supporting them to progress from their individual starting points and preparing them for the next stage of their education.
Our Birdwell Early Years ethos across our Nursery and Reception Classes is to support children’s personal, social and emotional development so that they feel safe and secure and are ready to learn.
We teach the seven areas of learning through a termly topic which is themed based on the children’s interests, however, we also ensure that we cater for each child’s individual interests and fascinations thorough our daily continuous provision which is carefully planned responsively, building on their previous experiences.
We recognise that all children come into our setting with varied experiences and staff work hard to ensure that the learning opportunities provided widen their knowledge and understanding of the world, setting ambitious expectations for all children.
The curriculum celebrates diversity and supports the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Those children with particular needs, including SEND and PP, are supported appropriately allowing them to be successful.
 

Implementation

At Birdwell, we offer a curriculum which is broad and balanced and which builds on the knowledge, understanding and skills of all children, whatever their starting points. The aim of our curriculum is to develop curious, motivated and resilient children who leave the early years with a love of learning and with the essential skills and knowledge to prepare for future success.
We achieve this through:

• Carefully planning sequences of activities that provide meaningful learning experiences, developing each child’s characteristics of learning.
• Providing high quality interactions with adults that demonstrate and impact on the progress of all children.
• Using high quality questioning and interactions to check understanding and enhance their learning
• Carefully assessing, through observations, which are recorded on Tapestry and shared with parents. These are used to inform the next steps of learning and meet individual needs.
• Developing an effective and engaging environment both indoors and outdoors so that the children can access all areas of learning at any one time.
• Allowing children to be successful in their attempts at many open-ended activities and using sustained shared thinking and effective feedback to help facilitate their next steps in learning.
• Suggesting home learning opportunities with information about what has been taught, allowing parents to build on their child’s school experiences at home.

Impact

Children demonstrate high levels of engagement in activities, developing their speaking and listening skills, enabling them to access all areas of learning and communicate to both adults and children. Children develop skills across all areas of the curriculum including physical development, communication and language, literacy, and mathematics, using these in different ways.
Children develop their characteristics of learning and are able to apply their knowledge to a range of situations, making links and explaining their ideas and understanding. Children are confident to take risks and discuss their successes and failures with adults, drawing on their experiences to improve or adjust what they are doing. Children have developed a wider sense of the world around them and can draw on these experiences during interactions with others and link this to both previous and new learning.
Children in both our Nursery and Reception classes will be happy, motivated, inquisitive and successful learners. From their own starting points, children will make excellent progress academically and socially, developing a sense of themselves so that they are well prepared for both Reception and Key Stage 1.