Intent

At Manor Hill we intend to provide motivating first-hand experiences whilst encouraging our children to build a life-long love of learning.

We aim to  provide a knowledge rich curriculum, whilst also building on children’s existing skills and knowledge encouraging them to use what they already know to succeed and progress.

We recognise that all children are unique and we celebrate individual differences and skills to enable all children to feel valued and have pride in their achievements.

We have created open ended ‘topics’ to provide knowledge, self-belief and cultural capital to allow for success in the rest of their school journey and beyond.

We also highly value child-led learning and will follow the interests and fascinations of the children in each cohort. The curriculum is rich in language and vocabulary, role-modelled by staff, to ensure children can communicate effectively.

Teaching of communication and early reading is at the heart of the curriculum to ensure the foundations for future learning are met.

A systematic, synthetic phonics approach is in place, ensuring that all children learn to read words and simple sentences accurately by the end of reception, with their reading books linking to the sounds they know.

Implementation

Our curriculum follows the Early Years Statutory Framework for the Early years Foundation Stage.

We use Development Matters to support the curriculum and for each area of learning we plan exciting and engaging opportunities to continuously move the children’s learning and development forward.  This includes following a topic or class theme, where we combine all areas of learning in a cross-curricular way to develop a wide-ranging vocabulary which underpins the children’s learning.

This may also include following the children’s interests and making the most of those ‘in the moment’ teachable opportunities, where learning can be maximised if children are engrossed in an activity due to personal fascinations or interests.

Each year we will take into account the nature and needs of the class and create a blend of whole-class, guided, adult led and child led play, which suits our cohort. We follow the characteristics of effective learning and give opportunities to play and explore, be active and think critically and creatively.

Children have access to both indoors and outdoors and are able to make choices about where they learn best ,and teachers and staff will ensure that there are opportunities for all areas of learning both indoors and outdoors.

Staff are expert in teaching a systematic, synthetic phonics programme and ensure that children practise their reading books that match their phonic knowledge.

Parents are regularly updated on their child’s learning and progress through on online profile which allows parent feedback and contributions, and through regular interactions with staff.

Staff quickly identify children that need support in any area of learning and provide focused intervention that is targeted and age-appropriate to support individuals to make expected progress.

Manor Hill is a positive place to be and we embed our values of creativity, resilience, collaboration and exploration in everything that we do.

Impact

In Early years at Manor Hill, we aim to impact our children by creating the foundations to support them into Key Stage 1 and beyond.

Our children develop a thirst for learning.  They have a detailed knowledge and skills across all seven areas of learning in age appropriate ways. 

They develop and demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning through high levels of curiosity, concentration, resilience and enjoyment.  They take pride in their work and recognise their achievements.

Children develop their vocabulary and use it effectively across the EYFS curriculum.  They enjoy and listen attentively and respond with comprehension to familiar stories, rhymes and songs that are appropriate to their age and stage of development.

By the end of Reception, most children will achieve the early learning goals and will be ready to transition into Key Stage 1 as independent, resilient learners, with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.