Curriculum

At White Rock Pre-School we are passionate in supporting all children to achieve their full and unique potential by being the best version of themselves they can be. In order to do this we ensure that our curriculum is guided by the four overarching principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage;

Every child is a unique child who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
Children learn to be resilient, strong and independent through positive relationships.
Children learn and develop well in enabling environments with teaching and support from adults, who respond to their individual interests and needs and help them to build their learning over time. Children benefit from a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and / or carers.
Importance of learning and development. Children develop and learn at different rates.

Unique Child

Within our curriculum we make sure that we support and build upon Cultural Capital - we find out what sorts of experiences children arrive at pre-school with so that we can consider what we offer to complement their home learning and ensure that children have all the essential knowledge, skills and experiences for further education.

We understand our individual children learn in different ways and at different rates and we will guide, develop and support their learning using the characteristics of learning most appropriate to them. Staff pay heed to HOW the child learns and the Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning – playing and exploring, active learning and creating and thinking critically.

We want to teach our children to be curious, confident and secure - to overcome challenges and be “ready to learn”.

Positive Relationships

At White Rock Pre-School the most important way in which we deliver our curriculum is within a warm, caring atmosphere with positive interactions. The children`s well-being is at the heart of everything we do and that is our priority. We want to teach our children to be kind and caring and polite members of the community and we use our “Golden Rules” to promote British values. We want to teach our children how to be resilient, strong and independent.

Learning and Development

We base our curriculum planning on the 7 areas of learning within the Statutory Framework:

Prime areas

Personal, Social and Emotional development
Communication and Language
Physical Development

Specific Areas

Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the World
Expressive Arts and Design

The three prime areas are at the core of the planning, and communication and language underpins ALL areas of learning within our curriculum and continues to be developed within our provision, teaching, learning and planning methods. We advocate a strong love of books – we have books throughout the setting and we always have a “book of the week” to help encourage the development of speech and language and literacy skills especially the acquisition of vocabulary, reflecting the roles these play in improving children’s outcomes. Our continuous provision demonstrates a strong emphasis upon supporting children’s understanding of the world along with enabling them to express themselves imaginatively and creatively, using art and design.

We “Plan for Potential” - staff are clear on the learning potential provided by the activities on the weekly planning that enhance the continuous provision. We also plan ahead for the term so that we can deliver a wide range of experiences to capture the children`s imagination and ensure a good structure and depth of learning. We ensure that there is a good progression of learning based on our knowledge of child development and the “building blocks” for the relevant areas of learning.

We want to teach children to be as ready as they can be for school in all of the areas of learning.

Enabling Environments

Within our curriculum staff provide a varied and stimulating environment to provoke the children`s sense of awe and wonder. Staff are reflective in their practice and observe and evaluate the effectiveness and value of planned provision within the inside and outside learning spaces. They constantly respond to children’s levels of interest and engagement, and adjust the learning environment accordingly – likewise they are consistently responsive to learning opportunities so the children can be sensitively supported to their maximum potential. Planning and interactions are supported by progressive sequences of questioning to develop thinking, understanding and language for reasoning. Staff are mindful of the structure and routines of the day that establish expectations.

The weekly planning has a holistic approach and ensures that each area of learning is supported and that activities can be scaffolded to suit different levels of development so that all children are catered for no matter what stage they are at. We have a balanced mix of adult led and child initiated activities.

We foster strong partnerships with parents for comprehensive shared learning.

We want to teach our children to be able to use the environment positively and constructively, to link experiences and show curiosity, persistence and a progressive learning pattern.

Staff understand that teaching is in every activity provided within all of the learning environments. There are no activities that occur in the setting which adults do not consider to be opportunities for teaching.