Overall - Curriculum Intent at Spencer Nursery School

Spencer Nursery School

Spencer Nurtures Success

The Spencer Curriculum

At Spencer Nursery School our purpose is to provide a caring learning environment with high standards and expectations, where young children flourish and prepare for their next stage of learning. Our school ethos is embedded in our core values: Courage, Achievement, Respect and Enthusiasm.

Curriculum Intent

Our curriculum is designed to support children from the earliest stages of their development and to teach them the skills and knowledge that they need to become independent learners who are ready to progress on to their next stage of learning at primary school.

Alongside the early years foundation stage framework and the non-statutory Development Matters guidance, we have planned our Spencer curriculum to take account of our locality and pupils’ cultural capital.

Our curriculum is underpinned by the following key drivers:

• Language Development – speech, language and communication skills are crucial to a young child's overall development. Being able to communicate their needs, understand others, express ideas and interact with others are the foundations for their learning and development in all areas. Throughout their time with us in the nursery, we expose the children to a rich language enviornment and support them to develop their spoken language, introducing them to key vocabulary as an essential tool to unlock learning opportunities across the curriculum.
• Knowledge – providing our children with a knowledge rich early years curriculum, ensuring they develop the skills and learning behaviours to become lifelong learners. We aim to make learning irresistible and spark the interest, enthusiasm and curiosity in our children. Careful sequencing ensures that children build on their learning over time.
• Experiences – we want our children to be curious and inquisitive about the world around them and to ask questions that furthers what they know. Practitioners plan a variety of engaging experiences to introduce children to new concepts and ideas. As we have a relentless focus on language, we develop their vocabulary and understanding of the world around them.
• Inclusion – all children deserve to have an equal chance of success. Therefore, we are committed to ensuring that all children feel connected to our nursery school curriculum. Equality, equity, diversity and representation are at the heart of our teaching and learning.
• Relationships – good relationships early in life help children to connect with others, support them to self-regulate their emotions and build positive friendships. For this to happen, relationships need to be warm, caring and responsive. As experienced providers of childcare and early years education, we are fully committed to developing positive relationships with all of our children, which is enhanced by our Key Person system. We also educate children, in an age-appropriate way, to show that regardless of background they share many similarities and that everyone can be successful and achieve.

Our staff work to enable pupils to achieve, regardless of learning needs, disability, religion, gender, culture or social background. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, as well as well-being, are prioritised to ensure children have concern for others and an appreciation of diversity.

We are committed to working with our families and the wider local community to ensure that multi-cultural, multi faith and the ever-changing nature of the United Kingdom is understood and valued. We promote the importance of identifying and combating discrimination and to understand that we all have the freedom to choose and hold different faiths and beliefs. 

Curriculum Implementation

Our curriculum incorporates the statutory requirements of the early years foundation stage framework along with other experiences and opportunities which best meet the learning and developmental needs of the children in our school.

We actively safeguard and promote the welfare of all our children. We recognise that children will elarn most effectively when they are healthy, safe and secure when their individual needs are met and when they have positive relationships with the adults who care for them. We aim to provide a setting that encompasses a safe and stimulating environment where children are able to enjoy learning and grow in confidence that helps them to achieve their fullest potential.

The curriculum for the Early Years Foundation Stage sets out three prime areas and four specific areas of learning, all of which are equally valued. Our children meet learning experiences for all seven areas through a healthy diet of both adult-initiated/adult-directed and child-initiated play along with a problem solving approach to learning. These approaches enable them to develop a number of competences across all the areas of learning.

Getting our young children excited about new learning is the first step of any new programme of study. Activities are planned which set the scene and provide the context for future learning.

Throughout their time at our Nursery school, the children explore their own interests and are introduced to new areas of learning. They are given the opportunity to gain new skills and knowledge through a range of challenging activities, thus enabling them to make progress and develop their confidence across a range of curriculum areas.