Our Curriculum
At Edith kerrison it is our intention to offer children the best possible care and opportunities to learn. We believe children have enormous potential. We aim for our school to be a place where children are respected and their ideas and abilities are valued.. We know children learn best when they are secure, confident and actively engaged in their learning. Happy, harmonious relationships, children's enjoyment and choices, every child taking part are our priority to ensure physical and emotional well-being are high, children are thriving and learning is the focus of our work.
We offer a rich, broad and balance curriculum and a high quality learning environment. Our curriculum is an overview of all we want children to experience and know as a result of coming to Edith kerrison. We believe much of the best learning for young children will be driven by their own interests and fascinations and children learn best through play and exploration. We focus on providing what is right for children and making sure they have plenty of time to enjoy, practice, repeat, wallow and become secure. Different children do that in different ways. Children with SEND are included in our curriculum, learning alongside their friends with support.
Curriculum overview
Our highly trained staff engage learning across all seven areas of learning as outlined in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage 2021. Development Matters and our OPAL milestones helps to inform us of what children need to know to move through the curriculum; the means to build knowledge.
The following key elements of our curriculum are designed to be engaging, responsive and impactful for the children of Custom House and Canning Town.
Key elements of our curriculum:
1. Teaching and learning based on children's interests
2. Learning related to core books, songs and rhymes, nature experiences connecting children to the seasons and natural world, educational visits and visitors.
3. Core experiences - dance and movement, swimming sessions and football coaching
4. Our curricular goals for children (Please see our goals below)
Implementing our curriculum
Effective teaching and learning is a mix of different approaches. Children learn through play, self-exploration, adults modelling, by observing each other and through guided learning and direct teaching. A well-planned high quality learning environment indoors and outdoors is an important aspect of teaching and learning. The implementation of our curriculum is based on a clear pedagogy that recognises the following principles:
Implementing the Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning
These characteristics explain how young children learn
Playing and exploring - children investigated experience things and 'have a go'. They are engaged.
Relevant learning experiences that are engaging and interactive that facilitate ambitious, challenging and sustained learning is defined in one or more of the following areas:
For learning to flourish, children need rich opportunities that promote engagement, challenge, inspiration and fascinations, for example working collaboratively to build a bridge across a stream.
Concentrating and thinking critically - children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas and develop strategies for doing things. They are thinking.
For children's thinking to flourish, practitioners need to know the child and establish secure relationships. It is once such secure relationships are established that practitioners can tune into children's thinking. The use of thinking language can facilitate the means for children to reflect on their learning this includes; open ended questions, running commentaries, pondering and repeating children's language back to them to highlight their thinking.
Impact of our Curriculum - what children know and can do
Assessment
Children's learning will be monitored and checked to see they are making progress as they access the curriculum we provide. It is minute by minute. It involves practitioners scaffolding children's learning giving children extra support where needed to ensure all children are supported to meet their milestones for their age. Practitioners will give children precise and kind feedback helping and encouraging children to reflect and develop learning. We will celebrate children's success whether small steps or big strides.
For children who are struggling, missing out on the play and learning experiences we offer we take a good close look at their difficulty and think carefully about how we can best overcome it. Our focus is building on children's strengths and working on needs using our professional judgement and childhood development expertise acting quickly so that children are helped to keep up with their friends.
We celebrate children's learning and success with parents through online learning journals, special books, 'starting point' and 'spotlight' assessment meetings and reviews.
At Edith kerrison we believe we make the most difference to children's learning and development when we are with the children, playing, talking, listening, teaching new skills, knowledge and concepts rather than spending time evidencing their learning with photos and videos.
Cultural Capital: The essential skills and knowledge that children need to be successful.
Children will be nurtured. their individual talents and interests will be valued and developed through a rich curriculum.
As a result children's well-being and engagement will be high. They will be self assured, believing in themselves and their abilities..They will know that they are valued, that they are strong, capable and unique. They will have resilience and the perseverance to keep on trying when things are challenging. They will be powerful learners.
They will have the confidence to try new things, to take risks, make choices to be physically active and independent. Children will know how to communicate their ideas, beliefs and feelings, choosing different ways to do this such as drawing, dance, building etc. They will have experienced and remembered a wide range of words through stories, songs and rhymes. They will have the skills to make friends and will show kindness to others. They will know how to look after themselves, their friends, the school and their environment.
They will know about important mathematical and scientific concepts. They will have an understanding and respect for the world around them and the world beyond. They will have a desire to learn and be ready for their next stage in education.
If you would like to find out more about our curriculum please attend our workshops for parents (see parent courses and workshops) or contact Jo Aylett for a copy of our full curriculum and assessment policy. email: [email protected], Telephone: 020 74731735.
We offer a rich, broad and balance curriculum and a high quality learning environment. Our curriculum is an overview of all we want children to experience and know as a result of coming to Edith kerrison. We believe much of the best learning for young children will be driven by their own interests and fascinations and children learn best through play and exploration. We focus on providing what is right for children and making sure they have plenty of time to enjoy, practice, repeat, wallow and become secure. Different children do that in different ways. Children with SEND are included in our curriculum, learning alongside their friends with support.
Curriculum overview
Our highly trained staff engage learning across all seven areas of learning as outlined in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage 2021. Development Matters and our OPAL milestones helps to inform us of what children need to know to move through the curriculum; the means to build knowledge.
The following key elements of our curriculum are designed to be engaging, responsive and impactful for the children of Custom House and Canning Town.
Key elements of our curriculum:
1. Teaching and learning based on children's interests
2. Learning related to core books, songs and rhymes, nature experiences connecting children to the seasons and natural world, educational visits and visitors.
3. Core experiences - dance and movement, swimming sessions and football coaching
4. Our curricular goals for children (Please see our goals below)
Implementing our curriculum
Effective teaching and learning is a mix of different approaches. Children learn through play, self-exploration, adults modelling, by observing each other and through guided learning and direct teaching. A well-planned high quality learning environment indoors and outdoors is an important aspect of teaching and learning. The implementation of our curriculum is based on a clear pedagogy that recognises the following principles:
- Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and capable
- children learn to be strong and independent through positive reciprocal relationships and high quality care
- children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between parents and/or carers
- children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates.
Implementing the Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning
These characteristics explain how young children learn
Playing and exploring - children investigated experience things and 'have a go'. They are engaged.
Relevant learning experiences that are engaging and interactive that facilitate ambitious, challenging and sustained learning is defined in one or more of the following areas:
- skills - being able to do something, such as being able to pedal a trike
- Knowledge - knowledge such as knowing where to hang your coat, or knowing that you need to brush your teeth to keep them clean
- Concept - development of an understanding: such as some materials can alter their form e.g. water to ice
- Dispositions - displaying of behaviours that enhances learning such as willingness to 'have a go', to ask questions, to investigate
For learning to flourish, children need rich opportunities that promote engagement, challenge, inspiration and fascinations, for example working collaboratively to build a bridge across a stream.
Concentrating and thinking critically - children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas and develop strategies for doing things. They are thinking.
For children's thinking to flourish, practitioners need to know the child and establish secure relationships. It is once such secure relationships are established that practitioners can tune into children's thinking. The use of thinking language can facilitate the means for children to reflect on their learning this includes; open ended questions, running commentaries, pondering and repeating children's language back to them to highlight their thinking.
Impact of our Curriculum - what children know and can do
Assessment
Children's learning will be monitored and checked to see they are making progress as they access the curriculum we provide. It is minute by minute. It involves practitioners scaffolding children's learning giving children extra support where needed to ensure all children are supported to meet their milestones for their age. Practitioners will give children precise and kind feedback helping and encouraging children to reflect and develop learning. We will celebrate children's success whether small steps or big strides.
For children who are struggling, missing out on the play and learning experiences we offer we take a good close look at their difficulty and think carefully about how we can best overcome it. Our focus is building on children's strengths and working on needs using our professional judgement and childhood development expertise acting quickly so that children are helped to keep up with their friends.
We celebrate children's learning and success with parents through online learning journals, special books, 'starting point' and 'spotlight' assessment meetings and reviews.
At Edith kerrison we believe we make the most difference to children's learning and development when we are with the children, playing, talking, listening, teaching new skills, knowledge and concepts rather than spending time evidencing their learning with photos and videos.
Cultural Capital: The essential skills and knowledge that children need to be successful.
Children will be nurtured. their individual talents and interests will be valued and developed through a rich curriculum.
As a result children's well-being and engagement will be high. They will be self assured, believing in themselves and their abilities..They will know that they are valued, that they are strong, capable and unique. They will have resilience and the perseverance to keep on trying when things are challenging. They will be powerful learners.
They will have the confidence to try new things, to take risks, make choices to be physically active and independent. Children will know how to communicate their ideas, beliefs and feelings, choosing different ways to do this such as drawing, dance, building etc. They will have experienced and remembered a wide range of words through stories, songs and rhymes. They will have the skills to make friends and will show kindness to others. They will know how to look after themselves, their friends, the school and their environment.
They will know about important mathematical and scientific concepts. They will have an understanding and respect for the world around them and the world beyond. They will have a desire to learn and be ready for their next stage in education.
If you would like to find out more about our curriculum please attend our workshops for parents (see parent courses and workshops) or contact Jo Aylett for a copy of our full curriculum and assessment policy. email: [email protected], Telephone: 020 74731735.
This booklet produced by 4 Children and the Department for Education will help you find out about how your child is learning and developing during their first five years. In this guide your child's first five years have been divided up into six age bands which overlap. This is because every child is different and children do not grow and develop at the same rate. It highlights what you might notice your child doing at these points.
When you come to our parent workshops you can talk about your child's learning with other parents and staff. If you want to look at video footage of your child playing, please sign up for the Parents Involved in Children's Learning course (PICL).
