EYFS Curriculum – Intent, Implementation, and Impact
Intent
Why do we teach what we teach?
At My Little Barn Owls our vision is to provide a calm and curious environment where children can use their own creativity to help them grow as caring and confident individuals.
Our aim is to embed strong foundations in the EYFS alongside the characteristics of effective teaching and learning, as well as moral and spiritual development so that our children are happy and curious lifelong learners.
Our curriculum is therefore the cultural capital we know our curious little learners need so that they can gain the knowledge, understanding and skills to succeed in the big wide world. Children are provided with experiences that provide awe and wonder based on their individuals interests and teach them all about what life has to offer in a play-based environment. Our early years educators have high expectations of all our children based on their individual backgrounds and complex needs.
Our Curriculum 5 key principles are:
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Our Curriculum is child-led
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Our Curriculum will encourage curiosity and engagement
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Our Curriculum is strongly linked to the environment and the community
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Our Curriculum will be literacy rich
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Our Curriculum will be accessible to all
Implementation
How do we teach what we teach?
At My little Barn Owls, our pedagogy ‘The Curiosity Approach’ is what we use to implement our curriculum and provide a sense of curiosity, awe, and wonder. The curriculum is planned for indoors and outdoors, with children learning through play as well as promoting sustained shared thinking and active learning.
Our children are provided with a balance of child-initiated activities (provocations) carefully planned from their individual interests and learning schemas, and adult-directed activities (invitations to play) which are created to engage and challenge the children.
Our Early year’s educators, then skilfully scaffold ‘In the moment’ to enhance and support their individual learning needs based on the 7 areas of the EYFS.
Impact
How do we know what our children have learnt and how well they have learnt it?
To ensure we are meeting the needs of our individual children including our disadvantaged children and children with SEND. Our early years educators use ongoing observational assessments to identify children’s starting points, and plan experiences to ensure progress. Evidence of the children’s learning, which includes videos, photos, written observations, and contributions from parents/carers are recorded on a child’s individual journey via our Famly App and tracked on the seven areas of the EYFS. Every two months our educators assess the impact of learning through team meetings. Educators reflect on their teaching to evaluate whether it has been enough and create future action plans.