Curriculum Early Years Foundation Stage
Personal Social and Emotional Development
Children learn to be able to separate from their parent and enjoy exploring the fun environment of The Castle Kindergarten, choosing favourite activities and exploring new ones. We encourage our children to take pride and have confidence in being able to tackle new tasks and share and communicate with their peers and adults. The children learn good behaviour, as The Castle Kindergarten provides clear boundaries that encourage sharing and caring, respect and love for one another other. The children learn to be part of a group and work cooperatively. All our children are allocated a key worker who builds a warm relationship with each child and is responsible for their pastoral care.
Communication and Language Development
We encourage the children to sit and listen to stories and join in with simple rhymes and songs. They enjoy sharing their news with the larger group at carpet time, enabling them to build their vocabulary. They learn to follow simple instructions through a variety of activities and are able to share their experiences with their peers and adults.
Physical Development
Our children learn to manage their own bodies through learning about healthy eating and using the toilet independently, confidently negotiating space and holding a pencil correctly. They spend a period of time outside in the playground, weather permitting, and we also have an annual sports day at the local park. A daily range of activities is available, cutting, pouring and threading, these enhance our children’s fine motor skills which are vital for their development.
Literacy Development
We follow a recognised phonics scheme and every week the children learn a new alphabet sound. We use a combination of rhymes, songs, games and focused literacy activities. Our children learn to recognise the shape and sound of individual letters and begin to be able to form them. Every child is taken at his or her own pace and when ready will start on a reading scheme; Dandelion Launchers, The Oxford Reading Tree and Songbirds.
Mathematical Development
Numbers and counting are part of our nursery environment. We have a ‘Number of the Week’ and other focused activities that ensure that our children understand number value and begin to represent them. They are encouraged to complete puzzles, construct with a variety of blocks, sort, match and problem solve. Our children also enjoy engaging in hands on activities, measuring, recording and taking an interest in the shapes within their environment.
Understanding the World Development
Our children learn to take an interest in the customs and beliefs of their families and those of their peers. We invite our parents and grandparents to share their celebrations with us so that the children can appreciate and understand the similarities and differences in various traditions. The children learn the importance of caring for the environment. They see how the seasons change through visits to the park, planting seeds and we also have a visit from a farm in the spring term. The children have the opportunity to use simple programmable toys and digital cameras so they can experience how technology works.
Expressive Arts and Design Development
Our children are encouraged to explore their creativity. We have specialist dancing and singing teachers who attend the nursery weekly. The children then share their experiences with a dancing display, a Christmas and summer concert. Our children experiment with a range of imaginative resources and produce their own artistic creations, which we display with pride around the nursery. Imaginative role play is encouraged and developed, with access to props and costumes, so the children learn to express themselves in individual ways.
