Atlas Astrea Academy Trust
Our vision for the Early Years at Atlas
Unique Child:
We want to give our children the skills and confidence to develop skills for life long learning. We will provide specific opportunities for children to:
- Link language and thought
- Be independent learners
- Listen to and communicate with others
- Behave well, stay healthy and feel safe
- Read well and develop a love of books
- Communicate through writing
- Talk about and explore the number system and shape
- Be curious about the world around them
- Express themselves through art and music
We want children to be:
Positive Relationships
Respectful relationships are at the heart of our practice. The interaction between parents, children and teachers and the relationships that are forged between them are seen as essential elements in supporting young children’s learning and development.
All adults within the EYFS will facilitate learning by actively engaging in the activities alongside the child.
The role of the adult is seen not purely to teach but also to learn. Adults are viewed as researchers, who evaluate and reflect upon practice. Adults are responsible for developing their own pedagogical understanding in order to provide the best learning opportunities for each child. Regular opportunities will be provided for all staff members to develop their understanding of how children learn best.
Environment
We see the physical environment as the child’s “third teacher” and believe that it is fundamentally important for quality exploration and learning as well as a place to build independence, self- esteem and a positive attitude towards learning. Our indoor and outdoor learning environments provide a combination of responsibility and fr
eedom, allowing children to develop fundamental skills for life. We believe that the importance of the environment lies in the knowledge that children can best create meaning and make sense of their world through environments which support “complex, varied, sustained, and changing relationships between people, the world of experience, ideas and the many ways of expressing ideas.
Learning and Development
We provide a learning environment which promotes and stretches the ability to imagine, collaborate and question rather than one that makes students passive, docile and dependent. To ensure that we meet the individual needs of all of our children we make regular observations of the children’s interactions, interests, skills, and development of concepts. These observations are used to inform our planning for groups of children, for individuals and our provision for resources as appropriate.
Curriculum Long Term Plan for EYFS
The curriculum long-term plan is carefully sequenced (but flexible to prior attainment needs) so that it prepares children for the destination point of year 1 and beyond, whatever their starting points. Key concepts and firm foundations are laid for basic skills, such as early phonics, language development and mathematics as well as a broader knowledge base to support them being prepared for the focused disciplines of the National Curriculum subjects.
Spring 1 Overview – Theme: Space