Curriculum

Curriculum and Effective Learning
At Child’s Play each child is valued as an individual with different interests, needs, and abilities. We believe that children learn best when they feel valued, are happy and having fun in an environment where they feel comfortable, secure and confident.
We work within the Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage, under the seven areas of learning and development;

Three of these areas are particularly crucial for promoting children’s curiosity, enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. These three areas, the prime areas, are:

  • communication and language development;
  • physical  development; and
  • personal, social and emotional development.

We also support children in four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. The specific areas are:

  • literacy;
  • mathematics;
  • understanding the world; and
  • expressive arts and design.

Three characteristics of effective teaching and learning

In planning and guiding children’s activities, we reflect on the different ways that children learn and use these observations in our planning. Three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are:

  • Playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’;
  • Active learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements;
  • Creating and thinking critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things

Our curriculum is built on planned and child led, play based activities, designed to support children in achieving personal success at their own pace, whilst their progress is monitored and guided.
We plan on a weekly basis following the children’s interests and developing skills, using observations from both staff and parents. We build on the skills, knowledge and attitudes that they have already learnt, ensuring that the provision is relevant and purposeful for each child; providing a firm foundation for future learning.
All activities are offered to the entire group, without bias of race, gender, age or additional need. It is the job of the staff to adapt the activities to ensure that they meet the interests, needs and level of understanding of the children that wish to participate.