At Battling Brook we provide a high quality EYFS education, giving children a secure and confident start to their school life. We are committed to nurturing a lifelong love of learning alongside the aims of the EYFS statutory framework.

We strive for high standards, consider the development of the whole child and seek to foster resilience and independence. This coincides with our school ethos of active learning and the learning power approach.

We are inclusive and welcoming to all and British Values are embedded in all that we do. We aim to provide the essential knowledge that children need to prepare them for their future success and to give children the best possible start to their early education.

To do this we plan our curriculum around the children’s own interests and events that are relevant in their own lives and their communities. We introduce the children to events happening in the wider world and other cultures. The combination of the children’s interests and adult chosen topics creates a wide, varied and engaging curriculum.

Whilst the curriculum is flexible and adaptable to meet the children’s needs and interests there is a pre-planned framework that gives a breakdown of the knowledge children will gain as they progress through the year. This knowledge is important to set the foundation of the school journey and supports children to progress effectively as learners into Year 1 and beyond. This framework includes a journey of books that create a love of stories, songs and rhymes. The children’s imaginations are activated through the engagement in these texts and the opportunity to follow their own ideas.

Our curriculum is based on the educational programmes of the EYFS Statutory Framework and informed by staff knowledge of child development. Through regular team planning sessions, staff decide how to implement this curriculum so that children make progress in all areas of learning.

Our foundation stage classrooms provide well-planned and well-resourced activities where learning will be scaffolded by our experienced team. Practitioners are aware of the intent of the planned activities and through scaffolding, guide the children to make progressive steps in their learning.

We believe for the children to be successful learners, they need the opportunity to experience play based learning as well as adult led activities. We are constantly adapting our approach to meet the needs of each different cohort and recognise that a balance needs to be found between child-led and adult-led learning.