At Heymann, we believe in challenging and supporting every child to be the best they can be. We have designed our Early Years curriculum to provide opportunities for our children to develop the necessary attitude, skills and knowledge to prepare them for the rest of their educational journey in and out of the school environment, while still recognising that every child is unique.  

Our curriculum design is broad and balanced addressing the needs of our children. Based on the EYFS statutory framework covering both the prime and specific areas and our end goal of what we want our children to know, understand and be able to do, we have identified a clear and progressive sequence of skills and knowledge which is cumulative and progressive throughout the foundation stage at our school. 

Our aim is to create and maintain an environment, both indoor and outdoor, in which pupils feel safe, secure and confident. They have a sense of place and ownership and it both celebrates their successes and inspires them to try new things and independently apply previous learning.  The role of the adult in our Early Years settings is crucial to help each child to learn and develop positive relationships. The adults in our setting understand the importance of knowing a child's current understanding and achievements and know what the child's next steps could be.  Within the school day the children learn in different ways. Mixing different approaches: learning through play, learning by adults modelling, learning by observing each other, learning through guided support and learning via some direct instructional teaching are adopted appropriately.   

Our school community is rich with families from different cultures and with that our children come to school with different experiences and knowledge to share. Effective transitions from our nursery into reception and through school are achieved through established communication systems and for children who come to us from other nurseries, we have established links with local settings. Through identifying children’s starting points, clear and explicit planning focusing on gaps in learning and building on what children know, we aim for all children to meet the end of EYFS expectations. 

The skills and knowledge taught in the Early Years are organised by 7 areas of learning and are underpinned by children developing the three Characteristics of Learning