Statement of Curriculum Intent

Alumwell  Nursery School is at the heart of the community in the local area. Children, parents/carers, staff, governors and visitors are all treated with respect. We work hard to create an environment which is open and supportive to all.

Our vision is to develop happy, confident and secure learners in a safe and stimulating environment where all children thrive through working in partnership with parents and our local community.

At Alumwell Nursery School our curriculum is underpinned by the EYFS Statutory Framework. We use Development Matters statements to guide our planning. Our approach is holistic and based on each child’s developmental needs, their interests and motivations and the context of our community. Our delivery takes account of the Characteristics of Early Learning and offers both adult led and child-initiated activities. There is a clear balance between children learning alongside adults, and children playing independently or with peers, ensuring consolidation of key skills and concepts.

The learning environment is seen as the third teacher and supports independence and creativity. It is planned to ensure that children’s individual needs are met through differentiated activities and opportunities for learning. Children move freely around the well-resourced environment and have access to an excellent variety of high quality open-ended materials and resources.

A key person approach ensures that children make very firm and secure attachments from the moment they join the school community. This supports their learning and allows all children to make very good progress from their starting points.

Staff gain a secure knowledge of the needs of the children because parents share this information with them before the children start school through our well planned transition process. Our assessment procedures allow each practitioner to find out what children already know and what they need to do next.

The school focus is on the prime areas of learning so as to support children with their early language development. Practitioners provide excellent role models for the correct use of language and children develop quickly in a language rich environment. A number of language-based initiatives are delivered by the school. These are enhanced by the excellent relationships between staff and parents. Parents feel supported by the team who encourage them to engage with the learning process at home.

Staff are knowledgeable and are well supported in their own development through a high quality training and personal development programme. This allows them to continually reflect on practice and improve outcomes.

All children are treated as the unique individuals and staff encourage all children to embrace diversity and to develop respect for their friends, families and the wider community.

Staff have high aspirations for all children including those with SEND. The school offers many and varied opportunities to ensure that children succeed in later life. The curriculum is challenging and engaging because staff understand how young children learn best.

Alumwell Nursery School will do all it reasonably can to ensure that children with disabilities can, with reasonable adjustments, access the curriculum, whether in the classroom or through other means. We also expect all of our pupils to participate in sports, music, drama, trips and expeditions as part of its ethos of inclusiveness.

Our school is diverse with a rich cultural heritage with many languages and ethnicities represented. We provide all children with opportunities to increase their knowledge of the wider world through celebrations of other cultures and beliefs, visits out and external visitors.  We encourage children to be good citizens by contributing to their local community and beyond. The school community supports local charities and donates to those less fortunate both locally and beyond. We work closely with schools we feed into to support the children’s education journey beyond their nursery years.