We learn through doing, playing and exploring and strive to develop confident, resilient children with a love for learning. Learning is child led and stems from the assessed needs and interests of every child. We enjoy a range of indoor and outdoor activities every day and use the natural environment as a starting point for many real-life experiences.

We work hard with the children to create a learning environment which enables all children to learn and make progress socially as well as academically by identifying and responding to individual needs and next steps. The role the practitioners play in supporting the children is crucial, so we invest a lot in developing their knowledge and expertise in Early Years pedagogy.

Our curriculum has been carefully designed to provide all our children, no matter their starting point, with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed as they move through school and beyond. It ensures the 7 areas of learning are taught through play and enquiry-based learning, whilst taking the different developmental levels and learning styles of all our children into account.

Our well-sequenced curriculum, takes the children on a journey from looking inwards (all about me, ourselves, our families, where we live) to, by the end of the Reception year, having an outward-facing view of the wider world. We have carefully considered the content and skills taught in KS1 and ensured the Early Years curriculum is a foundation for this. Continuous provision, alongside adult-led and child-initiated activities, are the main tools we use to deliver our curriculum. Challenge for all is built into our curriculum and daily practise, using open-ended resources and provocations to facilitate learning.

Please click here to see our Nursery Curriculum Overview
Please click here to see our Reception Curriculum Overview

At Siddal Primary School, we celebrate the fact that all our children are completely unique and reflect this in our curriculum and daily practise. This, combined with the positive relationships we forge from the very beginning, provides our children with a secure foundation on which to build.

We strive to develop the ‘whole child’ and place equal importance on developing their confidence, resilience and social skills. Our whole school values of MIRROR are very much embedded in the Early Years. We model these values in our interactions with children, staff and families and praise the children when they do the same.

We believe that the relationship between school and home is a crucial one and work hard to nurture and develop it. We know that school and home working together in partnership has a significant, positive impact on children’s learning and subsequently their academic success, so strive to develop and improve our working relationships each year.

Parents are kept up to date with their child’s progress and learning, primarily through the ‘Class Dojo’ app. We have also developed a programme to actively involve Parents and Carers of children in the Early Years in school life and learning through a range of activities and experiences.

Our children learn and play in engaging, well-designed, purposeful classrooms whilst also having free-flow access to the outdoors. Our outdoor area also includes the woodland and challenging tyre park, which the children love to play on during our afternoon sessions.

Our children have access with their teacher to our newly installed ICT suite, where they begin to develop their technology skills. We have 2 PE sessions each week, where we use the large equipment in the hall, as well as having some taught sessions with a qualified sports coach.

In Early Years we value the importance of play and students are able to inquire, explore and discover within different areas both indoors and outdoors by doing free flow, student led and adult facilitated experiences.