At Buckingham Primary Academy we believe that the first five years of a child’s life are crucial to developing and nurturing solid foundations that will go on to support their future learning journey’s and life skills. We place great emphasis on getting to know our families and children when they join us in Foundation Stage. By collaborating and working together as a team we are able to dig deeper and paint a holistic view of each child in our setting.
We believe that each child is truly unique and individual. Working together as a team we provide a wide range of opportunities through child-initiated and adult-led activities for the children to explore and develop new skills. Through a well-planned and rich curriculum we provide the children with a breadth of experiences to develop their communication and language skills, broaden their vocabulary and extend their culture capital. We pride ourselves on getting to know the children. By observing, listening to, working with and alongside the children and their families we are able to tailor the learning within the classroom to ensure every child makes progress.
Play is pivotal in the Early Years and allows children the safety and security to explore, investigate, take risks, challenge themselves and importantly make mistakes. Building and nurturing resilience in the Early Years helps to build the children’s perseverance skills and highlights that by developing their unique skills the children can and do achieve. The continuous provision and adult-led sessions are carefully planned following a trajectory that meets both the children’s unique interests and needs whilst further developing their wider knowledge and skill set. During continuous provision the children are encouraged to apply the skills they have developed whilst incorporating their personal interests. Our curriculum has been strategically designed to embed foundation skills and knowledge in line with our wider school 3D curriculum and to support readiness into Key Stage 1.
Focusing on communication, language and vocabulary has been a driver in Foundation Stage at Buckingham Primary Academy. Reading, sharing stories, nursery rhymes and fostering a genuine love of books has been an important aspect of our ethos. We aim for all children to leave Foundation Stage with a true and tangible love of reading for pleasure, sharing stories whilst extending their breadth of vocabulary. Children are encouraged to explore a wide range of books both in school and at home. Great value is placed upon the children’s reading experiences at home and families are encouraged to share their own reading journeys from home. The enabling adults share high quality and rich texts throughout the day that encompass the diverse interests in the classroom. By nurturing the foundations of early reading skills we hope that our children will go on to become keen and adventurous readers as they enter KS1, KS2 and further life.
Throughout the week opportunities are planned for the children to develop their vocabulary, first hand experiences and cultural capital. We want the children to create memorable and fond experiences of their time in Foundation Stage. The children have the opportunity to try a wide range of seasonal fruit, vegetables and foods during weekly “Time to Try” sessions. Families are warmly invited into school on a half termly basis to take part in “Stay and Read” mornings to embed a love of early reading skills. Visitors including ZooLab UK, The Children’s University and the Supervised Brushing Program continue to extend the children’s wider knowledge and skill set to contribute to their future at Buckingham Primary Academy and beyond.
Our aim is for the children to leave Foundation Stage with personal pride and respect for one another. Through our rich curriculum and wide range of experiences children will have a deepened understanding of the world around them and an understanding of how to look after both themselves and their local community in an ever-evolving world.
FS1
FS2
Foundation Stage Curriculum Links
Nursery Rhymes
Teach Reading: Change Lives Parent Workshops
Drawing Club
Vocabulary
