At Arden Grove we offer a curriculum rich in wonder and memorable first hand experiences, whilst encouraging children to build resilience and a love of learning. We recognise the crucial role that early years education has to play in providing firm foundations upon which the rest of a child’s education is successfully based. We understand that play is an integral part of learning and this is at the heart of our early years curriculum. We believe strong relationships with parents are key as well as celebrating children's lived experiences by finding out their family, their local area and what makes them special.

Therefore our team plan collaboratively to provide a stimulating environment that provides exciting opportunities and that promotes challenge, exploration and adventure. Due to our relationships our team confidently knows every child’s starting point so we build on children’s prior knowledge and experience in a logical and developmentally appropriate way. We have created our own set of curriculum goals, these are particularly created for our cohort of children.

We work hard to create strong partnerships between home and school. We understand the importance of parental engagement and believe that our parents have a crucial role to play in their children's education.

Similar to our Nursery offer, we continue to focus on building movement skills in Reception too. It is such an important building block in developing so many other skills including self-regulation, balance, co-ordination and handwriting. We encourage this through children's play and use these developmental patterns before teaching children specific letter formations. For more information about how reading and writing are taught through phonics (please take a look at the powerpoint at the bottom of this page for more information). 

Just like other transitions, going to school or nursery for the first time can be a big step for little ones. There are lots of ways you can support them through this and we are always happy to offer advice and support. Please take a look at our selection of documents and Powerpoints below - we find the more information parents have with regards to how our Early Years work, the better they are able to communicate this transition to their little ones.