Did you know our EYFS embodies our whole school values?

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At Villa Real School our pupils in Early Years follow an individualised curriculum which supports children to work towards the Early Learning Goals.

Villa Real also includes their bespoke REAL curriculum due to the nature of the pupils’ / students’ additional challenges, which covers the 4 areas of ‘REAL’-

R- Regulation

E- Emotional

A- Access to the World

L- Learning

Villa Real has developed a bespoke personalised curriculum so that all pupils benefit from truly individualised learning with reference to the relevant area of the EYFS and leads into the National Curriculum once in Key Stage 1.

This ensures pupils are challenged to be as prepared as they can be to access the real world.

Teachers' planning ensures that pupils take part in activities which are meaningful and interesting for them and through which they address relevant and challenging learning outcomes. This enables all pupils to maximise their progress.

The curriculum is designed to help our pupils/students become:

Successful learners who enjoy learning and make outstanding progress
Effective communicators who can express themselves, make choices and build positive relationships with other people
Confident individuals who take a full part in activities within school and the community
Responsible citizens who behave well and make a positive contribution to the school and the wider world
Lifelong learners who leave school equipped for the adult world whether in paid employment, education and training or voluntary work
Resilient to set backs and encouraged to take pride in their achievements
Able to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy

Some of our Early Years classes are mixed with pupils from Key Stage One. These pupils follow Pathway 2 or 3 in order to motivate and inspire pupils ensuring they have a rich and enhanced learning experience whilst at Villa Real.

The EYFS provision is available through all three streams of our school cohorts:

Conductive Education
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Severe Learning Disability

This allows for a more personalised approach to learning where all academic, communication, sensory and physical needs are met utilising the relevant teaching strategies.

TEACHING STRATEGIES

Villa Real’s EYFS follows the current research that suggests we need a mixed approach to working with young children in the EYFS.

This involves getting the learning environment right for the children, to enable them to play, make choices, and develop. This ranges from standing back and letting then develop their own play, with adults following the child’s lead, sometimes stepping in to help solve problems, extend play ideas and vocabulary and sometimes the adults directly teaching a child something they need to learn.

Due to the additional needs of our children, many will require increased ‘focused learning’ opportunities to ensure the foundational knowledge is provided and embedded to provide the solid base from which they can use to direct their play and learning thereafter.

For most of the time, the best practice is in the middle. The following graphic illustrates this:

Staff use their observations and interactions to review the types of play schemas the children are displaying and from this, are able to ensure they are expanded and developed further. Schemas help young children to form connections in their brain, to build on previous learning to form new ideas and understandings, and to develop skills that they can use in their world.

There are on average, eight play schemas, which are described by the way in which children show their repetitive actions or behaviours:

Outdoor learning is an essential part of every child’s experience at Villa Real School. Each class has access to outdoor areas, as well as larger, communal play areas, gardens and Forest School spaces.

ADDITIONAL TEACHING STRATEGIES

Grouping by individual ability
Total communication approach, including speech and other alternative and augmentative communication methods – where ALL methods are valued equally. Examples of AAC include, Makaton signing, PECs, PODD, objects of reference, Tassels
Task series built into their day as part of CE provision
Play based learning
Supporting individual choice over activities and play
Adults modelling how to play
Adults scaffolding play as learning opportunities and expanding their repertoire
Whole class work
Practical activities
Multi-sensory experiences
TEACCH Approaches
Community visits
Outdoor play / learning environments
Mixed ability groups
1:1 Support for some individuals