At Holmer Green First School and Pre-School, we believe that the Characteristics of Effective Learning are applicable not only in the Early Years, but across our whole school. In fact, the Characteristics of Effective Learning underpin our school curriculum.

Our curriculum is delivered through continuous provision in an environment which is inviting and stimulating. Continuous provision allows our children to access all areas of the curriculum on a daily basis, in a way which engages and excites them. Continuous provision gives our children the opportunity to develop a range of vital skills including problem solving, turn taking, collaboration, resilience, critical thinking and exploration, and negotiation. Attitudes to learning and pupil behaviour are excellent across our school. Our children are happy, successful learners who are motivated to learn.

We believe that children learn best through open ended, play-based learning opportunities. Open ended activities and resources give our children endless possibilities. This allows them to be inquisitive, imaginative and creative learners. We deliver our curriculum through child-centred learning opportunities, allowing our children to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding in their preferred learning style, for example one child could demonstrate their knowledge of number bonds to 10 by writing a list of number sentences, another child might make a number bond robot using junk modelling and another child might write a story about number bonds to 10. This leads to higher levels of self-regulation as the children make their own decisions and manage their learning.

Continuous provision gives our children the opportunity to repeat, rehearse and practise new skills and knowledge. Learning is deeper as children have the opportunity to extend their ideas over a period of time. Children make connections in their learning, using and combining resources from different areas of the classroom.

Progression is built into our continuous provision, providing the children with new challenges and opportunities every time they move into a new year group. During directed teaching time, children work in small groups and receive immediate verbal feedback at the point of learning. This enables us to address misconceptions immediately and provide children with further challenge where appropriate.

High quality interactions form the basis of our continuous provision, children have the opportunity to speak to one another and the grown-ups all day, every day. There are plenty of opportunities for the children to develop their social skills. Pastoral care is a priority. Our staff know our children, continuous provision gives us the time to talk to our children and develop meaningful relationships.

Irresistible learning opportunities are set up in the environment by the teachers to inspire our children. This results in high levels of pupil engagement and well-being, which ultimately results in high levels of progress and attainment. Children have greater levels of independence, they are able to instigate their own learning every day, rather than waiting to be told what to do by an adult.

We absolutely love showing off our continuous provision to colleagues and helping them to set up this pedagogy at their school. If you would like a tour of our continuous provision, either across the school, or across Year One and Two, please contact the school office and we will arrange a time and date! Alternatively, please take a look at our Instagram page hgfs.learning.through.play