Areas of Continuous Provision

Throughout the school, from nursery to Year 2, Continuous Provision is organised to allow children to access learning, develop and consolidate knowledge and skills and to promote independence.  The provision is developed through enhancements in each year group, linking learning to the topics.

Art and workshop

Sketching is a key part of our art and design curriculum.  This has been carefully planned so that there is clear progression in each of the six topics, from nursery through to Year 2.  All classrooms have the same provision and children have access to this throughout the day.  Key aspects are taught and modelled by the teacher and then set up as part of the provision for children to independently practice throughout the week(s).  The same approach is used for art themes in KS1. 

The workshop is used to develop knowledge and understanding of key concepts of DT and allow for experimentation and deeper understanding. Boxes, card and packaging are available to all for independent use and each class has a poster explaining different ways to join card rather than just using tapes, staples and string.

Blocks, construction and small world

Blocks, construction and small world are used to enhance understanding of aspects in geography, history and science in KS1 and to explore the world around them in EYFS.  When exploring different continents or countries in the UK, they can be used to create interpretations of habitats or physical/man-made features.  In history the children can investigate houses in the Great Fire of London, vehicles for space travel or exploration. Teachers use Froebel’s ‘seven stages of block play’ to assess and evaluate development.

Book, role play and puppets

The book area is a quiet, comfortable area where the children can develop their love of reading by re-reading known texts shared in story sessions, reciting known poetry and exploring non-fiction texts about prior learning, reinforcing knowledge.  The knowledge can be used to explore events and characters in the role play area eg. Becoming Florence Nightingale in the hospital at Scutari, Neil Armstrong walking on the moon or exploring the alliteration and onomatopoeia in ‘Going on a Bear hunt’. Puppets can also be used to retell stories and re-imagine endings or events, enabling children the opportunity to orally explore language and story structure.

In EYFS a domestic role play or ‘home’ area is available in all classes. It relates directly to children’s own lives and interests and is something that all children have in common regardless of their cultural background or previous experience. It provides a context for children to explore their social and emotional lives and a familiar place for developing language and communication. In EYFS, dramatic play is closely connected to children’s everyday lives. Children relive all of the situations that are familiar to them. They become mum or dad, a baby or older sibling, help with the washing, cleaning, cooking, as well as eat together, feed or bathe the baby. They can explore feelings, begin to understand relationships and negotiate roles.

Dough

Dough forms an intrinsic part of our provision and is universally loved by all the children. It is such a versatile medium that can be used and extended in any way a child wishes. Dough provides a fantastic sensory experience, it can be calming, therapeutic and can also allow the children to squash and squeeze out any stress, anger or frustration. It supports the children to develop a variety of fine manipulative skills including wrist, palm and finger dexterity that are so vital to early writing skills.

Children learn to create their own dough, adding ingredients and using it to explore science, DT, art and design and maths concepts, developing a deepened knowledge of measures, textures, senses and presentation.

Enquiry and discovery

In this area children are given the opportunity to explore aspects of science and geography over time (like seasonal changes or weather, plants and growth, animals and their habitats - stick insects, caterpillars to butterflies, wormeries), investigating and recording outcomes, making observations and comparisons.  Sometimes enhancements will be set up to allow the children to explore a specific aspect of the topic in more depth like properties of materials, classifying different types of animals, plants or objects or looking at the structure of the human body.

Maths, sand and water

Resources for the children to select to support their learning in lessons and for further independent practice are available in this area.  This includes manipulatives for number (Numicon, counters, tens frames, Diennes, bead strings, number lines), shape resources for creating patterns or sorting, rings, templates for charts and graphs to be used in other areas (eg.Enquiry or Blocks).  Resources for measuring are also available (scales, balances, tape measures, rulers, containers, measuring cups or spoons, sieves or spoons and scoops) and trays and containers with small quantities of sand for table top activities (KS1).

In EYFS sand and water provision is a more dominant part of the provision with specific resources laid out for easy access. In KS1 the provision is stored within the maths area and then moved to a more convenient place when needed.  In EYFS a shop is usually located near the maths area to enhance the provision and give the children the opportunity to explore using money through familiar play.  In KS1 shops will be used as part of the role play when relevant to the learning.

Mark making and phonics

In each classroom there is a mark making area with resources for writing including different types of paper, envelopes, labels, book making materials, clipboards, pens, pencils, joining materials and phonic scheme sound mats and flash cards that can be taken where ever they are needed in the classroom to support writing in all areas of the curriculum. Each classroom has a large wide board for children to use to practice transcription skills, magnetic letters and dictionaries, thesauruses and alphabet books to encourage independence.