Sturminster Marshall 
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum
In the Early Years Foundation Stage, our curriculum is designed with clear intent, ensuring that all children, regardless of their starting points, develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to succeed in the next stage of their education. We recognise that children enter our setting with a wide range of experiences, and our curriculum is therefore inclusive, ambitious and responsive to individual needs.
Learning is carefully sequenced across the seven areas of the EYFS, while remaining strongly child-led. Children’s interests, fascinations and play are valued and used as meaningful starting points for learning. Skilled practitioners observe children closely and use these observations to shape teaching, ensuring that learning builds progressively over time while remaining engaging and relevant.
Our progression of skills and learning documents clearly set out what children should know and be able to do, and how this develops from entry through to the end of Reception. These documents support consistent implementation, enabling staff to plan high-quality learning experiences that take account of differing starting points, provide appropriate challenge, and support all children to make progress.
Our curriculum is further supported by medium-term plans, which are designed to ensure full and coherent coverage of the EYFS curriculum while remaining flexible and responsive to children’s interests. These plans outline the key knowledge, skills and experiences children will encounter across the year, ensuring learning is well-sequenced and progressive. While the overall curriculum intent remains consistent, the content and contexts may vary from year to year to reflect children’s questions, interests and play. This enables staff to balance structured teaching with child-led exploration, ensuring learning is both purposeful and meaningful.
The impact of our EYFS curriculum is seen in children who are confident, curious and increasingly independent learners. By the end of the EYFS, children have developed strong foundations in communication, personal, physical and early academic skills, and are well prepared for a smooth transition into Key Stage 1.
Intent, Implementation & Impact Statement
Continuous Provision Skills Progression
