Curriculum Intent

At Oasis Community Learning, we want to develop children to be independent, well-rounded citizens, focussing on the development of character as well as competence and supporting them to be valued members of the community. We want to open children’s eyes to a world of opportunities, regardless of their starting pints, and provide and promote experiences that bring joy, inspiration and knowledge.

The curriculum in the Early Years provides a structure and sense of direction, whilst ensuring there is clear progression and ambitious opportunities for children to learn. Through valuing every child and believing that every child is capable of making good progress, we can ensure that no child is left behind. This is achieved through mapping out essential and potential themes and key skills, careful planning of the environment and purposeful, targeted assessment.

The 3 C’s outlined in the Primary Curriculum intent are woven through the EYFS curriculum.

Character

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides children with their first experiences of understanding who they are and their place in the world. This has been carefully built into the OCL EYFS Curriculum, building in opportunities for children to begin to navigate their preferences and emotions and begin to accept more responsibility. The Yearly Overviews are shaped by overarching questions which support children to consider who they are and who they are becoming. With flexibility for academies to weave a range of potential topics around the essential topics outlined, children’s interests can still be followed as we support them to navigate their preferences.

Positive relationships are essential as children learn to be strong and independent. Relational approaches are embedded into the Oasis Way putting the child at the centre of our practice and enabling practitioners to engage and motivate pupils by being attuned to their needs. This links closely to the key person approach, building secure attachments from which children feel safe to explore. Children are nurtured, but also valued and given agency and voice.

By providing children with consistent routines based on well-balanced timetables that promote both adult and child led provision, children can feel safe, develop independence and have opportunity to take responsibility. These routines also develop children’s executive function.

Throughout every aspect of the EYFS, children are developing the Characteristics of Effective Learning: Playing and Exploring; Active Learning and; Creating and Thinking Critically. To learn well, children must approach opportunities with curiosity, energy and enthusiasm, with learning shared in meaningful ways so they are able to apply this learning in a variety of new contexts. The primary way children do this in EYFS is through play, with carefully planned environments and enhancements. There will also be meaningful moments in literacy lessons, or cultural capital opportunities such as trips and visitors.

In addition to this, the 9 habits approach enables a tangible approach to character development, seen in all aspects of academy life. These have been mapped against the Early Learning Goals to support children to embody the habits from the beginning of their OCL journey.

As children move through their journey with us at Oasis, well managed transitions which focus on children’s wellbeing and promote positive relationships are essential. Each academy will provide their own package of support, including inductions, home visits and move up days, providing additional support for vulnerable pupils. The OCL EYFS curriculum provides a natural progression into KS1, as a focus on the foundational knowledge has been prioritised.

Competence

Curriculum in the EYFS should be holistic and ambitious, and the OCL EYFS curriculum provides the opportunity for every child to succeed.

The OCL EYFS Checkpoints provide guidance for progression and sequential learning across the different age groups. Combined with the Yearly Overviews, this provides a clear picture of progression across the phase and into KS1. Subject pages for EYFS take this further by highlighting the clear links from EYFS to KS1, mapped out against the OCL Curriculum Core Concepts for each subject.

Children in the EYFS learn through carefully planned play opportunities, as outlined in the Statutory Framework. They also need explicit teaching of certain foundational knowledge and skills, such as mathematical concepts or letter formation, and this is why a balanced timetable is crucial.

The Prime Areas of Learning (Communication and Language; Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Physical Development) are universal core aspects of development. Developmental steps missed at this early stage are much harder to address later on, so it is crucial that children’s interactions and experiences support development in these fundamental areas.  Communication and language is a particularly important area as it underpins all others areas of learning, and in particular is the bedrock for later reading and writing. Theis Foundations for Future guide details how we have a Communication and Language Curriculum, enabling all children to develop crucial early language skills.

Reading is a golden thread of the OCL curriculum, where a love of reading is encouraged throughout. This starts with developing children’s communication and language through shared stories, having inviting and engaging reading areas in each classroom, and then moving through to the delivery of Bookwings Phonics, where each sound is delivered through the lens of a high quality text. Through high quality Phonics lessons, 1:1 reading opportunities, parent partnership for home reading, strategic assessment and forensic analysis, whilst never losing sight of the foundational skills of communication and language work together to provide children with a strong foundation for reading.

Moving children on to complex tasks before they are ready to do so can be detrimental to their development and therefore, even with sequential learning and checkpoints mapped out, teachers are still given autonomy over their curriculum delivery as they know and understand their cohorts best.

In the EYFS, sparking joy and creativity in children, whilst following their interests provides a motivation to learn. Choosing topics they are interested in, delivering exciting and engaging hooks or meaningful moments and planning in additional cultural capital opportunities (some of which are outlined on the Knowledge Organisers) encourages curiosity and independence as well as competence.

The environment is the third teacher in EYFS and every classroom will be carefully audited, resourced and planned to provide opportunities for children to develop the necessary knowledge and skills across the foundation stage. Children will have be able to explore and consolidate all areas of learning and engage with adults in the environment who will be facilitating their learning.

Community

Understanding who you are and who you are becoming requires you to understand your place in time, past, present and future and also your place in the world at a local, national, global and spiritual level. The Yearly Overviews are shaped by overarching questions which support children to consider who they are and who they are becoming. With flexibility for academies to weave a range of potential topics around the essential topics outlined, children’s interests can still be followed as we support them to navigate their preferences.

Supporting children’s sense of agency is central to ensuring they are active participants in their own learning and development, fostering a deep sense of belonging and connection to their community. When children feel valued and heard, they develop confidence in their ability to make choices and take ownership of their actions, which in turn strengthens their connection to both local and global communities. Positive relationships with key adults, such as educators and family members, create a safe, warm, and inviting environment where children feel supported and empowered. This sense of agency is cultivated through inclusive practices that celebrate diversity and encourage children to understand and embrace their identities.

Parent partnerships further enrich this sense of community, as families are integral to nurturing children’s growth and fostering meaningful connections. Visitors, such as authors or community leaders, introduce new perspectives and inspire children to think beyond their immediate surroundings, linking their experiences to broader social, environmental, and global contexts. Through life skills development, community events, and initiatives like Oasis Hubs, children are encouraged to contribute to society, fostering a sense of responsibility and sustainability.

As children engage with their surroundings and the people in their lives, they gain a profound understanding of who they are and their role in creating a compassionate, inclusive, and sustainable world.