The Early Years Curriculum

Education outdoors in the school grounds or further afield is widely recognised as making a valuable contribution to childrens development in all areas of the curriculum, including areas of learning at Foundation Stage, and subjects at Key Stage 1 and beyond. Based on an account of Cornwalls Education Action Zone project, Kernow Woodland Learning, this book provides an in-depth exploration of how to plan, implement and assess a rigorous and thorough outdoor early years curriculum that complements classroom-based learning and meets the Early Learning Goals through its: specific emphasis on planning, based on the Foundation Stages six areas of learning detailed accounts of childrens woodland-based sessions, which illustrate how they meet the requirements of the statutory curriculum inclusion of plans, formative and summative records to demonstrate how particular sessions address specific learning intentions consideration of the adults role, in terms of training, preparation and administration as well as in supporting learning coverage of issues such as risk assessment and health and safety. Practical and accessible, this is ideal for early years practitioners looking to develop a specific outdoor learning curriculum plan and as a model for those working with Key Stage 2 and beyond.