Our Curriculum

Growing Little Champions’ Curriculum

Curriculum [Intent]

At Growing Little Champions, we are committed to providing a nurturing, safe and stimulating environment where young children can begin to explore and make sense of the world around them. Our ambitious curriculum is designed to foster the development of the whole child – socially, emotionally, cognitively and physically – through a balanced approach of adult-directed and child-led opportunities that value the individual needs, interests and development stage of each child. We aim to create a rich and joyful learning experience that prepares them for the next stages of their educational journey.

Pedagogy [Implementation]

Our approach to delivering the curriculum is rooted in creating a flexible, engaging and responsive learning environment. We understand that each child is unique and may develop at their own pace. Therefore, we focus on providing a variety of experiences that cater to individual needs and interests. The curriculum is delivered through a combination of planned activities, child-led play and high-quality interactions with practitioners, all designed to foster holistic development in an engaging way.

Assessment [Impact]

By the end of their time with us, young children will have developed foundational skills in language, social interaction, physical coordination and early cognitive understanding. They will be more confident when exploring their environment, more independent in their actions and better able to communicate their needs and ideas. Our curriculum supports and celebrates each child’s individual developmental journey, securing the foundation for a smooth transition into future learning experiences.

Communication and language development are crucial to a young child's overall development because they form the foundation for cognitive, social, and emotional growth. As children learn to express themselves and understand others, they begin to grasp basic concepts, improve problem-solving skills, and enhance their ability to learn.

Language also plays a key role in social interactions, helping children build relationships and navigate social norms. Early language development is directly linked to later academic success, as children who develop language skills early are often better equipped to engage with learning materials and interact with peers in a school setting.

We believe that communication and language are far too important to leave to chance and, as a result, it weaves throughout every element of our curriculum. All staff are trained to use evidence-informed strategies to support communication and language. High-quality interactions are happening throughout the day – children are being listened to and adults are engaging in back-and-forth interactions, over many turns, thus creating conversations.

Curricular Goal	Milestone	Assessment
Regulate my emotions	Create a strong attachment with their key person which allows them to separate from their parent/carer with increased confidence. Continue to use their key person as a secure base throughout the session.	Spend an AM session in the nursery environment, managing their emotions with support.
	Learn new vocabulary to describe feelings. Use facial expressions and gestures to express themselves.	Engage with their key person about feelings – being able to identify and label how they are feeling.
	Children begin to recognise other peoples’ feelings, enabling them to begin to develop empathy and the ability to respond sensitively to others.	Identify a feeling in themselves or someone else [happy, sad, angry] using a word or visual aid.
	Children feel secure and have the confidence to seek adult support when they have strong feelings.	Join in with a calming strategy with support from an adult.
Have a back-and-forth conversation with an adult while sharing a book	Children communicate with adults and peers using non-verbal communication. They can also pay attention when others are speaking.	Communicate their needs, feelings and ideas.
	Children learn and follow the rules of conversation [listen, take turns in the interaction, respond to questions, share focus, share eye contact].	Engage in verbal or non-verbal back-and-forth exchange.
	Children can demonstrate active listening by giving the speaker their attention.	Listen carefully to what others are saying before speaking themselves.
	Children share their thoughts and ideas when looking at a book.	Look at a picture book with an adult and make a comment about a picture.
Manage my body with increasing spatial awareness	Children demonstrate awareness of their surroundings. They practice large movements such as waving, kicking, rolling, crawling and walking.	Negotiate the surrounding space safely and with purpose.
	Children begin to take risks and ask for help when needed.	Explore different types of equipment and fit themselves into different spaces.
	Children can run safely, are beginning to use stairs and climb onto equipment with increasing confidence.	Climb onto low level equipment.
	Children explore the space freely, taking some risks without an adult.	Climb onto low level equipment unaided and jump off with two feet.

Links to Development Matters	Skill	Environment [Continuous provision]
Communication & Language	Describing and naming emotions Understand what is happening in a story with the help of pictures Introduce new vocabulary Understand ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘where’ questions	Mirrors and photos showing emotions Inviting a reading area displaying high-quality texts to introduce new vocabulary Question prompts
Personal, Social & Emotional Development	To talk about and manage emotions Develop positive attitudes towards diversity – ask questions about differences Develop friendships – support, encourage and suggest ways to join in Learn to use the toilet independently	Calming areas, books, mirrors and photos showing emotions. Recognise and expand on children’s emotions Enable a sense of belonging – see themselves represented within the environment, family photos. Photos of children playing together in the environment
Physical development	Use large motor skills confidently Use small motor skills confidently Dress or undress independently Use a knife and fork correctly Explore different materials and tools	Button and zip frames Pour water from jug to cup. Roleplay clothing Cutlery available during snacks and lunch – encourage independence Materials to grasp, hold and explore; clay, finger paint, spoons, brushes, shells etc.
Literacy	Sings songs and rhymes independently Able to pay attention and respond to the pictures when sharing a book with an adult Repeat words and phrases from familiar stories Develop play around stories Make marks with meaning	Musical instruments, song selection, spoons, rhyme books and props Inviting a reading area with high quality texts Texts with repeated phrases are available within the environment. Characters and settings from stories are represented within the environment. Large scale mark making Small muscle coordination tools such as chalk, pencils, felt pens.
Mathematics	Compare amounts using the vocabulary ‘lots’, ‘more’ and ‘same’ Count in everyday contexts Build with a range of resources Complete inset puzzles Compare sizes using vocabulary ‘bigger/little/smaller’, ‘high/low’, ‘tall’, ‘heavy’ Notice and arrange patterns	Building blocks Display the counting sequence in meaningful contexts Puzzles of different difficulty with the environment Different sized objects Patterned material and small objects to arrange in patterns
Understanding the World	Explore materials with different properties Explore natural materials Respond to different natural phenomena Make connections between features of different families Notice differences between people	Treasure baskets Open-ended play materials Standing in the rain, jumping in puddles, looking for minibeasts, planting and growing. Enable a sense of belonging – see themselves represented within the environment, display family photos.
Expressive Arts & Design	Join in with songs and rhymes Make rhythmical and repetitive sounds Enjoy and take part in action songs Develop pretend play Using sense to investigate materials Make simple models	Everyday objects used as instruments Song books, song spoons, QR code library Junk modelling resources

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Theme	Who am I?	Home Sweet Home	Our World	Get Growing!	Healthy Habits	Music & Movement
Selected texts to support the curriculum
Provocations	Self Portraits – mark making Big me – body painting Mini Me – collage creation I feel …–playdough faces My puzzle	Who lives in my home? – mark making How does my garden grow? – collage & cress Family faces – collage creation Community map – large scale mark making Build our town – block play	A world of smells – aromatherapy playdough Weather – sensory bottles Animals from around the world Bird watching	Let’s Grow – Mr Bloom’s Nursery Planting seeds Petals & playdough Petal press – salt dough ornaments Sunflower Art	Toothbrushing Handwashing Washing & drying Exploring healthy foods Cosmic Kids Yoga	Play silks Dough Disco Sensory socks Obstacle course Make your own instruments

Experiences
At Growing Little Champions, we believe working scientifically is vital in early years as it nurtures curiosity, critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and a sense of wonder—all of which are foundational to a child's cognitive, emotional, and social development. The following planned experiences are offered throughout the academic year and are designed to build on young children’s early scientific enquiry, develop their wider understanding of the world around them and build cultural capital:
Plant a seed and watch it grow Observe a chrysalis turn into a butterfly Bake a cake Chop fruit to make a smoothie Fly a kite	Meet a newly hatched chick Meet someone from the community that helps us Perform to an audience Visit the library

Personalised Planning

Personalised planning is ideal for children under three because it allows for flexibility and responsiveness to their immediate needs and interests. At this stage, children are rapidly developing new skills and exploring their environment, so planning that adapts to their spontaneous actions and evolving emotions helps create a more engaging and supportive learning experience. This approach fosters a sense of security and encourages curiosity, as practitioners can follow the child's cues, providing timely interactions and opportunities for growth in real-time.

Our Curriculum

Growing Little Champions’ Curriculum

Curriculum [Intent]

Pedagogy [Implementation]

Assessment [Impact]

Curricular Goal

Milestone

Assessment

Regulate my emotions

Have a back-and-forth conversation with an adult while sharing a book

Manage my body with increasing spatial awareness

Links to Development Matters

Skill

Environment [Continuous provision]

Communication & Language

Personal, Social & Emotional Development

Physical development

Literacy

Mathematics

Understanding the World

Expressive Arts & Design

Autumn 1

Autumn 2

Spring 1

Spring 2

Summer 1

Summer 2

Theme

Who am I?

Home Sweet Home

Our World

Get Growing!

Healthy Habits

Music & Movement

Selected texts to support the curriculum

Provocations

Experiences

Personalised Planning

Supporting Documents and Resources:

Communication & Language

Maths