SoiSchool bases its curriculum on the UK Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) principles to help guide our programs and practices along with our core approach. We incorporate the developmental areas into all of our learning experiences and activities. The areas of learning and development are:
◾ Community and Language
◾ Physical Development
◾ Personal, Social, and Emotional Development
◾ Literacy
◾ Mathematics
◾ Understanding the World
◾ Expressive Arts & Design
The children can express their emotions appropriately and manage their behaviours safely. They reach out when they need help from their peers and teachers. The children should see challenges as an opportunity to learn and grow. They reflect on their own learnings and make improvements to overcome future challenges.
The children can use their imagination to make and create spontaneously. They are able to explore different materials, experiment with a variety of techniques and enjoy the making process.
The children can identify problems and think flexibly and critically to arrive at solutions. They are not afraid to take risks and learn through trials and errors.
The children can understand that they are a part of a group. They learn how to interact with other people and treat them with empathy. The children’s contribution in a project helps them develop their sense of belonging and realise their self value.
The children can think for themselves and share their opinions with others. They should be able to adapt to new people or situations and learn how to compromise. The children also build up the level of self-awareness and self-realisation, being able to identify their needs and find ways to have their needs met appropriately and safely. They should take care of their physical and mental well-being and know how to reach out for help.
“In the moment observations”
SoiSchool assessment is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach in which teachers act as facilitators and co-learners in the children’s play.
Teachers observe the students in the moment, document their learning process, and share the observations with the parents.
Our documentation includes children’s work, teacher’s observational notes, pictures, and videos. We also work collaboratively with the parents about how children do at home, and have feedback sessions between teachers, making up our core assessment based on the EYFS framework.
We avoid hard data assessment but rather a more open-ended, personalised, conversational, and visual way of tracking the children’s development.