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Little Owls Resources’ Curriculum Intent Statement / Rationale
Our curriculum is designed to support high-quality Early Years practice by providing practitioners with clear, developmentally appropriate guidance and flexible, responsive planning tools from birth to five. Grounded in the EYFS Statutory Framework and aligned with Development Matters, our resources aim to help settings create rich, purposeful environments in which every child can thrive through a balance of child-led exploration and carefully planned adult-guided learning.
Our Vision
We believe that young children learn best through secure relationships, active exploration and meaningful interactions with knowledgeable adults. Our curriculum supports practitioners to notice what children are interested in, tune into their thinking, and skilfully extend learning in the moment. It also provides structured progression and intentional teaching sequences to ensure depth, breadth and equity for all children.
Our Core Principles
1. Child-centred and play-rich
Children learn through play, curiosity and autonomy. Our materials emphasise exploratory, open-ended experiences and encourage practitioners to follow children’s interests, adapting provision responsively.
2. Balanced approach: in-the-moment + adult-led
We champion an approach in which child-initiated learning is central, complemented by high-quality adult-guided interactions and focused teaching sessions (e.g., early communication, maths, phonics readiness). Our planning tools help practitioners maintain this balance confidently and intentionally.
3. Secure foundations in the Prime Areas
Warm relationships, communication-rich environments and physical development underpin all learning. Our age-band resources focus on these foundations first, supporting children’s well-being, resilience, language, confidence and independence.
4. Progressive and coherent learning
Learning is not linear, but children benefit from a curriculum that ensures key concepts and skills are revisited and deepened over time. Our curriculum maps highlight “golden threads” that run from birth to five, helping practitioners make connections and build strong foundations for every child.
5. Inclusive and equitable for all learners
Our materials support personalisation. Differentiation guidance, SEND adaptations, cultural diversity, language development strategies and accessible formats ensure that all children can access and succeed within the curriculum.
6. Responsive assessment that informs teaching
Assessment should be light-touch and meaningful. Our observation templates, trackers and next-step tools help practitioners understand each child’s learning journey without unnecessary workload or data collection.
7. High-quality environments and interactions
The environment is a powerful teacher. We provide continuous provision maps, enhancement ideas and interaction prompts that empower adults to set up spaces where curiosity, collaboration and creative thinking flourish.
Our Curriculum Aims
Through our resources, we aim to help practitioners enable every child to:
Feel safe, valued and confident as a unique individual
Communicate effectively and engage in rich conversations
Develop physical strength, coordination and independence
Build positive relationships and regulate emotions
Explore, problem-solve and make sense of the world
Develop early literacy and mathematical understanding through meaningful contexts
Foster creativity, imagination and critical thinking
Experience joy, discovery and success in their learning
How Our Resources Support Practice
Age-specific planning tools for Babies, Toddlers, Preschool and Reception
Curriculum maps showing clear progression from birth to five
Continuous Provision and Environment guides that support purposeful play
Adult-led planning templates grounded in best practice pedagogy
In-the-moment planning tools to capture and build on children’s interests
Observation and assessment materials that reduce workload and sharpen understanding
Parent partnership documents that strengthen home–setting continuity
Inclusion and SEND guidance to support equitable access for all children
Our Commitment
We are committed to providing research-informed, practitioner-friendly resources that uphold the principles of the EYFS and empower educators to deliver a curriculum that is ambitious, nurturing and reflective of each child’s potential. Our aim is to simplify the planning journey, raise the quality of practice across settings and ensure every child experiences a rich, inspiring early education.
Little Owls Resources
Document Updated: January 2026
Recommended next read Selection
Depending on your setting and age requirements:
Additional Whole-Setting Guidance | for Professional Members
Explore our whole-setting guidance below, including overarching curriculum and pedagogy documents, early years schemas and EYFS setting policies.
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Early Years Schemas - Practitioner Toolkit | EYFS Birth-5
↪ Schema Cards (definition, behaviours, age-related examples, enabling resources)
↪ Schema Observation & Responsive Provision Planning Template
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EYFS Group Setting Policies Pack
↪ x 22 Policy Documents
↪ Policy Sign-Off and Confirmation Document
↪ EYFS Setting Policy Folder Contents List
Childminder Setting Policies Pack
↪ x 22 Policy Documents
↪ Childminder Assistant or Volunteer Policy Sign-Off and Confirmation Document
↪ Childminder Policy Folder Contents List
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↪ Clear, practitioner-friendly explanations of key curriculum and pedagogy terms used throughout our guidance.
Age-Specific Guidance For Children Within Your Care
Select the ages relevant for the children you work with. You do not need to use everything. (Many practitioners use more than one pathway.)
What is Professional Membership?
Find our more about our Professional guidance for confident, reflective EYFS practice (Birth–5)
Alternatively, learn more about and explore our printable provision resources.
Thousands of ready-to-use printables to support provision, organisation, routines and learning across EYFS.
Latest EYFS Articles & Practical Guides | From Our Blog
Stay informed, get expert advice, and find inspiration from our collection of articles and useful external resources, tailored specifically for EYFS practitioners. We regularly publish in-depth articles to support you with current best practices, regulatory changes, and fresh ideas.
Are you looking for a specific resource or document for your provision?
Use our 🔍 SEARCH Bar located at the top of every page.
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Content within the EYFS Curriculum & Pedagogy Membership is provided as professional guidance and support. It reflects current understanding of the EYFS statutory framework, Development Matters and inspection expectations at the time of writing. Practitioners are responsible for applying professional judgement and ensuring practice aligns with current statutory requirements and their specific context. All resources, experiences and environment arrangements must be risk assessed by the setting and used in accordance with individual children’s developmental stages, needs and supervision requirements.
Safeguarding content does not replace a setting’s safeguarding and child protection policy or the statutory role of the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). All concerns must be managed in line with current statutory guidance and local safeguarding procedures.
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