FRAM School, Romania

'We were looking for an early years programme that would be aligned with our vision, mission and goals,' says Ileana. 'At the same time, it needed to offer consistency and coherence in line with the approach we were already applying at Cambridge Primary.

'We also realised that an earlier start with English would better prepare our learners for the next stage and equip them with the necessary language skills.

'The Cambridge Early Years programme offered everything our school needs to provide high-quality early years education: it is a well-structured curriculum with high-quality classroom resources, suitable professional development and age-appropriate assessment.’ 

Introducing the Cambridge curriculum 

Ileana believes that the Cambridge Early Years programme is well-designed to meet the needs of learners whose mother tongue is not English. However, to ensure a smooth transition from the early years national curriculum that the school had been using, which is taught in Romanian, the school decided on a staggered approach to introducing Cambridge Early Years.

'We wanted to test the waters and progressively adapt to the programme – as we did in our first year of Cambridge Primary last year,’ she says.

'We aim to introduce Cambridge Early Years gradually to our learners in Early Years 2 (ages 4 to 5) and Early Years 3 (ages 5 to 6), delivering as much of the programme in English as we can. For Early Years 1 (ages 3 to 4), the transition will probably be slower and it is likely that we will use Romanian as the main language of instruction for them.'

Play-based learning

The school values the teaching and learning approaches of the programme, particularly the emphasis on play-based learning, says Ileana: “Children learn best through experience and play. They are naturally curious and thrive mostly in the contexts of their homes, early years settings and local communities.

'Their learning is most effective when they are actively involved and engaged. Active participation in their own learning ensures children gain a sense of competence and self-worth – they become confident about making choices, certain actions and even choosing which actions to take and when to take them.'

Supporting teachers to support their learners

'The Cambridge Early Years programme supports teachers by providing guidance on how to implement the curriculum and how to help our learners transition to primary education,’ says Ileana, who was pleased that the school had access to the curriculum well before the start of the school year, so that school leaders and teachers could get accustomed to it.

'We wanted to feel prepared to give our young learners the best start this school year,' she says. 'Cambridge provided plenty of information on the programme through its School Support Hub and we have also had access to informative induction presentations, brochures, webinars and guides.

'There are resources to help teachers with their planning and we are very much looking forward to learner resources being published in 2024.

'Our teachers also appreciate the flexibility of the programme that allows them to tailor it to each child’s needs, skills and interests.’

Providing the best start in life

'We believe that through the programme, we will give our learners the best start in life, no matter what context their families choose to progress to for their child’s next stage of development,’ says Ileana.

'For families choosing Cambridge Primary, we hope that Cambridge Early Years will help children transition much more easily to this next stage, by becoming familiar with the Cambridge approach at an early age and developing the skills and knowledge they need as well as the necessary English language abilities.

'We believe our young learners will be better equipped for the future.'