EYFS document

This document sets out our aims and principles in delivering high quality Early Years education in our EYFS class to support all of our children to learn for life and achieve the best they can.

Curriculum

Our school vision “I pray that your love for each other will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding” (Philippians chapter 1:9), has been the driver of our Early Years Curriculum which has been developed to support children in our Reception Class to learn knowledge and skills that provide the foundations of their journey through our school. We have planned an ambitious curriculum with a progressive sequence of knowledge and skills to support future learning in KS1 and KS2. We aim for the children to be confident in all areas of the curriculum, storing this knowledge and these skills in their long-term memory as they leave the Reception class. We have produced ‘progression’ documents which identify the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary that Reception need in order to transition well in to Year 1.

Our curriculum is knowledge and language rich, develops the characteristics of learning, independence and self-regulation and covers the seven areas of the Early Years Statutory Framework. In is unique to our context and endeavours to meet the needs of those who join our setting.

We use specific schemes of learning for Phonics: Little Wandle; Handwriting: Little Wandle; Writing: Drawing Club; Maths: Mastering number (NCETM) and White Rose; RE: Emmanuel Project and Understanding Christianity; PSHE: Cambridgeshire scheme of learning.

In December, we combine with Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2) for a wonderful Nativity performance. They have singing lessons once a week with our specialist music teacher.

Our topics have been chosen to ensure that we include all the Early Learning Goals, whilst also making sure that we have some flexibility in our curriculum to allow opportunities for learning to be driven by the children’s interests. This enables us to engage each child and ensures that they achieve their best.

Teaching

When children start in our EYFS class, we give them time to settle in and make friends. During this time, we observe them, talk to them, listen to them and play with them. Our curriculum is designed so that children’s interests are taken into account alongside their likes and dislikes and their personalities. Children are then involved in a balance of child-initiated and adult led activities linked to the curriculum map and continuous provision. These take place both inside the classroom and outside is our delightful, well-resourced ‘Infants’ garden’.

As the year progresses, more “formal” tasks are gradually introduced in preparation for the transition into Year 1. Much of the content and vocabulary taught in the summer curriculum, supports this transition. Children in Reception also take part in a daily Phonics lesson. We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised scheme to teach phonics in Reception and Key stage 1. Children in these year groups have a daily lesson in 6 week blocks which teaches phonemes, tricky words and key words, in a review/teach/practice/ apply format. In Reception and Year 1, readers have three reading practice sessions a week in school, delivered by an adult. The books read in these sessions are matched to their ability following regular assessment after each unit of phonics teaching. Each reading session has a different focus: decoding, prosody (fluency) and comprehension. After the third session, the book is sent home to read with an adult.

We ensure that our environment and delivery of the curriculum incorporate the three characteristics of effective learning which are:

• Playing and Exploring
• Active Learning
• Creating and thinking critically

 

Our children learn:

• By doing!
• In whole class situations
• In small groups
• With 1:1 support
• Through first hand experiences
• By having visitors and going on trips
• Both inside and outside the classroom including Forest School
• By accessing resources independently
• Through engaging themes and stories

We endeavour to establish positive relationships both within the classroom and in the wider context of the school community. We do this through:

• Visiting the children in their pre-school setting before starting school

 • Talking to parents/carers about their child before their child starts in our school at information evenings and open sessions, including a “New Parents” meeting

• Pre-school children are invited to attend morning sessions in the reception class prior to starting, as well as a lunch time session

• Inviting parents to class meetings at the beginning of the school year to offer support with specific areas of the curriculum such as early reading and phonics

• Encouraging parents to talk to their child’s teacher if there are any concerns

• Using the online tool ‘SeeSaw’ to inform parents of progress in the classroom

 • Offering parents regular opportunities to talk about their child’s progress at parents’ consultations

 • Sending parents a written end of year report

• Arranging a range of social and fund-raising activities through the “S&VA”, the School and Village Association, similar to a PTA, to encourage collaboration between school, children, their parents and the wider village.

 • Fortnightly newsletters

 • Providing children with a Reading Diary in which parents can record any comments

 • Offering support from our SENDCO if needed

Achievement

Our Reception class is managed by the early years teacher and supported by teaching assistants. All staff involved in teaching develop good relationships with every child, interacting positively with them and taking time to play with, and listen to them. They observe children sensitively and respond appropriately to encourage and extend curiosity and learning. By observing and listening, practitioners discover what children like to do and are able to do, and can plan next steps appropriately. At Dry Drayton we recognise that the environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning. This is interactive and adaptable to support the changing needs and interests of the children. All assessments of children are based on observations of them across all seven areas of learning and in a variety of situations. Children are continually observed and this helps adults develop knowledge of their progress and interests. A baseline assessment is completed in the first two weeks after entry into school, in line with statutory baseline requirements. Each child is then assessed at the end of each half term against the reception curriculum. This information is reported to parents through meetings and the end of year report. At the end of the school year, children are assessed against the Early Learning Goals in the Foundation Stage Profile. The outcome of this is reported to parents, along with detail about characteristics of learning, in their end of year report.