EYFS

Intent

In the Early Years at Spring Lane Primary School we want children to be happy confident, well rounded individuals with a love for learning. We believe in providing all children with a safe and stimulating environment that builds on each individual’s needs and interests.

Children should have the opportunity to learn through play. Learning should be fun, engaging and suitably challenging. We value the importance of our outdoor environment and believe that it offers children the opportunity to develop their thinking and problem-solving skills. Adults provide high quality interactions; they are role models for learning.

We aim to work collaboratively with parents and carers to encourage independent, enthusiastic learners who thrive and reach their full potential. It is our intent that children who enter our EYFS begin their lifelong learning journey by developing physically, verbally, cognitively and emotionally whilst also embedding a positive attitude to school and a love of learning.

It is our intent to ensure that all children will receive the teaching of early reading through systematic, synthetic phonics to learn to read words and simple sentences accurately by the end of Foundation Stage 2.

Implementation

At Spring Lane Primary School, we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. This is made up of four overriding principles which our early year’s education is based upon:

· Unique Child – Every child is unique child who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.

· Positive Relationships – Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.

· Enabling Environments – Children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and carers.

· Learning and Development – Children develop and learn in different ways. The framework covers the education and care of all children in early year’s provision, including children with special educational needs and disabilities.

The curriculum provides a play-based and experiential learning environment, combined with focussed teaching and basic skills, to ensure children make rapid progress before moving onto Year 1.

The children in Jumping Jacks Nursery (Pre-School) and Foundation Stage 2 are provided with opportunities to access both indoor and outdoor provision. They engage in planned, focussed activities as well as self-initiated and free flow activities. The learning experiences within our Early Years are linked to the seven areas of learning and development within the EYFS. These areas are split into three prime areas and four specific areas.

The three prime areas are those which the children should develop first and are considered most essential for the healthy development and future learning of our children.

These include:

· Communication and Language – involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations.

· Personal, Social and Emotional Development – involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities.

· Physical Development - involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. Children must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food.

As children grow and make progress in the prime areas, this will help them to naturally develop skills within the four specific areas.

These are:

· Literacy – the early teaching of literacy involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children are given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other written materials) to ignite their interest.

· Mathematics – the early teaching of mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and describing shapes, spaces, and measures.

· Understanding the World – this involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment.

· Expressive Arts and Design – this involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play, and design and technology.

Children benefit from meaningful learning across the curriculum and staff plan resourcefully for opportunities for communication, sustained shared thinking and physical challenge to build on existing skills taking into account the Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning.

Impact

The children at Spring Lane Primary School experience a smooth transition between Jumping Jacks Pre-School Nursery, Foundation Stage 2 and beyond. Effective communication and collaboration ensure the children leave the EYFS with a solid foundation of learning on which to build upon.

We use online Tapestry learning journals across the EYFS, supplemented with ‘Busy Books’ and ‘RWI Books’ in Reception, which evidence to the children and their families the children’s successes throughout their time in Early Years.

Observations - Staff focus on quality interactions with pupils and record key moments that evidence progress and steps forward for the individual child. The observations form formative assessments that inform future planning and ensure pupils build on their current knowledge and skills.

As a team, we carry out regular internal moderation sessions with fellow CET schools. Staff attend meetings and training to ensure that we feel confident with our judgements and that these judgements are consistent with a range of other settings.