“Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe and happy childhood is important in its own right. Good parenting and high quality early learning together provide the foundation children need to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up”
Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage - setting the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five. 2021
Intent
At St Peter’s, we understand that children learn best when they are engaged, interested and active. We understand that active learning involves other children, adults, objects, ideas, stimuli and events that aim to engage and involve children for sustained periods. We believe that Early Years education should be as practical as possible. Play is essential for children’s development across all areas. Play builds on children’s confidence as they learn to explore, to relate to others around them and develop relationships, set their own goals and solve problems. Children learn by leading their own play and by taking part in play which is guided by adults. We recognise that the foundation stage years are the beginning of a child’s school journey. So therefore, it is essential that strong foundations: academically, socially, physically and emotionally are instilled and curiosity and the love of learning is fostered.
We intend for our children to develop curiosity as an underlying skill for successful learning and the development of the unique child. We aim to foster children’s curiosity by establishing positive relationships, developing an enabling and supportive environment, by responding to their individual interests and needs and helping children build their learning over time. Every child is recognised as a unique individual; we acknowledge and promote children’s interests to provide them with the opportunities to follow their imagination and creativity. We celebrate the diversity in our school community, and always strive to promote a love for learning.
At St Peter’s we recognise children’s prior learning and various starting points, and create a holistic curriculum that maximises cross-curricular links and builds strong foundations for their future. Our EYFS curriculum is designed and evolves to provide children with important foundational skills and knowledge that will later be enhanced and embedded throughout KS1. We understand that children have a thirst for new experiences and knowledge, and should be provided with opportunities to engage their inquisitive minds. We provide reflective continuous indoor and outdoor provision that follows children’s interests, to support learners in investigating and developing their skills therefore supporting the development of the three characteristics of effective learning.
We strive to work in close partnership with parents and carers throughout the year to support their learning and to encourage children to reach their full potential. We also aim to promote a smooth transition from EYFS to KS1 by providing children with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to succeed throughout their education.
Implementation
In our EYFS classrooms, children learn through a careful balance of child-initiated and adult-directed activities and challenges. Weekly timetables are carefully structured so that children have focussed teaching inputs in Literacy, Mathematics and Phonics but also ensure children experience a balance of C&L, UtW, PD, EAD and PSED sessions. Children are provided with daily opportunities to engage in play opportunities throughout a variety of experiences, which are carefully planned to engage and challenge them in our enabling provision areas. Each day, children have the choice of the learning they engage with during their independent time, all of which aim to develop our children’s curiosity and their love of learning, the characteristics of effective learning; playing and exploring, active learning and creating and thinking critically.
Adult directed play opportunities carefully link to direct teaching and allow children the opportunity to reinforce and apply new knowledge and skills. Children always have access to outdoor provision as we provide purposeful learning opportunities to develop specific areas alongside the development of gross motor skills.
Reading is at the heart of our curriculum with carefully selected high quality texts as the main drivers of our curriculum. They create an integrated approach to learning from which pupils can experience the breadth of the full EYFS curriculum and prepare them for their journey into Key Stage One. Children follow a synthetic systematic phonics programme called ‘Little Wandle’. They enjoy reading a variety of books inside and outside of school through quality reading practice sessions. Children are sent home with a fully decodable phonics reading book that is tailored and suited to their individual phonics level. At all stages throughout the delivery of the programme, children’s reading attainment is assessed and gaps are addressed quickly and effectively.
White Rose Maths programme is used to secure firm foundations in the development of good number sense for all children in Foundation 2. The aim over time is that children will develop fluency in calculation and a confidence and flexibility with number. Pupils learn through games and tasks using concrete manipulatives which are then rehearsed and applied to their own learning during exploration and in adult directed activities. These collaborative and practical mathematical experiences are carefully designed to help pupils remember the content they have been taught and to support them with integrating their new knowledge across the breadth of their experiences and into larger concepts. This approach to teaching Maths ensures children gain progressive mathematical knowledge and skills as they continue their journey through KS1.
A wealth of assessment opportunities e.g. visual observations, conversations with the child, small group work and class discussions are used in our EYFS classrooms to ensure planning and play provision is tailored to pupil need to provide every opportunity to move learning forward. These observations are used to support teachers make to informative assessments and inform potential next steps for each child, this includes careful consideration of children with SEND or are who are disadvantaged.
We have a structured timetable in place to allow a broad curriculum to be delivered, ensuring that children have a multitude of learning opportunities in readiness for Year 1. Within our setting, children are aware of the clear and purposeful structure of the day which is designed to encourage children to apply taught skills during adult led time, within their independent learning. Our inclusive approach means that all children learn together, however we also use a range of additional interventions to support, enhance and scaffold children who may need it.
Children at St Peter’s are confident, resilient and inquisitive learners. Their love of learning is evident through their relationships with one another, their independence in the purposeful approaches to learning they adopt in the indoor and outdoor learning environments, and the valuable contributions they make to our classes. Transitioning into Year 1, pupils are curious learners with high aspirations and continue to love learning and know its value. They are equipped with a broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for future progress through school and life.