Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

The EYFS Curriculum

"With God, all things are possible" Matthew 19:26

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 major impact on their future life chances.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards that we strive to meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to ensure children's 'school readiness' and gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.

In the EYFS, we aim for every child to be:

• Happy, secure and to feel safe

• Independent, self-assured risk takers

• Confident and resilient

• Excited and motivated to learn

• Socially strong and able to form positive relationships

Intent

At Crowton Christ Church C.E. Primary School, we believe that our Early Years Foundation Stage is crucial to developing firm foundations to be built upon throughout our school journey and beyond.

It is our intent that the children who enter our EYFS develop physically, verbally, emotionally, creatively, intellectually and spiritually whilst embedding a positive attitude to school and learning in order for each child to achieve their full potential.

We set high expectations throughout all areas of school life and beyond. Our school vision is introduced in our Reception Class... Aspire, Discover, Flourish. Our vision is embedded in all aspects of our children's lives as they become lifelong learners in an environment of acceptable and support. We believe that all children deserve to be valued as an individual and we are passionate in supporting all children to achieve their full, unique potential.

These 4 key principles underpin our practice in the Reception Class at Crowton C.E. Primary School.

A Unique Child

We recognise the all children ae different. We identify and celebrate their strengths and support their areas for development.

Positive Relationships

Our pupils interact well with each other and with the adults in the school. We encourage parents to be involved with their child's education.

Enabling Environments

Our indoor and outdoor areas encourage explorations, investigation and independent learning. Our displays are resources are well maintained and reflect current learning.

Learning and Development

Pupils achieve well and make good progress from their starting points. Learning is playful, practical and purposeful and builds upon prior attainment. Our children enjoy coming to school.

Our Reception class follow the EYFS Curriculum which has seven main areas of learning.

Prime areas of learning:

• Communication and Language (Listening, attention and understanding; and Speaking)

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development (Self-regulation, Managing Self and Building Relationships)

• Physical Development (Gross motor skills and fine motor skills)

Specific areas of learning:

• Literacy (Comprehension, Word reading and Writing)

• Maths (Number and Numerical patterns)

• Understanding of the World (Past and present; people, culture and communities; and the natural world)

• Expressive Arts and Design (Creating with materials and being imaginative and expressive)

Implementation

We implement these areas of learning by providing a safe, stimulating environment that allows children to discover, be challenged, consolidate and achieve their very best whilst developing their resilience and independence.

There is a combination of adult-led, teacher taught whole class, group and individual support. Throughout all of these areas of learning and at the heart of the EYFS Curriculum are the "Characteristics of Effective Learning".

We strive to develop these key characteristics of "Playing and Learning", "Active Learning" and "Thinking Critically" in order to give the children the skills that they will continue to draw upon throughout their development. We get to know our families and children well and use their interests and knowledge to support and inspire our children’s knowledge and understanding of themselves, our local community and beyond.

Our learning environments, both inside and outside are adapted to meet the different and developing needs of our children. We are passionate advocates for ensuring all of our children are able to share how they feel and work with them to support any worries or concerns they may have as we fully believe that children learn best when they are happy.

With regular assessments made from accurate observations, future planning is informed and children’s individual next steps planned. Learning is embedded and consistent and that all children continue to make the best possible progress within our EYFS setting.

Impact

The impact of our provision is measured by how effectively it helps our pupils develop into well rounded individuals who embody our values and carry with them the knowledge, skills and attitudes which will make them lifelong learners and valuable future citizens. It is a privilege to be part of such an important stage in our children’s development and our dedicated staff work tirelessly to deliver the best possible outcomes for our children.

Assessment

The staff are constantly assessing the children in their everyday activities, during play and through more focussed adult-led interactions and sessions. We use observations of the children, photos, the work that they do, feedback from parents and comments made by the children to assess where the pupils are working. 

The EYFS Framework and Development Matters documents are used to inform the curriculum, the enhancements in the provision and next steps for pupils.  Development Matters gives statements for the ages of the children.

The planning focus for each term and each week is taken from the Long Term Plan, the agreed focus, the previous week’s findings, the interests of the children and the next steps.

Early Learning Goals (ELG)

In the final term of the year, a profile will be completed for your child. This provides parents and carers, practitioners and teachers with a well-rounded picture of a child's knowledge, understanding and abilities, their attainment against the expected levels and their readiness for Year 1. Throughout their year in Reception, the children will be observed and assessed, mainly through their play, in order to gain insights and make reasonable judgements against the early learning goals. We will use the terms 'emerging' or 'expected' to describe our judgements. Under the new guidance, the term 'exceeding' has been removed.

Areas within the EYFS setting:

• a writing area containing various writing implements and papers as well as envelopes and examples of good writing

• a book corner containing a range of  fiction, non-fiction, poetry and class-made books

• a maths resource area which allows children to select appropriate items to help them solve practical problems

• a creative area containing resources for a range of art, design, music and technology activities

• a construction area containing resources for developing fine motor skills, social interaction and problem solving

• a small world area which allows children to extend fine motor skills, engage in imaginative play and develop language

• an area for sand, malleable materials (e.g. play dough) and water play, where children can engage in practical investigations

• a role play area which can be developed along themed line to cover several aspects of learning in “real life” scenarios

• a physical development area for developing fine motor skills

Early Learning Goals