Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

Intent

At Holborough Lakes our aim is to create a learning environment and build relationships which support, enhance and invite a child’s curiosity, confidence and individual competency to flourish regardless of backgrounds, circumstances or needs.

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 embedding a positive attitude to school and a love of learning.

Our baseline assessment in September allows us to consider every child’s starting point and their individual needs as they begin their learning journey.

Every child has access to a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum which prepares them for now and for the future in terms of opportunities and experiences.

Our curriculum is child centred following the interests and fascinations of the children in the current year group. We aim to provide motivating first-hand experiences whilst encouraging children to achieve and work together to succeed.

Implementation

Our curriculum follows the Early Years Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. This document supports the children’s learning and development in the EYFS and provides the prime and specific areas to cover within our curriculum.

Through our knowledge of each child and formative assessments the EYFS team plan exciting and engaging activities that will move the children’s learning forward. This may involve following a class theme where we take advantage of cross curricular links in order to combine transferable skills and develop a wide-ranging vocabulary which underpins the children’s learning. This may also include following individual children’s interests and making the most of those focused moments where the teaching and learning can be maximised in a one-to-one way with teacher and child. Each year creates its own unique blend of whole class, guided, adult directed play and child-initiated play activities dependant on the nature and needs of the class of individuals.

Children in EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active and thinking critically and creatively and this takes place both indoors and in our outdoor area. Our outdoor area is open all year round and in all but the most challenging weather conditions. Children make their own decisions about where they learn best and teachers ensure that there are opportunities for all areas of learning both inside and outside.

Holborough Lakes follows Read Write Ink phonics programme. Every child has access to a phonics session every day. This includes a speed sound session, introduction to a new sound, FRED talk, word time and finally practising our handwriting. These sessions are thoroughly enjoyed by our early year’s children. We teach pre cursive and then cursive handwriting as appropriate over the year.

We provide effective and focused intervention for those children who are finding learning challenging and are not on track to meet expectations at the end of the year. This will be provided in an inclusive way and support from parents is also enlisted at an early stage to ensure that the children have every chance to achieve the Early Learning Goals.

The EYFS team collect evidence of children’s learning through observations, photos and videos which are shared with parents daily using the DOJO online system. This means that parents can engage with children regularly about their learning and can contribute to the knowledge we have of the child in school. Parents are very active and love to use DOJO to record the milestones children make at home during the year enabling achievements both inside and outside of school to be celebrated.

The team in Panda class work tirelessly to ensure that children are surrounded by a kind, caring and happy environment which helps them develop the same skills in their journey through school. It is a positive place to be where resilience, perseverance and successes are celebrated, and every child feels valued and respected.

Impact

The impact of the EYFS curriculum is reflected in having well rounded, happy and confident children transitioning into Year 1. Our children are often amazing role models for others in school.

We measure progress and children’s learning across the year through formative and summative assessment which are based on the teacher’s knowledge of the child, photographs and videos on DOJO. We aim to exceed the National and Local Authority data for children achieving Good Level of Development.  Almost all our children make more than the expected steps progress from their starting points.

The judgements of our school are moderated with our VIAT schools and the EYFS Coordinator N. Craig meets with all EYFS teachers on a termly basis.  This means judgements are secure and consistent with government guidelines.

The teaching and pedagogy are reviewed and evaluated regularly through termly VIAT team meetings where all the EYFS teachers across the trust attend. These have an agenda and actions which are then reviewed in the following meeting. We ensure that the areas we discuss and develop are reflected in changes and developments in our classroom practice.

The Early Years provision features in all areas of the School Development Plan and has a rigorous plan for development each year. This is monitored and evaluated by the EYFS Lead, the Head teacher and our SIP.

EYFS Aims

• Support children and their families to make a smooth transition to life at school

• Follow children’s interests and fascinations to promote meaningful learning

• Plan ‘in the moment’ by observing children’s play closely and extending by suggestions, modelling or careful questioning

• Provide a balance of child led time, where children can explore their own ideas, and adult directed time for phonics, maths, literacy and topic activities

• Build supportive relationships with all children so than they feel safe, secure and able to take risks in their learning, thus making the best progress

• Promote independence and exploration by providing open-ended resources and experiences both indoors and outdoors

• Work with families to build a link between home and school and to provide ideas for further learning Children in Reception continue to follow the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. This supports the development and progress of children across all areas, providing a firm foundation for future learning throughout the school. 

Communication and Language In Early Years we develop conversation based on the children’s interest and their play-based learning, opening up conversations with the children and introducing them to new vocabulary as they play. We share stories, poems and rhymes daily and encourage reading and talk at every opportunity. Through conversation, storytelling and role play the children can share their ideas and use modelled phrases from their teacher, as they build a wide range of vocabulary and learn how to structure their language. 

We create opportunities for the children of Holborough to build gross and fine motor skills through games and play opportunities inside and outside. By developing their core strength, stability, balance and coordination it supports the development of a happy healthy child as well as developing their hand-eye coordination which will support literacy. This is done through a play based curriculum, whether it be exploring puzzles, crafts, building with train tracks or outside exploring different materials, with feedback and teacher support we allow children’s development of control and confidence. 

For further information, please click the link below:

PE in EYFS

We build strong, positive, warm relationships with the children and support them to understand their emotions and feelings. We support the children by adult modelling and guidance to learn to name and manage their emotions, develop confidence and make good choices enabling them to have a positive sense of self. A play-based curriculum gives the children plenty of opportunity to interact, build good friendships and learn how to work cooperatively with each other with teacher guidance and support.

A love of reading is so important that at Holborough that we share stories with the children daily and teach the children phonics early on to help the children to learn to read and write by decoding words. By teaching the children to articulate their ideas through speech first it helps them to structure their writing. We support the development of the children’s language through conversations about the world around them and by sharing poems, rhymes and songs.

Our daily maths lessons are explored in a practical way, we often go investigating using manipulatives to put into practice our understanding of numbers as well as being able to count confidently too. Having a strong number base knowledge is essential in order to have the building blocks needed for maths further on. We provide rich opportunities for the children to develop their knowledge and understanding of shape, space and measure through their child-initiated learning.

In Early Years it is our role to guide the children to explore and make sense of the world and community around them through stories and physical experiences. It is important to build language, knowledge and understanding of culture as well as introduce them to different members of our society such as police officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses etc. We embed this through our role play, small world and garden areas as well as stories, so the children get the opportunity to discuss their experiences and build their knowledge.

Children have the opportunity to explore and play with a wide range of range of media and materials to help them develop their artistic skills. We provide an opportunity to let them explore the world around them and develop a cultural awareness, as this supports their imagination and creativity. We recognise the importance of children being exposed to and having opportunities to express themselves as well as using art as another tool for communication. 

For more information about Art and DT in EYFS, please click here.