EYFS
Welcome to EYFS!
In Early Years our ethos is to ‘nurture hearts and inspire minds’, giving our children the best start to life, by providing them with skills, knowledge and understanding in order to thrive today and throughout their life.
Principles of our Early Years curriculum:
Effective teaching and learning in the EYFS at Elm C of E Primary and Pre-School identifies children’s needs and interests and helps them learn and develop in all seven areas of learning.
Children learn best when they are happy, secure and actively involved in their own learning.
Practitioners regularly discuss and review children’s learning and development with each other, and with parents, ensuring children are involved and enjoying their learning. These discussions help us to review children’s development and ensure that they are prepared for their next step in their learning journey.
Children learn at different rates, every child can progress well, with the right support.
Every child is on their own unique learning journey and can thrive.
Learning within the Early Years is play based, being an essential part of children’s learning, and takes place indoors and outside. Children choose their play through high quality resources which have been carefully selected to ensure rich potential learning. There is a balance between child-initiated experiences and adult-guided learning.
How is our curriculum being delivered?
Our curriculum is implemented through purposeful play, where we respond to each child’s needs and interests, guiding their learning and development through warm and positive interactions. In Reception, children will learn and develop knowledge and new skills during daily Literacy and Maths inputs. They will complete adult-guided activities to apply knowledge and skills linked to these inputs.
Experiences or activities are planned carefully and purposefully to enhance children’s learning and provision, providing challenging and enjoyable experiences to enable children to develop effectively. Children will access provision indoors and outside, through enabling environments, engaging in valuable interactions with their peers and adults. The balance of activities planned and taught gradually shifts in Reception to help children prepare for their next step in their learning journey, including more formal teaching in Year 1.
The EYFS Framework
There are seven areas of learning and development that help to shape educational provision in Early Years settings. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected.
The three prime areas are:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
The four specific areas are:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
Maths is interlinked within all areas of learning. Within provision children are encouraged to talk about number, shape, space and measures, in order to develop these early mathematical skills. In Reception, we use the ‘Complete Maths’ scheme of learning for teaching mathematics. It is a mastery approach which enables all children to understand, enjoy and succeed in Maths. This is done by developing children’s understanding. By truly understanding each mathematical concept and by mastering learning one step at a time, everyone can do Maths! Children develop the right growth mindset, by solving problems using concrete resources, pictorial representations and abstract thinking.
You can find more information about Maths at Elm C of E school here.
Children make a strong start to learning Phonics in the Early Years. We use the 'Sounds Write' phonics programme. In Reception, children learn new sounds weekly. They learn to blend and segment words alongside learning correct letter formation. Children's vocabulary grows through role-play, discussion, building sentences and using productive questioning. We place huge emphasis on developing children’s love of reading through enticing story and poetry times. You can find more information about Phonics at our school here.
Class Blogs
You can find the Pre-School blog here
You can find the Reception Class blog here
Recommended Websites
A video which clearly models and demonstrates the pure sounds of the English language. A great resource to support parents in modelling the correct articulation of each sound.
A website with a great selection of maths and literacy based activities for all ages. Free to access and a great parents area.
A selection of free interactive games to support your child’s developing phonic knowledge (some games do require a paid subscription).
If you require any additional information relating to the Early Years, then please contact Mrs Hart via the school office.