The EllisChurch Of England Primary School

‘Be The Best You Can Be’

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

We are very proud to have an Early Years Foundation Stage Unit which provides high quality care and education for children aged between 3 and 5 years. The early years consists of Foundation 1 (also known as F1 or Nursery) and Foundation 2 (also known as F2 or Reception). The classes are led by experienced, qualified Early Years teachers (Mrs Pollard F1 and Mr Grayhurst F2) and was graded Good by Ofsted in 2017.

Classes

Below are links to each class page where you will find useful information and newsletters…

https://theellisschool.org.uk/classes/nursery/

https://theellisschool.org.uk/classes/foundation-2/

In F1 we offer 26 places for 3-4 year olds, 16 of these places are full time.

This means that your child will have the opportunity to attend the morning, afternoon or full day session.

These sessions are:

•  8.45am-11.45am
•  12.30pm-3.30pm
•  Or full time session of 8.45am-3.30pm

 (Please contact the school office to discuss eligibility for 30 hours)

www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/how-to-apply-for-30-hours-free-childcare

In F2 we offer 30 full time places to 4-5 year olds (depending on your child’s date of birth)

• F2 sessions start at 8.55am-3.20pm

Children access both indoor and outdoor learning throughout the day. Both F1 and F2 have discreet sessions but open as a unit at particular times each day.

Dinner times are as follows:

• F1 full time children- 11.45am- 12.45pm
• F2 children- 11.50am-1.00pm

Transition

Before your child start F1 or F2 we carry out transition meetings.

Home visits are made to new children to offer opportunities for parents to speak to staff about their child.

F1 children and their parents are invited to Ready Steady Play sessions in school in order for children to meet their new class teacher and visit their learning environment.

All children are invited to spend time in their new class before they are due to begin F1 or F2.

Both F1 and F2 teachers also run transition meetings* within the setting for all parents prior to their child starting at The Ellis.

*More in depth details about your child’s transitions will be given at these meetings.

Curriculum

In both F1 and F2 your child will be learning through the Early Years Foundations Stage (EYFS) Curriculum. They will acquire new skills and knowledge and demonstrate their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development.

The first 3 are described as prime areas, these are:

• Communication and language;
• Physical development; and
• Personal, social and emotional development.

These prime areas are those most essential for your child’s healthy development and future learning.

As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas.

These are:

• Literacy;
• Mathematics;
• Understanding the world; and
• Expressive arts and design.

These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities. The teachers and teaching assistants supporting your child will make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s unique needs and extend their learning.

 Your children will learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outside.

Characteristics of Effective Learning

Our early years curriculum offers a play based approach to learning. How your child learns is outlined through the Characteristics of Effective Learning which is documented in the Statutory Framework for The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

There are 3 characteristics of effective learning:

Playing and exploring engagement

• Finding out and exploring
• Playing with what they know
• Being willing to have a go

Active learning motivation

• Being involved and concentrating
• Keeping trying
• Enjoying achieving what they set out to do

Creating and thinking critically thinking

• Having their own ideas
• Making links
• Choosing to do things

Please follow the link below for more in depth information about the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum and Characteristics of Effective Learning.

www.foundationyears.org.uk

What is WellComm?

Language development is an essential aspect within all areas of learning. For this reason teachers prioritise this as a key area for development. The early years teachers provide a language rich environment where children are constantly hearing, developing and using new words to communicate.

WellComm is a Toolkit to help teachers to identify children who may need extra help with their Speech, Language and Communication Development. 

Every child is assessed for around 10 15 minutes on their understanding of what is being said to them (their “receptive” language) and also how they communicate verbally (their “expressive” language).

Supporting activities are then carried out in class if needed, or in some cases, a referral to speech and language services is necessary. We will speak to parents immediately if we feel a referral is necessary.

Speaking and listening

On entry to F1 the class teacher concentrates on developing children’s speaking and listening skills and lays the foundations for the phonic work (breaking words down into individual sounds which in turn helps children to read and write). The emphasis during this stage is to get children attuned to the sounds around them and ready to begin developing oral blending and segmenting skills (e.g. c-a-t =cat)

During this stage the children focus on three essential strands:

• Tuning into sounds (auditory discrimination= is the ability to recognise differences between sounds)
• Listening and remembering sounds (auditory memory and sequencing= the ability to remember spoken sequences such as numbers, words and sentences)
• Talking about sounds (developing vocabulary and language comprehension).

 As soon as the children enter our Early Years (F1 and F2) they are exposed to regular story times, learning new songs, rhymes and poems. All this has a direct impact on the essential skills children need to become fluent readers and writers.

Read Write Inc

Read Write Inc (RWI) is a programme which helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling.  The programme is designed for children aged 4-7. However, at the Ellis CE Primary we begin the programme in F1 (once the children are ready for this stage) and will continue teaching RWI to children beyond the age of 7 if they still need support in their reading.

To begin with, children will be introduced to the initial sounds in short five minutes sessions. This is to aid their ability to identify the sounds they hear and link it to the corresponding letter.

Following on, all children will learn how to read the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. This is called blending and segmenting.

Parent Partnership

Developing a good partnership with parents is one of our key aims in ensuring children have the best start in life. Whenever possible, staff will be available to answer parent questions or deal with any concerns that may arise.

As part of our parent partnership we promote home learning within a realistic context as we recognise the important role parents have in educating their child.

All children will bring home a library book each week to share at home. Parents are encouraged to complete reading diaries and journal and return them back to class each week. Children will also bring home learning diaries to fill in and return on completion. Children in F2 will also bring home high frequency words to learn to read by sight and a phonic and book banded reading book.

Parents are invited to Parents Evening to discuss their children’s education with the class teacher.

Reports are also sent home towards the end of the year.

Foundation Stage Workshops

The Early Years teachers are committed to forging positive and effective partnerships with parents to provide children with the best possible start to their education. Throughout the year the teachers provide several workshops for parents/ carers/ grandparents etc. to improve their confidence and ability to support their child’s learning and development. These workshops are provided as a high proportion of children enter school with noticeably below skills in language and literacy.

The workshops therefore cover:

• The curriculum- What to expect, when?

www.foundationyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/what-to-expect-when-

• Reading
• Language through stories
• Writing

*more information will be given and invitations sent home throughout the year

PPA and cover Staff

PPA time This is Planning, Preparation and Assessment time; all teachers are entitled to PPA time. It is used for marking, preparing lessons etc. While the class teacher is having their PPA time, your child’s class will be taught by our Level 3 Teaching and learning assistant and supported by level 2/3 teaching assistants.

Our EYFS Intent

What are our intentions in order to help children develop and learn?

• We recognise prior learning children have gained from pre-school, nursery and experiences at home.
• We recognise that all children are unique.
• We celebrate and welcome differences.
• We will provide first hand learning experiences.
• We will teach basic skills, knowledge, concepts and values.
• We will provide enhancement opportunities to engage learning.
• We will develop a lifelong love of learning.
• We promote positive attitudes to both learning and behaviour.

Implementation

How we will help them to progress in the seven areas of learning?

• We follow the Early Years Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.

          (Prime Areas – Personal, Social and Emotional Development/ Physical Development/Communication and Language development)

          (Specific Areas – Literacy/Mathematics/ Understanding the World/Expressive Arts and Design)

• We offer a broad and balanced curriculum.
• We carry out an accurate baseline to identify starting points for learning supported by the WellComm Screening assessment tool.
• We identify barriers to learning e.g. language, physical development etc. and ensure all children receive the support they need to progress to their full potential.
• We encourage children to demonstrate their attitudes and behaviours to learning through the Characteristics of Effective Learning.
• We constantly encourage language development as this is essential for all areas of learning.
• We create opportunities to support language development where needed through implementing the WellComm Language Programme.
• We maintain high standards of quality first teaching to engage all pupils.
• We offer high quality teaching and learning experiences through adult-initiated whole class, group and individual activities.
• We ensure quality phonic sessions are being taught daily.
• We continually support and develop childrens language through access to high quality text, nursery rhymes, wide range of songs and adult interactions and narratives (which scaffold the childrens learning and ideas).
• We offer access to high quality, planned continuous provision to develop key life skills such as independence, innovation; creativity, enquiry; analysis and problem solving.
• We offer access to quality outdoor provision with access to a range of equipment & the natural environment (promotes language, imaginative skills, exploration, personal and social development, physical development)
• We promote partnership with parents.

Impact

How do we know that what we have done, has helped your child to learn?

• Our assessment procedures enables an accurate measure of outcomes.
• Our data shows that all children are making good progress taking into consideration their individual starting points.
• Our GLD (Good Level of Development) is inline/ above Local and National data.
• Parental feedback is very positive and highlights the progress and development that children make.
• The children develop an enthusiastic attitude about learning and love coming to school.
• Children show resilience and independence and are keen to learn and develop at their own rate of progress.
• Children have developed key skills in language which is essential through all areas of the curriculum.
• By the end of The Foundation Stage, the majority of children have reached their full potential in relation to their stage of development.

Foundation Stage Long Term Plan