Early Years Foundation Stage

Woodgate Intent

Learning at Woodgate Primary School starts with the child; our curriculum changes and develops to reflect this. It is our intention that the curriculum will be distinctive to each cohort, engaging the children’s curiosity so learning happens naturally. We follow the Early Years Framework published on 4 January 2024 and Development Matters.

We will work in partnership with our families to support our children to grow as individuals and develop key skills such as independence and confidence. This partnership will also ensure each individual reaches their full potential from their various starting points.

We will build on this cohort’s enthusiastic thirst for knowledge and deliver the curriculum through quality teaching, so that they become curious and active learners.

We are committed to ensuring children can communicate confidently through skillful adult interactions, Elkan strategies embedded in all areas of learning and Wellcomm interventions.

Our enabling environments and language rich adult conversations will support the children as they begin to link learning to their play and exploration right from the start.

We will ensure there are high expectations encouraging them to develop perseverance and self-belief so that they can problem solve and achieve far more than they expected.

We have a clear focus on developing listening and attention skills and personal self-care so that each child can become independent and ready for their transition into year one.

Woodgate Vision

Our EYFS Vision is to provide our Woodgate children with a nurturing environment where they can thrive to become curious learners in a safe and caring setting.

We want all children to make good progress from their own starting points and develop a love of learning. We endeavour to work in close partnership with Parents’ and Carers’ to ensure that all children are valued and able to express their own individuality.

We want our children to be happy, articulate and develop positive relationships with their peers and adults. The EYFS team will work relentlessly to provide an environment where the children can take calculated risks, become independent learners and thrive to reach their full potential.

Our stimulating learning environments, both inside and outside, provide children with a variety of resources to discover and explore through child-initiated play. Our classrooms are accessible to all, allowing children to gain independence whilst exploring and learning safely.

EYFS Key Outcomes

On entry to Reception our children are eager and happy to come to school. They are willing to explore new experiences and their surroundings. They usually relate well to their small groups of friends but are less confident in working in larger groups. Some children use a narrow range of language and communication skills and can be reluctant to articulate their thinking, explain and solve problems. Some children lack independence in their learning and sometimes their resilience is low, which is a barrier to success.

The Key Outcomes for our EYFS curriculum, alongside the Early Learning Goals are:

To be able to carry out self-care tasks independently, such as toileting, hand washing, dressing and eating with a knife and fork.
To be an independent and curious learner.
To communicate effectively and confidently in all situations.
To have a lifelong love of reading and sharing books.
To be part of my school family.

Curriculum

In Reception we have 2 classes each with 30 children. Each class has a teacher and teaching assistant, there can also be students and sometimes parent helpers. The 2 classes share an outdoor learning area which is used throughout the year.

How my child will be learning

The EYFS Framework explains how and what your child will be learning to support their healthy development. Please see EYFS curriculum overview above.

Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development.

Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. 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.

Themes and Principles

EYFS PRIME AREAS

Communication and Language: The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. Children’s back-and-forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children’s language effectively. Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive. Through conversation, storytelling and role play, where children share their ideas with support and modelling from their teacher, and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children become comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures. We use the SHREC model and Elkan strategies to develop the children’s language skills and Wellcomm interventions are in place following the screening in September.

BBC - Happy little people - to help develop communication skills.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people

English as an additional language: Speaking more than one language has lots of advantages for children. It is the norm in many countries around the world. Children will learn English from a strong foundation in their home language. It is important for you to encourage families to use their home language for linguistic as well as cultural reasons. Children learning English will typically go through a quiet phase when they do not say very much and may then use words in both languages in the same sentence. During the home visit we will discuss what language they speak at home, try and learn a few key words and celebrate multilingualism in our setting.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives, and is fundamental to their cognitive development. Underpinning their personal development are the important attachments that shape their social world. Strong, warm and supportive relationships with adults enable children to learn how to understand their own feelings and those of others. Children should be supported to manage emotions, develop a positive sense of self, set themselves simple goals, have confidence in their own abilities, to persist and wait for what they want and direct attention as necessary. Through adult modelling and guidance, they will learn how to look after their bodies, including healthy eating, and manage personal needs independently. Through supported interaction with other children they learn how to make good friendships, co-operate and resolve conflicts peaceably. These attributes will provide a secure platform from which children can achieve at school and in later life.

Physical Development: Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives. Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co-ordination and positional awareness through tummy time, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. By creating games and providing opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being. Fine motor control and precision helps with hand-eye co-ordination which is later linked to early literacy. Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practice of using small tools, with feedback and support from adults, allow children to develop proficiency, control and confidence.

EYFS– SPECIFIC AREAS

Literacy: It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension (necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. We follow the Little Wandle scheme for phonics. Your child will have a 30 minutes phonic session every morning and 3 reading sessions a week. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing.)

Little Wandle Letters & Sounds

https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/

Mathematics: Developing a strong grounding in number is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically. Children should be able to count confidently, develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers. By providing frequent and varied opportunities to build and apply this understanding – such as using manipulatives, including small pebbles and tens frames for organising counting – children will develop a secure base of knowledge and vocabulary from which mastery of mathematics is built. In addition, it is important that the curriculum includes rich opportunities for children to develop their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of mathematics including shape, space and measures. It is important that children develop positive attitudes and interests in mathematics, look for patterns and relationships, spot connections, ‘have a go’, talk to adults and peers about what they notice and not be afraid to make mistakes. We have Mastering Number sessions 4 times a week.

Understanding the World: Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increases their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries and museums to meeting important members of society such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later reading comprehension.

Expressive Arts and Design: The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity. It is important that children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. The quality and variety of what children see, hear and participate in is crucial for developing their understanding, self-expression, vocabulary and ability to communicate through the arts. The frequency, repetition and depth of their experiences are fundamental to their progress in interpreting and appreciating what they hear, respond to and observe.

Characteristics of Effective Learning

The Characteristics of Effective Learning describe behaviours children use in order to learn. To learn well, children must approach opportunities with curiosity, energy and enthusiasm. Effective learning must be meaningful to a child, so that they are able to use what they have learned and apply it in new situations. These abilities and attitudes of strong learners will support them to learn well and make good progress in all the Areas of Learning and Development.

Reception Baseline Assessment

We will be undertaking the reception baseline assessment (RBA) in September. It is a short, task-based assessment of your child's early literacy, communication and language and mathematical skills when they begin school. We will also assess each child using the Wellcomm screening test for speech and language at the start and again at the end of the foundation year.

RBA

2022_Information_for_parents_reception_baseline_assessment.pdf

EYFS Early Learning Goals

At the end of the foundation year in the summer term, teachers complete an assessment which is known as the EYFS Profile. This assessment is carried out by the reception teachers and is based on what they and other staff working with your child have observed over the school year. All of the information collected is used to judge how your child is doing in the 7 areas of learning. Finding out at this stage how your child is doing will inform staff in Year 1 what your child really enjoys doing, what they do well and help them to decide if your child needs any extra support.

We will give you a report at the end of the school year which includes all this information on their EYFS Profile.

Early Learning Goals

ELG.pdf

Where can you go for further information?

See your child's class teacher or Mrs Turner EYFS Lead for any further information you require. Please also look at our class page on this website for what is being covered in class throughout the year.

Below are some web links for your information:

Birth to 5 Matters

https://www.birthto5matters.org.uk/

Oral Health Resource

https://startwellbirmingham.co.uk/smiley-shen/

Hungry little minds

https://hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk/

Videos

Toilet training

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zdv9382

Supporting children to transition between home and school

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zkqnxbk