EYFS

Intent

The Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage sets the standards for learning, development, and care for children from birth to 5 years. 

At the Phoenix Federation, our Early Years Curriculum aims to lay a secure foundation for each child’s educational career. We believe children learn best in an engaging, safe, and secure environment. We want the children to love learning and to flourish whilst they are with us. Our EYFS curriculum is designed to encourage independent, inquisitive, and happy learners.

Our curriculum recognises children’s prior learning, both from previous settings and their experiences at home. We work in partnership with parents and carers at the earliest point of contact and maintain positive relationships throughout the year to support our children’s learning, ensuring every child reaches their full potential from their various starting points. 

There is a strong emphasis on the Prime Areas of Learning; Communication and Language, including Oracy, Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development.

Our EYFS lays the foundations for our pupils’ oracy skills. At The Phoenix Federation, we recognise that Oracy not only improves academic outcomes, but is a life skill to ensure success beyond school, in life and future employment. Oracy develops children’s thinking and understanding, which in turn promotes self-confidence, resilience, empathy, and overall well-being. Our enabling environments and warm, skilful adult interactions support the children as they begin to link learning to their play and exploration right from the start. 

We believe that high level engagement ensures a high level of attainment. We therefore provide a stimulating, hands – on, holistic curriculum that allows opportunities for meaningful cross-curricular links and learning experiences.  Every child is recognised as a unique individual, and we are led by the children’s interests and ideas which foster a lifelong love of learning both in and outside of school.

Our EYFS curriculum builds on the prime areas and interlinks the specific areas. It is specifically designed to reflect the culture and backgrounds of our children and to increase their confidence in their ability to develop and learn. Our intent is that all children make at least good progress from their starting points and provide children with important foundational skills and knowledge that will later be enhanced and embedded in KS1 and KS2. We endeavour to support our children to become lifelong learners and encourage them to become active members of our ever-changing society.

Implementation

Each half-term, EYFS staff introduce a new theme to provide inspiration for learning, whilst providing the flexibility for children to follow their own interests and ideas. Children learn through a balance of child-initiated and adult-directed activities. At the end of each half term, the children are given the opportunity to evaluate their learning and celebrate their achievements with parents and carers.

The timetable is carefully structured so that children have opportunities to learn through play and a balance of directed short teaching sessions during the day. Our children receive attentive direct teaching in English or Topic related, Mathematics and Phonics every day. The timetable changes throughout the year to take into consideration the changing needs of the children. These sessions are followed by small or focused group work. This enables the teacher to systematically check for understanding, identify and respond to misconceptions quickly, and provide real-time verbal feedback which results in a strong impact on the acquisition of new learning.   

Children are provided with opportunities for ‘exploration’ throughout the day. Their interests are key to providing a variety of experiences carefully planned to engage and challenge them in the provision. The curriculum enables equality for both inside, and outside learning, and child initiated and adult led activities.

English / Literacy

Reading is at the heart of our curriculum and our aim is to encourage a love of reading right from the start. Topic themes in the EYFS are based on the pupils’ interests, from this, we have chosen multiple high-quality texts (fiction, non-fiction and poetry) to create an integrated approach to learning from which pupils can experience the full curriculum and to expose children to a range of books that develop their oracy, vocabulary, comprehension, and stages of writing. These books are accessible in our provision through activities, story sessions and on display for children to access independently. We also explore stories through role-play. Children in both Nursery and Reception take home a book of their choice to read for enjoyment with their families each week.

Phonics

We follow the Read Write Inc. phonics programme to ensure consistency across the school and to faithfully support children in meeting good outcomes for reading.  In our Nursery class, we ensure that children have regular opportunities to read alongside adults, both one to one with them, and within small groups. We also run a ‘Boosting Language and Auditory Speech Training’ programme (BLAST), which supports children in their acquisition of these skills. Our nursery children also develop their speaking and listening skills by becoming attuned to the sounds around them, to begin developing oral blending and segmenting skills. This lays the foundations for the phonic work which starts in Set 1of Read Write Inc in Reception.

Children are encouraged to read at home and have weekly independent reading with adults. Children are sent home with fully decodable phonics reading books that are tailored and suited to their individual phonics level, for them to apply their learning, with the aim of becoming successful, confident, and fluent readers.

Mathematics

In Reception, we follow the accredited NCTEM and White Rose Maths Schemes of work (which relate to the Development Matters (DM) guidance and KS1 National curriculum). High quality learning environments and meaningful interactions with adults, support children in developing mathematical thinking and discussion. Pupils learn through games and tasks using Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract methods (CPA) concrete manipulatives and pictorial structures and representations, which are then rehearsed, applied, and recorded within their own child-led exploration. In Nursery, children develop a love of maths through games, songs, rhymes, and play using CPA based on the DM guidance whereby the pupils have weekly sequenced sessions on both number and numerical patterns. There is a focus on the counting principle of one-to-one correspondence. Children’s fine manipulative skills are a focus to develop one-to-one correspondence, so that children count each object only once. 

Wider Curriculum

Our wider curriculum is taught through the learning areas; ‘Understanding of the World’ and ‘Expressive Arts and Design’ with cross curricular links to the key literacy texts. We also ensure regular Circle Time/ PSED sessions to further focus on Communication & Language. Exciting, purposeful, and contextual activities are planned to build on children’s natural curiosity. To support our oracy focus, children are encouraged to employ subject specific language and terminology in the topics, and such vocabulary will be modelled by supporting practitioners.

Our inclusive approach means that all children learn together, but we have a range of additional interventions and support for children who may not be reaching their potential or are showing a greater depth of understanding and need further challenge. This includes, for example, sessions for developing speech and language, social skills, fine motor skills, phonics, and mathematics. In addition, we have several children with EHCPs, where bespoke plans have identified that learning may need to take place away from the classroom due to sensory needs. 

Regular monitoring and evaluating of teaching and learning by SLT and the EYFS leader ensures staff develop good subject knowledge and Early Learning Teaching skills. The EYFS leader ensures staff receive regular CPD specific to Early Years development and learning  to develop their practice.

Impact

Baseline

Prior to children beginning their journey with us, staff spend time speaking with parents. carers during home visits to gain an understanding of the whole child and their current skills and knowledge. During the first half term in Nursery or Reception, all staff use ongoing assessments, observations, and conversations with children to develop a baseline assessment. This identifies individual starting points in all areas of learning so we can plan experiences to ensure progress. The following baseline assessments are also carried out:

The Statutory Reception Baseline Assessment:

This assessment focuses on ‘Literacy, Communication and Language,’ and ‘Mathematics.’ The purpose of this is to show the progress children make from Reception until the end of KS2.

Ongoing Observation

All ongoing observations are used to inform weekly planning and identify children’s next steps. Practitioners draw on their knowledge of the child and their own expert professional judgements through discussions with other EYFS practitioners, photographs, and physical examples such as a child’s drawing / mark making. Purposeful observations are uploaded using ‘Tapestry’ and shared with all EYFS staff and the parents/ carers who also encapsulate home learning and the interests of the child.

Assessment

Phonic assessments are carried out every half term to quickly identify pupils that are not making expected progress. Our aim is for children to ‘keep up’ rather than ‘catch up’ where possible.  Assessments in all areas of learning are completed using a whole school tracker, this completed termly and shared with parents, whereby the Class Teacher updates the progress children have made and sets individual targets for children to progress further. Regular formative assessment is carried out regularly to identify children with needs such as SEND, emotional and behavioural needs, including those with a gift or talent.

In Summer Term 2, the EYFSP is completed for Reception children, where the teacher judges whether children have met each of the 17 ELG’s. They will be assessed as either ‘emerging’ or ‘expected.’ Whilst there is no judgement to state if a child is exceeding beyond an ELG, teachers, have a duty to provide a narrative for both parents/ carers, the Year 1 teacher and Local Authority. 

The impact of our curriculum is also measured by how effectively it helps our children develop into well rounded individuals who embody our school values and carry with them the knowledge, skills and attitudes which will make them lifelong learners and valuable future citizens.