EYFS

The Early Years Foundation Stage at Senacre Wood Primary School

 “Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe and happy childhood is important in its own right. Good parenting and high quality early learning together provide the foundation children need to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up.”

(Statuatory Framework for the Early Years, DfE 2021)

What is the Early Years Foundation Stage?

The EYFS is a stage of children’s development from birth to the end of their first year (Reception) in school. The EYFS Framework is different to the National Curriculum. It describes how early years practitioners should work with children and their families to support each child’s’ individual development and learning to ensure that your child achieves the most that they can in their earliest years of life.

Teaching and Learning Style

Early years practitioners consider the individual needs, interests, and stage of development of each child and use this information to plan a challenging and enjoyable experience for each child in all of the areas of learning and development.

What will my child learn in Reception?

There are seven areas of learning and development and all areas of learning and development are important and interconnected. Three areas are particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive.

These three areas, the prime areas, are:

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

Children must also be supported in four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. The specific areas are:

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

Educational research continues to inform us that children learn best when they are active and engaged in their learning. In planning and guiding children’s activities, the Teacher will reflect on the different ways that children learn and reflect these in their practice. Three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are:

• Playing and exploring - children investigate and experience things, ‘have a go’
• Active learning - children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements
• Creative and critical thinking - children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things

Day to Day routines

The start of Reception each day will bring something new- remember we are here to help. Although parents are not able to enter the school grounds during the morning session, there is always someone available on the gate to discuss any concerns. Equally, at the end of the day, the classroom door is always open if you need to speak with one of the adults from the class.

Sharing Home Learning

We love to celebrate new things learnt at home —riding a bike, making the bed or winning an award for swimming! Please record any ‘wow moments’ on Seesaw, we can then share these on the class blog for everyone to see!

Reading Books

Your child will have a colour-banded school book, a ‘choosing book’ from our book box and a reading record in their book bags. When you hear your child read, please leave a comment letting us know how they got on – for example you may want to mention any new sounds or tricky words that they recognised. If it was a quick read you may simply want to sign the reading record next to the date and book title so that we know you have read with your child at home. As you will know, the children have set book change days in accordance with their ‘colour group’ in school.

Things to Bring to School Every Day

• Water Bottle
• Coat (weather depending)
• Book bag – please don’t put water bottles inside book bags in case it spoils their reading record, books or home learning journal that are inside. Thank you.

 (Wellies and PE bags to stay in school)

Parent Consultations, Drop-in’s and Talks

We hold parent consultations in the Autumn and Spring Terms. In between these times we will invite you in to share our Learning Journeys with you – this is also a good opportunity to look at the work celebrated in Oak class and across the school. I will hold Phonics talks in the hall periodically to support you in helping with your child’s phonics and early reading at home and I will also invite you to ‘drop in’ and see your child’s phonics group in action.