Intent

Our intent for EYFS at Flockton First School is to encourage and inspire all children to be active and successful learners. This begins before the child starts our school through establishing connections with families and local nurseries. Transition is carefully planned and our curriculum is designed with children’s prior experiences in mind. We ensure all of our pupils receive a curriculum rooted around early language development and with reading firmly at the centre. Our children in EYFS learn in a safe and stimulating environment with high quality provision.

Through well planned provision, based on their prior learning, children have the opportunity to develop ideas, understand their feelings and build positive relationships. Children are encouraged to ask questions and solve problems. High expectations are instilled in all of our children, providing them with the self-belief and confidence to become successful and aspiring learners.

Our Reception children receive a balanced curriculum through a mixture of adult led activities and through our play-based curriculum where children are encouraged to follow their interests and enthusiasms. We encourage our children to become empowered and independent learners by leading their own play. At Flockton we believe the role of the adult is crucial in providing opportunities for children to learn through quality interactions. Our highly effective practitioners ensure learning is enhanced by using every teachable moment. We have high expectations that all practitioners will support children in developing spoken language and an enriched vocabulary which ultimately pave the foundations for reading and writing.

At Flockton First School we recognise that quality interactions with our children not only improve 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 and empathy which support the child’s well-being.

In the Foundation Stage (Reception) the curriculum is taught through six broad areas of learning: Mathematics, Communication, Language and Literacy, Personal and Social Education, Physical Development, Creative Development and Knowledge and Understanding of the World. Children are taught both indoors and outdoors, through a structured approach that allows many opportunities to learn through experience.  Children are taught individually, in groups and as part of a whole class.

Implementation

Our early years setting follows the curriculum as outlined in the latest version of the EYFS statutory framework that applies from September 2021.

The EYFS framework includes 7 areas of learning and development that are equally important and inter-connected. However, 3 areas known as the prime areas are seen as particularly important for igniting curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building children’s capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive.

The prime areas are:

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

The prime areas are strengthened and applied through 4 specific areas:

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

Reception Class works closely alongside Year 1 in order to develop relationships and confidence in order to support transition into Key Stage 1.

Impact

At Flockton CE (C) First School, ongoing assessment is an integral part of the learning and development processes. Staff observe pupils to identify their level of achievement, interests and learning styles. These observations are used to shape future planning. Staff also consider information shared by parents and/or carers about their child’s likes, dislikes and achievements.

Within the first 6 weeks that a child starts reception, staff will administer the Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA).

At the end of the EYFS, staff complete the EYFS profile for each child. Pupils are assessed against the 17 early learning goals, indicating whether they are:

• Meeting expected levels of development
• Not yet reaching expected levels (‘emerging’)

Phonics

Our school’s philosophy is that every child should become a fluent reader by the end of Key Stage One and ensuring our youngest learners have access to high-quality phonics learning is paramount to this success. In Early Years, we have a rigorous approach to phonics teaching and we follow the systematic and synthetic ‘Monster Phonics’ programme. Phonics is taught as a year group.  Any gaps of learning are addressed through additional intervention (additional to whole class phonics sessions) in order for children to ‘keep up’ and not ‘catch up’. We endeavour to ensure that all children move through the phases together.  By identifying those children making less than expected progress we can implement alternative support. Phonics is embedded across our curriculum and we strive to ensure the teaching of phonics extends beyond the ‘dedicated time’. As well as structured lessons, we also ensure opportunities are created to practise and develop skills in our provision areas and during directed tasks.

You can find all the information about Monster Phonics on our Phonics page by clicking here. 

Literacy

At Flockton CE First School we use the award winning scheme of work Pathways to Write to ensure all our learners have access to to high-quality teaching, high-quality resources and high-quality texts. All our literacy units are planned using book drivers that provide our learners with a range of engaging stimuli for writing. 

Maths

Mathematics in Early Years is based around the Early Years Mastery approach and is delivered to the year group. At Flockton First School, we use the White Rose Maths scheme which offers a small steps approach to learning.  Our pupils use a wide range of mathematical resources to support their knowledge and understanding and explore maths in a range of different reprentations.   The scheme is designed to promote numeracy skills in an engaging and fun way.  To maximise learning throughout the day, Maths is emphasised in all aspects of our daily routine and within the continuous provision.  We endeavour to make maths fun, exciting, real-life and meaningful!

 Provision

Our continuous provision provides our learners with a range of open-ended learning opportunities to ensure the children follow their interests and meet their next steps.

Assessment

On-going formative assessment is used across all areas of learning to enable practitioners to gain a clear picture of where children are in their learning and any gaps they may have.  We provide effective and focused interventions for those children who are not on track to meet expectations at the end of the year.  We also use information from observation and quality interaction to acknowledge children’s interests and facilitate their next steps in learning