Intent

At Stratton Primary School, we aim to provide the highest quality care and education for all our children thereby giving them a strong foundation for their future learning. We welcome children into our Reception year and our school family with great care, striving to get to know the children and their families to ensure that children feel safe, happy and loved in their school environment. Children’s well-being is paramount so that they will be happy, confident and ready to learn.

We aim to develop children’s independence and resilience, and a positive attitude towards learning. Children will be respected and valued as individuals, each bringing their own strengths and interests to the classroom. We work alongside parents, carers and others to meet their needs and to help every child reach their full potential.

All children will be successful learners, making good progress in all areas of the EYFS curriculum, with a strong focus on the prime areas of learning and literacy and mathematics. Children will build a strong foundation for their future learning and development.

Implementation 

Staff build strong relationships with the children and their families. This begins with our successful transition during the summer term, which includes a welcome meeting for parents, four classroom visits for the children, a visit to the child in their pre-school setting, and an individual meeting for each child/family at the start of the school year in September.

We encourage cooperative relationships with parents, keeping them informed of their child’s progress at school through daily informal contact and the start and end of the day, observations posted on Tapestry, and formal parents meetings. Parents are given the information they need to understand and support their child’s learning.

Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum

We plan an exciting and challenging curriculum based on our observations of children’s needs, interests and stages of development across the seven areas of learning to enable the children to achieve the early learning goals. All seven areas of learning and development are important and interconnected:

● Communication and Language

● Personal, Social and Emotional Development

● Physical Development

These three are the prime areas of learning. Children are also supported through the 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.

During the first weeks of school, there is a strong focus on the prime areas of learning, helping children to develop new friendships, manage emotions and behaviour, and learn the routines of school.

Children receive daily high quality teaching in phonics, following the Read Write Inc. programme of learning. In mathematics, we follow the White Rose scheme. Children’s number sense is also nurtured through daily Mastering Number sessions.

Each area of learning and development is implemented through planned, purposeful play and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activities. We plan a balance between children having time and space to engage in their own child-initiated activities and those that are planned by the adults. Through adult-led activities we introduce children to new ideas, provide opportunities for them to develop their skills and ensure that they experience all areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). During children’s play, practitioners interact to stretch and challenge children further, through building conversation, facilitating and sharing ideas and modelling skills. Such interaction with the children is essential as this helps to build the children’s understanding and therefore guides new learning. By the end of Foundation Stage, we expect children to be within the expected level of development by achieving the 17 Early Learning Goals.

Impact 

As part of our daily practice we observe and assess children’s development and learning to inform our future plans. We record our observations in a variety of ways. Everyone is encouraged to contribute and discussions take place. Significant observations and milestone moments of children’s development are collated on Tapestry. Staff also take into account observations shared by parents and/or carers. Children’s progress in writing and mathematics are recorded in individual books.

Children are assessed against all 17 areas of learning at four points throughout the year and these assessments are used to inform teaching needs for the following period.

Children’s well-being and learning are monitored in a range of ways, predominantly through the daily interactions with their teachers and the observations teachers make of the children during their play.

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’)

The profile reflects ongoing observations, and discussions with parents and/or carers. The results of the profile are shared with parents and/or carers for their child. We also share the profile with our Year 1 colleagues as part of the children’s transition from the EYFS to Key Stage 1. The profile is moderated internally (referring to the Development Matters guidance). EYFS profile data is submitted to the local authority.