The Early Years Foundation Stage

All children deserve the care and support they need to have the best start in life. (Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory framework 2024)

In our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), we provide a high-quality, nurturing start to school life where every child is supported to feel safe, confident and ready to learn. Our practice is underpinned by the EYFS framework and centred on the understanding that children learn best through play, exploration and positive relationships.

We carefully plan a rich, engaging curriculum that reflects children’s interests and developmental stages, supporting progress across the seven areas of learning. Through skilled observation, assessment and purposeful interaction, adults extend learning and ensure children are appropriately challenged and supported.

“Play is the highest form of research” - Albert Einstein

A strong emphasis is placed on developing the Characteristics of Effective Learning. We encourage children to play and explore by investigating and experiencing new things, to be active learners who concentrate and persevere when faced with challenges, and to create and think critically by developing their own ideas, making links and choosing ways to do things. These learning behaviours build the foundations for lifelong learning and future academic success.

At the beginning of the year all children starting school will take part in a relaxed, stress free statutory baseline assessment and at the end of the year teachers will assess children against the 17 aspects of learning and complete the statutory assessment “The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile”. For more information about the current Early Years Foundation Stage Early Learning Goals:https://www.gov.uk/early-years-foundation-stage

For Information about the revised Early Years Foundation Stage Early Learning Goals for 2022: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-adopter-schools-eyfs-framework

We recognise that parents and carers are children’s first and enduring educators, and we value the contribution they make. We appreciate the role that parents have played and their future role in educating the children. Parents are encouraged to continue to contribute to their children’s learning through the use of our WOW moments, where experiences and achievements are shared with the class and placed on each child’s Learning board. Parents also have a formal face-to-face meeting with the class teacher, once in the Autumn term and then again in the Spring term. In the final term we write a report to parents. Along with a personal comment, this states their progress against the Early Learning Goals and the child’s Characteristics of Teaching and Learning.