Early Years at Lady Seawards school

Vision Statement: Early Years Foundation Stage

At Lady Seawards C of E Primary School our intention is to provide all our children with the best possible start to their education, teaching them valuable skills and providing rich learning opportunities which can be used as the building blocks for the children’s futures.

In the Early Years Foundation Stage at Lady Seawards C of E Primary School we want our children to be confident, happy, unique individuals with a love for their learning. We believe in providing a safe and stimulating environment where all children can thrive and succeed which then allows them to believe in themselves and achieve their full potential. Children have the opportunity to learn through their play, expanding their knowledge and understanding and developing their communication, language and vocabulary skills. These learning experiences are fun, engaging and challenge the abilities of each individual child. Through high quality adult interactions and questioning, children view the adults as great role models for their learning. We value taking our learning into our environment and are often seen outside the classroom in our school grounds. Here we inspire the children’s curiosity and develop their sense of awe and wonder of the world around them.

The Early Years Curriculum: 2021 onwards

At Lady Seawards C of E Primary School, we understand and recognise the importance of the Characteristics of Effective learning and how these can engage children, motivate them and develop critical thinking at a young age through any learning experience

The Characteristics of effective learning:

· Playing and exploring – engagement

· Active learning – motivation

· Creating and thinking critically – thinking

We use the development matters Early Years Foundation Stage which is a curriculum which runs from birth until the children leave Reception at the age of 5. It is now split up into ‘0-3 years old’, ‘3 and 4 years old’ and then ‘children in reception’. Within each age bad there are suggested objectives that the children should meet to be inline with their age. These are then split into seven areas of learning. There are three prime areas and four specific areas. At Lady Seawards Primary School, we ensure that communication and language, developing talking skills and vocabulary, is at the heart of all our teaching and learning.

The Prime Areas of Learning:

· Personal, Social and Emotional Development

· Physical Development

· Communication and Language

The Specific Areas of Learning:

· Literacy

· Mathematics

· Understanding the world

· Expressive Arts and Design

At the end of the Reception school year there are early learning goals that children are aiming to achieve. We assess the children based on these and give them a score against the learning outcome. We hope that most children achieve a good level of development by the end of their time in Reception with us. We also realise that children learn at their own pace and if they do not achieve a good level of development, they will continue to have the support that they need as they transition into Year 1 at Lady Seawards C of E Primary School.

The Curriculum we offer and Curricular Goals

At Lady Seawards C of E Primary School, we recognise the importance of all subjects and areas of learning within the curriculum and ensure these are delivered throughout the week to the children both in child-led activities in their continuous provision but also through directed adult led time.

All children in reception have daily phonics, maths and early writing teaching with Miss Roberts, the class teacher. They also will then focus on one learning aspect a day and have activities set up based around this in the afternoon, for example expressive arts and design or understanding the world activities.

We have also thought carefully about where we would like our children to be at the end of each half term. These we have called our curricular goals. We have thought about the skills that the children will need to be able to do confidently to achieve these goals by the end of each half term. Our current curricular goals and skills we are working on can be found below:

Parental Engagement: Working in Partnership with Parents

Here at Lady Seawards, we recognise the importance of working alongside parents and in partnership with them. Together, we can build a ‘bigger picture’ of the children and enjoy celebrating their success and achievements from both in school and at home. As well as planned parent consultation meetings and school reports, we also use Dojo, collect wow moments and provide parent workshops throughout the year.

Dojo

We use Dojo to take pictures of the children and to capture their fantastic learning experiences. The pictures are then annotated by practitioners focusing on the children’s successes and achievements. Each child in Reception will have a Dojo learning journey. Parents have access to their child’s online platform so that they can see all the wonderful activities and learning opportunities the children are accessing during their time with us at school. Parents are welcome to add to their child’s Seesaw account from home and we always welcome feedback too.

Last year we used Seesaw, very similar to Dojo and this is what parents said: 

"I think Seesaw is a good idea! To keep parents/carers connected with what is going on in the class regarding work."

"I have really enjoyed using Seesaw and finding out more about my child's day and learning at school. I feel I can have a more informed discussion with my child about their school day and share the photos with him too. The photos then prompt him to tell me more about his time at school."

"Great little window into what goes on during the school day and also gives an easier communication channel to our teacher. Also makes us feel more involved in child's learning."

Wow Moments

We frequently send out blank ‘wow moment’ slips to parents. These can then be brought back into school when the children have achieved something amazing at home. This could be getting dressed independently, practising riding their bike, learning how to swim, spotting signs of autumn in the woods etc. There are a range of things that we celebrate! Children then love to share their ‘wow moment’ with the rest of the class and we can celebrate these fantastic achievements together!

Parent Workshops

We offer several parent workshops to ensure parents understand what we are teaching their children and how they can help at home. We provide a transition meeting presentation yearly for our new September intake for Reception, phonics workshops and we are looking to re-introduce our ‘stay and play’ sessions where parents can come into the classroom and learn alongside their children.

How can you help at home? 

Below you will find a fantastic document that is from an evidence based research programme. It explains the early years curriculum, breaking down the development matters statements. Take a look as it also gives you as parents many ideas of how you can support your child’s learning and development at home! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Miss Roberts.