Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Policy

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Policy

Introduction

“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. 2. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to ensure children’s ‘school readiness’ and gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.”

Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, 2017 (p.5)

This policy outlines the provision Prince Edward Primary School offers to all its pupils aged 3-5. Children within this age range are taught within the EYFS. The EYFS has its own framework and is treated as a separate Key Stage. Foundation Stage 1 (FS1) refers to 3 and 4 year olds and is informally known as Nursery. Foundation Stage 2 (FS2) refers to 4 and 5 year olds and is informally known as Reception.

Aims of the Early Years Foundation Stage

We believe that children in our Foundation Stage are entitled to learning experiences which are rewarding and enjoyable. They should be able to explore, investigate, discover, create, practice, rehearse, repeat, revise and consolidate their developing knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes.

We aim to give each child the best start in their school life, intellectually, emotionally and socially, to enable them to meet their full potential. We will do this by:

·  Understanding that all children develop differently in individual ways and at varying rates.

·  Developing the self-confidence and independence of each child through their developing awareness of their own identity.

·  Encouraging children to make their own decisions, supporting them to learn through their mistakes and to become problem solvers.

·  Providing learning experiences in play which reflect the children’s interests and motivations, while meeting the needs of their different learning styles.

·  Recognising that learning is about the process as much as the outcome much of the time and children should be encouraged to reflect on their learning through talk.

·  Using a range of different learning environments to provide effective learning opportunities, inside, outside and also in the wider community.

·  Developing children’s social skills and the value of behavioural codes required for people to work together harmoniously.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Framework

Teaching in our EYFS is in line with the Government’s Statutory Framework- ‘The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage’ (March 2014). It is based on 4 themes: ‘A Unique Child’, ‘Positive Relationships’, ‘Enabling Environments’ and ‘Learning and Development’.

As stated in the Framework (2014, 1.3, p7), “there are seven areas of learning and development that must shape educational programmes in early years settings. 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 are the 3 Prime Areas of Learning:

·  Personal, Social, Emotional Development

·  Communication and Language

·  Physical Development

There are also 4 Specific Areas of Learning through which the Prime Areas are strengthened and applied. These are:

·  Literacy

·  Mathematics

·  Understanding the World

·  Expressive Arts and Design

The Characteristics of Learning are also an important component of the EYFS curriculum at Prince Edward Primary. They describe factors which play a central role in a child’s learning and in becoming an effective learner. These are skills which will stay with them beyond the Foundation Stage and support the transition to Year One. They run through and underpin all seven areas of learning and development, representing processes not outcomes.

The Three Characteristics of Learning:

·  Playing and Exploring- Engagement

·  Active Learning- Motivation

·  Creating and Thinking Critically- Thinking

Learning Through Play

We believe that children learn best through play and it is this play which builds knowledge. They play in order to make sense of the world they experience. For them there is no distinction between learning and play. To support this we promote a balance of the following through the day:

·  Child initiated activities- children make choices from within the learning environment to meet his/ her outcome for learning. They are supported in this by practitioners facilitating to observe the learning and move it forward where appropriate. We recognise that sometimes just observing the children in their self-initiated activities is best practise to decide where provision needs to be altered in the future to meet gaps in learning.

·  Adult initiated activities- practitioners provide the resources and provocations to stimulate and consolidate learning in the learning environment. The focus of these is planned based on observations and assessments of previous learning and individual targets.

·  Adult directed activities- children engage in planned activities, sometimes whole class, sometimes in targeted groups to meet specific learning outcomes.

In order to promote the learning culture of the EYFS environments, we think carefully about the continuous provision and how this promotes learning in the absence of a practitioner. We believe that children should be able to access a wide range of resources which promote thinking skills and opportunities for progress. We set these out to encourage children to challenge themselves by ensuring the continuous provision meets the wide range of needs and stages of development. The children’s learning styles are also taken into account when planning provision. Enhancements to continuous provision may be used to encourage children to consider particular themes or intentions although if the children are learning and making progress they are expected to take the lead.

At Prince Edward we allow children to follow their own interests and record this in class Floor Books. Children are encouraged to lead their own learning and practitioners endeavour to work alongside either individuals, small groups or the whole class to support their thinking and develop ideas together.

Also important is the range of environments which are used in the EYFS at Prince Edward. We have the indoor learning environments, which are now shared across FS2 (although still in one room for FS1) and the outdoor learning environment. We embrace the special nature of the outdoors which can be harnessed to provide new and different learning experiences for children. We recognise that some children prefer being outdoors and for these children the outdoor environment needs to give them opportunities to make progress across all seven areas of learning. We also make full use of the other teaching spaces in school, such as the Studio, the School Library, the MUGA, the ‘Park Area’, Secret Garden and Biodome. We also have a Sensory Room within FS1 which is used throughout the Foundation Stage as appropriate.

Our sessions are as follows:

FS1 Morning Session 8:45-12 Afternoon Session 12-3

Both sessions include a lunch in school.

Children are invited to access 15 hours by either coming to Nursery for 2 ½ days (MTWam or WpmThF) or by attending mornings or afternoons.

FS2 8:40am- 3:00pm every day

Assessment and Record Keeping

The main method of assessment in the EYFS is through observations of the children in a range of different teaching and learning contexts. Observations take place on a daily basis both formally and informally. Those which are more formal are recorded either as snapshot observations or a variety of longer observations which are stored in the children’s Learning Journeys. Where children learn in an adult directed group (mostly in FS2) these are recorded in the children’s books with the children’s work where appropriate. Observations are referenced to the Development Matters document to allow attainment and progress to be shown. The conversations and observations recorded in the Floor Books are also considered as evidence of the children’s attainment.

Practitioners use observations and work samples to support their developing knowledge of children. It informs them of children’s abilities, needs, interests, schemas and learning styles. They are then evaluated and used to identify the children’s’ next steps and progress.

Learning Journeys record the children’s progress over their time in the EYFS. They are always available to parents and carers, who are encouraged to comment and contribute to the Learning Journey as much as possible.

During FS1 and FS2 the children’s learning is referenced to the statements in Development Matters. On Entry, Autumn 2, Spring 2 and Summer 2 (FS1 only) the children are assessed as being emerging, developing or secure at the relevant Age and Stage for each area of learning. These are used to assess attainment and also progress. At the end of FS2 (Summer 2) the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile is used instead of Development Matters and the children are assessed against the Early Learning Goals in each area of learning as being Emerging, Expected or Exceeding. Those children achieving at least the expected level in the three Prime Areas and also Literacy and Mathematics (from the Specific Areas) achieve a Good Level of Development.

Moderation meetings are attended regularly to ensure that judgements are as accurate as possible. These are moderation meetings within our Foundation Stage, involving the wider school and also with those from other schools, including the local PVI settings where possible. Statutory LA Moderation training is attended and LA external Moderation occurs on a regular basis.

Planning

The EYFS Profile and Development Matters provide the long term plans which ensure a good coverage of the skills needed to achieve the Early Learning Goals and make progress towards them. As the children’s interests lead the planning it is skills based while ensuring the subject matter is interesting. It changes on a yearly basis depending on the children.

Weekly plans are completed for whole group activities appropriate for the children and focus group activities are completed for FS2 children. Planning often occurs ‘in the moment’ as practitioners respond and react to the children on an individual, group or whole class basis.

Referring to Development Matters and knowledge of child development means there is good coverage of the areas of learning while focusing on children’s interests and key skills needed to achieve the Early Learning Goals at the end of FS2. There are separate plans for the outdoor areas which develop the specific nature of the outdoors and maintain the equal importance of all EYFS areas.

Parents as Partners

We recognise the importance of parents as partners in the learning process and also in developing the whole child. We encourage parents and carers into school regularly. At drop off and pick up times we have an open door policy and talk to parents informally about their child. There is a regular sharing of information and we endeavour to get parents views on their children’s learning and progress at home as much as we tell them what happens in school. For example, we share long observations with parents and we ask parents to complete ‘wow’ moments of learning at home. We invite parents into school for regular sessions where they are able to see what the children have been learning then complete an activity linked to the learning. Parents are encouraged to accompany us on visits and trips, such as the fortnightly Library visit. Homework is sent home weekly, following the whole school Homework policy, as are reading books daily alongside the Reading Challenge. There is also a weekly Home Learning Workshop which parents are invited to encouraging them into school to learn alongside their child.

In FS1 there is a Home Learning Project which promotes learning at home with the children. Two TAs visit the children at home and work with the parents to share activities which can be completed. This is a 5 week project funded by Pupil Premium Money.

Parents are invited to more formal Parents Evenings during the school year. These provide opportunities to talk about how the children have settled in and their progress throughout the year. We also discuss the levels the children are working at in relation to Age Related Expectations and suggest ways they are able to help to close the gap. Children’s learning targets are shared with parents also.

Parents are always welcomed into school to discuss any concerns they have or successes their children have had.

Admissions and Transition

Prince Edward Primary School provides education for children from the age of three in Nursery and then Reception.

We currently offer Universal FEL for 15 hours of the 30 hours available. In addition to the Universal FEL 15 hours we work with other settings to allow children to take the remaining 15 hours of the 30 hours Extended Free Entitlement and places from a child’s 3rd birthday if 2 year FEL criteria are met.

Before starting Nursery, all children and families are offered a home visit and a visit to the Nursery for a come and join in session. The purpose of these is to get to know the children better and also for the children to become more comfortable in the Nursery setting and get to know the practitioners better. Previous settings are contacted where possible to speak to key workers about the child.

Before starting Reception class, in the September of the academic year they turn five, the children undertake a comprehensive induction if they have not been to Prince Edward Nursery. In the Summer term, visits are made to the children’s previous settings to meet the child and to develop the practitioner’s knowledge and understanding of the children. The children are invited to a couple of sessions in school where they get to see their new classroom and meet their new teacher/s again. Parents and carers are invited to a Transition Meeting where they are able to find out more information about starting full time school and are given the Admission Form and other important paperwork. There is then the opportunity for a Home Visit in September prior to the children starting school. The children have a staggered start where they do part time attendance at first building up to full days.