The Early Years department at Woodcote Primary School is a standalone Reception (FS2) class, with close links to local pre-school setting The Cabin, which is situated within the grounds of Woodcote Primary School. The Cabin feeds around 50% of Woodcote’s FS2 cohort, and plans are in place to merge the two settings in the 2023-24 academic year.
The current Early Years team, working in the FS2 class, aims to provide Woodcote Primary School’s youngest learners with a broad, balanced and rich curriculum offering, which is responsive to their unique needs. As well as providing academic development in line with the EYFS framework, it also aims to ensure that children’s prime areas of PSED (personal, social and emotional development), PD (Physical Development) and C&L (Communication & Literacy) are nurtured. This ensures that children leave the Foundation Stage with confidence, a positive attitude to learning and are well-equipped with skills and knowledge to access the expectations of the National Curriculum and beyond.
Subject leaders understand and can identify how their subject’s foundation begins in Early Years.
All staff contribute to on-going professional dialogue which allows us to identify the unique needs of each child and use this knowledge, and that of our community, to develop and refine the curriculum we offer to ensure the children reach their own individual potential. Led by teachers with EYFS, KS1 and KS2 experience, the curriculum considers the starting point of the children on entry and works in partnership with parents throughout the year to ensure that the children’s wellbeing and individual stages of development are considered. Working with other year groups to understand the demands and opportunities of the National Curriculum, the Foundation Stage curriculum is developed to introduce children to key concepts, vocabulary and skills which can be built on in later years. This is balanced by ensuring that the youngest learners of Woodcote are encouraged to be the best four- and five-year-olds they can be!
The offering in the FS2 classroom incorporates:
Children are at the heart of our working practices. Staff are responsive to individual learners and their needs, by having an awareness of all children and their backgrounds. This is gained through working in partnership with families from the outset. The home/ school relationship is developed and strengthened by offering friendly, supportive daily interactions with families as well as offering skill sharing and open classroom events through the year. Subject-based information sessions in phonics and mathematics allow parents and carers to support their children effectively at home. This is in line with educational research which recognises the impact of high-quality home environments and their enduring impact on progress and attainment.
Summative assessments are made at regular intervals throughout the year. The Government’s Baseline Assessment is completed in Term 1 and data about whether the children are on track for achieving the Early Learning Goals or not, is added to the school assessment system, Insight, at least 3 times a year (October, January and June). Phonics is assessed used the Monster Phonics guidance and planning / grouping / interventions are planned to enable a ‘keep up’ rather than ‘catch up’ approach to learning. All assessment, both formative and summative, is shared with the Senior Leadership Team, so that they can support with ensuring the children’s needs are met.
Children are given daily opportunities to develop and demonstrate their skills and knowledge through a combination of well-planned learning, enabling environments and positive relationships with staff. Formative and summative assessment confirm that children make progress from their own baseline, and in line with the stages of development in the non-statutory guidance, Development Matters. This applies to all learners, including disadvantaged learners and those with additional needs.
At the end of the EYFS, children are ready to move onto the next stage of their learning, and are happy, excited and confident to do so. Vital life skills nurtured in the EYFS, such as resilience, self-confidence and independence, can be drawn upon to help facilitate a smooth transition to the next stages of their learning. Families are keen to continue working with school as their children move through Woodcote Primary School, as they understand and value the impact that their own contributions can make on their children’s progress and attainment. The culture of supporting, enriching and challenging which starts in the EYFS is reflected and built upon as the youngest children develop into confident, competent life-long learners.