Intent

​The Early Years department at Woodcote Primary School consists of a Nursery (FS1) and Reception (FS2) class.​

​The current Early Years team aim 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. ​

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Subject leaders understand and can identify how their subject’s foundation begins in Early Years.​

Implementation

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 families 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 two, three, four and five-year-olds they can be!​

​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 throughout the year. Prime area and 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.

The offering in both FS classrooms incorporates:​

• A curriculum underpinned by the prime areas to ensure strong foundations in brain development and learning, and to build a sense of self and their place in the community / world. ​

• On-going professional dialogue amongst staff (formative assessment) which ensures responsive planning to meet the children’s unique needs.​

• A variety of practical, concrete resources.​

• Play-based learning which is purposeful and meaningful, sometimes adult-led / modelled and sometimes child-led with adults interacting where they can add to the learning rather than distract.​

• Staff who provide high quality enabling environments and interactions with the children. ​

• Time to mingle across both settings.​

• A restorative approach to behaviour where we allow children to regulate, help them to identify how they are feeling and then explore their behaviour and consider what we could do differently next time.​

• A supportive environment where the adults model positive behaviour, ask the children for the behaviour we would like to see, and where positive behaviour is recognised and celebrated.

• Off-site activities to provide children with experiences to extend their existing knowledge​

In FS1, the offering also incorporates:​

• Daily breakfast, snack and lunchtimes all together.​

• Daily quiet times after lunch.​

In FS2, the offering also incorporates:​

• Daily phonics lessons using the school phonics scheme ‘Monster Phonics’ and regular opportunities to apply their learning by writing sounds, words and sentences for a purpose.​

• Daily Maths lessons using the Mastering Number Project planning.​

• Daily snack times altogether.

• Off-site activities to develop the children's knowledge of the local community and environment. 

• Summative assessments are made at regular intervals throughout the year. ​

In Nursery, the Well Comm assessment is completed at various points in the year, to identify next steps in learning(Communication and Language) and prime area data is added to Insight (October, February and June) about whether the children are at the expected level of development for their age.   ​

In Reception, 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). In April, a GLD prediction is made.  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.

Impact

​Children are given daily opportunities to develop and demonstrate their skills and knowledge through a combination of well-planned, responsive 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, most 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.