EYFS

Our EYFS Curriculum is designed and underpinned by the EYFS framework. It is a tapestry of five different elements; the role of the adult, the role of the environment, features of effective practice, how we plan each area and how we teach each area.

Below are links to our EYFS Curriculum Documents including our EYFS Policy, how we teach the areas of the EYFS, our EYFS policy and our overall aims and principles.

GREEN EYFS Policy Document

GREEN FPS EYFS aims and principles

BLUE How we teach EYFS

YELLOW What we do to implement the feature of effective practice

RED EYFS document match with KS1

Although our curriculum is underpinned by the EYFS framework, we understand that this is a top-down approach and wanted to develop each of the seven areas of the curriculum further to ensure progression.

We looked at each strand and added finer detail, thinking about experiences and key knowledge that we want our children to leave EYFS with, ensuring it is providing the foundations for moving to year 1 and beyond.

See below for our EYFS Progression Maps for each area of learning.

When planning and guiding what children learn, we reflect on the different rates at which children are developing and adjust our practice appropriately.

Three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are:

• playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’
• active learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements
• creating and thinking critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing thing

The characteristics of effective learning underpin everything we do in the EYFS and are always a focus.

Playing and Exploring

This area includes;

• Being willing to ‘have a go’
• Finding out and exploring
• Playing with what they know

During independent play, adults encourage children to initiate and seek out activities. They model a ‘can do attitude’ to the children and support children in taking risks when engaging in new experiences. We encourage children to show curiosity and to use their senses to explore the world around them. We set up open ended activities to ensure children have the opportunities to engage and put these learning strategies to use.

Active Learning

This area includes;

• Being involved and concentrating
• Keeping on trying
• Enjoying achieving what they have set out to do

We ensure that children have the time to become involved in activities, whether it be adult or child led and allow them the time to concentrate and focus without distraction. Our EYFS children are introduced to ‘Tough tortoise’ as part of a whole school initiative to encourage perseverance and determination. One of his favourite sayings it ‘I can’t do it…yet!’ Our aim is to support children in becoming resilient. The children are also introduced to our ‘Sper Six Aims’ which include respect, aspire, explore, determination, be responsible and make good choices.

Creating and Thinking Critically

This area includes;

• Having their own ideas
• Making links
• Choosing ways to do things

Our enabling environment and guided teacher sessions, encourages children to find new ways to solve problems. Open ended resources in the learning environment help to develop this. We ensure that children make links and notice patterns in their experience. We also ensure that children have the opportunity to plan, make decisions about how to approach a task, solve a problem and read a goal. We teach children how to check how well their activities are going and encourage them to change strategy as needed. We build in time to extend children’s ideas through sustained discussion, considering ‘how; and ‘why’ things happen.

FPS Playing and Exploring

FPS Active Learning

FPS Creating and Thinking Critically

To continue the provision for learning in the absence of an adult.
Alistair Bryce-Clegg, 2013

Indoor and outdoor resources are organised to develop children’s skills in personal interaction and exploration and are linked to current assessment data. Resources are carefully selected to meet the development needs of the children to enhance potential for new learning and consolidate prior learning.
Resources and enhancements are dressed/displayed to reflect children’s interests – discover, experiment and explore are key themes. Continuous provision transcends all areas of learning and provides children with the opportunity to demonstrate the three characteristics of effective learning. Children are given the freedom to make independent choices and are encouraged to be active learners and take control of their own learning.

Observation

Throughout ‘continuous provision’ observation forms a fundamental aspect of the pedagogy of EYFS at FPS.

“Young children demonstrate language, mathematics, science, creativity, physicality – sometimes all within one activity – and the task of the practitioner is to make sense of what is seen, to recognise any significant steps in learning that may have taken place and to identify where help and support are needed to make further progress.” Jan Dubiel, 2014

Observation and responding to children’s thinking inform our planning of experiences and opportunities, how we create our environment for thinking, the strategies the adults use to extend learning (modelling, scaffolding, questioning, discussion, shared sustained thinking) and how we capitalise knowledge of children’s interests to ensure high levels of engagement.

Summative Assessments

In addition to the continuous cycle of observation and formative assessment which informs the next steps for a child’s learning, summative assessments are carried out for phonic development, number and an assessment of each child’s stage of development for each of the 7 areas of learning. These take place termly and informs planning of subsequent teaching and learning.

A continuous cycle of observation, assessment and planning is embedded throughout our EYFS provision.

Tapestry

Tapestry is used to record ‘Wow!’ moments – when a child does or says something that demonstrates progress or skill in a particular area. Parents also use tapestry to upload ‘Wow’ moments, ensuring that we gain a broad and balanced view of the child and their individual needs. Parent also send in WOW petals which are celebrated with the children and displayed in the classroom.

Parents are the first and most important influence on their child’s development and future outcomes.

Children have two main educators in their lives – their parents and their teachers. Therefore, the school and the parents all have crucial roles to play. The impact on a child’s education is greater if parents and schools work in partnership.

At FPS, parents are invited to be involved in every step of a child’s journey in education. Beginning with a pre-starting school home visit, followed up with a transition evening and the invitation for their child to attend several ‘transition’ sessions before the Autumn term commences. We use an online learning journal, ‘Tapestry’ to record, track and celebrate progress made by each child.

Tapestry enhances this special time in a child’s life and captures children’s experiences as well as monitors development and learning.

Text, images and videos can be uploaded by parents to share learning and experiences from home via PC, tablet or our mobile app – anywhere there’s an online connection. Every entry helps to create a complete story of a child’s time at school.

Throughout the year families are invited to ‘Stay and Play’ sessions in the EYFS classroom along with many whole school events e.g. Mother’s Day afternoon tea, Mystery Reader and Christmas craft morning. We pride ourselves on building positive relationships with the families of FPS.

We create an environment that is conducive to interactions where all feelings can be taken into account. A warm welcome each day often leads to a deeper knowledge and understanding of each child and their family.

We hold a transition evening in Summer term, and a phonics/reading/maths evening in the autumn and spring term to engage parents with supporting their child at home.

Our school website has a dedicated section to EYFS with all of our documentation available to parents along with helpful links and resources for home learning.

Parent’s Evening

We hold a parents evening in the autumn and spring term to discuss with parents their child’s development. At the end of the summer term, we send home a written report. Parents are also available to come and discuss their child’s report with us if they have any questions or concerns.

We have created a padlet for new starters with all the relevant information that you will need when starting at FPS. Simply click on the link below to find out more.

FPS Padlet