EYFS
Welcome to Ley Hill's EYFS unit
Here at Ley Hill children in Nursery and Reception are supported to thrive in our EYFS unit. Each year group has their own classroom and they share an outdoor learning space. The staff work together to ensure all children develop at their own pace and build strong relationships with all the children.
Have a look here at some pictures to see how our children enjoy their learning experiences with us.
The EYFS Team
Ley Hill School Early Years Foundation Stage
Curriculum Intent
In EYFS we provide a safe, secure environment with adults who nurture the child’s individualism and are a caring, supportive influence in their lives. We want to foster a love of learning, developing a curiosity for finding things out and a questioning, creative and imaginative outlook to learning and life.
Children are supported to become independent in all they do, encouraging a ‘can do’ attitude. Demonstrating perseverance and resilience is the key to enjoying the sense of pride in themselves when they have achieved their goal. We create an environment where children feel safe enough to take calculated risks in their learning and play.
We think it’s important that our children become good communicators, are able to listen and respond to their friends and adults, building positive relationships, managing their emotions and learning to negotiate with peers in playful situations. We help them use talk to organise their ideas and share these with others; becoming collaborative thinkers and working well with others on a shared goal. We want our children to develop emotional intelligence and have the ability to moderate and share their feelings, as well as understand those of others.
Our language rich environments support children to build vocabulary and encourages them to experiment with words and phrases through talk, laughter, songs and the written word. We expose them to words and worlds they may not already know, through stories and a wide range of experiences.
We believe that high level engagement ensures high level attainment. We therefore provide an engaging curriculum that maximises opportunities for meaningful cross-curricular links and learning experiences. We promote the unique child by following the child's interests, knowledge, ideas and their cultural capital by offering extended periods of play and sustained thinking to foster a lifelong love of learning both in and outside of school.
Children are taught to be responsible citizens, who care for our environment and experience a sense of awe and wonder for the things they see around them, and the worlds we help them create.
We believe that parents and carers are a child's first educator and therefore collaborate effectively to ensure their child enjoys coming to school and has a positive sense of self.
Curriculum Implementation
Nursery and Reception follow the curriculum as outlined in The Early Years Foundation Stage Framework 2021 which influences what we teach.
Our EYFS curriculum is designed to recognise children's prior learning, both from previous settings and their experiences at home. Our curriculum has been designed to enable children to succeed by providing the best possible start at Ley Hill School, ensuring each individual reaches their full potential from their various starting points.
Children benefit from meaningful learning across the EYFS curriculum. We therefore have an ambitious curriculum that is coherently planned and sequenced, that builds understanding and respect for everyone’s differences. Our learning is both adult lead and child initiated, which allows our children to explore through the characteristics of effective learning, thinking, engagement and motivation.
We understand the areas of learning and the ways in which young children learn. We present information clearly to children, promoting appropriate discussion about the subject matter being taught. We communicate well to check children's understanding, identify misconceptions and provide clear explanations to improve their learning. In doing so, we respond and adapt our teaching as necessary.
Children will be taught how to follow our 6R’s by becoming;
- RESILIENT learners that take on challenges
- REFLECTIVE learners who use curiosity and ambition to develop their learning through play
- RECIPROCAL learners who can work co-operatively in a team showing consideration for others
- Able to RECONNECT with prior learning from topics and their wider experiences and remember long term what they have been taught
- RESOURCEFUL learners who use their environment to support their understanding
- Well behaved children who are engaged with their learning who show
- RESPECT for themselves, others and their environment
We use assessment to check what children know and can do to inform teaching. This includes planning suitably challenging activities and responding to specific needs of a child.
We share information with parents about their child’s progress through regular updates on Class Dojo and through parent meetings. This helps parents and carers to support and extend their child’s learning at home.
Curriculum Impact
At Ley Hill School all children, including those with SEND and from disadvantaged backgrounds, will have good levels of development across the seven Areas of Learning, particularly in the development of their language so that they are enabled to communicate effectively. Children will be ready to transition to Key Stage One by having secured good listening, speaking, mathematical and physical skills, which provides them strong foundations for future learning. Through our curriculum we aim to work in partnership with parents and carers to encourage happy, confident and resilient children who are excited by school and enjoy learning.
The Foundation Stage Curriculum
“The effective early years provision lays firm foundations for children’s future progress.” Ofsted 2017.
The Foundation Stage is part of the national curriculum and covers the years from birth to the end of the Reception year.
Nursery and Reception at Ley Hill School follows the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum as set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. This Framework underpins all future learning and is a statutory requirement for children from birth to five in Early Years settings. It covers seven areas of learning:
The Prime Areas
· Communication and Language
· Physical Development
· Personal, Social and Emotional Development
The Specific Areas
· Literacy
· Mathematics
· Understanding the World
· Expressive Arts and Design
Here are some documents to show some of the things children learn in these areas and what they are working towards by the end of their Reception year;