Early Years

At Quernmore Primary School our aim is to develop relationships and create a learning environment which supports, inspires and enhances a child’s curiosity, confidence and ability to flourish. We work closely with parents and carers to encourage independent and enthusiastic learners. It is our intent that children who join Quernmore Primary School in EYFS begin a lifelong learning journey by developing physically, verbally, cognitively and emotionally whilst embedding a love of learning. 

When a child joins EYFS at Quernmore Primary School we take into account their different starting points, interests and preferences and needs. This enables us to implement a learning journey that builds upon existing skills and knowledge and allows for new learning and new experiences. Throughout their time in EYFS children will also develop a sense of belonging to our school ready for transition into Year One the following year. 

The Intent of our EYFS Curriculum

We intend:

• To enable our children to be competent and creative learners. 
• To enable our children to be secure and confident and who enjoy coming to school and learning new skills. 
• To enable our children to be skillful communicators who connect with others through language and play, ensuring that they play in a vocabulary rich environment. 
• To provide child-led learning opportunities with plenty of opportunities for children to plan their own learning. 
• For all children to receive high quality teaching of early reading skills through systematic synthetic phonics. Children will learn to read words and simple sentences by the end of Reception.

The Implementation of our EYFS Curriculum

In order to help us plan from each child’s starting point we ask all parents to complete a Pupil Profile document. This allows parents to record their child’s strengths, interests and preferences and how they respond to different types of support. This is further supported by the Class Teacher completing a Baseline Assessment. 

Throughout EYFS at Quernmore Primary School we follow the Early Years Statutory Framework, updated March 2017, by the DfE.

There are three prime areas which are crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development.
• Communication and Language
• Physical Development

As children grow and make progress in the prime areas, this will help them to develop skills in the four specific areas. These are:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

These areas are used to plan the children’s learning and activities. During each week, children will work with an adult to complete 1:1 reading sessions and group guided reading sessions. There will be a daily adult led phonics session and a daily adult led maths session. For maths we follow the Numbersense Scheme and for phonics Optima Reading. 

There will also be a range of child initiated tasks throughout both the indoor and outdoor provision. As children move through the Foundation Stage, there are also planned weekly ‘Challenges’ which the children are encouraged to engage in during their Continuous Provision. A vital aspect in the development of essential knowledge and skills is the use of Continuous Provision. Effective use of the Continuous Provision supports children to develop key life skills such as independence , innovation, creativity, enquiry, analysis and problem solving. During the school day, children will have the opportunity to work independently and collaboratively with their friends and members of staff. 

Children in EYFS learn by playing and learning, being active and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outdoors. Our outdoor areas are used all year round and we ensure all activities both indoors and outdoors take into account the Characteristics of Effective Learning. These 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 idea, make links between ideas and develop strategies for doing things. 

We hold bi-weekly meetings known as ‘Family Friday’, where we invite parents/carers to come into the classroom. Children then show their parents/carers  classroom displays and share their work with them. It is also an opportunity for parents to look at our whole class Floor Book which shows our Learning Journey. Parents are encouraged to add their comments and contribute to the planning and learning of their children. ‘Family Friday’ also plays an important part in children committing their learning to their long term memory as they review and explain their work and associated photographs with an adult. 

Children in EYFS work closely with the children in Year One as they share two classrooms and the outdoor space. The children are taught separately for maths and phonics but come together for the wider curriculum. This allows for a seamless transition into Year One. 

The Implementation of our EYFS Curriculum

• We strive to ensure that our children’s progress across the EYFS curriculum is good from their varied starting points. 

• Children will achieve a Good Level of Development and many of the Early Learning Goals at the end of Reception and be as close as possible to National Expectations. 
• Evidence in the whole class Floor Book supports all areas of the EYFS curriculum. 

• Teachers use observations to make formative assessments which inform future planning. This ensures that all children build on their current knowledge and skills at a good pace. 
• Summative assessment compares children attainment to age related expectations using month bands in Development Matters. This is regularly tracked to ensure that rates of progress are at least good for all children, including vulnerable groups such as those with SEND, EAL, disadvantaged or summer born children. 
• Through conversations with children and monitoring their work their learning is also evaluated. 

See our Planning Overviews to find out what your child will be doing each term: