EYFS - Nursery and Reception

Welcome to the EYFS Class Page!

At the heart of Meriden’s Early Years Foundation Stage is our whole-school vision of an inspiring education centred on friends, faith and lifelong learning. We are committed to providing a nurturing, inclusive and ambitious environment where every child feels safe, valued and ready to learn.

We recognise that all children are unique learners. Through a carefully sequenced, play-based curriculum, we build on children’s prior experiences and interests to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to succeed. We place a strong emphasis on communication and language, early reading, writing and mathematics, alongside personal, social and emotional development, ensuring children are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

High-quality interactions are at the heart of our practice. Our skilled practitioners model language, thinking and positive relationships, responding to children’s needs and extending their learning in the moment. Within our continuous and enhanced provision, we use the ShREC approach to encourage children to take part in back-and-forth conversations and to promote high-quality interactions with adults. Practitioners use sustained shared thinking to support these interactions, building on children’s ideas and extending their thinking. We also use the STAIRS model to scaffold children’s thinking, helping them to develop confidence, independence and the skills to become increasingly independent learners. We provide a stimulating environment that promotes curiosity, independence and resilience, enabling children to become confident and reflective learners.

We are committed to inclusive practice and high expectations for all. Through careful observation and ongoing assessment, we ensure that every child, including those with additional needs, is supported to make strong progress from their starting points and to reach their full potential.

Partnership with parents and carers is fundamental to our success. We work collaboratively with families, valuing their knowledge and contributions, to support children’s development and wellbeing.

Through this approach, we aim to foster a lifelong love of learning and ensure that all children leave the EYFS with the foundations they need for future success.

Intent

The Early Years Foundation Stage encompasses two foundation stages, Foundation Stage 1 (FS1/Nursery) and Foundation Stage 2 (FS2/Reception). In the Early Year Foundation Stage at Meriden Primary school, we view the prime areas of learning; communication and language, physical development and personal, social and emotional development as the golden threads that are woven into our everyday curriculum. Through our broad and balanced curriculum, we facilitate and unlock a world full of possibilities for our pupils. Staff create a supportive and nurturing learning environment in which a child’s curiosity, independence, confidence and vocabulary can flourish. We value imagination and creativity and seek to create a sense of enjoyment and fascination in learning through a vibrant continuous indoor and outdoor provision, including out of school trips, visits and regular forest school sessions. We treat every interaction as a positive opportunity to create a connection and shape a life. Parents and carers work collaboratively with staff to encourage independent, enthusiastic learners who thrive and reach their full potential. We strive to ensure that pupils enjoy coming to school, have positive attitudes and love learning.

Implementation

Our curriculum follows Development Matters, the non-statutory curriculum guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage established by the Department of Education. We have used the Development Matters Statements to develop an exciting and progressive curriculum. Through our knowledge of each child and formative assessments, staff plan inspiring and engaging activities which introduce pupils to key concepts and bodies of knowledge that they will re-visit in Reception and then Key stage 1. For example, building a boat for their favourite toy enables them to think like a ‘Scientist’ and ‘Engineer’ as they explore a range of materials and test out their own ideas. Planning usually involves following a class topic or theme where we take advantage of cross curricular links but also find time to include children’s interests. We encourage children in EYFS to ‘play and explore’, be ‘active learners’ and ‘create and think critically’. Learning is designed to include a blend of whole class, guided, adult directed play and child-initiated learning activities. These activities and learning experiences are based on the seven areas of learning:

The Three Prime Areas

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

The Four Specific Areas

Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the World
Expressive Arts and Design

At Meriden Primary School, the EYFS curriculum enables our children to:

Build positive relationships with peers where they can take turns, show sensitivity and work cooperatively - FRIENDS

Be curious about the world around them and have an understanding of different religious and cultural communities - FAITH

Learn new skills and knowledge, building on their existing learning in which they happily recall in later years – LIFE-LONG LEARNING

Maths Development

In Nursery, the EYFS Lead has worked alongside the Maths Lead, an NCTEM Maths Mastery Specialist, to create a unique maths scheme of work based on the NCTEM Mastering Number materials. We offer daily maths sessions each lasting around twenty minutes. We base all learning on number songs and rhymes or stories, which change weekly. These songs and stories are revisited each term to build on familiarity and support understanding in the counting sequence. Children are encouraged to use concrete manipulatives during all sessions which are then readily available to access, independently, in our continuous provision.

In Reception, we follow the Mastering Number Scheme of work which is split into four sessions each week. A fifth session, based on numerical patterns such as comparing length, weight and capacity, creating patterns and using 2D and 3D shapes, is included weekly. Planning for this fifth session is inspired by White Rose suggestions. High quality learning environments and meaningful interactions with adults, support children in developing mathematical thinking and discussion. Pupils learn through games and tasks using concrete manipulatives and pictorial structures and representations which are then rehearsed applied and recorded within their own child-led exploration.

Literacy Development

At Meriden Primary School we use the Oxford Reading Tree series to take our children through the early stages of learning to read. The Floppy’s Phonics teaching programme, which is a step-by-step phonics reading scheme, is used across EYFS. It introduces our younger pupils to the letters and sounds (the alphabetic code) that are at the foundation of all reading and writing. Phonics is taught every day in Foundation Stage following a revisit/review, teach, practice, apply method.

Impact

We endeavour to ensure that our children’s progress across the EYFS curriculum is good from their diverse starting points. We hold high expectations of our children and strive for them to achieve a Good Level of Development, and many of the Early Learning Goals, at the end of Reception.

The impact of our EYFS curriculum is reflected in having well rounded, happy, and confident children. The children transition into Year 1 with key knowledge and overarching concepts to enable them to access the requirements of the National Curriculum. By the end of EYFS, pupils: