The Early Years Foundation Stage is where we lay the foundations for lifelong learning. Our team works tirelessly to create a home from home learning environment, where children feel cherished, valued and part of our learning community.
Our caring team works alongside the children to develop their language skills, personal and social skills as well as their thinking skills.
During their time in the EYFS our children form strong positive relationships with our staff, this is fundamental in enabling the children to develop the learning behaviours that will stand them in good stead for developing a love of learning about the world around them.
Working in partnership with our families is paramount in ensuring the very best outcomes for all our pupils. We welcome our families to our EYFS workshops as well as ‘Play and Stay’ sessions.
Through high quality interactions during our VIP Time (Very Important Play!) children are able to apply and embed their ‘sticky learning’ in a variety of different contexts , enabling them to make sense of the world around them.
Our team carefully develops the children’s vocabulary through a variety of play experiences that widen their understanding and use of language.
Our EYFS Team supports the children to develop the following learner attributes (learner behaviours) which we feel will best place them for a lifetime of successful learning.
areas of learning
Prime Areas of Learning
- Communication and Language
Listening, attention and understanding
Speaking - Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Self-regulation
Managing self
Building relationships - Physical Development
Gross motor skills
Fine motor skills
Specific Areas of Learning
- Literacy
Comprehension
Word reading
Writing - Mathematics
Numbers
Numerical patterns - Understanding of the World
Past and present
People, cultures and communities
The natural world - Expressive arts and design
Creating with materials
Being imaginative and expressive
Intent, Implementation and Impact
At Leigh Academy Langley Park we offer a rich curriculum that promotes awe and wonder through investigation and exploration of our world.
Our curriculum has been carefully tailored to our children’s needs, through a combination of high quality interactions and planned learning opportunities to maximise opportunities for language acquisition through purposeful links that thread throughout all areas of the EYFS.
Children are supported in developing their learner profile attributes to ensure they develop resilience and a thirst for learning. Children set and reflect upon their own goals by aiming high and developing a love of reading, writing, number and the natural world around them.
We offer an ambitious curriculum that supports children in becoming caring citizens who are able to identify their own emotions, those of others as well as developing their ability to work in a team, sharing ideas and taking turns in a range of different situations.
Our curriculum ensures challenge for all learners, regardless of their unique starting points, ensuring children quickly develop their vocabulary and ability to engage in meaningful interactions with their peers and adults.
We believe that the correct balance of adult directed and uninterrupted child initiated play/ Very Important Play Time (VIP Time) ensures the best outcomes for our pupils, allowing them to rehearse and embed their learning, applying it to a range of real life learning contexts.
Our carefully planned, home from home learning environment ensures pupils feel cared for, welcome and comfortable in their learning environment. This ensures pupils feel safe to take risks in their play and be open-minded to new learning opportunities. We have a focus upon natural, open ended resources that prompt investigation and discussion, allowing children to create endless learning opportunities.
Our EYFS Practitioners develop strong, nurturing relationships with all pupils, skillfully supporting the children as they make links within their learning to their play and exploration.
Through these relationships our EYFS practitioners are able to gain a detailed knowledge of each child’s current attainment, ensuring that misconceptions are addressed and learning is always extended through high quality interactions.
All staff appreciate the importance the EYFS phase has in ensuring children develop firm foundations on which they can build into lifelong learners, allowing for a successful transition into Year 1 and beyond.
“The Curriculum is not just about what you know as an individual (but) about the kind of person you are” – Dubiel, Nursery World 2023. With this in mind, we ensure that we support children to become life long learners, developing their learning behaviours in preparation for the next stage of their development. We build these behaviours through our ‘Learning Profile Attributes’ which are the Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning that we believe are fundamental to a successful education.
Community is at the heart of our EYFS ethos, through stay and play sessions, use of an e-journal and regular communications with parents/carers children feel valued and we ensure the best possible outcome for all children within our care. Children quickly settle into our Nursery and Reception classes, developing a sense of belonging to their class, phase and school community. Through our strong partnership with parents we are best able to support our youngest learners to ensure they great progress from their individual starting points.
The development of language is at the very heart of our curriculum. Children are encouraged to develop their speech and communication skills through, songs, rhymes, high quality texts and our Early Years Practitioners skill-fully modelling and extending our children’s vocabulary through high quality interactions and planned learning opportunities.
Entwined in our language development is the development of early readers. Children are encouraged to become early readers through enjoyment of books, and the systematic teaching of phonics. Children follow the rigorous and successful ‘Teeny Reading Seeds’ within the Nursery and ‘Phonics International’ with our Reception classes, created by Debbie Hepplewhite.
Though our carefully planned central ideas and lines of inquiry our children develop a love of stories and internalise the language of storytelling, reflecting a breadth of cultures, families and world knowledge. Staff prioritise the importance of a ‘language rich’ environment by the use of songs, Makaton, nursery rhymes and providing time and space for high quality interactions between adults and children. Our Early Years Practitioners work tirelessly to ensure interactions are positive and progressive, whilst having fun! Ensuring pupils have the opportunities to flourish and gather words at pace in order to become confident communicators.
Across our EYFS phase our Early Years Practitioners carefully plan adult initiated learning opportunities as well as a carefully crafted learning environment that scaffolds and extends children’s learning, regardless of their starting points. These learning opportunities are flexible and responsive to the children’s needs and interests, so are adapted to follow the direction of the children within their play.
At LALP, our learning environment is the third teacher, it is constantly evolving to cater for the interests of our pupils as well as to ensure they are challenged throughout their time in the EYFS. This warm, nurturing environment is pivotal in ensuring our pupils feel safe enough to risk take in their play and be open-minded to new experiences. This also helps to foster our children’s abilities to work collaboratively, sharing, turn-taking and working in a joint way for a specific goal.
At LALP our Early Years Practitioners use a wealth of best practice information to support planning, curriculum, interventions as well as assessment for our pupils. This includes; Birth To Five Matters, Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, Development Matters and The Milestones Assessment Toolkit (MAT toolkit).
Our curriculum is designed and delivered to ensure that children, regardless of their starting points make good or better progress. We aim for the vast majority of our children to achieve GLD by the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage.
By the end of the EYFS phase our children will have developed these core learning behaviours:
- 1) Have confidence within their own abilities, being risk-takers in their play.
- 2) Have pride in their community, always striving to be their best.
- 3) Be confident communicators, both in writing and orally.
- 4) Be great mathematical thinkers, showing their understanding of maths in a range of different ways.
- 5) Be caring friends, who listen to others and take turns in play.
- 6) Be open-minded to new challenges, preserving when the learning gets challenging.
- 7) Be principled, understanding right and wrong and knowing how to communicate this appropriately.
- 8) Be inquirers, having a thirst for information about the modern world they live in.
- 9) Be knowledgeable about our planet, and how we care for it.
- 10) Be balanced, understanding the importance of keeping a healthy body and mind.
- 11) Be reflective, talking about their strengths in play and what they would like to do better.
Our EYFS pupils are assessed through the use of WOW moments in their play within our electronic learning journals and floorbooks.
Our EYFS Staff are skilled in using formative assessment to identify each child’s in the moment next steps, ensuring that these are actioned quickly to make the most of each learning moment.
At LALP our Early Years Practitioners complete Baseline assessments on all pupils, identifying starting points for our pupils. These are then carefully tracked throughout the year at key points. Thus, enabling Early Years Practitioners, Subject Leads and our Senior Leadership Team to ensure rates of progress are at least good for all pupils, including those who may fall into a vulnerable group such as Summer Born pupils.
central ideas
Nursery (Seedlings)
- Module 1: Who We Are
People learn and care for others - Module 2: How We Organise Ourselves
We all have a role to play in our community - Module 3: How We Express Ourselves
Storytelling connects us with others - Module 4: Sharing the Planet
Living things play an important role in our lives. - Module 5 & 6: Where We Are in Place and Time
Our world is special and connected in many ways
Reception (Apollo/Discovery)
- Module 1: Who We Are
People learn and care for others - Module 2: How We Express Ourselves
Celebrations are important - Module 3 & 4: Sharing the Planet
The environment influences living things - Module 5 & 6: Where We Are in Place and Time
The world can be influenced by many great people
If you do have any questions in regards to our Early Years Curriculum please do speak to a member of the EYFS team.