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Haylands Foundation Stage

�In our foundation stage we are Explorers. We are positive, nurturing and child centred.

�Our curriculum endeavours to help children become confident, curious and co-operative problem solvers.

�We use direct teaching and learning through play in a stimulating environment to help our children become lifelong learners.

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Our Foundations stage values:

Curious
Confident
Cooperative
Enthusiastic

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Intent�

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In Haylands Foundation Stage we endeavour to create a positive and nurturing learning environment to help our children become confident and resilient learners. Through a carefully planned combination of direct teaching and learning through play, we encourage our children to become curious individuals and life-long learners. We value their independence whilst developing a sense of community and responsibility for the world around us.

Our curriculum is designed to maximise children’s opportunities to develop the characteristics of effective learning. To play and explore, trying new things, to concentrate and persevere, and to be creative, critical thinkers. We recognise these skills are not only fundamental to children’s early years’ experience but to their whole learning journey and adult life. Our curriculum recognises the range of backgrounds from which our children come. We strive to develop children’s existing interests as well as broaden their experiences.

All our adults collaborate to design a rich, stimulating environment that meets the needs of each individual child. As a whole school, we recognise that reading is the key to a successful future so Haylands prioritises reading. In Haylands’ early years we expose the children to a wide range of high quality stories, rhymes, poems and information texts. Reading is at the heart of our curriculum. Essential to reading development is confidence of expression and fluency in language.

Most important to our curriculum is to create active individuals who are curious and have a deep love of learning supported by a growth mindset.

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Implementation�

��Our Environment:

Our children are immersed in a rich language environment from the moment they join us. To ensure children are exposed to a wide range of quality vocabulary, we carefully plan their literary diet to develop as they do. In Reception year we begin to introduce the ‘Talk Through Stories’ programme which helps further develop the children’s use of new vocabulary.

Knowing how important indoor and outdoor learning are for early development, both our Early Years settings ensure the curriculum is designed to include both indoor and outdoor learning opportunities including the use of our forest school area. Topics are based on a combination of the children’s existing interests and areas which they may not yet have explored. This ensures children have the opportunity to develop and broaden their interests.

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Our curriculum is carefully designed to ensure children make good or better progress throughout their time in Nursery and Reception. With safeguarding at our core, we understand that to learn children must first feel safe and experience positive, caring relationships. From this firm foundation, we develop journeys to meet the children’s individual needs and fulfil the framework for Early Years.

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��How we teach:

The structure of our curriculum develops as the children do. In Nursery the children foster their concentration and develop their skills through a predominantly play based learning experience with short periods of adult teaching or guided play. In Reception year we gradually extend the periods of teacher led learning to deliver a fluent transition into year 1 and the National Curriculum. Across all of Early Years significant periods of the day are given to allowing children to explore and learn through play. Our adults carefully direct their attention to enabling and developing the children’s play, relationships and skills during this time. Across the school, attention is given to ensuring cognitive load is minimised through precise teaching and clear routines. These routines also provide all our children with familiarity and predictability on which they can rely enabling them to focus on their learning.

During Reception year children receive daily taught sessions in phonics, following the Little Wandle programme, which leads to good or better outcomes at the end of Reception. We follow a NCETM to inform our Maths teaching developing a strong foundation and understanding of number. Our children learn using practical equipment to explore the connections and relationships between numbers. Our children receive a broad understanding of mathematical concepts such as shape, space and measure, introducing them to problem solving and connections between areas of maths.

In addition to our key skills of literacy and maths development, we use Learning Means the World provide our children with a rich and broad curriculum in the seven core areas of learning. Throughout the Early Years, our children experience opportunities for explorative and taught learning in all these areas. In our curriculum there is particular focus on developing fundamental movement skills and all physical development. We also focus on developing emotional literacy; providing our children with strategies to manage their emotions and develop positive relationships with the peers and adults. Everyday children are given opportunities to be creative, broaden their understanding of the world and learn through exploration.

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In Reception, we hold sessions for parents to come into school to find out about and experience how the children are taught. This helps them to better support their children and to participate more fully in their education. During some of these sessions, parents have the opportunity to play with their children with provided resources; not only is this fun but helps parents to see how valuable there are to their children’s development. Throughout Foundation Stage we also invite parents in for weekly reading sessions to enjoy stories with their children and foster the love for reading.

We recognise that parents are a key part of children’s success in education and as such we strive to include them not only in sharing their children’s journey but also in actively participating.

Communication between school and parents is extremely important in supporting the children so we prioritise communication with parents ensuring they have a daily opportunity to speak to the adults who care for their children. We have an ongoing dialogue with parents about what the children have been doing in school, which allows them to talk with their children about their activities and to carry on their learning and exploration with their families.

Our Relationship with parents:

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Our provision is structured to recognise and nurture each individual’s talents and interests holistically, ensuring development across the seven areas of Early Years Foundation Stage.

When children join nursery and start Reception we observe them closely to create an individual baseline for that child. From these we carefully devise end of year goals and plan a journey for our universal provision, gradually building skills across the year. Our curriculum is delivered through areas of interest, based on children’s existing interests and introducing new concepts and experiences.

Impact

Many children entre our setting below the expected stage of development for their age, through carefully planned and delivered provision, all children (including SEND) make good or better progress. Children on the SEND register are given targets which are carefully adapted to their own specific needs.

We make transition from nursery to Reception and Reception into The National Curriculum an ongoing aspect of our provision. We recognise the importance of and foster the relationship between nursery and primary school throughout the children’s journey with regular positive interactions and play opportunities. Our journey through Reception is designed to gradually prepare children for their ongoing journey through primary education.

We recognise the fundamental importance of the EYFS in every child's development. We know that the highest quality provision creates the strongest foundations. Our children will leave the EYFS with a love of learning and a strong sense of self; something that will travel with them throughout their educational career and beyond. With this in mind we strive to offer the best experiences through thoughtful planning, meaningful relationships and high quality teaching.

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