Abbott Community Primary SchoolEYFS
Curriculum
At Abbott Community Primary School our EYFS curriculum is carefully designed to follow the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. This framework sets out the learning, development and assessment requirements for all EYFS children until the end of their reception year. Our engaging and enriching curriculum is further guided guided by a document called ‘Development Matters’. All early years practitioners are required to provide planned activities to support each child’s educational development across the seven areas of learning. Our philosophy of early year’s education is deeply rooted in the belief that play and well-being should be at the heart of a broad and varied curriculum. .
There are 4 key principles that underpin our practice in the EYFS at Abbott Community Primary School:
A Unique Child
We recognise that all children are different. We identify and celebrate their strengths and support their areas for development.
Positive Relationships
Our pupils interact well with each other and with the adults in the school. We encourage parents to be involved with their child’s education.
Enabling Environments
Our indoor and outdoor areas encourage exploration, investigation, and independent learning. Our displays and resources are well maintained and reflect current learning.
Learning and Development
Pupils achieve well and make good progress from their starting points. Learning is playful, practical, and purposeful and builds upon prior attainment. Our children enjoy coming to school.
Curriculum Intent
Here at Abbott, we put the children at the centre of everything we do. Our main aim or intent is to help mould the children into independent, curious, life-long learners and we feel the best way to do this is shown in the graphic below:
By providing the children with positive relationships - creating strong bonds between staff and pupils, staff and carers and between the pupils themselves - we believe children are better able to become empowered and take ownership of their learning.
By immersing the children in stimulating and enabling learning environments we can ensure that they are taking an active role in their learning; becoming independent and developing their self belief.
Finally, by providing the children with a rich and balanced curriculum that takes the whole child into account, we can be sure that learners are engaged and enthusiastic.
Progress Models
Progress models provide our EYFS practitioners with a toolkit for moving children’s learning on, at an age appropriate pace. They also help us to design our curriculum around the specific needs of our children, showing clear progression from Nursery to Reception and into KS1. Click on the document below to take a closer look.
Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA)
The RBA is a short, interactive and practical assessment of children's early literacy, communication, language and mathematics skills when they begin school, using materials that most Reception age children will be familiar with. The RBA is not about judging or labelling children or putting them under any pressure. Children cannot ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ the assessment. Its main purpose is to create a starting point to measure the progress schools make with their pupils. Click the link below to find out more information:
Information for parents: Reception baseline assessment
Tapestry
In the Early Years Foundation Stage we use an exciting way to record and share children's learning during their time in nursery and reception. This system, called ‘Tapestry’, is an ‘online learning journal’ and enables staff to take photographs, videos and make written observations of some of the learning experiences and achievements that children have at school. This information can be accessed through the Tapestry app or website so that parents/carers can celebrate learning at home too. Parents can also add their own photos and comments to the journal, send messages or ask any questions that they may have. Children will be set regular home learning challenges, which will also be monitored using Tapestry. For more information please follow the links below:
Early Learning Goals and Early Years Foundation Stage Profile
In the final term of the year, a profile will be completed. This provides parents and carers, practitioners and teachers with a well-rounded picture of a child’s knowledge; understanding and abilities; their attainment against expected levels, and their readiness for year 1. Throughout their year in Reception, the children will be observed and assessed through their play in order to gain insights and make reasonable judgements against the Early Learning Goals, in the Summer Term. We will use the terms ‘emerging’ or ‘expected’ to describe our judgements, under the new guidance the term ‘exceeding’ has been removed.
Useful Documents
For more information please click the links for the below documents:
Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage: This document outlines the standards for the learning, development and care of children from birth to 5 years old. All early years providers must follow the guidence within this document.
Development Matters, 2020: This document provides non-statutory guidance materials and supports practitioners in delivering a broad and balanced curriculum.
Birth to 5 Matters: This document provides additional, comprehensive guidance for EYFS practitioners, drawing on previous guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) which has been updated in order to reflect recent research.
Early Years Foundation Stage Profile Handbook, 2022: This document provides guidance and advice from the Department for Education (DfE). It has been produced for schools participating in the Early Years Foundation Stage Reforms Early Adopter Year in academic year 2020/21. It helps teachers in early adopter schools make accurate judgements about each child’s attainment at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage.
What To Expect When: The purpose of this booklet is to help you as a parent/carer find out more about how your child is learning and developing during their first five years, in relation to the EYFS.