EYFS Information: Welcome to Reception

Welcome

Welcome to Yeo Moor Primary School and our Reception Classes. We are a two-form entry school with parallel classes from Reception to Year 6. In January 2024, we also opened a fantastic Nursery and Preschool.

Our Reception classes, Minnows and Tadpoles, are purpose-built early years spaces with a large shared outdoor area.

At Yeo Moor, we know that a strong knowledge of child development is fundamental to the success of our curriculum. We deliver an EYFS curriculum that inspires curiosity, ignites passions and develops confidence and independence. Our provision ensures that by the end of Reception, pupils are ready for the next stage in their educational journey.

Our curriculum is carefully sequenced to ensure progression for all children and tailored to meet the needs of individuals. By getting to know each unique child and identifying their starting points early on, we are able to build positive relationships, provide an enabling environment and skilled adult support, to ensure that every child makes good progress regardless of their starting point or level of development.

We value the importance of parental relationships and ensure these start from the first day parents visit our school. A carefully structured induction programme designed to support families joining our school is in place, and we offer a fully inclusive timetable for families.

More information

• EYFS vision

Our Early Years Team

• H Caines – EYFS Phase Lead and Class Teacher
• J Harrison – Class Teacher
• S Dodd – Class Teacher
• L Roberts – Class Teacher
• L Aydin – Class Teacher
• J Prior – Higher Level Teaching Assistant
• J Kingston – ITT
• N Smith – Teaching Assistant
• S Sandy – Teaching Assistant
• N King – Teaching Assistant

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum

Intent

The period from age three to the end of the Reception year is described as the Early Years Foundation Stage. It is a distinct stage and important both in its own right and in preparing children for later schooling.

We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum, where learning encourages children to develop into independent, happy and confident children who have a desire to learn and play.

Our EYFS curriculum ensures we are able to meet the individual needs of every child within our school. The principles that guide the work in the EYFS are grouped into four themes:

• A unique child
• Positive relationships
• Enabling environments
• Learning and development

We use the EYFS curriculum to identify the Characteristics of Effective Learning. This shows us how each child engages with other people and their environment, how they play and explore, if they are active learners and if they are creating and thinking critically. We have a balance of adult-initiated and adult-directed tasks as part of our curriculum offer to ensure that children make the best progress.

We also use the Leuven Scale to help us to gain a deep understanding of children’s emotional wellbeing and involvement. The Leuven Scale is a five-point scale that allows childcare practitioners to measure children’s ‘emotional well-being’ and ‘involvement’ – two vital components of learning, development and progress in children. This is particularly useful when children first start school but is also used throughout the year.

We make observations of children’s learning which enable us to move learning forward in a way which is appropriate to each child’s stage in their development.

We record observations using the online assessment tool Seesaw, which captures these precious and valuable moments and allows the adults to link these to the stages of development in Development Matters. This non-statutory guidance material supports adults in the EYFS in implementing the statutory requirements of the EYFS. Parents and carers are able to access Seesaw at home to respond to learning that has been put on there and also to document home experiences.

Early Years Information – Reception Baseline

The Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) is a short, interactive and practical assessment of your children’s early literacy, communication, language and mathematics skills when they begin school, using materials that most children of your child’s age will be familiar with. It is statutory for all schools from September 2021 onwards.

The RBA will provide an opportunity for your child to have valuable one-to-one time with their teacher at an early stage, so that the teacher can get to know your child better. It will provide a helpful snapshot of your child so that they can be supported in the most appropriate way.

You do not need to do anything to prepare your child for the assessment. Your child is unlikely to even know that they are doing an assessment when they are completing tasks and activities.

For more see Reception baseline assessment:
information for parents (publishing.service.gov.uk).