Starting school is a new experience for your child and the beginning of a very important learning journey. At Longhill Primary School we fully understand the crucial role the EYFS plays in laying the ‘foundations’ for learning.

We strive for excellence and securing the best possible outcomes for all our pupils with an inclusive, high quality learning environment. Learning should be fun, engaging and suitably challenging.

We support the children to learn through playing, exploring and being active. Some activities are adult led, some are guided by adults, and some are child initiated.

Intent

At Longhill Primary School we aim to build on and extend children’s prior knowledge to prepare them for a smooth transition to year 1 where pupils will continue their learning journey and further widen their learning experiences. The curriculum is designed to provide a secure foundation for life long learning. We are fortunate enough to have 2 minibuses which enables us to provide a wide range of visits for the children in Foundation Stage so that we can make learning real.

Implementation

What makes our EYFS particularly special is the importance placed on learning through play. Through play children build relationships, gain communication skills and improve their cognitive development. We aim to widen the children’s experiences through well planned and resourced spaces. Our children are encouraged to become independent thinkers who have a sense of belonging to the wider community of Longhill.

Our whole school termly topics means that we truly believe the earliest years are the building blocks for the future. Pupils work in key worker groups and talk is at the centre of all that we do.

Our outdoor area is very popular with our children and provides limitless opportunities for the children to develop all areas of learning!

Our children love exploring, discovering, questioning, and following their own fascinations outdoors and we have a range of resources that provide open ended learning opportunities. Following modelling and scaffolded support, we encourage our children to independently access the resources available to follow their own interests – helping them to develop the skills to problem solve, creating opportunities for them to work together, and empowering them to have autonomy over their own learning.

As well as a large artificial grass space, we have also created natural nooks which provide opportunities for the children to gain an understanding of the world around them.  Through their outdoor learning our children particularly focus on developing their physical skills, gain understanding of the world around them, develop their language and communication skills and develop friendships. Whether they are den building, exploring water play, building obstacle courses, thrill seeking on the climbing frame or engaging in imaginary play – our children are encouraged to be curious and to explore.

We are currently taking part in the Shout Out Project which is funded by Shine. This project was developed to encourage oracy in the great outdoors, and as a team we aim to promote a love of the outdoors for our children and families.

Impact

We focus on developing children’s communication skills from the very first day in school which we strongly believe results in confident, settled children who are keen to share their ideas and thoughts. Through our whole school topics the children have acquired the necessary knowledge to start the next stage of their learning journey with enthusiasm and resilience.

We follow the Statutory Early Years Framework from the DFE.

This has four principles:

• A unique child
• Positive relationships
• Enabling Environments
• Learning and Developing

To enable children to develop:

• Communication and Language (Listening, attention and speaking)
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development (Self, Regulation, managing self and building relationships)
• Physical Development (Gross motor skills, fine motor skills)
• Literacy (Comprehensive word reading, writing)
• Maths (Number, numerical patterns)
• Understanding of the World (Past and present, people, culture and community, the natural world)
• Expressive Arts and Design (Creating with materials, being imaginative and expressive)

Assessment

The staff are constantly assessing children in their everyday activities, play and focussed work. We use observations of the children, photos, the work that they do, the feedback from parents and comments made by the children.

If you would like any further information about our fantastic foundation stage please call the school office on: 01482 814160 or email: Longhillstaffeyfs@hcat.org.uk and a member of the team will get back to you.