Early Years
Welcome to our Foundation Stage, the Badger Class.
We are incredibly proud of our Early Years Foundation Stage which is filled with happy and successful children who are keen to learn from the minute they arrive at our school. We work hard to ensure that we get to know your child and their unique needs quickly, building safe and trusting relationships with your child and yourselves as parents or carers. Thereafter, we want your child to have an unforgettable experience, in which they learn strong and effective communication skills; skills which are crucial for social interaction when building relationships with staff and creating friendships. To this end, we have a well-considered range of books that your child will encounter over the course of their time in the Badger Class, along with engaging in learning songs and rhymes that stimulate your child’s vocabulary knowledge and language development. This is given high status as a child’s language development underpins all seven areas of learning and development in the EYFS. Language is developed through providing an environment that offers numerous daily opportunities for the children to feel confident using the rich new vocabulary and language structures that they have encountered in the story books that they have been introduced to. Staff will prioritise language through frequent high-quality interactions with back-and-forth conversations, modelling communication through demonstrating and questioning.
During your child’s time in the Badger class, they will learn to be resilient and independent learners, who are proud of their skills and achievements and are curious about the world around them. We offer an engaging curriculum that gives our children rich opportunities to flourish and develop in all areas of their learning, promoting future life skills whilst drawing on the Characteristic of Effective Learning, promoting critical thinking in preparation for entering Key Stage One and beyond.
Our curriculum is varied and centred around the Statutory Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. The Early Years Foundation Stage is the framework provided for children aged 0-5. It is broken down into seven areas of learning.
The prime areas of learning are:
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
The specific areas of learning are:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
We use a variety of texts to celebrate diversity and to promote excellence. Developing independence is demonstrated through encouragement of the children’s self-care and the provision of resources that enable children to make choices and respect equipment.
Mathematics
The whole school follows the White Rose Maths scheme of work which aims to show pupils that everyone can do Maths! It strives to inspire children's love for this fascinating subject whilst embedding mathematical thinking and talk. Our schemes support the ethos of the EYFS whilst at the same time enabling teachers to create a sequential mathematically rich curriculum. The children have the opportunity to develop their understanding of number, shape, measure and spatial thinking.
Mrs Cullen is a very experienced EYFS Leader and she and her team have an excellent understanding of child development and ensure that there is a planned progression of skills providing purposeful play. Teaching in EYFS is a combination of Teacher Directed learning, combined with daily opportunities for child-led learning and group sessions where the children use their growing understanding of the characteristics of Effective Learning. Staff skilfully interact and model effective communication and language skills whilst promoting exploration and critical thinking.
To view our Early Years Curriculum Long Term Plan and further information about what your child will be learning and experiencing from the moment they start their Stowting school learning journey, please see our EYFS Curriculum page by clicking below:
Children’s interests
Despite having a curriculum which encompasses all of the different areas of learning, there is still the opportunity for the children to be able to explore and develop their own interests. By acknowledging, and building on, children's own interests we help the children to feel valued as an individual; someone who is an expert in their own life experiences.
Tapestry
All of the parents are able to share their child’s learning journey. Each child has their own account and parents can log onto the online journal to see their child is all the fun learning in school. Parents are also able to share their child’s learning at home.