EYFS at Laygate Community School

Intent
At Laygate Community School we aim to provide motivating first-hand experiences whilst encouraging children to build resilience, ambition and a lifelong love of learning. We recognise that all children are unique by celebrating and welcoming differences within our school community.

  • We aim to:
    Provide a curriculum that offers children a wide range of opportunities ensuring that we do not
    expect children to aspire to things they have never encountered. We will work on broadening
    their experiences providing opportunities to try new things and encouraging them to relish a
    new challenge.
  • Provide high expectations encouraging them to develop perseverance and self-belief so that they can problem solve and achieve far more than they expected
  • Provide a learning environment that helps children achieve their potential and support those who need additional help in order to maximise their chances of achieving the Early Learning Goals
  • Provide children opportunities to develop their sense of wellbeing and ability to regulate their feelings so that they feel confident in our community and are equipped with all the tools they need to transition to Year 1 effectively
  • Develop the skills and expertise of staff working in EYFS

Implementation
Our curriculum follows the Early Years Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.  This document specifies the requirements for learning and development in the EYFS and provides the prime and specific areas of learning we must cover in our curriculum. Through our knowledge of each child and formative assessments the EYFS team plan exciting and engaging activities that will move the children’s learning forward. We have an EYFS curriculum that is based on the school’s literacy spine, using carefully chosen texts to engage the children in their learning. We also follow individual children’s interests and make the most of those focused moments where the teaching and learning can be maximised in a one to one way with the teacher and child. Continuous provision is carefully planned and teachers ensure that there are opportunities for all areas of learning both inside
and outside.

We provide effective and focused intervention for those children who are finding their learning
challenging and are not on track to meet expectations at the end of the year.

Impact
The impact of the EYFS curriculum is reflected in having well rounded, happy, and confident children transitioning into Year 1. Our children will grow to be confident, competent lifelong learners and good citizens. Nursery and Reception liaison ensures that there is continuity and progression within the Foundation Stage. Appropriate planning enables a smooth transition for children moving from Reception to Year 1.

By the end of the Reception year we provide opportunities for children to increase their independence in recording their work as appropriate to ensure they are well prepared for the move to Year 1.

As a team, we carry out regular internal meetings, moderation sessions and also attend external meetings and training to make sure that these judgements are consistent.

Please refer to the EYFS Policy for more details.