Early Years Foundation Stage Intent 

 At Rudheath Primary Academy we believe in the vital importance of Early Years provision in laying the foundations for children’s learning and for forming the attitudes, motivation, skills, and knowledge they will need to succeed as they proceed through education and life.  Our intention is for children to be ready for the next stage in their education by having the key skills required in Maths, Reading and Writing and strive for our children to reach the Early Learning Goals at the end of Reception.   

From each child’s individual starting point, we aim to promote a language-rich curriculum to support all children in successfully accessing learning and improve outcomes. As one of the most important factors in success, we intend to focus on speech and language development to ensure our children use a wide range of vocabulary.  

Alongside this, we aim for our pupils to be active, resilient learners with positive attitudes who demonstrate high levels of curiosity, creativity, and enjoyment. 

In developing social skills and relationships children can concentrate and listen intently and respond positively to adults and each other.  Underpinning all aspects of our provision is children’s personal, social and emotional development.  It is crucial for children’s cognitive development for them to lead healthy and happy lives, we aim to achieve this by promoting a positive sense of self and encourage them to set their own goals by developing their confidence in their own abilities.  Staff recognise the importance of attachments in shaping a child’s world.  It is our intent for our adults to build strong, warm and supportive relationships with pupils, enabling children to learn how to understand their feelings and those of others.  

Physical activity is a vital role in developing children’s all-round development.  We intend to promote healthy and active lives, through the children having free access to our outdoor provision alongside weekly PE lessons.  We ensure the children have regular opportunities to develop their strength, control, and precision or both gross and fine movement; as well as the habit of exercise and healthy eating.   

Through stories and drawing on the children’s individual personal experiences, we teach the children about the world around them and their place in it. We support the children in understanding differences and how to respect those differences.  We intend to develop the children’s understanding, self-expression, vocabulary through the arts by providing them with varying opportunities to see, hear, and participate in art, design, music and dance. 

Throughout their time in EYFS, the children develop a sense of belonging to our school community, our children participate in events such as singing assemblies, nativity plays, sports day and whole school celebrations. 

By the time our children leave Reception we endeavour for pupils to be ready for Key Stage 1 academically and socially, actively displaying our school values, as they prepare to continue their education. 

Early Years Foundation Stage Implementation 

Across our Nursery and Reception classes, we follow the Early Years Statutory Framework which specifies the requirements for learning and development in the Early Years and provides prime and specific areas of learning we must cover in our curriculum. The Prime Areas of learning are Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development and Communication and Language. The Specific Areas of learning are Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design.

Our curriculum focuses on teaching skills and knowledge through a child-centred approach. Starting points are based around wow moments, personal experiences from previous settings and home alongside a selection of carefully chosen high-quality texts. Planning is designed to be flexible so that a child’s unique interests are supported and used to build upon current knowledge and understanding. Through an accumulative sequence of lessons, children are encouraged to wonder and ask questions about what they are learning, and this information is used to plan subsequent avenues for learning.  

A vital aspect of the EYFS is learning through play, our continuous provision provides this.  Continuous provision involves the development of essential knowledge and skills through engaging environments that are enhanced in a way that children can practice and apply their skills and knowledge.  Continuous provision practice and principles begin in EYFS and support children to develop key life skills such as independence, innovation, creativity, enquiry, analysis and problem-solving.  As needed, we use continuous provision to support the transition into Year One.  

Daily guided activities are also planned to cover different areas of the curriculum and allow children to develop their next steps in learning. Through observation and discussion, areas of need and next steps are identified for all children to ensure good progress is made. There are also a range of stimulating and engaging activities which the children can access independently and a variety of opportunities for child-initiated play. We will include interventions for groups or individuals if and when necessary. During the school day, children will have an opportunity to work independently, work collaboratively with their friends and with members of staff.  This means that children are using, developing and applying taught skills and knowledge daily throughout the year. 

Early Years Foundation Stage Impact 

The impact of our curriculum is measured by assessment procedures which allow us to track outcomes against all schools nationally. We measure the percentage of pupils achieving age-related expectations throughout the academic year, putting supportive interventions in place if and when needed. Teachers use observations to make formative assessments that inform future planning and ensure that all children build on their current knowledge and skills at a good pace. Summative assessment compares children’s attainment to age-related expectations using month bands in Development Matters. This is tracked using Insight to ensure rates of progress are at least good for all children, including vulnerable groups such as those with SEND, disadvantaged or summer born children. Our assessment judgements are moderated both in school and externally with local schools and others in our trust. We also participate in local authority moderation which has validated our school judgements.  

EYFS provision is closely monitored through lesson observations, data analysis, book/learning journey scrutiny, pupil voice and learning environment reviews.  This enables the EYFS lead to paint a picture of the delivery and impact of EYFS provision and identify any areas for improvement. 

The impact of our EYFS provision is evidenced where our children’s progress across the EYFS curriculum is good from their varied starting points. The impact of our curriculum is also measured by how effectively it helps our pupils develop into well-rounded individuals who embody our values and carry with them the knowledge, skills and attitudes which will make them life-long learners and responsible future citizens.