EYFS at Coalbrookdale & Ironbridge CE Primary School
At Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge CE Primary School our Early Years team focus on providing a curriculum which is ambitious, engaging, nurturing and relevant for all. Learning takes place in every part of the early years environment, within and beyond the classroom, in outdoor areas and even at lunchtime. We believe that every opportunity and interaction with children is a learning opportunity. Learning is possible in every moment of the day.
We encourage all children to be curious, to play and explore, actively engage in their learning, and develop skills of creativity and critical thinking.
By the end of Reception we strive for the majority of children to achieve the Early Learning Goals but for all children to have made good progress across the year.
Our four overarching principles from the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage are:
- Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured
- Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships
- Children learn and develop well in enabling environments with teaching and support from adults, who respond to their individual interests and needs and help them to build their learning over time. Children benefit from a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers.
- Importance of learning and development. Children develop and learn at different rates.
The children in Reception have access to both the indoor and outdoor environment throughout the day. The children have opportunities for teacher-directed, teacher-led and child-led sessions.
KEY
Teacher-directed – Whole class taught new knowledge
Teacher-led – Embed new knowledge for children to apply (small group)
Child-led – Children use new skills in play-based learning
Play- based learning – Children use the skills they have learnt independently to lead in a safe environment.
We cover the seven areas of learning to ensure all children experience a broad and balanced curriculum, so that they are ready for their next stage of learning. Planned lessons are taught through Teacher directed and Teacher led which leads into their play-based learning. Where children can access and explore independently all seven areas of learning inside and out.
The children will learn new knowledge and skills through the seven areas of learning.
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Physical Development
- Communication and Language
- Mathematics
- Literacy
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
Our environment is carefully considered with safety first. Care and thought is given to the resources and activities planned throughout the day, and all environments: the playground, the classroom, the outside areas. Children need to be taught how to keep themselves safe within the school setting and when to ask for help.
Building on physical safety we place great importance on how safe the children feel in their relationships with school and our teachers. Without this we can do nothing: if you don’t feel safe, you cannot learn. The quality of interactions is everything and teachers ensure that all children feel able to take risks, make mistakes and ask for help. This safe climate for learning along with consideration for our children’s emotional, mental and physical needs is at the heart of our approach in the early years.
Developing independence, learning how to listen and work with others are key first learning traits in early years and we ensure every one of the traits is encouraged and articulated from the beginning. This feeds into our everyday language and our expectations for all children: for example, making sure children know that making a mistake is part of learning; encouraging creativity in finding different solutions to a problem; or praising a child for asking questions to learn more.
Excellent learners are at work and encouraged all the time throughout the curriculum, whether in putting on a coat, lining up safely, learning to write my name, taking turns in a game, asking to go to the bathroom or joining in a story. We make our language and expectations for learning clear and children understand that being an excellent learner is very important for everyone.
Working in a class with many other children brings challenges, especially to the youngest children. Resolving differences, learning to listen, to share and to consider the needs of others are a core part of the personal and social development which is rightly a key area in our early years. Learning how to be an excellent communicator, to understand and be understood is modelled throughout all learning situations. Early language and vocabulary development underpin children’s later achievement and we focus on how our children develop the skills need to interact well. In our early years, every interaction is a learning opportunity.
We follow children’s interests to engage them in learning, balancing this with exposing them to new, exciting, hands-on experiences. We create opportunities for the awe and wonder of discovery, ensuring high levels of participation and engagement, enabling children to begin their journey to fulfil our vision of “Living Life in all its Fullness”.
We believe in quality first teaching to ensure children achieve, so our focus is first and foremost on the effectiveness of our teaching and the curriculum. We have a thematic approach. We have structured, precise and highly successful teaching of early literacy skills, phonics and mathematics, through clear programmes of study, excellent resources and enthusiastic delivery – ensuring that children leave Reception with a high level of core skills before they reach year 1.
Where children are finding learning hard or are not achieving, we consider how more time or support can be offered to ensure no child is left behind.
We believe in keeping up not catching up.
Curriculum information
Reception Overview 2023-2024
Reception Spring 1 2024 Curriculum Letter
Reception Autumn 2 2023 Curriculum Letter
Reception Autumn 1 2023 Curriculum Letter
Links to websites used in school and at home
Numbots
Phonics
We deliver phonics through the Read Write Inc phonics programme. For more information about Read, Write Inc please visit www.ruthmiskin.com/en/
This is the order that your child will be taught the sounds:
Set 1
m a s d t i n p g o c k ck u b f e l h sh r j v y w th z ch qu x ng nk ss ff ll
Set 2
ay (play) ee (sleep) igh (light) ow (snow) oo (zoo) oo (book) ar (star) or (fork) air (fair) ir (bird) ou (shout) oy (toy)
As they learn to recognise, say and write these sounds, they will blend them to read and write words, such as:
mid gap lid fog pin fig dot mud den bug dot
press slip flap jump drop glum hand crash stand best
tray steep flight blow spoon
RED words
This is the order in which your child will be taught the ‘tricky’ non-decodable high frequency words:
- I, the, you, your, said, was, my, he, we, she, be, no, go
- are, of, want, what, they, to, do, does, all, any, one, some, come, so
- old, her, saw, watch, who, where, there, here, were, other, father, love, two, once, by, why, school, have, when, little, like
Reading books
Your child will read twice a week in school. The books they read are decodable so the children can apply all of the reading strategies we teach during phonics. Please hear your child read to you regularly as this will allow them to practise their reading strategies. Also, read stories to them to develop their understanding of story structures and increase their breadth of vocabulary.
If you have any questions about phonics or reading, please ask.