Mereside Academy

                                                          Reception

Learning in the EYFS

Our Approach to the Curriculum 

 At Mereside, children are at the centre of everything that we do. We believe that children learn best when they are interested, curious and deeply engaged, which in Early Years, is best achieved through play. We highly value the importance of play and use this at the heart of our curriculum to ensure the children come first.

 The children learn through a combination of adult led and child initiated learning. We believe that sometimes adult led learning is the most effective way to learn and that some things are best learned through play. Our provision responds to the needs and interests of the children, alongside high quality and playful adult interactions, we believe children receive quality, fun filled experiences, which enable them to develop a love of learning. 

 Our curriculum is based on what we know our children need when they start school. It is a progressive curriculum taking children from their baselines towards the Early Learning Goals and beyond. We used the non-statutory guidance Development Matters in the creation of our curriculum. The setting uses quality texts from the CLPE Core Texts as drivers for the curriculum. Reception also follows Phonic Bug Club for phonics and uses NCETM Mastery Maths. 

 High quality interactions are at the core of our provision. The environment, both inside and outside, allows our children to become highly engaged in their learning. When interacting with children, adults will observe what the children are doing, assess what they need to do/learn, next and plan their teaching. This might be ‘in the moment’ planning when we identify a teachable moment and act on the opportunity immediately or it could be that the interaction informs future planning.

 The Early Years Foundation Stage Framework is a statutory framework that provides standards which schools and childcare providers must meet for the learning, development and care of children from birth to five years old. 

 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2 

Throughout the year the children's progress is monitored using our Observation Checkpoints that link to our curriculum. A link to these can be found below. 

 The Early Years Foundation Stage

 There are seven areas of learning and development and these are a fundamental part of all the planning and teaching that occurs.
 
They are split into Prime and Specific Areas:
The Prime Areas are of great importance as they provide the foundation for all learning.
These are:

• Communication and language
• Physical development 
• Personal, social and emotional development

As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas.
These are:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and design

 We also give high regard to and plan in the moment for a child's Characteristics of Effective Learning. This describes how a child learns, such as what motivates them and how their play allows them to learn and develop. 

Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning

Playing and exploring – engagement

• Finding out and exploring
• Playing with what they know
• Being willing to ‘have a go’

 Active learning – motivation

• Being involved and concentrating
• Keeping trying
• Enjoying achieving what they set out to do

 Creating and thinking critically – thinking

• Having their own ideas
• Making links
• Choosing ways to do to things

 Continuous Provision

Our staff carefully plan the indoor and outdoor environment to capture each child's imagination and curiosity, promote independent learning, and encourage interactions with peers across and range of contexts.

 The Continuous Provision is a constant. The children become familiar with the resources and can be confident that they will always be available. At the start of the year the environment is set up with basic provision and it develops as the children progress to reflect their interests and meet their developing learning needs. The practitioners provide enhancements linked to children’s interests or adult led learning.

We believe that children exhibit common play behaviours in the different areas of the environment and use common play behaviour maps to plan each area. Our provision is resourced to provide challenge and support for all learners, and is planned at three levels; low, medium and high.

On this page you will find links to documents that explain our EYFS curriculum in more detail, how we assess and links to useful websites and parent information.

The Big Picture - The EYFS Curriculum

*In the first half of Spring term 2023, the whole school will be followed The Big Frieze planning from Understanding Christianity in RE. The units What Happens in a Church and Some Stories are Special have been swapped this year as the children are visiting the church at the end of the Sprint term.

EYFS Observations Checkpoints

Each term has a set of checkpoints, or key concepts that are taken from our curriculum. We use these to assess pupil progress. This assessment is done through interactions with the children and observations of their learning.

EYFS links with curriculum subjects

Reception Baseline Assessment

During the first six weeks of the Autumn Term, children in EYFS will be taking part in the Reception Baseline Assessment. Below is an information leaflet from the Standards and Testing Agency to tell you more about the purpose and format of the assessment.

Articulation of Phonemes

Please use this video for guidance on how to articulate the phonemes that the children learn in Phase 2 and 3 of their phonics learning.

EYFS Information Presentations

Welcome to Reception

Phonics Presentation

Communication and Language Presentation

Maths Presentation

Early Writing and Mark Making Presentation

Reading Presentation