The Early Years Foundation Stage at Ravensmere

Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe and happy childhood is important in its own right. Good parenting and high quality early learning together provide the foundation children need to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up. – Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework 2021

At Ravensmere Infant School we believe that young children are unique individuals who have the right to be motivated, independent and successful learners. We aim to achieve this through a balance of play based and adult directed, active learning, planning rich contexts that connect with children’s interests and supported by highly skilled adults who nurture and facilitate learning.

At Ravensmere Infant School we provide up to 20 places in the Reception class.

Key Principles and Values

As part of the Active Learning Trust we contribute to and maintain the consistent principles and values set out in the Active Learning Trust EYFS Vision and Values document. Across our Early Years Provision there is a clear focus on the individual child, highly skilled adults and learning environments.

Our Aims:  

* to maintain our focus on the unique child and create respectful relationships with families, recognising that parents are their child’s first educator. 

* to provide adults who value and nurture children's curiosity, creativity and desire to make sense of the world, giving time for their thought and  ideas, and value to their work, their conversations and their feelings across the learning environments.

* to recognise and value children's capabilities so that they develop confidence, independence and self-esteem to challenge and extend their thinking and learning, enabling children to maximise their potential and achieve success.

* to provide a well- planned, motivating and versatile learning environment, indoors and outdoors, which supports children as active learners, provoking their interest and enabling depth of learning.

To promote speech, language and communication opportunities to strengthen the ability to learn and articulate learning and thinking.

* to offer children a balance of child initiated and adult led provision that is relevant and challenging and which motivates and inspires.

* to offer children a wide range of learning experiences which acknowledge the diversity of learning styles and builds on their understanding and exploration of the world.

* to support the children in continuing to the next phase of their education with enthusiasm and confidence.

The EYFS Curriculum at Ravensmere

 “It is as they play that children bring together everything they think about feel about and know of people and their lives as a whole. We could say that play co-ordinates a child’s learning. It helps children to make sense of what they learn.”

Tina Bruce, Tuning into Children

Curriculum Intent

To provide memorable and inspirational experiences, opportunities and teaching that will motivate and engage learners and build a life long love of learning.

To foster a love of reading through books and stories shared with children throughout the provision and at home.

To value and promote equality, equity and diversity, support an understanding of, and respect for, people, families and communities both familiar and unfamiliar to them.

To provide opportunities to play and learn outdoors, experiencing the space and freedom, engage in energetic, risky and adventurous play and care for the natural world. This provides children with an appreciation of ecological balance, environmental care and the need to live sustainable lives.

Curriculum Implementation 

The EYFS curriculum is first and foremost the EYFS Statutory framework. The Framework sets out the Characteristics of Effective Learning (How children learn) and the 7 Areas of Learning (What children learn.) Practitioners also use Development Matters and Birth to 5 Matters to inform planning and assessment.

Characteristics of Effective Learning

The characteristics of effective learning, how we learn, underpins the Early Years Foundation Stage across our federation  The ways in which children engage with others and their environment – playing and exploring, active learning and creating and thinking critically – support the children to remain effective and motivated learners.

Playing and exploring, which is about finding out and exploring, playing with what they know and being willing to ‘have a go’.

Active Learning, which is about being involved and concentrating, persevering and enjoying achieving what they set out to do.

Creating and thinking critically, which is about having their own ideas, making links and choosing ways to do things.

To help children understand about how they can develop effective learning behaviours  the adults actively encourage children to use ‘Super Learning Powers’ and model how to do this as they play and learn.

We make judgements about the child’s demonstration of these characteristics each term and use this information to support learning.

The 7 Areas of Learning

Our Nursery and Reception follow the curriculum as outlined in the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework. This framework defines what we teach and we use the Birth to Five Matters and Development Matters guidance to support our curriculum. The EYFS framework includes seven areas of learning and development, all of which are seen as important and interconnected.

Three of the areas are referred to as the Prime areas. These are particularly important for building a foundation for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, forming relationships and thriving (Early Years Framework 2021)

Please click on the link below to read more about how we implement the seven areas of learning. 

Working with parents

We recognise that parents are children’s first and most enduring educators and they make a crucial difference to children’s outcomes. We value and welcome each unique family at our school and actively encourage parents as partners across the EYFS. We do this through:

• talking to parents about their child before their child starts our school through phone calls, visits to the school and pre-school visits.
• inviting the children and parents to spend time with their teacher in the learning environment before starting at school through stay and play sessions.
• inviting all parents to an induction meeting during the term before their child starts school.
• encouraging parents to contribute observations in the special books. 

• inviting parents to volunteer their skills and interests in a variety of ways, eg. Gardening, cooking, building a mud kitchen, talking about their professions and work.
• running workshops and stay and play sessions to share our approaches to reading, writing, phonics, maths as well as supporting understanding of how children learn
• encouraging families to read together and support their child’s development of reading
• regularly updating the class pages on the website, celebrating learning and special events via the school’s social media platforms and providing  each child with a class email address, where parents can contact teachers at a time convenient to them.
• Daily, informal conversations at pick up and drop off times, celebrating the days learning and building respectful relationships.

Parents and/or carers are kept up to date with their child’s progress and development. Termly parent consultation meetings and an end of year report provide opportunities to share success and identify future learning, enabling families to support their child’s progress.

The link below provides information for parents on developmental milestones from Birth to Five with  possible ideas to support your child's development.