Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) 

The Pre-School and Reception children all learn within the Early Years Foundation Stage. We aim to provide stimulating, free-flow environments where a balance of adult-led and child initiated activities are the the foundation to everyday learning and development. 

Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum

As of September 2021 we will be following the new Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework. The EYFS explains how and what children will be learning to support their healthy development from birth to the age of 5.

Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development. Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are:

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

These prime areas are those most essential for your child’s healthy development and future learning. As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are:

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

These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities. The professionals teaching and supporting your child will make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s unique needs. This is a little bit like a curriculum in primary and secondary schools, but it's suitable for very young children, and it's designed to be really flexible so that staff can follow your child's unique needs and interests.

Alongside WHAT children learn, we also think about HOW children learn, using the Characteristics of Effective Learning, as all children learn and approach tasks differently. There are three areas that we look at when we talk about a child's Characteristics of Learning. These are:

• Playing and exploring - children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’

• Active learning - children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements  

• Creating and thinking critically - children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things

Please click on the links below to find out more about The Seven Areas of Learning as well as the Characteristics of Learning. 

How will my child be assessed?

In both Pre-school and Reception we aim to get to know your child well through daily interactions with our children and parents. It is through observing children in their play and day to day activities that enable us to develop an understanding of our children's current skills and what they need to work on next.

Staff all meet regularly across the EYFS to discuss children's learning and development. We then make plans for future learning, taking into consideration children's individual needs, next steps and interests to rotate the continuous provision on offer and the learning activities that take place.  

The Little Acorns Curriculum 2023 -2024

Tapestry the Online Learning Journey

At Stoke Canon Primary we use an online learning journey called Tapestry to share and record some of our daily observations with parents. Tapestry is very secure and has an App that parents can download and recieve regular observations and comments about children's learning and development at school. Tapestry also allows parents and carers to share pictures and comments about what their child has been doing at home.

We aim to provide parents with a good understanding of how their child is doing through regular conversations, sharing next steps, using Tapestry as well as parents evenings.

Alongside the daily observations and interactions that we have with children and their parents we also undertake the following formal assessments during the time your child is with us:

Progress Check at age two

The Progress Check will take place when a child is aged between two and three. It will be undertaken by the setting where a child spends most of their time. If that happens to be in our pre-school then staff will review a child's progress, and provide parents with a written summary of their child’s development in the prime areas. This progress check will identify the child’s strengths, and any areas where the child’s progress is less than expected.

Reception Baseline Assessment

As of September 2021 all Reception children will need to complete the Reception Baseline Assessment in the first six weeks in which a child starts reception. This is a short assessment that is completed on a one to one basis with the child's teacher. It is done in a relaxed manner, through conversations and little activities that children are asked to complete. Most children enjoy this time to spend quality time with their teacher. 

Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP)
This assessment is completed in the final term of the year in which the child reaches age five. At the end of the year children are assessed against Early Learning Goals and the children's teachers will indicate whether a child is meeting

* Expected - meeting an expected level of development 

* Emerging - not yet reaching expected levels of development 

Your child's teacher will share their assessment through a report at the end of the year. 

What are Early Learning Goals?

Early Learning Goals are the level of development children should be expected to have attained by the end of the EYFS. ELGs are there to support teachers to make a holistic, best-fit judgement about a child’s development, and their readiness for year 1. Please click on the links below to see a breakdown of each Early Learning Goal. 

How will my child learn?

Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outside.

At Stoke Canon Primary School we use the knowledge of your child that we have gathered to plan the next steps in their own personal learning journey. These next steps are taken into account when we plan the setup of our classrooms and outdoor space, the adult led activities that we have on offer as well as the resources and play equipment that we set up for the children to access independently. 

Your child will be given directed teaching time alongside opportunities to play and explore a variety of activities and resources in the classroom and outdoor area. As well as staff directly teaching planned activities, we will also spend time with your child in their play to help model and extend their learning, as well as to observe the skills and knowledge that they are using in their play.

Read, Write, Inc Reading and writing scheme

We currently follow Read Write Inc, a comprehensive reading and writing scheme designed to help teach children to read accurately and fluently. 

 Letters and Sounds Phase 1 (Pre-school)

 The aim of this phase is to foster children’s speaking and listening skills as preparation for learning to read with phonics. We play lots of games that involve:

• listening to sounds in the environment, made by our voices and musical instruments.
• listening to the beginning (alliteration) and ending (rhyming) sounds in words.

 Parents can play a vital role in helping their children develop these skills, by encouraging their children to listen carefully and talk extensively about what they hear, see and do. 

Read Write Inc (Pre-school)

Read, Write Inc is introduced in the summer term of Pre-school where children will:

• Play Fred talk games to begin oral blending words together (e.g c-a-t is cat).
• Become familiar with Set 1 pictures and the phrases.​​​​
• Be introduced to Set 1 sounds as symbols. 
• Ensure that all children can read and recognise their own name. 

Read Write Inc (From Reception onwards)

Children will continue with the scheme in Reception and beyond. They will be taught the following:

• The various ways of representing each of the 42 sounds.
• How to blend sounds together for reading using Fred talk (e.g d-o-g is dog).
• How to spell words by segmenting words (e.g cat is c-a-t).
• How to form letters correctly.
• How to read and spell red words ('tricky' words)  containing sounds not yet learnt such as they, my, her, you.
• How to read and write sentences with confidence.