Vision

At Wembley Primary School, our vision for Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), is to create a solid foundation upon which pupils can build a lifetime of success. We provide a warm, stimulating, and inclusive environment where young learners can thrive, grow, and develop to their fullest potential. Through a holistic approach to education, dedicated educators, and strong partnerships with families, we aim to instill a love for learning, curiosity, and self-confidence in every child. Our commitment is to offer a safe, nurturing, and enriching EYFS education that prepares children not only with the essential skills but also with the character and resilience to embrace challenges and opportunities in their academic and personal lives. At our school, we believe in building strong foundations that will empower our students to excel throughout their educational journey and beyond.

Intent

At Wembley Primary, our intention is to create a safe, inclusive, and child-centered learning environment that supports the emotional, social, and academic development of every child. We aim to provide a high-quality Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) education that inspires children's curiosity, promotes their independence, and stimulates their creativity. Our EYFS provision is centered around the seven areas of learning and development and tailored to meet the individual needs of every child.

Implementation

To achieve our intent, we have put in place a comprehensive and holistic approach to implementing the EYFS curriculum. We have a team of highly qualified and experienced EYFS practitioners, who are passionately committed to providing the best possible education for our children.

Our approach to implementing the EYFS curriculum is based on play-based learning, with a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities that promote active engagement and exploration. Our learning environment is carefully planned to promote children's independence, imagination, and creativity. We provide a wide range of resources and stimulating activities that encourage children's curiosity and develop their language, literacy, math, and scientific thinking skills.

EYFS practitioners capture and record children's progress using Tapestry (an online learning journal tool), through pupils recorded learning in books and through their knowledge of each individual pupils. Practitioners are highly skilled to talk about each pupils’ strengths, and areas for development. All this is used to inform planning, provide timely feedback to parents, and ensure that every child's individual needs are met.

We have a strong partnership with parents and carers, involving them in their child's learning journey, celebrating their achievements, and soliciting their feedback. We truly believe in working in partnership with parents to provide the very best outcomes for all pupils. This collaborative work ranges from providing bespoke workshops to parents or providing parents with step by step video recordings which are posted on our school YouTube channel. Examples include, supporting fine motor skills at home to training in phonics. We also work collaboratively with other professionals, such as speech and language therapists and educational psychologists, to support children's individual needs.

Impact

Our EYFS provision has a profound impact on the children in our care. Children make rapid progress across all areas of learning and development from their starting points and compared to pupils nationally, our EYFS pupils consistently achieve higher than national expected levels by the end of their reception year. They develop high levels of confidence, independence, and resilience, and are well-prepared for the next stage of their education.

Our children are happy and motivated learners, who enjoy coming to school, and take pride in their achievements. They have a positive attitude to learning and a thirst for knowledge, which gives them a strong foundation for lifelong learning. They develop excellent communication and social skills, which enable them to form positive relationships with others and contribute positively to their communities.

Overall, we are committed to continuous improvement, seeking feedback from all stakeholders, and innovating our practice to ensure that every child receives the highest quality education and care.

 https://youtu.be/xFUyyIB9yQs​ 

What is the EYFS?

The Early Years Foundation Stage consists of nursery (children aged 3-4 years) and Reception (children aged 4-5 years). Within both year groups the children follow the foundation stage curriculum.

At Wembley Primary School we believe it is important to view the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) as preparation for life and not simply preparation for the next stage of education. The Early Years Foundation Stage is recognised as a key stage in children’s development in its own right and is an essential starting point for young children.

The EYFS is based upon four principles:

• That every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
• That children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.
• That children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers.
• Learning and development: children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates. The framework covers the education and care of all children in early years provision, including children with special educational needs and disabilities. We reflect this through our inclusive Early Years provision.

The curriculum covers seven areas of learning and development, which are known as the early learning goals. Each of these areas allows children to develop skills for their future learning.

The expectation for the end of the Foundation Stage is that each child will have established skills in the following areas:

1. Communication and Language
Listening, Attention and Understanding
● Listen attentively and respond to what they hear with relevant questions, comments and actions when being read to and during whole class discussions and small group interactions.
● Make comments about what they have heard and ask questions to clarify their understanding.
● Hold conversation when engaged in back-and-forth exchanges with their teacher and peers.
Speaking
● Participate in small group, class and one-to-one discussions, offering their own ideas, using recently introduced vocabulary.
● Offer explanations for why things might happen, making use of recently introduced vocabulary from stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems when appropriate.
● Express their ideas and feelings about their experiences using full sentences, including use of past, present and future tenses and making use of conjunctions, with modelling and support from their teacher.

2. Physical Development
Gross Motor Skills
● Negotiate space and obstacles safely, with consideration for themselves and others.
● Demonstrate strength, balance and coordination when playing.
● Move energetically, such as running, jumping, dancing, hopping, skipping and climbing.
Fine Motor Skills
● Hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing – using the tripod grip in almost all cases.
● Use a range of small tools, including scissors, paintbrushes and cutlery.
● Begin to show accuracy and care when drawing.

3. Personal Social and Emotional Development
Self-Regulation
● Show an understanding of their own feelings and those of others and begin to regulate their behaviour accordingly.
● Set and work towards simple goals, being able to wait for what they want and control their immediate impulses when appropriate.
● Give focused attention to what the teacher says, responding appropriately even when engaged in activity, and show an ability to follow instructions involving several ideas or actions.
Managing Self
● Be confident to try new activities and show independence, resilience and perseverance in the face of challenge.
● Explain the reasons for rules, know right from wrong and try to behave accordingly.
● Manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs, including dressing, going to the toilet and understanding the importance of healthy food choices.
Building Relationships
● Work and play cooperatively and take turns with others.
● Form positive attachments to adults and friendships with peers.
● Show sensitivity to their own and to others’ needs.

4. Literacy
Comprehension
● Demonstrate understanding of what has been read to them by retelling stories and narratives using their own words and recently introduced vocabulary.
● Anticipate (where appropriate) key events in stories.
● Use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems and during role play.
Word Reading
● Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs.
● Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending.
● Read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words.
Writing
● Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed.
● Spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters.
● Write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others.

5. Mathematics
Number
● Have a deep understanding of number to 10, including the composition of each number.
● Subitise (recognise quantities without counting) up to 5.
● Automatically recall (without reference to rhymes, counting or other aids) number bonds up to 5 (including subtraction facts) and some number bonds to 10, including double facts.
Numerical Patterns
● Verbally count beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the counting system.
● Compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts, recognising when one quantity is greater than, less than or the same as the other Quantity'.
● Explore and represent patterns within numbers up to 10, including evens and odds, double facts and how quantities can be distributed equally

6. Understanding the World
Past and Present
● Talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society.
● Know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
● Understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.
People, Culture and Communities
● Describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps.
● Know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
● Explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries, drawing on knowledge from stories, nonfiction texts and (when appropriate) maps
The Natural World
● Explore the natural world around them, making observations and drawing pictures of animals and plants.
● Know some similarities and differences between the natural world around them and contrasting environments, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
● Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons and changing states of matter

7. Expressive Arts and Design
Creating with Materials
● Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function.
● Share their creations, explaining the process they have used.
● Make use of props and materials when role playing characters in narratives and stories.
Being Imaginative
● Invent, adapt and recount narratives and stories with peers and their teacher.
● Sing a range of well-known nursery rhymes and song
● Perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with others, and (when appropriate) try to move in time with music.