WELCOME TO THE EYFS
At Cavendish Primary School we believe that all children deserve memorable experiences rich in awe and wonder that allows children's natural creativity and curiosity to flourish, alongside the purposeful acquisition of skills and knowledge. We strive to provide an education that ensures all children are given the best chance to become well-rounded, happy individuals, ready to succeed in modern Britain. We know that our children enter EYFS with varied life experiences and we aim to plan their learning journey from their individual starting points.
In the EYFS, there are three members of the teaching team: Miss Richardson, who is the EYFS lead and the D&T subject leader, as well as our support assistants Mrs Pickersgill and Mrs Franklin.
WITHIN THE EYFS WE WILL ENSURE PUPILS:
Have strong communication skills, both written and verbal, and will listen respectfully and with tolerance to the views of others.
Take pride in all that they do, always striving to do their best.
Demonstrate emotional resilience and the ability to persevere when they encounter challenge.
Develop a sense of self-awareness and become confident in their own abilities.
Be kind, respectful and honest, demonstrate inclusive attitudes and have a sense of their role in our wider society
It is our aim to provide children, with a well-structured, safe, active learning environment both indoors and outdoors. This will enable them to develop the skills, attitudes and understanding that will form the basis of lifelong learning and encourage them to become useful, active members of a diverse and constantly changing society.
IMPLEMENTATION: Our nurturing and supportive provision ensures pupils feel confident to succeed in the EYFS, while our key strategies and pupil experiences underpin our school ethos.
The teaching and implementation of the EYFS Curriculum at Cavendish Primary School is based on National Curriculum through our skills and knowledge progression planning document. The EYFS curriculum is planned and implemented using a cross curricular thematic approach across the school. This approach gives the children the opportunities to apply knowledge and learning from across the curriculum and skills they have learned within “real world” contexts.
Each term, children will cover a new topic or theme of work, which is introduced to the children as the ‘Big Question’ and children are given the opportunity to influence and plan the direction of their own learning by identifying, what they already know, understand and would like to know about each new topic of work.
Each topic is then flexibly delivered through a staged approach incorporating an initial engagement to ‘hook’ the children’s imagination in their new topic or theme of learning. This learning then develops through a series of sessions/experiences that builds skills, knowledge and understanding within that topic of learning and key areas of development.
THE PRINCIPLES THAT GUIDE THE WORK IN THE EYFS ARE GROUPED INTO 4 THEMES:
A unique child / Positive relationships / Enabling Environments /
Learning and Development.
The EYFS Curriculum consists of the seven areas of Learning and Development. In school there are three prime and four specific areas.
The three prime areas of learning are:
Personal, Social and Emotional Development / Communication and Language /Physical Development.
The four specific areas of learning are:
Mathematics /Literacy /Understanding of the World / Expressive Arts and Design.
RE is incorporated into the area of Understanding the World through the aspect of People and Communities and Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural development, including the promotion of British Values are at the heart of our curriculum.
PHONICS IN EYFS
At Cavendish we teach phonics using a range of games, songs, rhymes, activities and resources. We try to keep it as fun and interactive as possible. We use the phonics scheme 'Phonics Bug' based on the "Letters and Sounds" scheme of phonics to teach Daily Synthetics Phonics. We use the "Phonics Bug" series of books to support learning in phonics. Parent workshops, information sessions and class newsletters provide extra information on how we teach phonics.
Maths in EYFS
In the EYFS at Cavendish, we teach maths in a fun engaging way, through stories, songs and actions. We teach the children to explain their thinking verbally, to reason and to problem solve. We use concrete resources, such as blocks and bricks to represent our numbers.
Children are exposed to maths throughout the day, whether that’s by counting how many lunchboxes there are or by making large constructions outside using various shapes.
Independent learning through play
Play helps young children to learn and develop through doing and talking. The EYFS team plan and provide a range of play activities which help children to make progress in each of the areas of learning and development. These activities are exciting, challenging and motivating.
Learning Outside
We try to learn outside every day. The fully-equipped outdoor classroom is just as dynamic and interactive as inside. Children are encouraged to engage in a range of different activities that support social skills and living an active lifestyle.
cAVENDISH forest school
‘Forest School’ is a teaching style that gives all learners the opportunity to build confidence, self-esteem through hands on learning in a woodland environment.
Forest school encourages students to be independent, solve problems and develop self-awareness.
Reading
The children in the Foundation Stage class are exposed to a ‘print-rich’ environment of signs, labels, books, key words, displays and role play areas that give opportunities for reading, all of which the children are encouraged to notice and learn to read. There is a book area of picture books, or information books which the children can enjoy sharing and listening to during story time. In this way children’s enjoyment and a sense of purpose for reading is fostered. More formal teaching of reading is carried out through phonics lessons, shared read sessions and individual reading.
pshe
PSHE is key to all that we do in all aspects of your child's day and we will foster good relationships, manage our feelings and behaviours and become confident independent learners.
We also teach discreet lessons and follow the Jigsaw PSHE Scheme of Work. Jigsaw PSHE is a comprehensive Scheme of Work for the whole Primary School from EYFS through to Year 6. It brings together PSHE Education, emotional literacy, social skills and spiritual development in a comprehensive scheme of learning. We will meet our class character Jigsaw Jenny and have time for mindfulness, contemplation and group discussions.
Physical education
We feel it is important at Cavendish that our children achieve a measure of physical fitness and to find sports and activities that they can enjoy and, if possible, at which they can excel.
In Foundation Stage we will cover much pf the psychical development curriculum in class with fine motor activities and outside for gross motor skills but will also have a P.E. lesson once a week when we will cove dance, gymnastics and sports skills.
COMPUTING
Every classroom has an interactive whiteboard and ICT plays an integral role in your child's school life. ICT works together with the curriculum to enable it to be presented in an interesting way as well as enabling children to learn the ICT skills needed in our modern society. We have a range of ICT equipment including PC’s, iPads and programmable toys.
Parents as partners
It is clear that children get the best out of school when parents and the school work together. As well as informal contacts with the school you will be invited to parents’ evenings, and receive a formal written report in the Summer Term.
During the year there are a range of opportunities for you to work alongside your child through stay and play sessions and immersive days as well as enjoy their class performances and sports days.
