Boynton Primary School

EYFS

Intent

The school recognise that we want our children to be the best they can be across all of the learning areas. Key to this is a strong ethos of outstanding personal development and behaviour. The PSHE curriculum is embedded throughout the school and the bar is set extremely high in EYFS. The school’s focus on our six values as well as the learning behaviours of ‘Resilience, Cooperation, Independence and Confidence’ begins here. As a result, the children and all stakeholders, develop the highest expectation for doing their best and working well together.

Leaders are extremely ambitious in their pursuit to build a firm foundation for learning at the start of the children’s learning at Boynton. Targets are set based on a secure baseline process and the systems in place for tracking pupil progress ensure that children achieve to the best of their ability, regardless of their prior attainment. Leaders recognise that the building blocks of learning are created in EYFS. As a result, the school’s curriculum is effectively planned together. This ensures there is a strong progression from EYFS and onwards through the school. Opportunities to enhance children’s self-belief, resilience and cultural capital are strong.

Planning scrutiny and observations show overall planning is thorough and ensures children are engaged in their learning. There is a thread throughout all of the EYFS curriculum that ensures the Prime and Specific Areas are regularly revisited and become a strength. In particular, staff are acutely aware of the children’s needs in phonics, early reading, communication and language, PSED and physical development and children progress well in these areas as a result. In particular, the staff are able to utilise the mixed year group make-up of the class and are able to stretch and challenge children by teaching in small groups relative to their ability and targets.

The mix with key stage enables the staff to challenge the children’s learning and ensure that expectations are even higher. As a result, transition into year one is seamless and the children have little difficulty building on their well-established learning routines and high expectations.

Implementation

Early reading is a strength in the school. The school provide workshops and advice to parents to ensure they understand how phonics and early reading can be taught and consolidated at home. There is a strength in the school’s reading policy of regularly reading at home/with an adult. As a result, reading is consistently a strength in EYFS and this continues throughout the school. The rich celebration of reading and systematic application of phonics and reading throughout the learning environment ensures that children love to read at Boynton. The school has invested heavily in ensuring that the reading scheme used supports the development of early reading linked to progress in phonics.

Boynton EYFS is a number-rich environment. Mathematics is a key focus for the development of our children’s learning. The application of maths knowledge and skills across the EYFS curriculum ensures that the children make excellent progress in the two key areas of maths.

SLT have been extremely rigorous in their support and challenge of EYFS staff. Systems, planning and quality teaching have been put in place to ensure that our children get the best start. The resources are extremely well managed. The learning environment is highly stimulating and organised into vibrant learning areas that extend the different areas of learning. The children are continually given access to a rich and varied array of imaginative learning experiences. Planning is meticulous and addresses gaps in all areas of learning. The team work extremely efficiently together with robust systems in place that allow all staff to make accurate judgements about the stages of learning and children’s next steps.

Children are taught how to keep themselves healthy and safe in a variety of situations. The PSHE curriculum is embedded throughout the school and there is explicit teaching of the British Values such as mutual respect. Children are encouraged to make good choices about their behaviour and to understand how their actions affect others. Children understand and celebrate diversity through festivals such as Diwali and Chinese New Year and engaging in school inspiration days. In 2021, pupils participated in the school’s multicultural day including Chinese dance, cooking and learning about the Hindu religion as well as engaging in a multi-cultural week. This continued focus ensures that the children respect and embrace diversity, other cultures and faiths.

Parental engagement is a key focus. There is an open-door policy to ensure parents feel welcome at the beginning and end of the day. At parents’ evenings, learning journeys are shared and discussed as part of the ongoing need to keep parents informed and engaged. The school engage parents in informative sessions such as an informative reading event inviting all EYFS and KS1 parents to school in order to develop understanding of how we teach reading and how parents can best support their children.

The school renewed its Quality Mark in 2019. Quality Mark Assessors noted the following:

• Where pupils’ basic skills require further support, the teacher has made effective use of existing resources to assist pupils in being engaged, particularly in writing. Staff are very creative in using resources to develop pupils’ basic skills. As much independent writing as possible is provided. Writing is being developed across all areas within EYFS;
• There is a clear focus on pupils writing more in their child initiated activities as well as during teacher led activities. For the majority of pupils, they transfer the basic skills learnt with the teacher into their independent learning;
• Reading opportunities throughout the day ensure that pupils are exposed to a wide range of text and language to develop their basic skills.
• The school now identifies pupils within EYFS who have potential to fall behind age related expectations. These are carefully tracked with interventions put in place to support them in making good or better progress;

The development of clear routines and reflection on the children’s behaviour allows them to flourish, work better as a team and support the development of each other.

The outside area has been a key area for development with the securing of quality continuous provision developed in conjunction with the Local Authority advisory team. Further to this, the SLT, class teacher and Nursery Nurse have visited outstanding examples of outside provision in order to ensure pupils are able to utilise this new space to its full potential, ensuring children have access to quality reading, writing and maths provision across the learning environment. The highly stimulating learning environment supports children’s academic and social learning. The school makes excellent use of space and uses its continuous provision to build on prior learning and stimulate child-led curiosity.

EYFS Skills Progression - Nursery and Reception