At Clapham Manor Primary School, we value the importance of the Early Years foundation stage (EYFS) in providing a secure foundation for future learning and development for your child.  The EYFS is the period of educatoiun from birth to 5 years. At Clapham Manor we have a nursery class (please see the Nursery section of the website) and two reception classes.

We are passionate in ensuring that each child has a happy and positive start to their school life in which they can build a foundation for a love of learning. We ensure that every child learns and develops well and are kept healthy and safe.

We work closely together with previous childcare settings and parents  to provide a caring and stimulating learning environment and to meet the needs of each individual child.

We promote teaching and learning through a child-led curriculum to ensure children’s readiness for the next stage of their education. We provide our children with a broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress throughout their school and life.

Intent:

We want our children to enjoy their first experience of school life, so therefore offer a curriculum rich in wonder and memorable experiences to kick-start their learning journey. We work hard to provide a stimulating environment that provides exciting opportunities, promotes challenge, exploration, adventure and a real love of learning. 

It is our intent that all children develop physically, verbally, cognitively and emotionally in an environment, which promotes the philosophy of 'no outsiders' and values all cultures, communities and people. Our EYFS team strives for all pupils to fulfil their potential, regardless of their starting point. We have high expectations for our children and aim for them to be confident, independent learners, to believe in themselves and interact positively with others.

We understand that play is an integral part of learning and this is at the heart of our early years' curriculum. We believe that the correct mix of adult-directed and uninterrupted child-initiated play ensures the best outcomes for pupils.

Clapham Manor acknowledges that warm, positive relationships between staff and children, consistent routines and strong relationships with parents are key.

We recognise the crucial role that early year’s education has to play in providing firm foundations upon which the rest of a child’s education is successfully based and understand our role in preparing children for their next stage of learning.

Implementation:

We follow the 'Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum' and provide a play-based and experiential learning environment, combined with focused teaching sessions and group tasks, to ensure our children make sustained progress before moving into KS1.

At Clapham Manor we focus on the seven areas of learning, set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework through a balance of adult lead teaching and child-initiated play.

The seven areas of learning and development are:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Communication and Language
• Physical Development
• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

The curriculum is planned and implemented using a thematic approach alongside the use of CUSP EYFS curriculum and Development Matters. 

The core principle of CUSP EYFS align with our school approach to teaching and learning and enable us to create a carefully crafted progressive sequence of learning for all pupils that; 

CUSP EYFS is able to provide us the opportunity to develop our pupils holistically and build a solid and broad foundation for lifelong learning and well-being. 

Our school environment enables the early years children to strengthen their core muscles through physical play. They develop through wonderful, exploratory, sensory experiences in our mud kitchen, sandpit and developing gardening space. 

The children are supported to learn to work together, manage their feelings and ask questions through skilled adult-facilitated play.  

                    

Vocabulary 

We understand the huge impact acquiring a wide and varied vocabulary at an early age can have on a child's future prospects and so create a ‘language rich’ environment through songs, nursery rhymes and the use of high-quality texts. Children are explicitly taught key vocabulary from a range of diverse and carefully sequenced texts.  

Providing time for quality interactions between adults and between peers is extremely important. Well-trained staff ensure that interactions are positive and progressive, allowing children to flourish and gather words at pace in order to become confident communicators. 

Our children also develop as confident talkers and readers through the use of an accredited systematic phonic programme ‘Read Write Inc’ - see our Phonics page for more information. 

Impact:

As part of the learning and teaching process, children are assessed in relation to their progress towards the Early Learning Goals. These judgements are made on the basis of accumulative observations, discussions with colleagues, assessments and in-depth knowledge of the children. These are used to inform planning and next steps in teaching and learning for all children throughout the year.