The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) applies to children from birth to the end of the Reception year. In our school all children join us at the beginning of the school year in which they turn five. This is sometimes known as the Reception year.

The EYFS seeks to provide:

• Quality and consistency in all early years settings, so that every child makes good progress and no child gets left behind.
• A secure foundation through planning for the learning and development of each individual child, and assessing and reviewing what they have learnt regularly.
• Partnership working between practitioners and with parents and/or carers.
• Quality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and supported.

Our EYFS practitioners use a cycle of observation, assessment and planning to deliver a bespoke curriculum to the children that they teach to secure the best outcomes. There are seven areas of learning and development that shape our EYFS educational programme:

Prime areas:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Communication and Language
• Physical Development

Specific areas

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Creative Development

You can find an overview of our EYFS curriculum if you click on the link at the bottom of the page.

Phonics

Phonics is taught using a scheme called Little Wandle Revised Letters and Sounds. This programme has been created using the latest research into how children learn best; to ensure learning stays in children’s long term memory and to enable children to apply their learning to become highly competent readers. The Little Wandle website has a huge number of informative and practical resources for parents so that you can further support your child at home. 

For parents | Letters and Sounds (littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk)

Moving to Key Stage 1

EYFS practitioners and Year 1 teachers at LCA recognise that the transition to Key Stage 1 is a landmark event for children and has a definite impact on their emotional and academic development.

It is a time of exciting change, new opportunities and growth for every child, however it can also be a time of uncertainty where surroundings, expectations and procedures are different and key people are unfamiliar. Getting this transition right is vital for every child and should be seen not as an event but a process that involves children, practitioners and parents together.

EYFS practitioners at LCA are very skilful at gradually building the expectations for the pupils in their care in preparation for their move to Year 1. This includes gradually building the amount of time that children are expected to take part in an adult-guided sessions as the year progresses. Practitioners also work hard to build up pupils’ independence so that they can complete a task without over-reliance on an adult.

In the summer, practitioners begin to deliver whole class sessions where children are all expected to complete a task at the same time. These tasks might include handwriting, writing and number.