Clarendon Primary School EYFS

At Clarendon we use the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage to ensure we are delivering quality early years education for all children from 3-5 years old. We are a fully inclusive educational setting were children develop a love of learning through teacher and child led learning experiences. We provide a safe, stimulating environment rich in play opportunities which ensures that all our children have a secure foundation before moving on through School.
We currently offer full time places for 60 children in our Reception class and 15 or 30 hour places from 3 years old in our Nursery setting. If you would like further information regarding your child joining us for the next academic year please contact the School Office.

In EYFS the children learn through the 7 areas of learning. This provides the children with a holistic curriculum which supports children’s overall development.

Communication and Language

Children have lots of opportunities to develop their speech and language skills including retelling stories, talking about their experiences, discussing their learning and being able to explain processes and changes. They participate in role play and small world play to develop their conversational language skills and learn and use new vocabulary every day as they play. We provide all children with access to a specialist speech and language team who support children’s acquisition and understanding of the English language and help them to develop good listening skills.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Children are taught how to regulate their own feelings and recognise those feelings in other children. They learn how to share, turn take and co-operate with others whilst building relationships and developing good behaviours for learning. Children develop confidence and have opportunities to persevere, self-challenge and become more resilient.

Physical Development

Children develop their gross motor skills through climbing, balancing, riding bikes and scooters and moving in a variety of different ways. They practise their ball skills such as rolling, catching and throwing and learn how to carry and use large equipment safely. It is also important for children to develop their fine motor skills too as this will help us build important hand muscles. We teach the children to use a variety of mark making tools and other equipment such as tweezers which lays the foundations of early writing. This area of the curriculum also helps children to manage their our own needs more effectively such as using a knife and fork, dressing and undressing, brushing our teeth, washing our hands carefully and making healthy choices.

Literacy

Each week the children are exposed to a quality text to develop a love of reading and books. They become familiar with books and how to handle them carefully, including learning how text is presented and how to track it as they read. They develop their phonetic knowledge through a daily systematic phonics programme which builds the foundations of early reading and writing including segmenting and blending and the sounds that letters make. We make marks with different tools inside and outside to build strength and control ready for writing. By the end of Reception children will know how to read and write a variety of high frequency and common exception words and be able to build their own simple sentences that they can read back. Children will also have a good understanding of a range of fiction and non-fiction books, be able to talk about them and recall stories in detail

Mathematics

Children develop their understanding of number through singing number rhymes, counting and recognising numerals in their play. We find different ways to make numbers and begin to calculate using number stories and objects we can manipulate. The children also learn about shapes and patterns in the environment and explore them in practical ways. We investigate measures in the sand and water tray and position and direction through small world activities. This all helps to develop our mathematical vocabulary and a sense of number.

Understanding of the World

The children learn about the world around them investigating nature using their senses and begin to make sense of the world around them. They learn about different countries, people and cultures and celebrate many of the important celebrations and festivals from around the world. We develop an understanding of past and present through books and how we have changed over time. At Clarendon we try to give the children as many real-life experiences as we can including hatching baby ducklings, watching caterpillars turn into butterflies, a trip to the farm and visiting places in our local environment such as the park and library. We also spend lots of time learning outdoors in our amazing EYFS outdoor learning area, allotment and Forest School.

Expressive Arts & Design

The children learn how to use a variety of different media and materials to express themselves creatively. This may be joining objects together to create a model or beginning to add detail to drawings and paintings. They also have opportunities to be imaginative and make up their own stories and songs including role play activities, dressing up and small world play both inside and outside. At Clarendon we also have a specialist music teacher who works with the children in EYFS every week to develop their love of music through playing instruments, singing and moving our bodies