Early Years

We know how important the first years of school are for you and your child. To help parents of new pupils, any member of the Early Years team or the Head of School is able to provide a detailed description of Early Years provision.

The Early Years classes at St James’ CE Primary aim at all times to be happy (because we know that happy children are responsive, receptive and enthusiastic to learning) and challenging (because we know children are capable and keen to learn, and enjoy the challenge and the achievements that come with it).

Through planned, purposeful play, children are able to discover, practise and refine their skills in literacy and mathematics as well as find out about themselves and their environment. In a broad and balanced way, our provision ensures coverage of the seven areas of learning (see below) and responds to the needs and interests of all our children. At all times, we consider characteristics of effective learning which promote positive attitudes to learning, an enthusiasm for knowledge and the confidence to become successful learners.

We follow the principles set out in:

Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage: setting the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five (Department for Education, March 2014)
Early Years Foundation Stage Profile Handbook (Standards and Testing Agency, updated annually)
Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage (Early Education, 2012)
Early Years Outcomes: a non-statutory guide for practitioners and inspectors to help inform understanding of child development through the early years (Department for Education, September, 2013)

The information set out below relates to Early Years specifically. However, there are many other policies and procedures in school of which Early Years staff are aware and which they follow. These include our Policy to Promote Positive Relationships and Behaviour, Relationships and Sex Education Policy and all our safeguarding policies.

Read extracts from our Early Years Handbook. (This is intended for staff, but you might find the pages shown here helpful.)

Supporting your child: home and school working together

We’re keen to work as closely as possible with you all the way through your child’s time at primary school, and perhaps Early Years is the most important time to get this right. Like other teachers, staff are available to speak with you at the start and end of your child’s session. There’s usually a chance to have a quick word with one of the team when you drop your child off or collect them. When you’re in, you’re welcome to have a look through your child’s Learning Journey book, too.

Learning happens at school and at home. We want to hear about some of the learning that happens at home. This might be a ‘wow moment’ when your child does something really special at home, such as putting on his/her shoes, drinking from a cup independently, riding a bike without stabilisers, writing their name, reading signs on the street etc. Equally, it might be other learning moments, such as your child re-telling a story they heard at school, choosing to count steps, recognising bus numbers or your child writing a shopping list. Please tell us about these home learning moments: send us an email ([email protected] – please note this email is not checked on a daily basis) or fill in this form. As well as a great way to celebrate your child’s development, knowing about the learning which is going on at home will mean staff can make sure they encourage your child to practise or apply the skills they’ve shown.

Sharing information about what your child enjoys and is interested in is important. The Early Years team take on board the interests of the class and plan future topics around them. Using our Talking Together document can be a good way to share information. It can also be a good prompt for valuable talk at home and at school – a fundamental aspect of learning.

Don’t forget to come to our ‘Relax and Read’ or ‘Stay and Play’ sessions – look out for when these happen. They’re a great way to join in with your child’s learning. Occasionally during the year, you’ll be invited to a session to observe phonics and maths being taught – do come along to get ideas about how to support your child.

See the Transition section below for how we work with you to secure a positive start to your child’s primary school years.

Supporting your child: characteristics of effective learning

Supporting your child: expectations for learning

Transition: starting Foundation 1 (Nursery)

Transition: starting Foundation 2 (Reception)

Once your child is offered a place in our Reception, the series of transition events take place.

1. A welcome meeting (usually in June) is a chance to learn more about expectations, routines and stages of transition; at this meeting, parents are able to meet key members of the school staff including the Foundation team.

2. For those completely new to St James’ CE Primary, three taster sessions take place in the Summer term: the first is a one hour visit when parents / carers are encouraged to stay; the second is similar, although this time parents / carers are encouraged to leave their child; the third is a longer visit for an afternoon.

3. If a new child has some specific social, emotional or learning needs, Foundation staff will visit nursery settings. This will allow staff to see the child in an environment which is familiar to them, and to talk with nursery staff about any issues. Similarly, we invite nursery staff to visit us during a taster session if there is a large group of children from one setting.

4. At the start of the Autumn term, two members of staff will arrange to visit you in your home if your child is new to school. This will allow you to ask any more questions which you may have, and to observe your child in familiar surroundings.

5. A ‘staggered start‘ means that pupils join the class gradually, a small group each day. This means that each child can be welcomed and have the chance to settle in before someone new joins. Parents / carers are welcome to stay until their child is settled and content – for most children, this takes just a few minutes.

6. We then begin what’s called ‘on-entry assessment‘ where we observe and talk with your child about what they can do and what they like to do. This information means the teacher can plan for the year ahead, making sure she and all the team meet the needs and interests of your child as much as possible, providing just enough support and challenge for each pupil to enjoy and achieve.

Do try to attend our learning workshops for parents / carers to learn more about how you can support your child at home, especially in the areas of phonics and number. Other pages will also help. Finally, always feel welcome to speak with Early Years staff or one of the school leaders about any particular questions, comments or concerns.

Transition: leaving Early Years

Early Years concepts

There are different areas in the Early Years classrooms (both indoors and the outside). These are known as the ‘areas of provision’: different places set up in different ways. These might vary from time to time, but typically include areas for role-play, reading, writing, maths, sand, creative development, technology… come and have a look! Each area has lots of resources which allow children to learn independently or with an adult to support. Look out for all the different learning challenges in the areas, too – these are prompts for specific learning which could take place.

We believe effective learning in the Early Years is the result of a balance between:

adult-led learning: this is led and managed by the adult and is typically planned to meet the specific learning needs of the child(ren)
adult-guided learning: this is where adults might support a child by guiding them (for example, by questioning and prompting, or by providing specific resources in an area of the classroom) and the child(ren) can independently practise or explore
child-initiated learning: this is when the child chooses where to go and what to do in the learning environment – it might look like play, but a lot of incidental learning can happen

Research shows that the best outcomes for children’s learning occur where most of the activity within a child’s day is a mixture of child-initiated play (actively supported by adults) and focused learning (with adults guiding the learning through playful, rich experiential activities). As your child progresses through the Early Years, he/she will become more mature and so the balance will gradually shift to more adult-led and adult-guided learning.

A key aspect of the Early Years Foundation Stage is to move the learning from what children already know to what children want to know and what children need to know (and there’s often an overlap between the two). Staff in Early Years find out what children want to know – what interests them, sparks their natural curiosity, engages them to be effective learners – by making lots of observations of the children and having discussions with children and parents to inform the direction of learning. This will usually influence future topics in the class. What children need to know also derives from observations but staff make sure they use Early Years and Key Stage 1 curriculum documents to make sure we are aware of expectations so children are challenged appropriately.