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 (stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org – 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.

We place a good deal of importance on the characteristics of effective learning:

• playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’ (you can support your child by, for example, making sure they encouraging them to try out new experiences and asking open-ended questions that might stimulate their curiosity);
• active learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements (allow your child to play independently – avoid leading your child’s play, and don’t let them engage for too long in passive activities like watching TV); and
• creating and thinking critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things (when your child is playing, provide some challenges and allow them to be inventive – try leaving fewer toys for them but add a few unknown objects for them to use… don’t forget how much fun a cardboard box can be!).

Our assessment data for older children shows that those children who demonstrate strong characteristics of effective learning are more likely to enjoy and achieve at a higher level as they get older. Supporting your child to develop these characteristics will help to create well-rounded, life-long learning. This document gives you more information about the characteristics – it might help you get an idea of how you can support your child to develop good ‘learning behaviour’. Talk with your child’s teacher for more ideas.

There are seven areas which form the basis of the curriculum. These areas are made up of prime areas and specific areas (listed below). Each area of learning has a set of related expectations for typical development through the Early Years.

Children typically start Foundation 1 (Nursery) being secure in the knowledge, understanding and abilities within the 22-36 month phase and beginning to demonstrate the knowledge, understanding and abilities within the 30-50 month phase. By the end of Foundation 1, most children will be secure in the 30-50 phase and beginning the next phase.

Most children will start Foundation 2 (Reception) being secure in the knowledge, understanding and abilities within the 30-50 month phase and beginning to demonstrate the knowledge, understanding and abilities within the 40-60 month phase. By the end of Foundation 2, most children will have reached the Early Learning Goals (ELGs) at the expected level. Some might still have knowledge skills and understanding which are emerging whilst others may be exceeding these Early Learning Goals in some areas. (The terms ‘expected’, ’emerging’ and ‘exceeding’ are how we communicate your child’s level of development at the end of the Reception year.)

The prime areas are:

• Personal, social and emotional development (making relationships; self-confidence and self-awareness; managing feelings and behaviour)
• Communication and language (listening and attention; understanding; speaking)
• Physical development (moving and handling; health and self-care)

The specific areas are:

• Literacy (reading; writing)
• Mathematics (numbers; shape, space and measures)
• Understanding the world (people and communities; the world; technology)
• Expressive arts and design (exploring and using media and materials, being imaginative)

When you contact school regarding a Foundation place your child’s name will be added to a waiting list and a place will be offered, if available, the term following your child’s third birthday.

1. You will be contacted by school regarding the sessions that you require and will be invited into Foundation 1 for a ‘Stay and play‘ session. This will take place the term before your child starts in Foundation 1. We’d like you to stay with their child during this session. This is an opportunity to meet key members of the Foundation 1 team and to look around the provision. During this session, you’ll be given an individual transition programme for your child.

2. Following the ‘Stay and play’ session, two members of staff will arrange to visit you in your home. This will allow you to ask any more questions which you may have, and to observe your child in familiar surroundings. You’ll be introduced to your child’s key worker at this visit and will receive a copy of the Foundation 1 prospectus.

3. A further ‘Stay and play‘ session will begin your child’s first term in Foundation 1. As before, we’d like you to stay for this.

4. Your child will then begin a transition programme tailored to their individual sessions and needs. For a child attending full day sessions, this usually takes up to three weeks; sessions will be gradually extended from mornings only, to staying for lunch, and finally a full day. We understand that every child is unique and if needed this transition period may be extended in order to ensure that they enjoy a smooth transition.

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.

Moving to Year 1 is perhaps a less significant change for children, and that’s because we’re a happy and healthy place to learn where we all know each other. In July, small groups of pupils spend time in a Key Stage 1 class, joining in the learning taking place. This is followed by a whole-school transition afternoon when all children move to their new classroom and meet their new teacher. This takes place towards the end of the year.

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.