Class One – Nursery & Reception

Welcome to Levens CE School Early Years Foundation Stage

Intent

At Levens CE School, our Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum encompasses every aspect of our school mission statement:

‘Loving to Learn, Growing Together, Caring for All’.

We plan carefully to ensure that our environments enable children to foster a lifelong love of learning which inspires curiosity, awe and wonder and provides them with the skills to learn independently. We ensure all children have access to high quality learning opportunities which enable them to develop knowledge and understanding of the community and wider world.

Implementation

The provision for children between the ages of 3 and 5 in our early years is well planned, stimulating, organised and carefully resourced. The indoor and outdoor environment allows children to learn through play as well as within age-appropriate adult-led teaching sessions. Provision is organised in order to promote independence, resilience and allows for creative thinking and problem-solving. Our highly skilled staff ensure children feel safe and they build strong relationships with our children and their families. Their extensive understanding of child development ensures high quality interactions build children’s language development, vocabulary and communication skills and supports their social and emotional development appropriately. Quality first teaching strategies ensure all children make excellent progress across every area of learning. Regular and robust assessment systems ensure all children make good progress. Early intervention identifies and provides effective early support for children who are at risk of poor outcomes. Our curriculum is carefully planned on a three-year rolling programme which caters for children who join our nursery when they turn 3 and remain with us until they move into Key Stage One. Each term a range of high- quality texts are used to form the basis for children’s learning which ensures depth of knowledge and allows for children’s interests to be followed. Children in Nursery are taught fundamental maths and phonics skills which provide them with an excellent starting point for their Reception year. High quality, synthetic and systematic phonics teaching is started as soon as children begin reception ensuring all children learn to read with confidence.

Impact

The children in our EYFS feel happy and safe and enjoy coming to school. They access a broad, balanced and challenging curriculum regardless of their background, needs or abilities and make strong progress from their starting points. Children are supported by adults that are highly trained and passionate about providing the very best education for every child. High levels of engagement and motivation are demonstrated from children which supports them to become lifelong learners. The characteristics of effective learning are woven through every aspect of our curriculum and children leave our foundation stage well prepared for the next stage in their education. They are confident and capable readers who demonstrate a love of reading, having a positive impact on their future academic achievements, wellbeing and success in life.

Nursery and Reception share the classrooms and outdoor areas and are taught by Mrs Haslam. The class is very well supported by our early years specialist teaching assistants Miss Butler and Mrs Harwood.

We would love to hear from you! Please get in touch with us via our class email address: class1@levens.cumbria.sch.uk and we will get back to you as soon as we can.