EYFS

Our EYFS intent

The core intent of the Western House Academy Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum is to provide a values-based, challenging, and nurturing educational experience that secures the essential foundational knowledge and skills required for future academic success, whilst fostering the development of the whole child. We actively ensure an inclusive environment where the curriculum and teaching practices are meticulously adapted to meet the diverse and individual learning needs of all pupils, thereby guaranteeing access and opportunity. We intend for all pupils to leave EYFS as confident, resilient, and independent learners with a deep sense of emotional well-being and a strong foundation in our core values. Our curriculum is intentionally designed to hold high expectations in both academic achievement, particularly in early reading, number work, and effective communication, and exemplary behaviour, ensuring children acquire the necessary self-regulation and social skills for school readiness and a positive transition into Year 1. We aim to ignite a passion for lifelong learning by nurturing natural curiosity and equipping every child with the confidence and self-efficacy to embrace new challenges.

Our EYFS implementation  

Our implementation is based on the Development Matters guidance and the EYFS Statutory Framework, using a dynamic and highly adaptive model of delivery. We offer continuous provision in specially designed classrooms, each hosting core areas like reading, writing, maths, and construction, alongside rotating enhanced zones such as creative and role-play areas to meet diverse interests. Crucially, learning is actively promoted outdoors throughout the day. Teaching involves focused, designated learning times through group sessions. Our curriculum is highly flexible; planning is kept in draft form and continually adjusted to meet the specific needs and interests of the current pupil cohort, ensuring learning is meaningful and maximises development for all.

                                                                                                         

Our Curriculum

Our curriculum is intentionally designed to be inclusive, ensuring it meets the diverse interests and individual needs of all children. We ensure teaching focusses on securing fundamental knowledge and skills alongside promoting our core key values, embedding equality to foster responsible, compassionate citizens. All instruction is delivered by providing children with various exciting and engaging opportunities that motivate them to learn and explore. To maintain responsiveness, our planning remains in draft form and is continually adapted throughout the year. 

We adhere to the Seven Areas of Learning and Development:

Prime 

• Communication and Language 

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development

• Physical Development

Specific

• Literacy

• Mathematics

• Understanding the World

• Expressive Arts and Design

We teach these crucial areas primarily through the medium of play, utilising the three Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning (CoETL) to guide our practice. This means children are given plentiful opportunities to play and explore (finding out and using what they know), engage in active learning (being involved and concentrating), and create and think critically (having their own ideas and making links). This approach ensures children are deeply engaged, motivated, and develop the fundamental skills needed to become confident learners.

Early Maths  

Early mathematics is taught systematically across the EYFS, ensuring deep understanding. Nursery follows White Rose Maths, building foundational number sense through play. Reception combines targeted White Rose Maths units for shape, space, and measure with the rigorous Mastery for Number programme for number and counting depth. This focused teaching, combined with rich continuous provision opportunities, creates an environment where pupils confidently develop a strong understanding of number and fluency in mathematical language.

Early Reading

We highly value the importance of early reading as the key to future academic success. Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) is our chosen systematic synthetic approach to teaching phonics. In Nursery, we focus on Phase 1 phonics, which involves developing crucial pre-reading skills such as listening, sound discrimination, and oral blending and segmenting to prepare them for letter sounds. In Reception, focused phonics sessions are taught daily, covering Phase 2 through to the beginning of Phase 5. Children are given a new reading book each week that is fully decodable and precisely matched to their current phonics knowledge. Furthermore, we ensure daily guided reading sessions, and children in Reception are heard to read either individually or in a small group. We also teach whole-group reading in both Nursery and Reception using specifically chosen 'big books' to promote comprehension and a love of stories.

Early Writing 

We embed early writing from the moment children enter Nursery using the 'Scribble It' approach, which actively prompts meaningful mark-making through child-led play and simultaneously focusses on developing essential fine motor and gross motor skills. In Reception, we transition to the imaginative 'Drawing Club' approach, bringing fun and creativity to writing. This method allows for a wide variety of writing opportunities to be integrated throughout our continuous provision, both indoors and outdoors, enabling children to apply their developing skills with purpose and enjoyment.

Assessment in EYFS

Assessment in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is a continuous and crucial process to understand children's development and learning needs. When children join us, we begin by completing our own in-house baseline assessment, which helps us gauge each child's current abilities, knowledge, and skills when they start school. When they join Reception, we also complete our in-house baseline, alongside the statutory National Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA).

Our primary method of assessment is through observations and interactions between staff and children as they engage in play and planned activities. These daily assessments are crucial, allowing us to immediately tweak the curriculum and provision to ensure it meets the specific interests and developmental needs of every child.

Finally, at the end of Reception, we complete the National EYFS Profile for each child. This profile summarises their attainment across the seven areas of learning, stating whether they have achieved or not achieved the Early Learning Goals (ELGs).