Intent

• At Gabriel’s we provide the best possible education and start in life for all children in our Reception Class. We aim for our children to make the best possible progress across the curriculum and build secure foundations for the future. This is realised well and children are ready for the next step in their education.
• As the first class at St Gabriel’s, we understand the position that Reception Class has to establish strong foundations, both for each child’s learning and development and for the relationships that we form with each family. Therefore, much consideration is made to ensure that transition is smooth and we get to know our children and their families well as quickly as possible.
• We have a mixed intake in Reception Class, with differing previous nursery experience and access to vocabulary rich English spoken environments; consequently we place a strong emphasis on oracy, vocabulary, early language development, oral rehearsal and early reading and phonics.
• There is also a strong focus on PSED, routines, self-skills, e.g. dressing, turn taking, and a strong emphasis on supporting children’s emotional development.
• There is continuity in progression in the curriculum. Subject leaders and the Early Years Team have designed a curriculum to ensure learning is mapped out for all seven areas of the EYFS framework that ties well to pupils’ development stage and future learning. Learning occurring in EYFS is built on flowing seamlessly from EYFS into Year 1 and beyond, ensuring children are ready for the next key stage. The EYFS lead has carried out CPD for all staff and EYFS objectives are incorporated in all progression maps across the curriculum and across key stages, enabling teachers to have a more secure understanding of previous learning and to enable this learning to be built on. For example, the increased focus on number in EYFS ensures this is built on in Year 1.
• Our EYFS curriculum is ambitious, engaging and exciting for our pupils. We have used Development Matters as the base for our curriculum.  We continue to provide cross curricular learning based around exciting topics and stories stimulated by the children’s interests as well as learning we have highlighted as important for ks1.

Implementation

• We provide a balanced curriculum across the 7 Areas of Learning with opportunities for children to engage in adult directed, adult-initiated and child-initiated activities in indoor and outdoor learning environments.  We plan creative and motivating learning experiences based on Development Matters and the Statutory framework for the EYFS.  Tasks sustain children’s interests well, including pupils with special educational needs and disability (SEND).
• We provide tasks that encourage independence and self-motivation.
• We work well in partnership with parents. From their first introduction to the school, the head ensure that she meets all prospective parents and takes them on a personalised tour. A welcome meeting is held for parents ahead of the new school year, introducing new parents to each other and key members of staff in school. A meet the teacher meeting is then held in the first week so that parents can meet with and talk directly to the teacher as soon as possible in the new school year. Teachers are always available in the playground (as are SLT) should parents want to raise a concern or ask a question. Strong communication with parents enables our parents where possible to support their children in their learning. Family assembly also enables parents to see what children have been learning across the school and is a great opportunity for our whole community to come together each week.
• In the first week of the new academic year, we have a gradual transition, with children coming into school in small groups, so that by the end of the week, all children are attending for the full day and all together. This enables children to get to know each other and their key adults in small group settings, and supports them in rapidly settling in and establishing routines.
• We provide early intervention for those children who require additional support. Effective baseline assessments and observations means we make sure that children who need extra support get what they need, including children with SEND.
• Alongside screening the wellbeing of our children and monitoring their involvement in activities, we assess children as ‘on track’ or ‘not’ each half term. This is a necessary step towards identifying the needs of those children that require interventions to catch-up or keep- up with learning.  Where interventions are needed to sustain learning, we carry these out in a way most conducive to the learning, whether this is alongside the child in their play or in a quiet space away from distractions.
• We plan a wide variety of experiences within our strong structure, routines and high expectations. We value and aim to support children’s wellbeing and involvement in activities, realising that a high level of both produces optimal learning
• As well as making great use of our inside and outside classrooms, we regularly utilise other parts of the school such as the school garden, ICT suite, small and large playgrounds to enrich our children’s learning experiences.
• We enhance learning by setting up activities that are hands-on, purposeful and connected to real-life situations. Resources are chosen carefully to allow children to revisit and repeat learning, make progress and build on previous experiences.  We recognise the value of ‘teacher initiated’, open ended arrangements in enabling children to pursue their own imagination and investigations and to make links inside and outside of our themes. Our curriculum supports this.
• We recognise that in order to enhance learning in the Specific Areas, we must nurture learning in the Prime Areas, especially Communication and Language which underpins all seven areas of learning and development. We understand that children’s back-and-forth interactions form the foundations for language and cognitive development. Our teaching of Communication and Language is supported by our language-rich environment, our strong routine values frequent, high quality conversations with adults and peers.  We are able to build children’s language effectively by commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with speech corrected, extended and new vocabulary added. We understand the value of building a nurturing environment, supporting self-confidence and encouraging making friendly interactions, talking and taking turns. Our well established routine values reading to and engaging children actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts like telling and retelling stories, role play, exploring and experimenting with materials and substances. Children are supported to use rich range of vocabulary and language structures. Pupil voice has shown that children are enthusiastic about the themes and texts that they use.
• They are helped to share their ideas with support and modelling and encouraged to elaborate with careful questioning. Language interventions and ‘Helicopter Story’ groups are part of our strong routine. At St Gabriel’s we celebrate multilingualism. We understand the advantages of speaking more than one language and the linguistic and cultural importance of a strong foundation in home languages.
• Using the ELS scheme, synthetic phonics is introduced early in Reception ensuring that the majority of children are able to read words and simple sentences by the end of the EYFS key stage. ELS strategies then continues throughout the school to upper KS2 if needed.
• ELS scheme has high expectations. We are faithful to this scheme with good results.
• Our focus is placed on learning. We have reduced the amount of evidence / pupil work to be marked and filed – consequently this reduction in assessment and recording has meant that we have been able to focus more on supporting children who risk falling behind the majority and have been able to help more children achieve a good level of development.

Impact

• By the end of the Reception year, all children make good progress from their starting points across all curriculum areas. Children grow in independence and have the confidence to transition to Year One successfully.
• Our latest assessments taken at the end of Reception, showed our children achieving above the national average.