Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

The Early Years phase is the point where most children join our school.  Early Years includes our toddler and pre-school room and Reception class.

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At Bloemfontein Primary School we provide a flexible offer for children from two-years-old.  Our toddler and pre-school room is fully integrated into our school and all children in these groups access our purposeful and empowering Early Years Curriculum which fully prepares them for the next steps in their school career and opens the doors to the wider world. 

 

We are currently accepting places in our toddler and pre-school room for both 15 and 30 hours and we welcome enquiries at any time.  We believe that it is important for you to be able to visit our school and to gain an insight into school life.  We proudly invite you to meet our dedicated team, to experience our high-quality learning environment and to see how our school operates beyond Early Years.  Please contact the school for further information or to arrange a visit by ringing the school office on 01207 232198.

 

Toddler and Pre-School Room:

2-Year-Old Sessions - ‘enjoying coming to school’ 

Our 2-year-old sessions are driven by well-chosen, age-appropriate texts which focus on the development of the 3 prime areas, with simple vocabulary that will provide children with key words to enrich their early language development. We strive to ensure that our youngest learners love coming to school, so we ensure that all learning is driven by their interests and is constantly reviewed. 

 

Pre-School - ‘developing a love of learning’

Nursery is driven by exciting, well-chosen texts which engage young children. Continuous provision is set up to reflect the learning that has already taken place through adult-led sessions, meaning that children know and understand how to use the resources appropriately to support their learning. They are encouraged to revisit prior knowledge and skills through play in the environment. There are also different resources to provoke interest and curiosity. Enhancements are linked, where possible, to the text and will reinforce currently planned learning, alongside carefully planned revisit links. There are always activities in the environment that support skills, such as fine motor control, scissor practice, and developing a love of books. Weekly topic Class Dojo posts are sent home with helpful suggestions for parents and carers to support learning at home, where relevant. 

 

Reception - 'content before context’

 

As expectation in the specific areas increase in Reception, we value the importance of teaching the content first, before putting it into context so that children are not subject to cognitive overload. The morning sessions are dedicated to Read Write Inc. delivered with fidelity to teach reading and writing, and NCETM maths to teach the essential maths skills. NCETM is then subsidised with White Rose.

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Afternoon learning is driven by a topic (context) and deliberately chosen text, which has been selected to drive learning intentions from Understanding the World and Expressive Arts & Design to fully prepare children to access the foundation subjects once they move into Year 1. Furthermore, the texts have been chosen to ensure appropriate writing opportunities are accessible through the provision (for example, some genres such as Traditional Tales lend themselves more to simple sentence writing, so have been planned into the Spring and not the Autumn term)  

 

How can you help at home in Reception?

If you would like any help or support please ask any member of the Early Years Team. We would be more than happy to help with ideas.

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Reading 

Your child has a reading folder which includes a reading record and reading book. Please practise these for 5 – 10 minutes at least three times a week. We will hear your child read daily in school during their phonics sessions. We will give children new reading books every Monday and these will be returned on Fridays.

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Writing 

Encourage your child to write their names on invitations and cards reminding them to have a capital letter at the beginning. As they learn their letter sounds help them practise writing them using the correct letter formation. ​

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Mathematics

Play board games such as ‘snakes and ladders’ to encourage your child to count spaces to move their counters forwards or backwards. When you are walking ask the children to count how many footsteps from one place to another and ask the children to identify different numbers they see on doors or buses. Practise counting in order to at least twenty and backwards to zero.

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Life skills

Encourage your child to put on and fasten their own coat, to put on their own shoes and to get dressed and undress by themselves. Remind them to wash their hands after going to the toilet and before eating a meal. When eating encourage your child to use a knife and fork correctly.