EYFS

Harbour Primary and Nursery School
Early Years Foundation Stage

Intent

At Harbour, we provide a high-quality Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) education to ensure all children age 2-5 have a happy and secure start to their school life. We aim for all our children to know more, remember more and be able to do more.

Using the aims of the EYFS Statutory Framework, we are committed to ensuring that all children within our care have high quality early education experiences and childcare. The ambitious team work continuously to nurture a lifelong love of learning by providing an inviting and stimulating learning environment both indoors and outdoors. This, alongside the high-quality interactions we provide, we engage children in developing their ‘Characteristics of Effective Learning’ set out in the EYFS. The EYFS encompasses our school values: honesty, kindness and respect as well as fostering ambition, curiosity, independence, perseverance and resilience. Learning is highly valued by everyone. Each child and adult feels valued and good behaviour is actively encouraged. We recognise the EYFS is the bedrock of our Harbour curriculum and we aim to provide children with the essential knowledge and approach they need to continue their journey through our school and prepare them for future success.

Implementation

We have high expectations of our pupils and strive to make our EYFS curriculum ambitious, curios, engaging and accessible for all. We recognise that all children need to develop firm foundations. To achieve this, we:

• ensure the curriculum is playful, personalised, purposeful and relevant for our children;
• ensure small steps in progression and careful planning built upon children’s interests and approaches to learning;
• provide curious, stimulating and challenging learning environments, both indoors and out;
• plan and organise continuous provision that allows all children to learn through adult led and independent play;
• provide high-quality interactions between adults and children to challenge and progress learning and thinking;
• deliver the subject curriculum in a way that allows pupils to transfer key knowledge to long-term memory;
• use assessment to check children’s understanding to inform teaching, and to help them embed key concepts, use knowledge fluently and develop their understanding, and not simply memorise disconnected facts;
• plan a careful balance of child-initiated and adult-led learning opportunities;
• provide time for children to repeat activities, give real-life experiences and opportunities to build upon prior learning;
• form partnerships with parents and carers to support and encourage effective learning at home;
• have strong links with other nurseries and schools, parents and carers to support a smooth transition ;
• plan daily song, rhyme and story times and use books to enhance learning, build upon children’s vocabulary and develop a rich love of reading;
• start teaching phonics as soon as children begin nursery and then into reception, using ‘Sounds Write, a systematic synthetic phonics scheme to ensure all children learn to read;
• start teaching mathematics to develop children’s understanding of early number as soon as the children begin nursery then into reception, using the mastery approach to develop a deep understanding early concepts in Mathematics using Number Sense and Ark Maths Mastery programmes;

Impact

• How we will know we achieved our aims when:
• our children will know more, remember more and be able to do more than when they started; 
• all children, particularly disadvantaged children and those with SEND ,will feel happy and safe and enjoy coming to school;
• all children will have access to a balanced and challenging curriculum regardless of their background, needs or abilities;
• children will make good progress from their individual starting points and are offered a broad, rich curriculum, which meets each child’s unique needs and learning style;
• children will be supported appropriately and demonstrate high levels of engagement and motivation;
• children are taught and supported by adults that are well trained and passionate about providing the best education for every child;
• children produce work of high quality and acquire the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed;
• children will be confident, capable readers with a rich vocabulary and good comprehension;
• children will have developed a growth mind set in mathematics and a deep understanding of number;
• children will leave the end of their reception year as independent learners who demonstrate the characteristics of effective learning and are ready for Year One;
• the percentage of children achieving a Good Level of Development (GLD) within the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) will be in line with or above the national average.