Early Years Foundation Stage

In EYFS we are very lucky because Reception and Nursery learn and play together. Making friends and playing together is very important to us. We learn to share and take turns, to be kind and think of others, to be brave and try new things, to listen and follow instructions and value what our friends say to us. Our classrooms are full of exciting activities and we love playing outside to take advantage of all the different weather conditions. A windy day could see us making kites. A freezing day means ice exploration and a rainy day could see paint mixing in puddles – so much fun to be had!

Reception children have a big responsibility in the unit and act as role models to the Nursery children. We love to play together in all of our different areas of learning in the unit such as: role play, small world, sand and water, maths, writing/mark making, malleable, creative, reading, investigation and our brilliant outdoor trim trail area. We are also fortunate to have a Forest School where we enjoy exploring the natural and physical world around us, building dens, climbing trees, discovering habitats and creating tasty meals in the mud kitchen.

Throughout the year we plan exciting themes around the children’s interests. We always aim to read a variety of good quality literature including Traditional Tales and Nursery Rhymes. Nursery children learn songs and nursery rhymes and begin to understand rhyme and alliteration. We even learn to listen for sounds in words and then practise oral blending to help us prepare for Reception. When we are ready, usually in Reception, we begin to learn to read words and sentences. We start by learning to hear sounds in words and then learn what those sounds look like. We then learn to read simple words and some tricky (non-decodable) words. When we are really good at reading these we can then get our very own reading book to share with our grown-ups at home!

We celebrate all of our achievements in EYFS and we have a number of treat days throughout the year to celebrate the children’s hard work. In the past these have been: an alien tea party on the moon, a pyjama day, a Gruffalo picnic and themed dress up days. Our links with the local community has seen us arrange exciting visits from the Police and the Fire Service. They brought a police car and a big fire engine onto our playground, showing us how to make the sirens work and they even let us squirt water out of the hose! During the Summer, we venture out on a lovely trip together to places like The Sealife Centre in Hunstanton or Hamerton Zoo.

What the children say about learning in EYFS:

“I love sharing with my friends, we take turns on the big bikes.”

“I love the birthday box because I can choose a present.”

“I love playing in the play dough with all of the sparkly things.”

“I love learning all the numbers, like the biggest ones outside!”

“I love when we all sing together.”

“I love playing teachers and reading to my friends.”