Early Years Education

Early Years Foundation Stage

We hope you enjoy reading about our Early Years class. If you are thinking of starting at Dobwalls with us and would like a visit, do give us a call to arrange.

Intent:

At Dobwalls Primary School, we believe that our Early Years Foundation Stage is crucial to developing firm foundations to be built upon throughout our school journey and beyond. It is our intent that the children who enter our EYFS develop physically, verbally, emotionally, creatively and intellectually whilst embedding a positive attitude to school and learning in order for each child to achieve their full potential. Vocabulary development is high on our list of priorities and opportunities for all pupils to increase their vocabulary and communication skills are at the heart of our environment. We set high expectations throughout all areas of school life and beyond. Our diamond rules are introduced in our Early Years which are as follows:

Follow instructions with thought and care
Use good manners at all times
Care for everyone and everything

These are used to develop citizenship and a sense of community. We believe that all children deserve to be valued as an individual, and we are passionate in supporting all children to achieve their full, unique potential. We follow the EYFS renewed 2021 curriculum, which has seven main areas of learning.

The Prime Areas:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development - (Self-Regulation, Managing Self, Building Relationships)
Communication and Language - (Listening, Attention and Understanding, Speaking)
Physical Development - (Gross Motor Skills, Fine Motor Skills)

The Specific Areas:

Literacy - (Comprehension, Word Reading, Writing)
Mathematics - (Number, Numerical Patterns)
Understanding the World - (Past and Present, People Culture and Communities, The Natural World)
Expressive Arts - (Creating with Materials, Being imaginative and Expressive)

EYFS long-term overviews

EYFS progression

Curriculum overview

EYFS Planning Overviews:

EYFS Overview for Parents Autumn 1

EYFS Overview for Parents Autumn 2

EYFS Overview for Parents Spring 1

EYFS Overview for Parents Spring 2

EYFS Overview for Parents Summer 1

EYFS Overview for Parents Summer 2

Implementation:

We implement the areas of learning by providing a safe, stimulating environment that allows children to discover, be challenged, consolidate and achieve their very best whilst developing their resilience and independence. There is a combination of adult-led, teacher taught whole class, group and individual support.
Throughout all of these areas of learning and at the heart of the EYFS Curriculum are the “Characteristics of Effective Learning”. We strive to develop these key characteristics of “Playing and Exploring”, “Active Learning” and “Creating and Thinking Critically” in order to give the children the skills that they will continue to draw upon throughout their development.
Our EYFS children learn weekly 'rhymes of the week,' which include traditional nursery rhymes and modern verses. Alongside these children have a 'story of the week' to broaden their literary experience and develop their vocabulary. Each half-term, a key text is simplified and learnt off by heart to build children's early storytelling and writing abilities. We use the Read Write Inc programme to teach children the initial sounds and letters and follow a rapid teaching sequence to teach children to confidently begin to read and write.
Our mathematics teaching is supported using the overview and guidance from White Rose but is personalised for our children and school. Maths is brought to life set within real life and practical experiences both inside and outside.
We get to know our families and children well and use their interests and knowledge to support and inspire our children’s knowledge and understanding. Our learning environments, both inside and outside are adapted to meet the different and developing needs of our children.
We have a newly renovated dedicated EYFS outside learning space which is directly outside the classroom to support learning. Children have access to this every day.
Within our EYFS Curriculum, children are assessed through accurate observations informing future planning and children’s individual next steps in their learning. This enables us to ensure learning is embedded and consistent and that all children continue to make the best possible progress within our EYFS setting.
At Dobwalls we use an online system called Tapestry to record children's development. Parents can access and are encouraged to add to their children's profile throughout the EYFS year.

See below our great large outdoor area with a covered canopy for use all year round.

Impact:

The impact of our provision can be seen through the feedback received by our parents, which is used to celebrate success and make valuable improvements to our provision. Children complete their EYFS year at Dobwalls as happy learners; prepared and equipped to embark upon the KS1 curriculum.

Parent's say ...

“Dobwalls School have been amazing. Nothing has been too much bother to them. They have always gone above and beyond to make sure all needs are met.”

“A great environment for children. The continual progress is great to see. Tapestry is brilliant for keeping us informed. Overall we are very happy.”