Early Years at Langafel Primary School

Miss Nicholls

At Langafel Primary School, we believe that every child is wonderfully unique and deserves the very best start in life. As a Church of England school, our Early Years provision is rooted in our Christian values, where children are encouraged to grow in confidence, kindness, resilience and respect. We create a nurturing and inclusive environment where every child is valued, listened to and supported to flourish.

We have high expectations for all our children. We want them to develop a lifelong love of learning, become confident and independent learners, and have the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to thrive throughout their education and beyond.

Learning through play, exploration and purposeful experiences

In our Bumblebee Class, children learn through a carefully planned balance of adult-led and child-initiated experiences. We recognise that young children learn best when they are actively involved, curious and excited about what they are doing. Through play, exploration and purposeful experiences, children develop the Characteristics of Effective Learning:

• Playing and exploring – children investigate, experience things and ‘have a go’.
• Active learning – children concentrate, persevere and keep trying when things become challenging.
• Creating and thinking critically – children develop their own ideas, make links between experiences and find solutions to problems.

We actively nurture a growth mindset, helping children to understand that mistakes are an important part of learning and that they can improve through effort, practice and perseverance. We celebrate children having a go, trying something new and not giving up. Above all, we want children to enjoy learning, develop curiosity and leave EYFS believing that they are capable learners.

The Early Years Foundation Stage

We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Framework, which sets out the standards for the learning, development and care of children from birth to five years old.

There are seven areas of learning and development, divided into three prime areas and four specific areas.

The prime areas:

• Communication and Language
• Physical Development
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development

The specific areas:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

These areas are interconnected and provide the foundations for children's future learning. Throughout the Reception year, children work towards the Early Learning Goals (ELGs), which describe the knowledge, skills and understanding children are expected to have developed by the end of Reception.

The importance of language and high-quality conversations

At Langafel, we understand that communication and language underpin everything children learn. We place a strong emphasis on developing children's vocabulary, listening skills, confidence and ability to express themselves.

We use the SHREC approach to support high-quality interactions between adults and children:

• S – Sharing attention – giving children our full attention and joining them in their learning.
• H – Have a conversation – engaging children in meaningful back-and-forth interactions.
• R – Repetition – repeating and modelling language so that children hear words and structures frequently.
• E – Extending – building on what children say and introducing new vocabulary and ideas.
• C – Connecting – making links between children's experiences, language and learning.

Our adults are skilled in knowing when to step in, when to listen and when to give children the space to develop their own ideas. Through high-quality conversations, we introduce new vocabulary, model ambitious language, develop children's thinking and encourage them to explain, reason and make connections.

We want every child to become a confident communicator who can listen carefully, express their ideas and talk enthusiastically about their learning.

A rich and ambitious curriculum

We provide a curriculum that is both play-based and ambitious, ensuring that children have the opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding they need for their next stage of learning.

Literacy is taught through our phonics programme, Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, alongside a rich range of high-quality books, stories, rhymes and opportunities for reading and writing.  Putting oracy first to support sentence structure and articulation.

Mathematics is taught through a mastery approach, developing secure understanding of number, numerical patterns, shape, space, measure and mathematical vocabulary. Children are encouraged to explain their thinking, make connections and develop confidence when solving problems. 

Enabling environments

Our EYFS classroom and outdoor provision are carefully designed as enabling environments, allowing children to become increasingly independent and take ownership of their learning.

Resources are accessible and thoughtfully organised so that children can make choices, follow their interests and develop their own ideas. We provide open-ended resources that can be used in a variety of ways, encouraging creativity, imagination, problem-solving and critical thinking.

We value children's interests and use these to enhance and extend the curriculum. During free-flow learning, children have opportunities to explore both indoors and outdoors, making choices about where they would like to learn and what they would like to investigate.

Learning outdoors

Outdoor learning is an important part of life in Bumblebee Class. Children have daily opportunities to learn outdoors using our well-resourced outdoor spaces.

Outdoor learning supports children's physical development, communication, independence, creativity and understanding of the world. Whether children are investigating nature, developing their gross motor skills, building, creating, problem-solving or working collaboratively with their friends, the outdoor environment provides rich opportunities for purposeful learning.

Adults who know our children well

High-quality adult interactions are at the heart of our EYFS practice. Adults observe children closely, listen to their ideas and respond sensitively to their interests and needs.

We use these observations to identify opportunities to extend children's learning, introduce new vocabulary, challenge their thinking and support them to develop new skills. We carefully balance knowing when to provide support with allowing children to think, explore and solve problems independently.

We want our children to become increasingly confident in saying, "I can do it," "I can have a go," and "I can keep trying."

Ready for the next step

Our ultimate aim is that children leave Reception as confident, happy, resilient and independent learners, ready for the challenges of Year 1 and beyond.

At Langafel Primary School, we want every child to feel that they belong, that their voice matters and that they can achieve great things. Through our Christian values, high expectations, rich learning experiences, purposeful play and strong relationships, we give every child the best possible start in life.

We want our children to leave the Early Years with a love of learning, a belief in themselves and the confidence to embrace whatever comes next.