Early Years Foundation Stage

Bridstow CE Primary School warmly welcome children who are aged 4 before the 31st August and their families as they start school. The Reception year is very exciting for our youngest children and we look forward to working in partnership with their families to help them settle in and enjoy school and learning.

Our children benefit from specialist sports and music coaching and spending lots of time playing and learning outside.

We like our children to:

• be happy, independent risk takers
• be confident, resilient and persevere with their learning
• be excited, motivated and love to learn
• thrive emotionally, physically, academically and creatively
• develop a growth mindset to help them problem-solve and face new challenges

We believe that children learn best through practical, hands-on experiences and interactions with their environment and that play underpins the delivery of the EYFS. The best outcomes for children’s learning occur when most of the activities within a child’s day are a mixture of:

• Child-initiated play, actively supported by adults
• Focused learning — with adults guiding their learning through rich experiential activities

Child initiated time provides children with opportunities to consolidate and extend their skills and the concepts learnt.

Learning and development

There are seven areas of learning and development that shape the educational provision in early years settings.

All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. The three prime areas are particularly crucial for building capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive.

Prime Areas

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

Specific Areas

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and design

Within any group of 4 and 5-year-olds there will be a huge variation in development. For this reason, it is vital that we meet individual needs and that the activities provided for each child will be tailored with the aim of meeting their individual needs.

Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning

The characteristics of effective teaching and learning underpin achievement of the prime and specific areas of learning. They represent processes rather than outcomes and allow us to understand how a child learns.

The characteristics are:

• Playing and Exploring - Children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’.
• Active Learning - Children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements.
• Creating and Thinking Critically - Children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.

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