Early Years

Dunn Street Primary offers flexible hours in our fully inclusive EYFS from age 2-5 with an excellent team of staff that are part of our Primary School. The EYFS consists of a wonderfully resourced indoor and outdoor environment that will challenge and motivate your child. A range of activities will be provided that will stimulate and develop your child’s inquisitiveness for learning. You will be involved every step of the way and will be kept up to date with information and learning opportunities for you and your child. At Dunn Street we work with you so that your child receives the best possible start in their learning journey. We have fantastic links with the local community and have frequent visits to the nearby library to enhance your child’s language and literacy skills.

Once children enter our Reception class they are able to continue their learning journey where we believe all children should have the opportunity to develop physically, verbally, cognitively and emotionally in an enabling and inclusive environment. We aim for our children to be confident, independent, successful learners who believe in themselves and interact positively with others.

We offer a curriculum which is aspirational and rich in wonder and memorable experiences. We strive to provide a stimulating environment which promotes exciting opportunities, challenge, exploration, adventure and a real love of learning.

Intent

Our Early Years provision is designed to give every child aged 2–5 a strong, joyful foundation for lifelong learning. We aim to nurture confident, curious and resilient learners through warm, positive relationships, high-quality play experiences and rich indoor and outdoor environments.

We believe children learn best when they feel safe, valued and connected, and when learning is purposeful, playful and meaningful. Through a balance of child-initiated and adult-guided experiences, we support children to develop strong communication skills, early reading and writing, mathematical understanding, physical development and emotional wellbeing.

Outdoor learning is central to our curriculum, offering children daily opportunities to explore, investigate and take risks in a natural environment. Our intent is for all children—regardless of starting point—to make strong progress, develop independence and leave the Early Years ready for the next stage of learning.

Implementation

Our Early Years Curriculum encompasses the seven areas of development set out in Development Matters (DfE, 2021): personal, social and emotional development, communication and language, physical development, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts and design. It is taught through topics which are enriched through real life experiences and enabled through trips and visitors.

We create a ‘language rich’ environment by ensuring all of our provision is centered around communication. Topics are supported by quality texts and artefacts which are chosen carefully to encourage children's speech, language and communication development. Each day we sing songs and rhymes, we read stories whilst providing time for quality interactions between adults and between peers.

Staff have a shared understanding of the key knowledge, vocabulary and skills children are expected to learn in each age phase. Learning is carefully sequenced, ensuring children revisit and build upon prior knowledge through repetition, practice and progression. Assessment is used effectively to identify gaps, secure understanding and plan next steps. Key persons develop secure, responsive relationships that support emotional security and engagement in learning. Staff explicitly teach and model social communication, emotional vocabulary and positive behaviour.

Play is planned to support the acquisition of core knowledge and concepts. Outdoor learning provides daily opportunities to deepen understanding through first-hand, practical experiences, particularly in physical development, language and mathematics. Children develop foundational knowledge for reading, including vocabulary development, awareness of sounds, rhythm and rhyme, listening and attention skills, phonological awareness and early phonics are taught in a structured and progressive way. Children regularly revisit stories and texts to deepen understanding and recall.

Children develop the foundational physical skills needed for writing, including core strength, shoulder stability and fine motor control. n Mark-making is taught as a meaningful form of communication. Children learn that print carries meaning and begin to apply known sounds to letters as appropriate.

The children learn nursery rhymes and develop their mathematical thinking through direct teaching and exploration. We want our children to become confident mathematicians who can apply what they have learnt to real life experiences. Mathematical language and reasoning are explicitly modelled and reinforced.

As part of the teaching and learning process, children are assessed in relation to their progress towards Development Matters and the Early Learning Goals. These judgements are made based on accumulative observations and in-depth knowledge of the children acquired through ongoing assessment. These ongoing assessments are used to inform planning and next steps in teaching and learning for all children throughout the year.

Impact

Our curriculum and delivery ensures that children secure foundational knowledge across all prime and specific areas of learning. They remember more and can do more, applying knowledge confidently in different contexts. Children communicate effectively, regulate their emotions and engage positively with others. They show confidence in early reading, writing and mathematical concepts. Children make strong progress from their starting points, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND. Children are well prepared for Year 1, having developed the knowledge, skills and learning behaviours necessary for success.

eyfs.pdf