Welcome to the Early Years Foundation Stage
‘In the early years, children
enjoy exciting days of learning and discovery.’
‘They benefit from high expectations and
well-established routines.’
‘Children in the early years become confident, curious learners. They enjoy excellent
relationships with the adults.’‘A sharp focus on communication and language skills means
that children learn from every activity’‘Adults set up the engaging indoor and outdoor
environments to promote learning and independence.’OFSTED 2024
Nursery
Mrs Knowles – Asssistant Headteacher, EYFS Leader, Lower Foundation Teacher, EYFS DSL, SENCO
Miss Balmond – Lower Foundation Teacher (Wednesday-Friday)- EYFS Maths Lead
Mrs Wheeler – Lower Foundation, Nursery Nurse- ELSA Trained
Reception
Mrs Marshall – Upper Foundation Class 1, Teacher- CLD Lead, Voice 21 Champion
Mrs O’Neill- Upper Foundation Class 2, Teacher- SENCO, EYFS Writing Lead
Mrs Stewart – Upper Foundation Class 1, Teaching Assistant
Miss Turner – Upper Foundation Class 2, Teaching Assistant
Miss Chambers- Special Needs Assistant
Mrs Rowbottom – Special Needs Assistant
Miss Oldroyd- Special Needs Assistant
Paediatric First Aiders
Mrs Wheeler
Mrs Stewart
Mrs Ashton
Miss Oldroyd
Miss Chambers
Learning Environment
We are very fortunate to have a large EYFS setting with high quality provision meticulously planned, both indoors and outdoors.
We have a large Nursery environment, two Reception classes, a well resourced library area, a calming area for children to access, three outdoor classrooms and then a large outdoor environment that opens onto a trim trail area.
The areas are all well resourced and carefully planned for to ensure children are learning and making progress wherever they choose to discover.
Our environment ensures children have opportunities and experiences that celebrate our local area, local communities, different families and our diverse world.
The EYFS Curriculum
Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS) Is made up of 7 areas of learning
3 Primary areas of learning:
Personal, social and emotional development (PSED)
Communication and Language (C&L)
Physical development (PD)
4 specific areas of learning:
Literacy (Comprehension, Word Reading and Writing)
Mathematics (Number and Numerical Patterns)
Understanding the world (UTW)
Expressive Arts and Design (EAD)
Hendal Curriculum Overviews
Nursery
Throughout the year children in Nursery will learn through the following half termly units of work;
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?
- Can you have a lion for a pet?
- What makes me unique?
- Why is our world wonderful?
- How does Jasper’s garden grow?
- How can we look after the great outdoors?
This half term your child’s topic is -How does Jasper’s garden grow.
Please click on the link below for more information.
Summer 1 Curriculum plan What makes Jaspers garden grow
Reception
Throughout the year your children will learn through the units of work;
- What makes me Marvellous?
- What festivals are celebrated around our diverse planet?
- What is it like in Space?
- Where is Kenya and what is it like?
- How can I help Planet Earth?
- Who helps us in our community?
This half term you child’s topic is – Who helps us in our community?
Please click on the link below for more information.
Summer 2- People Who Help Us Parent Curriculum Planning
Please find below our overview for PSHE Jigsaw in Nursery & Reception:
Additional Information
Nursery
Everyday- water bottle
Wellies and raincoats for rainy days, sunhats and sun cream on sunny days
Fridays-PE day, children can come to school in PE/sports clothing
Concept Cat- Given out Monday and to be returned the following Monday
Buddy Bear (50 things)- Given out Fridays and to be handed back in on Monday
Reception
Please send you child with the correct equipment on the following days:
Every half term – £1 baking contribution
EVERYDAY – book bag, water bottle
Wednesday – Homework is to be handed in
Friday – Homework handed out. Leo the Lion and Marvellous Me box go home.
Friday Afternoon: You will be able to pick up your child from 3pm to access our library. You can check out a book and swap it the following week.
PE kit- to be sent on Monday and to take home Friday
If you need any support or have any questions regarding how you can support your child’s learning at home or require further resources please speak to you child’s class teacher.
Transition to Nursery
If you would like a place at our Nursery then please register your interest at the school office. We offer Morning and Afternoon sessions as well as a number of 30 hour places. We are a 39 place nursery and pride ourselves on a successful transition for all children who attend our nursery.
The term before your child is due to start Nursery, Mrs Wheeler will contact parents to discuss an initial home visit and invite you and your child to our well attended FEET (Families, Enjoying, Everything, Together) sessions. The purpose of the home visit is for key staff to meet your child and family in their own environment. This early interaction is an opportunity to share your child’s areas of strengths and also any areas of difficulty or any concerns you may have. Following the home visit will be invited to attend our FEET stay and play session that take place in the Nursery so that both child and parent can familiarise themselves with the environment and the routines of Nursery whilst allowing your child to develop their confidence and establish trusted relationships with key staff.
During FEET sessions there will be visitors such as oral health to share key messages and also an exciting session where Karen Wilkin’s from Wakefield Library will share stories and encourage a love of reading right from the start! Staff will discuss with you the importance of attendance, support with any early identified need such as Speech and Language, toileting and self care skills including oral health.
Parent Partnerships
Parents are key to supporting all areas of learning by reinforcing what children have been taught in school. This information is available for parents on the weekly learning flower and the half termly parent plan additional to the whole school weekly newsletter and website updates.
We also welcome any opportunities for parents to share their skills and knowledge in our EYFS. We have enjoyed visits from parents for special religious celebrations that are important to their families. This is a key way to educate and develop children’s understanding of others religions, cultures and beliefs in a first hand experience. Please speak to your class teacher if you feel you are able to support.
We also value parent support for our half termly sessions where parents are invited into school, this can be for a variety of reasons such as an art gallery, dinosaur museum, craft mornings and our annual garden party.
Nursery and Reception use Tapestry as a way of sharing your child’s achievements and experiences throughout the school year, it is also an opportunity for parents/carers to share the learning that takes place at home
If you have any concerns regarding your child’s development please speak to the class teacher who can advise you what support we can offer.
50 Things to do before you are five!
Each week your child will be set a challenge linked to the Wakefield initiative. You can share your child’s experiences on the Tapestry app. Your child will be rewarded with certificates as they achieve and complete the challenges set. These are lovely activities to get the whole family involved with.
Reading at Hendal Primary School
Stories and books are promoted throughout the environment and children develop a love of stories through our exciting approach through ‘Book Club’ on Mondays, ‘The Magic of Story’ led the the English HUB and also our carefully planned texts that link to our curriculum. Books are everywhere and we encourage children to borrow from our library so this can continue at home too!
Phonics: Your child will learn to read following the ‘Floppy Phonics Sounds and Letters’ Programme. This programme is designed to support the rigorous and systematic approach to teaching synthetic phonics. The programme offers opportunities for multi-sensory learning. Our caring teaching staff plan exciting lessons to meet the needs of all individual children.
Keyrings: To begin with your child will have a letter sound key ring, this allows them to practise the letters they have been focusing on in class and to then develop their segmenting and blending skills so that they have a bank of skills ready to access a reading book.
Reading: Our phonics resources are fully integrated with our ‘Oxford Reading Tree’ scheme of books. These books include the well-known characters, storylines and illustrations of Mum, Dad, Biff, Chip, Kipper and Floppy the dog! Our reading books are organised into coloured bands based on the level of challenge and length of text. We have a wide selection of other books within the coloured bands to ensure children are exposed to a variety of texts with the intention of all children developing a love for reading that will ensure success in adult life.
Early Writing in our EYFS
At Hendal Primary School we aim to inspire pupils to become skilled writers who are able to articulate their ideas through the written word.
Children will be encouraged to make marks in all areas of the provision, every shape and line will be celebrated as children develop their love of making marks for meaning! All children in Nursery and Reception take part in Dough Disco to develop their fine motor and muscle development. We also have carefully planned resources and tasks set to develop early fine motor skills and also gross motor across all areas of the provision.
All areas of Nursery have exciting opportunities for children to create and explore early writing through maps, lists, story books and much more. The principles of ‘Scribble Club’ are used and a daily writing task is planned. This includes:
Monday- Teacher modelled writing
Tuesday- Creative writing making marks with Art and Media
Wednesday-In the moment writing where children lead and are supported to put their ideas onto paper!
Thursday-Marks in Maths- Our mathematician children record a variety of marks and represent number for meaning.
Friday- Journal writing- this can be whole class in a large scale journal or for those who are ready they use a writing journal as they prepare for Reception.
In Reception writing opportunities are also everywhere! Teachers plan meticulously to ensure children have a great transition from pre-writing to early writers!
Through the teaching of Drawing Club, Reception children will develop the early Literacy skills of EYFS children, specifically their ability to write recognisable letters, spell words by identifying sounds in them and write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others. We aim to bring the child’s imagination to life and impact their confidence by providing the tools that can naturally lead children into the joy of not only writing but also reading and mathematics. Drawing Club opens up the magic of story all whilst extending their vocabulary and developing their fine motor.
In EYFS we understand the importance of establishing and developing the fundamental writing skills children need as they move through the Key Stages in Education and also into later life. We have high ambition for all and celebrate that all of our children are ‘Writers’ and on their own individual ‘Writing Journey’. As well as offering the wide range of opportunities to write, teacher-led and child-led, we also value the importance of supporting the fine motor and handwriting skills that children develop early in their Writing Journey. As part of our approach we have daily handwriting lessons for all children in Reception, this is carefully assessed by staff to ensure children take part in tasks ‘as they are ready’. Some children will take part in daily ‘Write Dance’ sessions, some will write on paper and ensure they develop the gross motor skills before refining their formation and when ready, some will record in handwriting books where they will have the opportunity to form letters and words in preparation for Year 1. This is all carefully assessed and monitored by the class teachers to ensure we meet all individual needs.
Mathematics at Hendal
Communication, Language and Oracy at Hendal
We know that Speech, language and communication plays a crucial role in a child’s ability to access the world around them. Therefore we endeavour to provide opportunities and support for all children to develop their Early Oracy Skills.
All staff in school have had training led by ‘Word Aware’. This is a document that is used within the EYFS to ensure we plan and teach vocabulary and language at the right level to meet the needs of all children. Specific Word Aware training has been completed and staff have produced careful plans on where, when and how language skills are taught or what Vocabulary is used.
Our vigorous plans include opportunities to learn specific language in our Word Aware Lessons. Nursery and Reception children are both taught ‘Concept Cat’ lessons and take part in the hands on learning that brings the concepts to life!
Specific words and language are linked to our units of work and are sent home to parents on our weekly learning flower letter and also our ‘Fridge Words’ overview. We encourage parents to share this language with their child and expand by using in sentences, exploring the meaning in different contexts etc.
In EYFS we also plan Ambitious Vocabulary that links with the Pie Corbett texts available and shared in the class stories/texts linked to the unit of work. Again, these are shared on the weekly Learning Flower.
Staff have had training in Launchpad for Literacy and are aware of the keys milestones and skills children acquire when developing their communication skills.
On Entry to Nursery/Reception and at each term and at exit points all children are assessed using a speech and language programme called Wellcomm. Wellcomm is a speech and language toolkit that is designed to assess children’s speech and language skills. Not how they talk but the language they use and the language and grammar they understand. This assessment allows us to assess, plan and track to ensure we meet the Language skills of all children in our EYFS.
For some children Speech and Language Therapist referrals are made and we support parents/carers with this process.
Children are also given the opportunity to develop their Oracy skills through Buddy the Bear, Leo the Lion and also the sharing of the Marvellous Me box.
Voice 21
A whole school focus is the development of Oracy and we are trained and use skills, techniques and lessons following the Voice 21 approaches.
Children in both Nursery and Reception have explicit lessons and ongoing visuals in their classrooms to support listening skills, speaking skills and important aspects of being a good communicator.
Children have listening and talk guidelines that are interwoven into all areas of the curriculum. Children take part in lessons where they take part in open ended lessons that values the voice of all children.
Mrs Marshall is the EYFS Voice 21 Champion, please see her if you would like any further information.
At Hendal EYFS your child will have a wide range of exciting and inspiring experiences whilst in our EYFS …
Watch a chick hatch from it’s egg and watch it grow for 2 weeks! The children will care for the chick’s needs and learn responsibility.
Develop entrepreneurial skills and understand the value of money by making crafts and selling them at our Annual Garden Fair.
Take part in exciting, stimulating school trips linked to our topics that include places such as Wakefield One library and Museum and Kirklees Light Railway.
Have amazing experiences such as a farm visiting school for the day and walking an alpaca around the playground!
Become a confident reader through our Floppy’s Phonics Scheme and develop their love of reading in our brand new library!
Enjoy a visit from a real life scientist during British Science Week!
