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Werneth Primary School

Early Years Foundation

Early Years Foundation

In the Foundation Stage we follow the EYFS (Early Years and Foundation Stage) curriculum, encouraging the children to be active and independent learners.

At Werneth Primary School we aim to provide the highest quality care and education for all our children thereby giving them a strong foundation for their future learning. We create a safe and happy environment with motivating and enjoyable learning experiences that enable children to become confident and independent. We value the individual child and work alongside parents and others to meet their needs and help every child to reach their full potential.

Please click the link to read our Early Years Foundation Stage Policy

The curriculum

The curriculum has been designed and sequenced to meet the needs of Werneth Primary School learners. The curriculum reflects the knowledge and experiences of the majority of learners on entry, with a focus on prime areas in the Autumn term and topics that are familiar to children and/or linked to likely shared experiences. As the year progresses, the focus moves onto developing knowledge and skills in the specific areas, with some units designed to expose children to knowledge and experiences that most children have not had on entry to EYFS. This approach supports children to make excellent progress in acquiring the vocabulary, knowledge and communication skills to access the Year 1 curriculum.

The curriculum is enriched with experiences that children may not have had. These experiences are closely linked with the curriculum and act as stimuli for children to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world and be motivated to communicate their knowledge verbally and in writing. These memorable experiences include trips to the zoo/aquarium; experiences with farmyard animals; visits to places of worship; visits from people who help us; observing animal growth and change; and other hands-on learning.

Please click on the links below to see the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum

Nursery curriculum synopsis

Reception curriculum synopsis

Parents can also look at how the curriculum links to EYFS (Development Matters) objectives below

Nursery curriculum topics and enrichment links to Development Matters

Reception curriculum topics and enrichment links to Development Matters

At Werneth Primary School, we place a great emphasis on developing children’s early reading skills and expanding our children’s vocabulary.

Early Reading

In EYFS, books, rhymes and songs have been selected specifically to help children to develop their enjoyment of books; to reinforce knowledge across the EYFS curriculum; and to help children to acquire, develop and use new vocabulary (see Literature offer below for full details)

Nursery shared reading book list

Reception shared reading book list

Children learn how to read through Phonics and use the Twinkl Phonic SSP. Children have daily Phonics lessons and we send books home that are very closely linked to each individual child’s Phonics knowledge. The expectation is that parents share these books with children every day to develop our children’s knowledge and reading fluency.

Click on the link below for videos, parent guides and resources so that you know how to support Phonics teaching at home. Phonics and Reading (Our Curriculum - Curriculum menu tab)

Children also have shared reading sessions. Shared Reading is a pre-planned teacher led session that is a whole class collaborative reading approach with a rich, challenging text. Reading strategies are modelled and scaffolded to a specific reading skill, with emphasis on comprehension through speaking and listening activities. These sessions provide opportunities to extend and understand new vocabulary (click on the link below for the book choice rationale). Although phonics may be referred to, decoding is not the focus of the session.

EYFS book choice rationale

Vocabulary acquisition and development

These books, rhymes and songs- chosen to help children to acquire, develop and use new vocabulary- are used alongside detailed vocabulary maps (below) to ensure that children are systematically exposed to new vocabulary.

Teachers also develop ‘5 key words’- introduced and incorporated into teaching and provision- based on identified gaps in children’s vocabulary and/or children’s interests. This more responsive approach enables teachers to adapt the teaching of vocabulary to meet the needs of individual children and/or cohorts.

EYFS language development progression linked to books and topics

How can I get my child ready for EYFS?

  • Visit our EYFS- come to the open events and special events to help your child to get used to what school looks like and help them to know what they will do in school. 
  • Talk to your child about Nursery and Reception and how much fun they will have
  • Make sure your child can open their lunchbox themselves or use cutlery confidently
  • Practise getting undressed and dressed again- this includes taking their shoes off and putting them back on; fastening up their coat without any help; and putting on their uniform without any help.
  • Share books with your child – why not visit the library to find books about school?
  • Help your child practise writing and recognising their name
  • Label all your child’s belongings with their name