Early Years Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception)

At Inglehurst Infants, The Foundation Stage aim to give children a positive start to school, recognising and valuing each child and the diverse experiences they bring with them. We take time to get to know the children as they start school and assess their learning needs and interests to help plan a rich, ambitious curriculum to challenge, extend and inspire and ensure children can fulfil their potential. We work closely with families to understand the needs of their children to support them with their child’s development, academically, socially and emotionally both at home and at school. Our staff have a nurturing approach and we work hard to ensure children are happy. Staff have high expectations of behaviour and promote positive attitudes to learning. We use a topic approach to teach the EYFS curriculum which supports learning, widens vocabulary, consolidates and deepens knowledge and ensures children meet their next steps. Opportunities to promote and extend vocabulary are interwoven throughout all of our provision from whole class sessions, guided groups to the children’s play activities.   Our priority is to develop children’s spoken language and listening skills.  

Our curriculum and learning environment, both indoors and outdoors supports children's learning through directed tasks, play and exploration.  We believe play is a crucial part in supporting children’s learning during the Foundation Stage.  Our provision:

• Helps children to develop confidence, resilience and independence.
• Teaches children appropriate behaviour for learning through clear routines, high expectations and support. They learn to co-operate and share with each other.
• Enables children to develop their creativity and imagination. 
• Provides opportunities for lots of talk, discussion and to collaborate with their peers.
• Includes planned activities that engage, interest and challenge children, building a range of skills and knowledge they need to succeed.
• Extends children’s learning through staff encouraging discussion, the use of full sentences, introducing new vocabulary and modelling skills and play.
• Has a strong focus on the development of physical skills to develop both fine motor and gross motor skills, which support children’s early writing development.
• Develops children’s mathematical understanding to a deeper level using a mastery approach through practical activities to promote key skills such as problem solving, reasoning and fluency.  
• Instils a love of stories and reading in the children through the use of books and storytelling.

Books play an essential role in our curriculum, providing opportunities to share, listen and re-tell stories and as a focus to promote vocabulary and broaden experiences. We teach phonics daily, using a consistent and structured approach and give extra support to children if it is needed. By the end of the Foundation Stage, we want children to be able to read and write sentences and enjoy writing.

Our children leave the Foundation Stage prepared for year 1 and ready to continue their learning journey as happy, healthy confident learners.