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Early Years at Ellingham
Early Years at Ellingham
Our approach in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is dedicated to building 'Strong roots for flourishing futures'. We understand that these early years are critical for a child's development and making a difference. We know the best start in the early years gives children every chance of success, setting the foundation for them as lifelong learners. Our goal is to inspire curiosity, foster a love of learning, and encourage awe and wonder in every child.
In the Early Years, children learn through playing and exploring and we build our day to day practice to reflect the children's interest, meeting the key areas of the curriculum while responding to where their curiosity and exploration take them.
The curriculum is statutory and is separated into seven areas of learning and development, three prime - Personal, Social & Emotional Development; Communications and Language; Physical Development - and four specific areas - Literacy; Mathematics; Understanding the World and Expressive Arts & Design. All of these are explained in more detail in the presentation below.
We work really closely with our families to help Ellingham children achieve in these key areas. Our observations and conversations in school help us make assessments and we record our photos, videos and comments on Tapestry, an online app, which is shared with families weekly. The app also enables families to contribute to their child’s journal making the assessment process a shared record.
There are two parent/carers' consultations as well as curriculum briefings and a report at the end of the year. The team are always available to talk at the beginning and end of the day or via their year group email. We know how important communication is and form excellent relationships with our families.
Our Approach
Our Approach
Our teaching is grounded in the EYFS framework and educational research, blending guided learning with child-led discovery. Language is the foundation of children’s thinking and learning, and our pedagogy has a strong focus on communication. High-quality interactions that focus, fathom and follow children’s learning are the cornerstones of our early years.
Playing and Exploring
Children learn best through playing and exploring. Our daily practice is highly flexible and responsive to children's interests. We meet the key areas of the curriculum by building learning around what captures our children's curiosity, ensuring that all learning is meaningful and engaging.
Guided Learning and Direct Teaching
To secure strong skills across the Prime and Specific Areas of Learning, we use targeted, effective programmes:
Communication and Language: Our staff use the ShREC Approach during interactions. This high-quality, purposeful dialogue is structured to share attention, help extend play, rephrase and repeat language, extend vocabulary, and encourage conversational turns, boosting children's speaking and listening skills.
Literacy: We use the systematic phonics programme Sounds Write to teach children how to decode and encode words, providing a robust foundation for reading and writing. We also use Drawing Club to encourage storytelling, creativity, and fine motor development, which prepares children for independent writing.
Mathematics: We implement the Mastering Number programme (NCETM) to build fluency and a deep understanding of number sense within the first 10.
The Enabling Environment
The Enabling Environment
Our environment is integral to our approach, promoting independence and deep engagement:
Free-Flow and Outdoors: We offer seamless, constant free-flow access between our classrooms and our recently renovated outdoor learning space. This allows children to choose the best environment for their learning, supporting everything from gross motor skills (Physical Development) to exploring nature (Understanding the World).
Continuous Provision: Our indoor and outdoor resources are carefully selected and continuously updated based on observations of children's play, ensuring the provision always supports their current needs and emerging interests.
Transition and Progression
Transition and Progression
We ensure every child is equipped and ready for Key Stage 1 (KS1).
EYFS Collaboration: Our Nursery (2, 3, and 4-year-olds) and Reception teams work closely together, sharing planning and assessment to ensure a cohesive curriculum and smooth progression from age two to five.
Ready for KS1: We work with the KS1 team to support the transition to Year 1. This includes sharing detailed developmental data and ensuring Year 1 maintains some practical, exploratory learning in the initial weeks to bridge the gap in teaching styles. We ensure the discrete teaching of skills, like Sounds Write and Mastering Number, gives children the essential knowledge they need to prepare them for the next stage of their education.
Our teaching approach ensures children leave the Early Years with strong, deep roots, ready for a flourishing future.
Our Day
Our Day
Routines
Routines
A typical day:
8:40 Welcome and registration
9:00 Carpet session - phonics
9:30 Free-flow (indoors/outdoors)
10:15 Snack-time with story
10:30 Free-flow (indoors/outdoors)
11:00 Trim trail (gross-motor)
11:45 Lunch time
12:45 Registration
1:00 Carpet session - maths
1:30 Free-flow (indoors/outdoors)
2:15 Tidy up
2:30 Carpet session - wider curriculum
2:45 Story Time
3:05 Home Time
Lunch Time
Lunch Time
All children in Reception are entitled to a free hot lunch which is eaten in the school hall. The Reception lunchtime starts at 11:45 am. During this time, the Reception children have the hall to themselves with staff on hand to help them. After lunch is eaten, the children have time on our wonderful Trim Trail, a separate play area adjoining the main playground. Again, there are dedicated staff on hand to oversee this playtime. This play experience gives the Reception children the opportunity to interact with the wider school community and say hello to friends and family in other year groups.
Learning through play
Learning through play
Throughout the morning and afternoon sessions, children have plenty of opportunities to explore their learning through self-directed play and discovery. We are lucky to have an engaging and exciting outdoor learning space and children are free to choose whether to play and discover indoors or outdoors.
There are three short 5 to 10 minute carpet sessions throughout the day when teachers share a learning concept with the children. These learning sessions may introduce a new sound (phonics), explore a number concept, bring a story to life and look closely at the world around us.
Resources are available to develop all areas of the curriculum and are adapted to follow the interest of the children, whilst offering challenge and encouraging the children to follow their own enquiries and interests.
Fruit and water is available for the children throughout the day and children are encouraged to develop their independence by selecting this themselves, but staff are always available to lend a helping hand!
Once a week, the children have a P.E. session in the school hall, led by their class teacher.
Reading books and library books go home on a daily basis, as learning to read is very much a partnership that we share with parents.
Sounds Write app
Sounds Write app
The Sounds Write app offers games and learning activities to do at home and is available to download for free here.
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