EYFS Unit

 Our provision 

We have 2 mixed age (F1 and F2) classes in our unit - Stars and Rainbows. 

Our Early Years is a unit with children from 3-5 years old accessing our inspiring learning environment which consists of 6 learning zones:

-The Imagination Station (writing, reading, phonics. a stage, music)

-The Creative Corner (arts and crafts, junk modelling, mark making on a bigger scale)

-STEM space ( science, technology, engineering and maths exploration)

-Builder's Yard (big scale construction, mud kitchen area, water and sand play)

-Active Area (outdoor area for climbing, running, throwing, catching, planting)

-Sensory Space (Play-Doh, sand, water, loose parts) 

Our learning environment follows the Curiosity Approach and the learning environment is inspired by aspects of the Reggio Emilio and Early Excellence which both encourage the use of natural resources and calming colours. Following aspects of these approaches, the learning environment is intended to be the third teacher and aesthetically pleasing with purposeful, real-life resources, giving the children opportunities to learn and grow in their own way.

Our ethos

Our aim is to support our children to develop into creative, independent learners through meaningful adult interactions, sparking curiosity and inspiring imagination through their play.

Our Curriculum

What we learn and how we learn:

Download the EYFS framework from the DFE here. 

This is the basis of our curriculum, informing us what the children should be learning in Early Years nationally. We have long term plans for the year with themes, topics and book links which we adapt each week according to interests and needs. Most weeks we have a book (fiction and non-fiction) that forms the basis for our reading and writing as well as some of the activities that the children can explore as part of their learning. 

We use a wonderful approach to writing called Drawing Club, created by educationalist Greg Botterill. He believes, "young children need to feel three things when they write and mark make: joy, purpose and magic." Drawing Club brings early writing to life by tapping in to each child's individual ideas and imagination. Children begin by drawing based on the book of the week, making secret codes and as they start to learn their sounds in phonics they begin to annotate the drawings, which leads on to writing in more detail. Find out more here: 

https://www.canigoandplaynow.com/

The children in F2 are given weekly challenges to ensure they access all 6 areas of the unit with the support of high quality adult-led interactions we can ensure the children are developing as independent and curios learners.

We also refer to Development Matters, a document produced by the DfE to guide practitioners about how to help our children meet their developmental needs according to the EYFS Framework. 

Our Planning

Attached below is an example of our medium term plan which shows how we map out each area of learning across F1 and F2 based on our long term plans and using Development Matters as a guide. We then use this as a basis for our weekly planning which is flexible and often changes in the moment as per the childrens' interests. needs and any gaps in development identified in our formative assessment. 

Our assessment of your child's learning

How do we measure progress?

Have you ever wondered how we know our children are making progress in Early Years?

This document is a really useful visual to show progression in areas such as mark making (early writing).

Riverside Progression EYFS.pdf

We track each child against the 17 areas of learning every half term which feeds into our curriculum planning. We talk about the children as a team in weekly planning meetings and share WOW moments with parents via ClassDojo, the online journal. 

Children are assessed in phonics every 5/6 weeks and this then enables us to deliver interventions to support those children who are not on track and need some additional support. We report the phonics results to parents every term. 

Our Staff

There are 12 staff who work in the unit at various times during the week. Staff in the team are highly skilled and experience to meet the needs of all our children. Our role is to offer the children the best opportunities to develop and make progress at their own pace by ensuring we offer high quality interactions as part of our exploring in the unit every day.

Children with any additional needs are given additional support to ensure we can meet their specific needs. This includes speech and language interventions, physical development support, communication and interaction development through wellbeing sessions and support from NYCC SEND teams for more specific needs. If you want to find out more about how we can support your child, contact our Inclusion Manager via the school office schooloffice@rs.starmat.uk .

Our open door policy

Visits and Stay and Play sessions

We welcome visits into our EYFS Unit. Contact the school office to arrange a tour: call 01937 832899 or email schooloffice@rs.starmat.uk

We will also be opening our doors for stay and play sessions every half term. 

The dates for 2024/2025 are:

Nursery admissions form and other key documents: