Welcome to EYFS at Captain Cook Primary School

EYFS Lead: Mrs McNeal

Our Nursery staff are: Mrs Russell, Mrs Scott & Mrs Tullock, Miss Hodgekiss, Mrs Streeton and Mrs Docherty.

Our Reception staff are: Mrs McNeal, Mrs Lupton & Mrs Sample, Miss Leach, Mrs Lane and Mrs Docherty.

We know that the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is crucial in securing strong foundations for lifelong learning. Children develop more rapidly from birth to five than at any other time, and high-quality early experiences have a lasting impact on future learning, wellbeing, and life chances. A safe, secure, and happy childhood is important, and underpins all that we do.

It is our intent that, once children enter our EYFS, they develop physically, verbally, cognitively, and emotionally, while building confidence, independence, and a positive attitude to learning. We value every child as a unique individual and are committed to inclusion, equality, and high expectations for all. By understanding children’s starting points, interests, and needs, we design a flexible and ambitious EYFS curriculum that supports all children to make strong progress from their individual starting points, including for children with SEND.

Our Curriculum

Our curriculum is broad, balanced, and carefully sequenced to support progression in knowledge, skills, and understanding. It is designed to develop key life skills, curiosity, resilience, and a love of learning. We provide a language-rich, stimulating, and enabling environment, supported by high-quality continuous provision that allows children to revisit, practise, and deepen their learning over time.

The EYFS focuses on both what children learn and how they learn. Effective practice includes a balance of child-initiated play, adult modelling, observation of peers, and focused adult-guided learning. We follow the EYFS statutory framework to ensure children feel safe, supported, and challenged, enabling them to build confidence and independence as learners.

As part of our EYFS framework, we regularly reflect on our practice to ensure a high-quality experience in EY. This is shaped by our Trust values, professional knowledge, and shared understanding of best practice, alongside a clear alignment with the core principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

These principles are:

• Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident, and self-assured.
• Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.
• Children learn and develop well in enabling environments that respond to individual needs and promote strong partnerships between practitioners and parents and/or carers.
• Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates.

. We fully embed the three characteristics of effective teaching and learning:

• Playing and exploring – children investigate, explore new experiences, and learn through first-hand experiences.
• Active learning – children focus, persevere, and develop confidence through achieving their goals.
• Creating and thinking critically – children develop their own ideas, make connections, and solve problems.

There are seven areas of learning and development, all are important and inter-connected.  Three prime areas are particularly important for learning and forming relationships. They build a foundation for children to thrive and provide the basis for learning in all areas:

• Communication and language  
• Physical development 
• Personal, social and emotional development  

Four specific areas help strengthen and develop the three prime areas, these are:  

• Literacy  
• Mathematics  
• Understanding the world  
• Expressive arts and design 

Communication and language underpin all areas of learning. Our provision is rich in stories, conversation, and purposeful talk, ensuring children develop strong listening, understanding, and speaking skills. High-quality texts are used to support vocabulary development, comprehension, and a love of reading. We use the SHREC approach within our continuous provision to ensure learning is shared, hands-on, relevant, engaging, and challenging, enabling children to deepen understanding, revisit skills, and make meaningful progress through purposeful play.

Positive, Effective Partnerships.

We recognise that parents and carers are a child’s first and most important educators. Strong, respectful partnerships between staff, families, and the wider community are central to our practice. We work closely with our own wraparound care, private childcare providers, the school nursing team, speech and language therapists, and other external professionals to ensure children receive timely and appropriate support.

Parents and carers are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s learning both at home and in school. We value families’ knowledge of their children and work collaboratively to support every child to achieve their best.

We use Class Dojo to share learning experiences, celebrate achievements, and strengthen communication with families. Parents and carers are also encouraged to share learning and experiences from home. We celebrate all successes, big and small, recognising progress in independence, physical development, creativity, and confidence.

We strive to give all of our children the strongest start. When children leave our EYFS they have all made good progress, are confident, happy and ready for their next steps on their learning journey.