Early Years Foundation Stage
We value and celebrate the children for who they are. Our learning is inclusive, and we understand that each child is unique. We are able to tailor learning to individuals to ensure all children succeed and make good progress from their starting points.
We have a dedicated High Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) who works with our Reception children to maintain continuity and development. The HLTA works closely with the Early Years Lead to plan activities which support our children’s development by following their interests and providing a broad, balanced and stimulating curriculum.
We believe in creating a good balance between child-initiated and adult-led activities, ensuring our ethos of ‘learning through play’ is always maintained.
At various times in our daily routine the HLTA is able to have dedicated quiet time with the children in small focus groups or on a 1:1 basis to discuss interests and assess learning needs. Through quality interactions between children and adults in the setting, we can plan for next steps and exciting opportunities to engage the children in their learning. Some interests only last for a few days, but others may last over a 3–4 week period.
The EYFS principles and commitments are the roots of everything we do. We make conscious decisions to plan adult-led targeted learning opportunities to ensure children receive a broad, balanced and stimulating curriculum. Planning is more prescriptive in the morning sessions but can often be retrospective for the afternoon sessions when children have more opportunities to ‘shape their own learning’.
At Hackthorn we follow the statutory Early Years Framework, but we have adopted the ‘Birth to Five Matters’ as our non-statutory guidance.
