About Potter Class

In EYFS, children experience the 17 areas of learning through a balance of whole class/group teaching and play based learning.  This is through the children’s interests, themes, continuous provision activities and phonics. Learning is carefully planned by the staff to support early reading, writing, mathematics and language development as well as social skills.

At Sandhurst Primary School we encourage children to demonstrate their attitudes and behaviours to learning through the Characteristics of Effective Learning.  Our curriculum is designed to recognise their prior learning by providing first hand learning experiences and allowing the children to develop interpersonal skills, build resilience and become creative, critical thinkers to enable them to challenge themselves. We ensure the content of the curriculum is taught in a logical progression so that children build on prior learning.

Teachers in EYFS create an environment to match the needs and skill levels of our children and use their own teacher assessments and gap analysis to inform their planning and the quality provision. We recognise that reading is a key to all other learning and ensure quality phonic sessions are being taught daily using the whole school approach of Read Write Inc Phonics with children’s reading books matching their phonic ability as well as reading aloud to the children, telling stories and rhymes.  We encourage parents to read with their child and to recognise the importance of reading to their child on a daily basis to promote an enjoyment and love of reading. We also recognise that children need a vast range of vocabulary in order to succeed in life.

At this stage in a child’s life learning through play is vital, we use the environment to ensure their needs are met through continuous provision, enhanced provision and following their interests.  Formative assessment takes place within every session and helps teachers to identify any children that need more support to achieve the objective and those that need challenging. This may be instantaneous if appropriate. Although EYFS has a separate curriculum we are keen to make sure our children are prepared for the next chapter in their school life. At the end of their EYFS year, the children are assed against the statutory Early Learning Goals as laid out in statutory framework for the early years foundation stage (EYFS). We also use the non-statutory guidance, Development Matters, to help inform our judgement throughout the year.