At Calverton, the school’s aim for our youngest learners is to nurture, motivate and inspire them whilst challenging them to be courageous and open to new opportunities in their learning. We strive to ensure each child and every family are welcomed, heard and truly respected, a place to embark on new social connections as well as a place to be happy.

We are a maintained provision with highly committed staff. In line with the whole school, we place a love of books and storytelling at the heart of our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum as well as the ability to experience rich, real life mathematical experiences both indoors and out. We believe in a balance of play, direct teaching and guided experiences, seeing a merger of all three modes as the building blocks for new learning, recognising that without these firm foundations, a child’s life chances can be restricted. There is a Bold Beginning’s approach implemented into our (EYFS), a robust, early educational foundation is paramount for later success. All too often, the Reception year can sometimes be a missed opportunity which can leave learners exposed to falling behind their peers. Our philosophy is to simply meet the ELGs at the end of the Reception year at Calverton is insufficient preparation for pupils’ learning in Year 1. We are ambitious for our little learners and always aim high.

The early years’ practitioners assess the learners as they enter the provision both meticulously and carefully. They are trained to draw on a wide range of evidence and information about each child, collected from a variety of sources, including firstly parents and relatives, former private, voluntary or independent organisations your child may have attended or healthcare professionals where necessary. Our aim is to ensure that, as far as is possible, children and their families receive the support that they need.

Where early intervention is required, staff are trained to identify, assess and deliver communication programmes such as ‘Box Clever’, ‘Bucket’ group sessions or fine motor programmes such as ‘Funky Fingers’. Staff get to know the children and their families well and, as a result, plan carefully for each child’s needs.

Children blossom from their various starting points; on entry, the experienced staff quickly assess the requirements of all pupils and ensure children any are exposed to appropriate learning opportunities both indoors and out, covering all the areas of the curriculum.

The nursery provision is highly effective and prepares children well for Reception. Children enter the nursery with skills and knowledge that is typically below that expected of their age. The acquisition of language and its use in communication is a high priority in the provision. Talk partners are integral to our approach during carpet sessions as well as a core book approach in the nursery where children are exposed to a book over a two-week period, and encouraged to converse about aspects such as characterisation, setting and sequenced storytelling. In the second week, more in depth thinking and questioning is applied as a more dialogic style in our reading approach occurs when the children are ready to investigate the story with more intensity. As a result of their nursery learning in the setting, many of those attending the schools’ nursery are well placed to make strong progress in Reception.

The use of the Reception Baseline Assessment is highly impactful as we can complete a bespoke analysis of each child. In reception classes, the timetable is arranged to incorporate the discrete teaching of systematic phonics, English and Maths in the morning, with the wider curriculum and independent learning being explored during the afternoon. There is a balance of direct teaching, small group work, partner work and play each day. Children have an exercise book for all three sessions and the expectation is for learners to write a simple sentence by the end of Yr1. Effective questioning is used by all practitioners well to encourage and extend children’s vocabulary and confidence with words. By the end of their time in Reception, most pupils are expected to write a simple sentence.

Staff have developed a stimulating and safe learning environment which provides a wide range of interesting learning activities and experiences, equipping pupils to meet challenges and become resilient. The indoor and outdoor environment is inspiring and uncluttered.

Effective regular communication with parents and carers in Reception and Nursery is further enabled using the Tapestry platform. This ‘online learning journey’ is used via an electronic device to document learning observations in the setting or at home, about children.  Parents can also upload their own observations outside of the school for staff to observe and add to their online journal which can be collated at the end of the academic year.  Since being introduced Tapestry journal has proven extremely popular with parents.