Early Years

Reception

Our Early Years provision offers an exciting and engaging curriculum where children have opportunities to explore and develop their skills both inside the classroom and in our outdoor learning environment.  We use the environment to ensure their needs are met through our learning and discovery provision, enhanced provision and by following their interests.  By spending quality time playing with the children, we develop positive relationships which enable the children to flourish in a safe and nurturing environment.  We want children to embark on their journey of becoming learners for life and it is vital for us to enable children to be happy and excited learners who take risks and are not afraid to try new things. We will support children to develop their independence so they are able to take charge of their own learning and feel valued throughout their journey with us. 

Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) engage in 3 prime areas of learning and 4 specific areas of learning, building on what they already know and can do.  We use the Birth to Five Matters guidance to support children’s progress towards all of the statutory EYFS Early Learning Goals.  This non-statutory guidance material supports practitioners in implementing the statutory requirements of the EYFS.   The Characteristics of Effective Learning and the prime and specific areas of Learning and Development are all interconnected.  The Characteristics of Effective Learning focus on Playing and Exploring: Engagement; Active Learning: Motivation; and Thinking Creatively and Critically: Thinking.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

We aim to give all children the very best opportunities to develop a sense of identity in a secure and safe environment.  Children are encouraged to take measured risks and become problem solvers, as well as learning the skills to work independently and as an effective team player.  All adults lead by example, respecting one another, valuing different views and establishing relationships. We enable the children to develop a positive attitude to learning - making it irresistible.

Communication and Language

Effective communication is central to every child’s education. We enable children to express their views, needs and feelings by interacting with others.   We offer a wealth of opportunities to enable children to speak and listen effectively through first hand experiences on a daily basis.

Physical Development

We promote healthy eating and the importance of having a healthy mind and body.  Children are given opportunities to develop their physical skills in the form of gross and fine motor skills.  These skills include co-ordination, control, manipulation and movement: we encourage learning to take place both inside and outside.  We also provide “Funky Finger” challenges which are designed to support co-ordination and enable children to develop their handwriting skills early on.

Literacy

We believe that having an enjoyment of stories is fundamental to learning and we therefore provide lots of opportunities to engage with a range of stories from all over the world.  We provide a wealth of opportunities to engage with texts, fiction and nonfiction, teaching early reading skills and providing a range of writing opportunities for children to learn how to express themselves in writing for a range of purposes and audiences.

Mathematics

Mathematics is an important part of learning for all children in the early years and receiving a good grounding in maths is an essential life skill. As well as numeracy, it helps skills such as problem solving, understanding and using shapes and measure and developing their own spatial awareness.  There are six key areas of early mathematics learning, which collectively provide a platform for everything our pupils will encounter as they progress through their maths learning at Cedar Children’s Academy.  The 6 key areas are: cardinality and counting, comparison, composition, pattern, space and shape and measures.  We encourage children to be able to think about their findings to ensure that children have concrete understanding of key concepts.  Our teaching of mathematics is practical and linked to real life experiences.

Understanding the World

Understanding the World is made up of 3 aspects: People and Communities, The World and Technology.  Our curriculum encourages children to talk about past and present events in their own lives and the lives of family members. Children learn about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and between families, communities and traditions.  We learn about British values such as democracy, the importance of having rules, mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith.

Expressive Arts and Design

Expressive Arts and Design in early years covers the development of children's artistic and cultural awareness supporting their imagination and creativity.  We encourage children to use imaginative play, art, dance and music as well as role playing to express themselves and extend their understanding of the world.  Children are also encouraged to be creative using a wide range of activities, materials and media.

Phonics

We make a strong start teaching phonics in early years and your child will progress in their learning from daily taught phonics sessions. They will review and revise their Speed Sounds, Green Words and Red Words (words that cannot always be sounded out) in order to move this knowledge into their long-term memory.

In Reception, we begin RWI by learning a new sound each day.  We use pure sounds so that your child will be able to blend the sounds into words more easily and they are supported by the use of letter-sound pictures.  Set 1 sounds are taught in the following order: m a s d t, i n p g o, c k u b, f e l h sh, r j v y w, th z ch qu x ng nk.  Once your child has learnt the first 5 sounds, we teach them to blend them. When we say words in pure sounds, we call it ‘Fred Talk’. E.g. p-a-n, c-l-a-p.

Once your child knows all Set 1 sounds by sight and sound and uses them to blend to read words, we start teaching Set 2 initially and then Set 3 long vowel sounds. Your child will need to learn that most vowel sounds have more than one spelling.

Alongside the sounds that are taught, Green and Red words are also introduced.  ‘Green words’ are words which your child will be able to ‘go ahead’ and read as they are made up of the speed sounds that they will have already learnt.  Red words are words which cannot be sounded out. 

Reading

At the start of the academic year, all children in reception will take home a wordless reading book every week, which will develop their essential early language skills.  By sharing wordless books with your child, it provides an opportunity for literacy-rich conversations, allowing your child to speak and create their own story, sparking their imagination and fostering a love of reading.    Once your child has learnt a range of Set 1 Speed Sounds, they will receive a reading book which is aligned with their reading level.  Children are encouraged to use their phonic skills to segment, blend and read the words and show an understanding of the story.  In addition to this, children will also be issued with a book from our library once a week which the children get to choose themselves. 

Tapestry

Tapestry is a secure online account which we use in our early years setting to share a child’s learning journey with their family members.  We update children’s account weekly showing the progress that they are making and to share “wow” moments taken during their time with us.  We encourage parents and carers to comment and upload achievements too, creating a strong link between home and school.  In addition to Tapestry being our main form of communication, we also use Tapestry to upload home learning activities on a weekly basis.  This allows parents and carers to be a part of their child’s learning process and consolidate their taught knowledge and skills. 

As well as the academic homework, including daily reading that the children complete, we want to encourage and celebrate the children’s creative side. The children are encouraged to use their thinking hats to create a piece of home learning through optional projects which link in with our topic or termly themes. 

Websites to support your child:

Games, Stories, Activities ideas http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies

Songs and Short Stories http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/

Online Educational Games http://www.crickweb.co.uk/Early-Years.html

Top Marks Learning Games: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ 

Handwriting Support: https://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/writingRepeater/

Maths Games: https://nrich.maths.org/early-years 

Early Years Activities: https://abcdoes.com/