EYFS

The Areas of Teaching and Learning

Learning and development is categorised into seven equal and interconnected areas of learning. The three prime areas of learning are crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. The 3 prime areas are:

● Communication and language - Listening, attention and understanding - Speaking

● Physical development - Gross motor skills - Fine motor skills

● Personal, social and emotional development - Self-regulation - Managing self - Building relationships

The prime areas are strengthened and applied through four specific areas:

● Literacy - Comprehension - Word reading - Writing

● Mathematics - Numbers - Numerical patterns

● Understanding the world - Past and present - People, culture and communities - The natural world

● Expressive arts and design - Creating with materials - Being imaginative and expressive

We recognise that teaching can take place at all times of the day through directed teaching sessions, through times of play and inside and outside the classroom. We encourage all of these. We strive to make our environments irresistible to children and encourage our staff and volunteers to seize every opportunity for teaching. Weekly and daily planning formalise this and aim to ensure a balance of formal and informal learning. 

The Characteristics of Effective Learning

We uphold the view that learning is underpinned by the characteristics of effective learning. In planning and guiding children’s activities, practitioners must reflect on the different ways that children learn and reflect these in their practice. The 3 characteristics of effective teaching and learning are:

• playing and exploring - children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’;

• active learning - children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements;  

• creating and thinking critically - children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.

All of these areas interlink throughout the curriculum and adults make the most of opportunities to interact with children to develop their playing, thinking and learning. 

Early Language, Reading and Mathematics

At Pilgrims’ Way, we provide a language-rich environment in which high quality talk is valued and encouraged. All staff model good communication skills in their interactions with children and each other. For early phonics teaching, the school follows the Twinkl Phonics scheme to ensure that we are effective in teaching children to be successful early readers. Pre-school focuses on the skills and knowledge required for Level 1 phonics and then teaching of letter sounds begins with Level 2 in Year R. Home reading materials ensure that the children are given reading books that reflect their phonic knowledge, so phonics is the only strategy used for decoding.

This sits alongside the development of children’s speaking, listening and language skills which are crucial for developing children’s comprehension and vocabulary, with a specific focus on closing the vocabulary gap for children starting school with less experience of a language rich environment. 

Maths is taught through a range of experiences including counting as part of the daily routine; discreet teaching with follow up group activities and play based opportunities and experiences through the learning environment. We use a combination of NCETM Mastering Number and White Rose Maths, which ensures progression and coverage throughout the year.