POLICY FOR EARLY YEARS

Transcription

1 POLICY FOR EARLY YEARS In accordance with our Mission Statement children at St Charles Borromeo Catholic Primary School have a right to high quality learning experiences and high quality care. We should seek to develop and encourage potential to the full, starting from the point which each child has reached on entry. AIMS St Charles Early Years department aims to give every child access to a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum which meets their spiritual, emotional, physical and cognitive needs. This is achieved through providing opportunities for children to develop in a range of areas of learning and experience. St Charles Nursery and Reception Classes follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum which sets out what is expected of most children by the end of the Foundation Stage. It is organised into seven areas of learning, three prime areas, which support development in all other areas as follows: Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language, Physical Development and four specific areas of essential skills, as follows: Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World, and Expressive Arts and Design. OBJECTIVES Within the seven areas of learning, each child will have an opportunity to experience a range of skills through both indoor and outdoor activities in order to promote the intellectual, emotional, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. We meet the learning needs of all our children through: Planning opportunities that build upon and extend children s knowledge and interests, and develop their self-esteem and confidence; Using a wide range of teaching strategies based on children s learning needs; Providing a wide range of opportunities to motivate and support children and help them to learn effectively Providing a safe and supportive learning environment Using resources which reflect diversity and are free from discrimination and stereotyping Page 1 of 6

2 Monitoring children s progress and taking action to provide support as necessary. At the end of the Foundation stage the following are desirable outcomes: Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Children play co-operatively with others; they take into account others ideas in activities; they show sensitivity to others needs and feelings and form positive relationships with adults and children; they are confident to try new activities and to speak in a familiar group, will talk about their ideas and will choose the resources they need; they will say when they do or don t need help; they talk about behaviour and know that some behaviour is unacceptable; they work as part of a group or class and follow rules; they take changes of routine in their stride. Communication and Language Children listen attentively in a range of situations; they listen to stories, anticipating key events and respond to what they hear with relevant comments, questions or actions; they give their attention to what others say and respond appropriately, sometimes whilst engaged in another activity; they follow instructions involving several ideas or questions; they answer how and why questions about their experiences and in response to stories or events. they express themselves effectively showing awareness of listeners needs; they use past, present and future forms accurately; they develop their own narratives and explanations by connecting ideas or events. Physical Development Children show good control and co-ordination in large and small movements; they move confidently in a range of ways, negotiating space; they handle tools appropriately, including pencils for writing; children recognise the importance of keeping healthy and those things which contribute to this; they know the importance for good health of physical exercise and a healthy diet and talk about ways to keep healthy and safe; Page 2 of 6

3 they manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs successfully, including dressing and going to the toilet independently. Literacy Children read and understand simple sentences; they use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately; they also read some common irregular words; they demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they read; they use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways that match their spoken sounds; they also write some irregular common words; they write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others; some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible. Mathematics These outcomes cover important aspects of mathematical understanding and provide the foundation for numeracy. They focus on achievement through practical activities and use mathematical knowledge to solve simple practical problems. Children count reliably with numbers from one to 20, place them in order and say which number is one more or one less that a given number; they add and subtract two single-digit numbers and count on or back to find the answer; they solve problems, including doubling, halving and sharing; Children use everyday language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects and to solve problems; they recognise, create and describe patterns; they explore characteristics of everyday objects and shapes and use mathematical language to describe them. Understanding the World This area focuses on children s developing knowledge and understanding of their environment, other people and features of the natural world. It provides a foundation for historical, geographical, scientific and technological learning. Children talk about past and present events in their own lives and the lives of family members; they know that other children don t always enjoy the same things and are sensitive to this; they know about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families communities and traditions; Page 3 of 6

4 they know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things; they talk about features of their own immediate environment and how environments might vary; they make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur and talk about changes; they recognise that a range of technology is used in places such as homes and schools and they select and use technology for different purposes. Expressive Arts and Design This area of the Early Years Curriculum focuses on the development of children s imagination and their ability to communicate and to express ideas and feelings in creative ways. Children sing songs, make music and dance and experiment with ways of changing them; they safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function; they use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about uses and purposes; They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role play and stories. INDOOR AND OUTDOOR PLAY Well planned play, both indoors and outdoors, is key to how young children learn. The outdoor learning environment should mirror and complement the indoor environment thus providing an essential extension for cross curricular learning. Through play our children explore, develop learning experiences and have fun. This helps them make sense of the world around them. They practise and build up ideas, communicate with others as they investigate and solve problems. Young children experience the curriculum through play and there must be an appropriate balance between the types of play. Water play Sand play Creative play Construction play 3D play Physical play Page 4 of 6

5 SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS In our school we believe that every child matters and we create opportunities for them to achieve their best. Children with S.E.N. are identified and referred to the SENCO. Practitioners and the SENCO plan for the individual learning needs of those children who need additional support using Individual Educational Plans (I.E.P.s) External agencies are involved where necessary to observe and assess children with special educational needs. The Early Years programme is differentiated to meet the needs of the individual child (see S.E.N. Policy). ASSESSMENT AND RECORDING This is an integral part of planning and evaluation with the Early Years. The assessment is made on the basis of accumulated observations and knowledge of the whole child eg. His/her experiences, attitudes, interests and skills acquired. The evidence for assessment is taken from a range of sources including: observations of children; photographic evidence, talking to parents and carers. assessing the work children produce. PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS / CARERS We believe that parents/carers have a very important role to play in the education of their child. Therefore, we aim to work in partnership with parents/carers in order to provide support and information about their child s learning and development. We do this by: Organising an information evening during which the parents can obtain information about the Foundation Stage, the organisation of the learning environment, meet the teachers and ask questions Sending out information booklets to parents before their child is due to start school Enabling the children and parents to have an opportunity to spend time with their teacher before starting the school (induction period) Encouraging parents/carers to talk to their child s teacher if there are any concerns Holding formal meetings for parents/carers in the Autumn and Spring Term at which the teacher and parents/carers discuss the child s progress Providing a written report on each child s progress at the end of the school year Offering a range of activities that support the involvement of parents/carers Page 5 of 6

6 Communicating via school newsletters and information about the curriculum included on the Parents Information Board HEALTH AND SAFETY Health and Safety issues are of paramount importance in the Early Years. Staff, parents/carers and children are aware of the importance of following the every day routines and instructions regarding Health and Safety (see Health and Safety Policy). It would be beneficial to your child if they are toilet trained before they join the nursery, unless there is a specific special educational need or if the child is registered disabled. Parents/carers may be asked to assist in the changing of their child, if they have soiled themselves. Page 6 of 6