Early Years at Broadlands
Snapshot into the Learning in EYFS
The EYFS at Broadlands Primary School consists of our 2 and 3-year-old place Nursery and single-form Reception Class.
Take a look at our carefully planned enabling environment supporting a child-led practise, bringing together skilfully planned adult-directed sessions, to support the best approach to meeting the needs and interests of our children.
At Broadlands Primary School we place great value on the development of children as individuals and providing them with the skills, knowledge and understanding they need to prepare them for the challenges in key stage one and beyond, supporting life long learners that are successful in all avenues of their future.
Our Approach to Learning
At Broadlands, Early Years children are at the centre of the approach. We believe children learn best when they are interested, curious and engaged, which at this age and stage of development is best achieved through play. When children are playing and selecting what to do themselves, they become deeply engaged. In our setting, the adults are observing and waiting for a moment in which they feel they can make a difference. They interact to teach the next steps as appropriate to that individual child. Each time the adults interact with a child, they are observing, assessing and planning for and responding to that individual child. These interactions are the powerful teaching moments.
In this approach, an enabling environment is critical. The environment created promotes free choice for children to decide upon where they would like to engage. No activities are set up for children to do, instead enhancements are added to an area of learning to spark curiosity and deepen thinking skills. To ensure children are happy, active and interested in the challenge of learning, it is crucial to promote curiosity, independence and a keen attitude to learn in this manner. When self-selecting play and following through young children’s ideas, it comes with an amount of trial and error, but this only builds an ability to become resistant to failure. This is best met when children can choose whether they would like to play inside or outside. Children are supported to explore all areas of the environment to see what is available, to select the resources they would like, to use them appropriately and to respect where they belong.
The timetable for a Nursery and Reception Day has been designed to allow long period of uninterrupted play which is referred to as ‘free flow’ and staff will be available to complete the assessment cycle of observing, assessing and planning to take learning to the next level.
As children come to the end of their Early Years journey, they are attending to more adult directed sessions which are planned following the detailed curriculum which has been designed for Nursery and Reception, considering the skills and knowledge we want children to know, to do more and remember more. Each day their are phonics and maths skills taught, in Nursery and Reception.