Hope Brook C of E Primary School

Owls class is an EYFS unit with children aged 3 - 5, including pre-school children aged 3+ and reception children. It is led by Mrs Vicky Stanton and assisted by Mrs Tracey Davis and Mrs Mary Croudace.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (EYFS) sets out the learning and development stages for children as they grow from birth to five years. Children develop more rapidly in the first five years of their lives than at any other time. For those working in the early years (whether as a child minder, or in a nursery, preschool or reception class in school), the Early Years Foundation Stage framework outlines what practitioners need to do to support your child. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) has its own stand-alone curriculum for Pre-School  and Reception children in primary settings. 

Early Years Foundation Stage  Framework 2021

The EYFS curriculum is split into Prime and Specific areas.  The prime areas are important because they lay the foundations for children’s success in all other areas of learning and of life.  The specific areas provide the range of experiences and opportunities for children to broaden their knowledge and skills:

The Prime Areas of learning are:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development;

• Communication and Language;

• Physical Development.

The Specific Areas of learning are:

• Literacy;

• Mathematics;

• Understanding the World;

• Expressive Arts and Design.

Phonics Scheme

We use Unlocking Letters and Sounds which was validated by the DfE in December 2021.

We begin teaching phonics in the first few weeks of term 1 in Reception and children make rapid progress in their reading journey. Children begin to learn the main sounds heard in the English Language and how they can be represented, as well as learning ‘Common Exception’ words for Phases 2, 3 and 4. They use these sounds to read and write simple words, captions and sentences. Children leave Reception being able to apply the phonemes taught within Phase 2, 3 and 4.

Link to Phase 2 ‘Actions, Images and Letter Formation’ document below.

In Year 1 through Phase 5a, b and c, they learn any alternative spellings and pronunciations for the graphemes and additional Common Exception Words. By the end of Year 1 children will have mastered using phonics to decode and blend when reading and segment when spelling. In Year 1 all children are screened using the national Phonics Screening Check.

In Year 2, phonics continues to be revisited to ensure mastery of the phonetic code and any child who does not meet age related expectations will continue to receive support to close identified gaps.

For further details please see the Unlocking Letters and Sounds progression: Link to ‘Overview Progression’ below.

To ensure no child is left behind at any point in the progression, children are regularly assessed and supported to keep up through bespoke 1-1 interventions. These include GPC recognition and blending and segmenting interventions. The lowest attaining 20% of pupils are closely monitored to ensure these interventions have an impact.