EYFS – Mithian School

At Mithian School, we aim to give our children the best possible start as they begin their education in our EYFS class. Our small class size allows staff to have in-depth knowledge of the children, nurture them, and value them as individuals. Our aim is to devote time to building on each child’s individual strengths, and to support them as needed. We provide an exciting, engaging and challenging curriculum, with the intention that children make the best possible progress and are happy as they learn. Mithian School is a small school, with a nurturing, family feel. Staff throughout the school know the children in our EYFS class well. Mithian’s ethos supports an environment where older children are kind and encouraging to the younger ones; this supports their confidence, communication and social skills, and helps them feel a valued part of our school community.

We believe children’s communication skills are key, and therefore we place language development at the centre of all learning. We know this impacts positively not only on children’s confidence and social skills, but on their reading, writing, and progress across the whole curriculum. We also have a proven record of providing consistent, systematic teaching in phonics in order to successfully support early reading and writing. We offer the children a broad and balanced curriculum that follows the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. Children deepen their learning through focused direct teaching and through rich opportunities to learn as they play. Learning takes place both indoors and outdoors, and is linked to themes/ topics that are chosen to reflect the children’s interests and encourage wide coverage of the Seven Areas of Learning and clear knowledge acquisition. We encourage the children’s confidence in themselves as independent learners, as linked to the Characteristics of Effective Learning. Children gain a love for learning as soon as possible which will establish a firm foundation for the next stage of their education. Further details of our curriculum content can be found by clicking the titles below:

Special Me

Special Times

Teddies and Bears

Down to the Sea

Growing in the Sun

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Development Matters- Statements and Early Learning Goals

Development Matters- Guidance

EYFS- Intent, Implementation and Impact

Further engagement

From the start of the September term, the parents receive weekly newsletters via Tapestry which inform them of current teaching focuses, and specific advice for supporting their children (eg new sounds and skills in phonics, key maths vocabulary for the week).
Tapestry is also used by the teacher to inform parents of how they could support their own child more specifically. Parents are encouraged to use Tapestry to ask questions specific to their child’s learning, and to record their own examples to help us gain a more rounded picture of their child’s development.
The children have reading records that go home each day, and can also be used by parents as a communication tool about their child’s reading, or for more generally information sharing.
There is an initial Progress Meeting in October to let parents know how their child has settled into school, feedback about their attitudes towards their learning as well as ideas that parents can do to support their child at home. There is another Progress Meeting in the Spring Term which is more assessment orientated, and finally there is an end of year written report and further meeting offered. This covers attainment and progress across the 17 ELGS and their Characteristics of Learning. If covid restrictions are in place, the meetings take place online, rather than in school.
Parents are also invited into the classroom each morning for 15 minutes before the start of each day, to help their children settle, talk to staff, and view the children’s work and learning environment. They are also invited to attend Parent Workshops on specific areas during the school year, and to visit us to share specific areas of expertise or interest (e.g. to talk about their jobs or cultural experiences).

Transition into Reception

Our EYFS class consists of a small number of Reception children, and in the Summer Term morning places are offered to children of Nursery age, ie the term prior to their Reception year. To ensure a smooth transition for our children, we invite our new Reception intake in for Taster sessions, one morning per week, in the second half of the Summer Term. Parents have the chance to see the Reception class at work when they visit the school. There is a Parents’ Meeting in the second half of the Summer Term, where detailed information is given about our routines, curriculum and ethos.
We offer places in our EYFS class to Nursery aged children in the Summer Term before their Reception year. This ensures a smooth transition into Reception, and means we have a core of children each September who are already familiar with class expectations and routines. This also benefits those children who have not attended our Nursery, as they are supported to settle and have good role models. The Nursery children have a separate teaching assistant in the Summer Term, and appropriate sessions are planned for by the class teacher. The Nursery aged children spend roughly half of the time on tasks age-appropriate to their level of development, often in their Nursery group. The rest of the time they integrate fully with the main class, thus ensuring a hugely beneficial transition into their Reception year. Taster mornings are offered to our prospective Nursery intake in the Spring term.
As well as using Tapestry to give parents online information about children’s individual progress, we also use it to inform parents what we will be teaching their children and how they can support this at home. Accounts are set up the term before the Reception children start school, and parents are given information on routines and procedures. Photos of Taster Days and messages to the children are added over the Summer holidays, as a starting point for parents to chat with the children about their school start.