EYFS

Provision for transition on entry
Before children start at Easton we pride ourselves on the importance of a smooth transition into school. We endeavour to get to know the child as much as before they start. The visits help us to do this and the questionnaires are an invaluable source of information.

• Initial visit to school with guided tour
• On acceptance of place letter sent to parents welcoming them to the school and asking permission for the teacher to visit either them at home or at the preschool provider.
• I have very good links with the local pre-school providers and often visit throughout the year. I have also delivered training for phonics and assessments to these establishments.
• Teacher makes visits and if necessary will return on a visit with their own staff to the school on a one to one basis.
• Children are invited to three induction days: one afternoon visit, one morning visit with lunch and one whole day.
• On first induction visit parents are invited to a welcome meeting.
• Parents given a copy of a detailed questionnaire for staff to find out as much as possible about their child (see attached)
• Parents given a starting school at Easton information booklet showing the children school routines and meeting staff.
• Parents and children invited to sports evening and summer concert, both social occasions.
• A social gathering is arranged (instigated by me but arranged by parents) during the summer at the park for a picnic and play afternoon.

Starting School in September
• In September we are flexible with part-time/full time and allow parents to choose what they feel is suitable for their child.
• On entry to school for the first few weeks we have activities for children to play with to help them settle quickly in the mornings
• Parents are encouraged to come into the classroom to settle their children in in the mornings
• During first half term parents are invited into school for meetings about reading and phonics teaching.
• Baseline assessment is carried out in the first three weeks of school and learning journals from the child pre-school providers are used.
• Continuous provision planning is reflected on the children’s interests.
• Phonics teaching starts as soon as baseline is complete
• Children are given reading books when the teacher feels the child has enough sounds to begin the phase two reading books and are always kept in line with the phonics being taught for that child.
• During each maths or literacy session the children will be expected to do an adult led task that reflects their ability. Separate observation formats are provided for these.
• The house/home corner is mainly kept as a house. This is because good early years practice shows that children play best with experiences they know, therefore they are comfortable with the home and play freely and imaginatively.
• On occasions and from the children’s direction we change the house to suit a particular topic. Such as; Katie Morag’s house, the Queen’s birthday tea, Chinese New Year house, the Titanic (first class quarters!)
• The upstairs is kept as a quiet reading/story telling area
• The sand and water areas (outside) are kept for key skills. We allow children to choose the resources for each area so that key skills are learnt and refined. Such as scooping, moulding, digging in the sand and pouring in the water.
• The children have free access to any art and craft materials they need. We like our children to be independent with the materials they need and for them to choose the equipment to help them design and make
• During the autumn term we start our ‘write Dance programme’ this is a structured programme designed to help children with mark making and pencil control,
• The children also begin a course on the balance bikes to help with moving and handling development and gross motor skills.

Assessment during the EYFS year

At Easton we use target Tracker App for observations, this is an online tool which make collecting observations for evidence for the child’s profile quick and easy and instant. This is in line with the assessment tool used by the whole school. We also produce a gap analysis from Target tracker to help us monitor the children in eyfs and to ensure they make continued progress and meet their next steps in learning.
We also collect any hard copies of any work the children in their general books or folders or from home. A grid format is kept to ensure all children are observed at each of the prime and specific areas for the profile. All this is used for the profile and to complete the characteristics of effective learning reports given to parents at the end of the year.
The results for each of the prime and specific areas are also added to Target Tracker, the schools online assessment system.