The Early Years Foundation Stage applies to children from birth to the end of their Reception year. At Mount Charles Primary School, we welcome children into our Nursery in their pre-school year, following their third birthday. They join our Reception class in the year they become 5.

Being curious and playful is at the heart of what we do at Mount Charles School. Highly skilled staff ensure that all learning opportunities take place in a safe and secure environment, where skills are developed through a careful balance of explicit teaching and play-based learning. It is our intent to support all children to become independent and collaborative learners and we encourage every child to be skilful communicators who able to form connections with others through language and play.

At Mount Charles Primary School, we aim to:

• provide a happy, safe, stimulating and challenging learning environment for children to experience as they begin their journey through school.
• provide a broad, balanced, relevant and creative curriculum that will set in place firm foundations for further learning and development in Key Stage 1 and beyond and enable choice and decision making, fostering independence and self-confidence.
• value what each child can do, assessing their individual needs regularly and helping every child to progress; no child gets left behind.
• develop excellent relationships with parents and carers to build a strong partnership in supporting their children.
• provide a caring, inclusive and anti-discriminatory ethos which is sensitive to the requirements of the individual child, ensuring that every child is included and supported.
• enable pupils to see themselves as part of the school and wider community and celebrate the unique opportunities our local area provides. 
• will receive a broad and balanced curriculum that enables them to reach a good level of development.
• plan and support a successful and smooth transition from nursery to reception and from reception to KS1.

At Mount Charles School, we follow the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. This framework sets the standards that must be met to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to ensure children’s school readiness’ and gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.

Our bespoke curriculum is planned considering pupils’ starting points and their interests and allows us to create challenging, meaningful and memorable experiences for every learner. It is ambitious and is designed to give all children the knowledge, self-belief and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.

Each of the seven areas of learning and development are carefully planned for, to ensure there is a broad, balanced and progressive curriculum with meets the needs of all children. Further information about how we implement this can be seen in subject specific implementation statements as we ensure our EYFS curriculum is sequenced as part of the wider school. 

Data and monitoring demonstrate that children across our Early Years Foundation Stage setting progress well, regardless of their starting point; for example 83% of children make expected or better progressed in reading across their reception year; 79% make expected or better progress for writing and 88% make expected or better progress in maths across their reception year. We have high expectations of all children and are proactive in providing early intervention or challenge where required.

Evidence in children’s interactive learning journals captures learning across all areas of the EYFS curriculum. Our staff use observations to make formative assessments which inform future planning and ensure that all children build on their current knowledge and skills at an appropriate pace.

Summative assessment compares children’s attainment to age related expectations using our half termly curriculum outcomes and the Early Learning Goals at the end of the Reception year (EYFSP).  This is carefully tracked to ensure rates of progress are at least good for all children, including vulnerable groups such as those with SEND or who are disadvantaged. Termly pupil progress meetings ensure that data is carefully analysed and responded to.

Assessment judgements are moderated both in school and externally with local schools.