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The indoor classroom and the outdoor area are full of exciting and stimulating resources that capture children’s imaginations and promote rich language.

Ofsted

EYFS

Early Years Foundation Stage

We have a great team of adults in Class 1, who work hard to ensure that children get the very best start to their education – academically, personally and socially.

The Early Years are an extremely important part of a child’s journey into education and Reception at Down Ampney is an exciting, purposeful and stimulating environment in which to learn and we hope that your child has a truly positive start to their school journey with us. We endeavour to provide a curriculum that is based on real-life experiences, involves the children and most importantly, is planned through careful assessment of their own needs and interests. We hope that your child has a lovely time learning at Down Ampney each and every day and we promise to always take good care of them.

We are a friendly team and have an open-door policy. If you ever need to speak to a member of the team, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will help you in any way we can.

In Reception, we aim for all pupils to become unique individuals who form positive relationships with adults and peers. Through a balance of child- initiated play and adult led learning, children become independent, curious learners who explore and ask meaningful questions. Children leave Reception as confident learners who are ready for the next stage in their learning journey.

In Reception, our curriculum is designed to: 

Recognise children’s prior learning from previous settings and their experiences at home

  • Provide first hand learning experiences
  • Ensure quality interactions with adults
  • Provide a language rich environment 
  • Inspire a lifelong love of learning

When children join Reception, high priority is given to developing their early language, communication and social skills through sharing stories, to and fro conversation turn taking, the teaching of specific vocabulary and modelled play.

The Curriculum

In planning and guiding what children learn, we consider that children develop at different rates and we adjust activities and learning appropriately. The three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are: 

• Playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’ 
• Active learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements

• Creating and thinking critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things

All of our learning is based on the seven areas of learning and development within the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework 

We carefully plan our continuous provision activities and focussed lessons to ensure children are given varied and frequent opportunities to achieve their full potential.

Prime Areas

Specific Areas