Early Years

About Us

Here at Tregadillett Primary School we believe that every child should have the opportunity to grow as well rounded individuals through a unique, exciting and all encompassing play based approach to learning. Every day, children will have the opportunity to collaboratively investigate and experience new things. Through an enriching and challenging curriculum leaners will encounter difficulties and celebrate achievements after developing their own ideas and strategies.

We recognise the impact that positive relationships has on children's ability to thrive in any learning environment. Our school staff respond to individual interests and needs and pride themselves on a strong partnership between parents and practitioners.

The children in our class recognise the importance of supporting each other in a kind and considerate way to ensure we are building powerful learners together!

Our Curriculum Map

EYFS LONG TERM PLAN

Our Classroom

Our Learning

What does learning look like?

Our structure of learning balances short, focused adult-led input with rich, child-initiated continuous provision designed to spark curiosity, and independent inquiry. Following explicit teaching sessions where core skills, concepts, and sophisticated vocabulary are modeled, children transition directly into an exciting and meticulously resourced enabling environment where "the environment does the work."

Every learning zone, from our core Writing Table and role-play areas to sensory troughs and outdoor construction spaces, is intentionally arranged to provoke active exploration, problem-solving, and play. Within this framework, the adult's role is critical: rather than directing play, skilled practitioners observe, step in, and enhance learning experiences in the moment. Through high-level open-ended questioning, sustained shared thinking, and dynamic scaffolding, adults extend children's language, deepen their conceptual understanding, and turn spontaneous play into powerful learning moments.

Reading

Systematic synthetic phonics in Reception is delivered through the Read Write Inc. (RWI) programme, establishing a rigorous, incremental foundation for early reading and writing.

From Autumn 1, children learn Set 1 single sounds alongside daily 'Fred Talk' oral segmenting and blending routines, before systematically progressing through Set 1 digraphs (sh, th, ch), Set 2 speed sounds (ay, ee, igh), and common exception 'Red Words' (such as the, I, go).

Rather than learning phonics in isolation, children immediately apply their taught graphemes across all curriculum areas,segmenting CVC, CCVC, and CVCC words at the Writing Table, decoding matched phonically decodable books, and transcribing initial sounds, captions, and short sentences onto their Talk for Writing story maps.

This systematic approach ensures children develop rapid sound-symbol correspondence, fluent reading habits, and confident independent transcription ready for Year 1.

Writing

Our book progression shows the texts we'll look at throughout the year! We have carefully chosen these texts to link to our long term plan, and stages of our learning!

For Example, Owl Babies is chosen as our opening anchor text to directly support Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED) during the critical "settling in" period. The narrative centers on Sarah, Percy, and Bill waiting for Mummy Owl to return, providing a relatable framework for children to express separation anxiety, discuss family structures, and build emotional resilience.

How it looks in the classroom:

In Talk for Writing (T4W), it introduces the classic 5-part story structure and physical actions for repetitive oral refrains ("I want my mummy!"), establishing early oral storytelling habits. From a phonics and early writing perspective, the text links directly to Read Write Inc. (RWI) Set 1 single sounds and Fred Talk oral segmenting for CVC body parts (e.g., l-e-g, w-i-n-g), supporting initial mark-making and self-portrait labels. Mathematically, it anchors the White Rose Maths units on matching, sorting, and comparing quantities across 3 branches

Mathematics in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is designed to build a deep, conceptual understanding of foundational early number sense, spatial reasoning, and mathematical vocabulary through active exploration, concrete representation, and purposeful play.

To ensure a coherent and progressive learning journey, the school follows the White Rose Maths framework, systematically developing core mathematical concepts, including subitising, number composition to 10 and beyond, pattern recognition, shape, and measure, in clear, small steps.

Crucially, mathematical learning is not taught in isolation; skills are purposefully applied across our thematic curriculum topic areas and integrated with our core book progression.

Children contextualise abstract concepts through literature and continuous provision, such as matching and comparing quantities with Owl Babies, exploring capacity, weight, and the number 3 through Goldilocks and the Three Bears, tracking numerical patterns on ten-frames with The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and investigating height and measurement through Titch.

Mathematics