Welcome to the Early Years Foundation Stage – Nursery and Reception 

Nurturing children, laying foundations, readying preparing skillful learners

At Marlborough Primary School children have access to a brand new purpose built classrooms and a shared Foundation Stage playground. The learning and play spaces inside and outside ensure a stimulating and enabling environment for young children.

At Marlborough, we pride ourselves on the quality provision we have, with experienced staff and carefully selected resources that engage and interest children in learning through play. We are committed to providing a high quality early years education, which gives children a secure and confident start to their school life and nurtures a lifelong love of learning.  We are fully committed to the purpose and aims of the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (2024)

Staffing and Organisation

The classrooms have carpet areas for whole class collaborative learning and the rest of the space, including our outdoor space is organised into learning zones for the children to access. Staff are organised to support the children through a balance of adult led and child initiated experiences throughout the day.  All sessions include free flow access to the outdoor area.  Practitioners are aware of the need to be flexible in order to respond to unplanned events that the children are interested in.

Day Care

• There is at least one member of staff for every group of 3 children (under the age of 2).
• Three Early Years Educators.
• All Early Years Educators hold a level 3 qualification or above.  

• Additional staff members may hold other qualifications, may be training or may be unqualified.  

Nursery

• There is at least one member of staff for every group of 13 children. 
• One member of staff is a qualified teacher. 
• All Early Years Educators hold a level 3 qualification or above. 
• Additional staff members may hold other qualifications, may be training or may be unqualified.  

Reception 

• Class sizes will be limited to 30 children in each class. 
• Classes will be led by a qualified teacher, supported by suitably qualified/experienced  support staff (partner teachers). 

Learning and Pedagogy

There are seven areas of learning as outlined in the EYFS framework. These areas are all of equal importance. The areas are also all interconnected and linked. They are separated into two areas.

Prime

• Communication and Language 
• Physical Development 
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development

The prime areas are essential for laying vital foundations in every child’s development. It is through these prime aspects that a child accesses the world around them through language, their whole bodies and relationships with others. These experiences will in turn open doors to learning in all areas. The prime areas strongly influence learning and development in the Specific areas. 

Specific 

• Literacy
• Maths
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design 

The Prime areas form the foundation for the Specific areas of learning. The Specific areas are important in ensuring each child has the knowledge and skills to thrive academically and in their day to day lives. Children will naturally develop an interest in the Specific areas as they navigate the learning environment and world around them. They will experience ways of exploring number, the enjoyment of listening to and telling stories, singing familiar songs and rhymes, learning about the world around them, different cultures as well as rhythm and movement. Through the Prime areas, children will also learn about the different ways of representing their learning through mark making, various ways to represent amounts and numbers as well as writing in a range of purposeful ways. 

Overarching Principles 

These are four guiding principles that inform and shape all practise that takes place in the EYFS at Marlborough. 

• ‘Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured’
• ‘Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships’
• ‘Children learn and develop well in enabling environments with teaching and support from adults, who respond to their individual interests and needs and help them to build their learning over time. Children benefit from a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers’ 
• ‘Importance of learning and development. Children develop and learn at different rates’

Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, January 2024

Characteristics of Effective Learning 

These characteristics are vital to understanding the effective learning process for children. 

• ‘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’

Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, January 2024

A Unique Child

Our skilled and experienced staff recognise each child’s individuality and uniqueness. Staff understand and appreciate that all children develop differently and this is taken into consideration when planning and delivering tailored learning opportunities. Our curriculum offer and learning experiences ensure that children are able to develop their sense of self, build resilience, curiosity and responsibility over time through play and teacher-led activities. 

Enabling Environments 

The learning environment refers to not only the physical spaces in our EYFS but also the emotional environment. We believe that these areas are pivotal in ensuring that children feel safe, secure and ultimately flourish during their time with us. The staff take the time to observe the children, understand their interests, needs, development and learning stages. Staff utilise this key information to plan challenging and varied learning opportunities for the children. 

The Learning Environment

Our indoor and outdoor learning environments are carefully designed to provide all children with an irresistible opportunity to learn through exploration and play. 

The spaces in the indoor and outdoor provision are arranged into areas of learning. Children are actively encouraged to explore, play and learn in the indoor and outdoor spaces throughout the school day. Resources and equipment are arranged to be accessed by the children independently and safely. Staff plan and design activities with careful consideration of skill acquisition for the indoor and outdoor environment with a focus on engagement and challenge. 

Observation and Assessment

At Marlborough, we use a range of strategies to gather information about the children’s learning and development and use this information to ensure that our planning meets the needs of all learners. Each child has a ‘Profile’ which is built up using an iPad application and all observations are gathered here along with parental observations. This information is closely monitored to ensure that all children are making good progress.

Parents, Partnerships and Home Learning

We recognise and respect that parents are their children’s first educators. We know from research that parental involvement in children’s education from an early age has a significant effect on educational achievement.  To this end we aim to build positive relationships and establish open communication with all parent. We will share information with parents on a regular basis; we run workshops throughout the year to show parents what we are doing in class and how they can help at home, we give ideas of how learning can be supported at home through our weekly newsletters. We hold half termly Stay and Learn sessions for Nursery and Reception.

The Learning Environment

We aim to provide an engaging and challenging learning environment that offers high quality opportunities for the children to learn through play, both indoors and outdoors.  There are a range of activities available in the classrooms that are designed to offer open-ended, practical learning opportunities.  Children are supported to think creatively and imaginatively and explore how resources can be adapted.

Positive Relationships

At Marlborough, we understand and recognise that children need to form secure relationships with adults in order to develop into confident, resilient learners. Staff aim to develop caring, respectful and professional relationships with children and their families. 

We recognise that parents/carers are the children’s first educators and we value the relationships with the families of the children in our EYFS. We aim to continue supporting parents/carers in any way we can in order to ensure that their child continues to achieve and thrive during their learning journey with us.

Starting Day Care, Nursery or Reception at Marlborough

The Early Years and Foundation Stage refers to all children from birth to the end of the Reception year, including children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. 

In Day Care, Nursery and Reception, children can join at any point of entry until we have filled all of our places. 

Day care 15 Spaces	6 months - to age three	Apply directly to the school
Nursery 39 Places	Ages three to age four	Apply directly to the school
Reception 60 Places	Academic year your child is turning five	Apply through Kensington and Chelsea Local Authority

Please see our main admissions page for more information.

Parent Workshops 

 

 

 

 

 

Starting Reception or Nursery at Marlborough

There will be parent meetings during the summer term to welcome you to our school and an opportunity to meet the class teachers.

All children will be given a start date to start part time for the first week of school. We find that this helps the children to settle much quicker into the school routine. When children settle in to school life quickly it enables them to make further progress in their development. If the children have settled, their second week will be full time.