Welcome to EYFS and the start of your child’s learning journey with us at Wheatfields Primary School. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) applies to children from birth to the end of their Reception year.
In our school children are able to join our onsite Preschool at the age of 3 and start in Reception in the year they turn 5. Children joining our school may have also been to a range of settings within the community.
Our aim at Wheatfields is to put the child at the centre of everything we do, nurturing and supporting the whole child and all of their many skills, attributes and talents. We hope that every child starting at Wheatfields feels safe, happy and secure as they start their journey with us, leading to a lifelong love of learning, curiosity and respect for the world they live in and everyone they share it with.
We appreciate that some children may be apprehensive about starting school. To help with this, we liaise with our pre-school providers and organise a series of visits to school in the summer term so that the children can meet their class teacher and classroom teaching assistant. Â We work very closely with Wheatfields Pre-School, where the children regularly come over to the school and the Reception staff visit the pre-school too.
To ensure a gentle introduction to school we operate a staggered entry system. The children will join their class during a morning or afternoon for a week, giving plenty of time to settle into their new environment, get to know the teachers and meet their new friends.
We must ensure that the individual needs of each child are met and therefore have to be flexible. If this is not appropriate for any child, we look at:
- Emotional maturity – the readiness to operate independently of the home for a substantial part of the school day.
- Social maturity – the readiness to form relationships with other children.
- Specific individual circumstances that directly affect the child.
Full discussion takes place with the parents if it is felt appropriate for a child’s entry to school to be more gradually phased.