• Contact Us

Headteacher
Chris Coyle-Chislett

Email the Office
secretary@penpol.cornwall.sch.uk

Telephone Number
01736 753472

Follow us on Twitter
@PenpolSchool

Our Address
2 St George’s Road, Hayle,
Cornwall, TR27 4AH

“Penpol pupils are curious, creative and courageous learners. Our school community believes in authenticity as the foundations of deep-rooted learning. Through our rich and relevant curriculum, we nurture community-minded, forward-facing international citizens of the future.”

Early Years Foundation Stage at Penpol School

EYFS are in Class 1 and Class 2, which are currently being taught by Amanda Aspden and Elizabeth Nidds.  

At Penpol School we pride ourselves on a creative approach to teaching. We aim to create a stimulating and engaging environment that nurtures a love of learning. This is achieved by building on the children’s interest, questions, thoughts and ideas. Our main focus is to develop social and early language skills that will stand them in good stead for the rest of their journey through Penpol and beyond.

We aim to work as closely as possible with parents at this critical stage in the children’s education. By working together with parents, we can ensure your child thrives in all aspects of their school life.

The EYFS is based on 4 important principles that shape our practice at Penpol School:

A Unique Child

Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.

Positive Relationships

Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.

Enabling Environments

Children learn well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents/carers.

Learning and Development

Children learn and develop in different ways and at different rates. The framework covers the education and care of all children in early years settings, including children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Our EYFS Team

Sam Thornton

Teaching Assistant

Amanda Wilton

Teaching Assistant

Sophie Loughlin

Teaching Assistant and Lunchtime Supervisor

Bryony Harris

Teaching Assistant and Lunchtime Supervisor

Miranda Robinson

Teaching Assistant and Lunchtime Supervisor

Elizabeth Nidds

Class 2 Teacher and History Coordinator

Amanda Aspden

Class 1 Teacher and Early Years Foundation Stage Coordinator

Our EYFS Classrooms

NEWS FROM EYFS:

Dusty and Brownie Visit Class 1

posted 12 months ago

by Amanda Aspden

Reception Visit The Tate

posted 1 year ago

by Elizabeth Nidds

Barbara Hepworth Inspiration

posted 1 year ago

by Amanda Aspden

Police Visit

posted 1 year ago

by Amanda Aspden

Our Curriculum

There are seven areas of learning and development that shape the educational programmes we use in Early Years. These are divided into three Prime areas and four Specific areas.

All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected.

These areas are particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive.  

More details about each of these areas can be found below.

Prime Areas

The three Prime areas are Communication and Language, Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development.

Specific Areas

Providers must also support children in four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. These are Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design.

Educational Programmes in EYFS
  • Communication and Language

    The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. Children’s back-and-forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children's language effectively. Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive. Through conversation, story-telling and role play, where children share their ideas with support and modelling from their teacher, and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children become comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures.

  • Personal, Social and Emotional Development

    Children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives, and is fundamental to their cognitive development. Underpinning their personal development are the important attachments that shape their social world. Strong, warm and supportive relationships with adults enable children to learn how to understand their own feelings and those of others. Children should be supported to manage emotions, develop a positive sense of self, set themselves simple goals, have confidence in their own abilities, to persist and wait for what they want and direct attention as necessary. Through adult modelling and guidance, they will learn how to look after their bodies, including healthy eating, and manage personal needs independently. Through supported interaction with other children, they learn how to make good friendships, co-operate and resolve conflicts peaceably. These attributes will provide a secure platform from which children can achieve at school and in later life.

  • Physical Development

    Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives7. Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co-ordination and positional awareness through tummy time, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. By creating games and providing opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being. Fine motor control and precision helps with hand-eye co-ordination, which is later linked to early literacy. Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practice of using small tools, with feedback and support from adults, allow children to develop proficiency, control and confidence.

  • Literacy

    It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension (necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing).

  • Mathematics

    Developing a strong grounding in number is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically. Children should be able to count confidently, develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers. By providing frequent and varied opportunities to build and apply this understanding - such as using manipulatives, including small pebbles and tens frames for organising counting - children will develop a secure base of knowledge and vocabulary from which mastery of mathematics is built. In addition, it is important that the curriculum includes rich opportunities for children to develop their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of mathematics including shape, space and measures. It is important that children develop positive attitudes and interests in mathematics, look for patterns and relationships, spot connections, ‘have a go’, talk to adults and peers about what they notice and not be afraid to make mistakes.

  • Understanding the World

    Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increases their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries and museums to meeting important members of society such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later reading comprehension.

  • Expressive Arts and Design

    The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity. It is important that children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. The quality and variety of what children see, hear and participate in is crucial for developing their understanding, self-expression, vocabulary and ability to communicate through the arts. The frequency, repetition and depth of their experiences are fundamental to their progress in interpreting and appreciating what they hear, respond to and observe.

Recent Letters + Updates for EYFS

Online Safety Newsletter

shared by Chris Chislett

on 28th March 2024

Forest School and Farm School

shared by Nic Stanlake

on 27th March 2024

Online Safety Newsletter

shared by Jacob Woolcock

on 2nd February 2024

Important Update – Storm Isha

shared by Chris Chislett

on 21st January 2024

EYFS Documents
360° Stickers to Collect in EYFS
Useful Links

Non-statutory curriculum guidance for EYFS

Comprehensive guidance for the EYFS

This page was last updated:

18th September 2023