This policy sets out expectations based on requirements set out in the 2025 Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). This document also complies with our funding agreement and articles of association.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) applies to all children from birth to the end of their Reception Year. Children can join the nursery at Co-op Academy Delius when they are 2 years old. As Delius is a generic special school all the children in the EYFS have been identified as having significant special educational needs and disabilities.

We aim to:

Provide a happy, safe, stimulating and challenging programme of learning and development for our children as they begin their journey at Co-op Academy Delius.
Prioritise the development of communication and language in early years as this is fundamental to enabling children to access the rest of the curriculum.
Support children to become confident communicators who express their needs, their thoughts and experiences.
Support the development of early reading skills by providing a reading curriculum that aims for ‘every child to be a reader’ by the end of EYFS. This is prioritised by teachers and leaders across Co-op Academy Delius who ensure consistent, rigorous delivery and fidelity to the Read Write Inc programme and pre-reading through sensory stories.
Construct a curriculum that is ambitious and designed to give children, particularly the most disadvantaged, the knowledge, self-belief and cultural capital they need to succeed in life, ensuring a high quality experience for all children.
Provide an inclusive learning environment that is sensitive to the individual needs of the children.
Build strong parent partnerships by developing excellent relationships with parents and carers and helping them to support their children at home.

2. Roles and Responsibilities

The Head of School has overall responsibility for the implementation of the Early Years Policy at Co-op Academy Delius. The Head of School has overall responsibility for ensuring that the Early Years Policy, as written, does not discriminate on any grounds, including but not limited to: ethnicity/national origin, culture, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation. The Head of School has responsibility for handling complaints regarding this policy as outlined in the Academy’s complaints policy.

The EYFS Lead will be responsible for the day-to-day implementation and management of the Early Years Policy at Co-op Academy Delius. Staff, including teachers, support staff and volunteers, will be responsible for following the Early Years Policy.

3.1 Welfare

“Children learn best when they are healthy, safe, secure, when their individual needs are met, and when they have positive relationships with the people caring for them.” Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, 2025

Safety and security is of the highest priority at Co-op Academy Delius and it is important that all children in our care are safe at all times. We follow the safeguarding and welfare requirements set out in the 2025 Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The Early Years Leader completes frequent welfare checks. This is checked annually by the trust Director of Early Years.

We understand that we are legally required to comply with the welfare requirements, as stated in the reformed Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (2025), and are required to:

Safeguard children
Ensure the adults who have contact with children are suitable
Promote good health
Support and understand behaviour
Maintain records, policies and procedures

3.2 Safeguarding

Safety is paramount at Co-op Academy Delius and there is a robust and effective Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy to ensure the children in our care are protected. Rigorous procedures are used to identify anyone at risk or harm of radicalisation and set out clear procedures for reporting concerns. The trust Intimate Care Policy sets out the expectations for how children who need this level of care are supported.

3.3 Health and Safety

The following general Health and Safety safeguards are in place:

• A supply of fresh drinking water is available on the premises at all times.

• Children’s dietary needs are acted upon.

• Children have snack each morning as a whole class or in small groups and are given a range of choices depending on their diet.

• A paediatric first aid trained member of staff is in the EYFS setting at all times.

• Accidents and Injuries are recorded using the Parago accident form. If first aid has been administered, a first aid google form is completed which is sent to parents.

• A fire and emergency evacuation procedure and policy are in place.

4. Structure of EYFS

At Co-op Academy Delius we offer early years provision for the following age groups:

Nursery 1: For children aged 2 to 3 years.
Nursery 2: For children aged 3 to 4 years.
Reception: For children aged 4 to 5 years.

5. Values and Four Ways of Being

We are proud to be a part of Co-op Academies Trust. The Co-op was founded on a set of values that we embrace. These are Equality, Equity, Solidarity, Honesty, Openness, Caring for others, Self-help, Self-responsibility, Social responsibility and Democracy. We also teach the children about the Four Ways of Being, referring to them whenever possible, to ensure that children develop a good understanding of the meaning and implications of each one. These are:

Be yourself, always
Do what matters most
Show you care
Succeed together

6. Principles of the EYFS

Our Foundation Stage provision reflects the four main principles of the EYFS:

A unique child – developing resilient, capable, confident and self-assured individuals
Positive relationships – supporting children in becoming strong and independent
Enabling environments – where opportunities and experiences respond to the individual needs of the child by developing a strong partnership between practitioners, parents / carers and the child
Learning and development – an acknowledgement that children learn in different ways and at different rates

7. Intent

“All children deserve the care and support they need to have the best start in life. Children learn and develop at a faster rate from birth to five years old than at any other time in their lives, so their experiences in early years have a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe, and happy childhood is important in its own right. Good parenting and high-quality early learning provide the foundation children need to fulfil their potential.

The EYFS sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to ensure children’s ‘school readiness’ and gives children the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.

The EYFS seeks to provide:

Quality and consistency in all early years settings, so that every child makes good progress, and no child gets left behind.
A secure foundation through planning for the learning and development of each individual child and assessing and reviewing what they have learned regularly.
Partnership working between practitioners and with parents and/or carers.
Equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and supported.

(Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage, DfE, 2025)

8.1 Implementation

Co-op Academy Delius recognises that every child is unique, and that each child develops at their own pace, in different ways. We support every child in being the best version of themselves, growing in confidence and being proud of who they are. Children’s learning behaviours and dispositions to learning are influenced by feedback and the environment around them. Encouragement, praise, rewards and celebrations are well embedded within our curriculum, to provide children with a sense of belonging, and self-achievement.

8.2 Curriculum

The Statutory Framework of the Early Years Foundation Stage (2025) outlines the Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning (CoETL) and the 7 areas of learning and development. The CoETL are organised into three primary strands and are essential components towards children becoming self-regulated learners. These 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.

There are 17 aspect areas (early learning goals) within 7 curriculum areas of development. These are divided into Prime and Specific areas of learning as follows:

The “prime” areas of learning and development are:

Communication and language
Physical development
Personal, social and emotional development

Communication and language underpins all areas of learning within our early years curriculum and continues to be developed within our provision, teaching, learning and planning methods. The prime areas are seen as particularly important for igniting curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building children’s capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. Planned learning supports the progress and development of listening and speaking, enabling children to process information into thinking and understanding. Children practise their physical skills alongside developing social skills, which supports greater independence and higher levels of confidence.

Communication and language

We believe that the development and use of communication is at the heart of young children’s learning and well-being. The majority of the children in the Early Years Foundation Stage at Delius are at a very early stage of development within this area of learning. A ‘total communication approach’ is used where touch cues, objects of reference, symbols, photographs, signing and switches are used to enable and support the development of early communication skills.

Within this area of learning we aim to develop the children’s listening and attention skills

Identify and respond to the children’s individual communication needs such as eye pointing, using the E-Frame, use of symbols and PEC’s to support choice making; encouraging early gestures/Makaton signs to support expressive and receptive language development.
Use their communication skills to build positive relationships with both adults and peers.
Support the children to communicate and express feelings, needs and wants.
Support the children to express choices/preferences and begin to comment on what they see or experience around them.
Support the children to be conversational partners through Intensive interaction.

Help children begin to understand the link between sounds, words and objects.

Physical development

Children are given opportunities to engage and be active, to develop their coordination, control, manipulation and movement skills; as well as helping them to be healthy and develop their self-care skills. Effective teaching in this area will help children develop these skills, gain confidence in what they can do and develop a positive sense of well-being. Pupils within the EYFS are streamed within physical development to ensure the most effective activities are planned and implemented for their physical abilities.

Within this area of learning we aim to:

Provide opportunities for the children to develop and improve their coordination, control, manipulation and movement skills through the use of developmentally appropriate activities such as, treasure baskets, heuristic play and sensory play materials
Provide opportunities to explore a range of materials and media, and use a variety of tools with support.
Take manageable risks within a safe learning environment
Follow the MOVE programme to develop pupil’s physical development using a range of appropriate and personalised activities
Use the child’s individual physiotherapy programmes to plan activities which support their fine and gross motor development across the school day. e.g. water skills in the pool, rebound, music and movement
Ensure children are safely and correctly positioned so that they are able to access the learning environment and the opportunities offered
Follow children’s moving and handling plans, and feeding plans as appropriate

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

This area of learning is about emotional well-being, knowing who you are and where you fit in and feeling good about yourself.

Within this area of learning we aim to:

Provide the children with experiences and support that will enable them to develop a positive sense of themselves
Develop children’s independence within the limits of their ability
Develop children’s respect for others, social competence
Encourage a positive disposition to learning by providing challenges within a safe and secure learning environment,
Promote fundamental British Values and Co op values.
Promote good social behaviour and respect for themselves and others through encouraging turn taking and sharing resources with peers.
Introduce the children to a variety of faiths and cultures through celebrating religious festivals, stories and attending, if appropriate, weekly assemblies and other celebrations.

The “specific” areas of learning and development are:

Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding of the world
Expressive arts and design

The 4 specific areas of learning provide a context for development and reflect cultural knowledge and accumulated understanding. They are dependent on learning in the Prime areas. Our continuous provision demonstrates a strong emphasis upon supporting children’s understanding of the world along with enabling them to express themselves imaginatively and creatively, using art and design. New learning and topics are adapted to reflect the needs of the children and their interests.

At Co-op Academy Delius EYFS have their own specific pathway, where pupils start their learning journey into education and are baselined before going into the most appropriate next pathway. This is called ‘Rocket’s pathway’. We use “The Early Years Foundation Framework” (2025) to support progress towards the early learning goals. The Rocket’s pathway has their own ‘Programme of learning’ each term for all subject areas, which are created by subject leads. This guides curriculum planning related to termly topics and is broken down specifically for each journey. The topics and objectives are mapped out across a five year rolling programme. These objectives are taught through a multi-sensory, experiential approach and the use of carefully planned structured activities. The Early Years Foundation Stage aims to offer children high quality educational activities which build on children’s previous experiences and achievements and are responsive to an individual’s needs and interests. Each area of learning and development is implemented through planned, purposeful play and a mix of adult-led and play based learning within provision areas.

Children’s development levels are assessed and as the year progresses, the balance will shift towards a more equal focus on all areas of learning, as the children grow in confidence and ability within the three prime areas. Learning and development is implemented through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity and play and is reactive to the child’s lead.

Play is central to learning and development in the EYFS and we therefore do not make a distinction between work and play.

8.3 Teaching and Learning in EYFS

Early Years practice demonstrates a balance between play and more formal teaching guided by an adult.

Each area of learning and development is implemented through planned, purposeful play, and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activities. As children grow older, and as their development allows, the balance gradually shifts towards more adult-led activities, to help children prepare for their next pathway.

Staff interactions with children during planned and child-initiated play, provides rich opportunities for communicating and modelling language, showing, explaining, demonstrating, exploring ideas, encouraging, questioning, recalling, providing a narrative for what they are doing, facilitating and setting challenges.

Staff understand that play is about much more than content, but helps to build flexible minds and an enquiring spirit. Staff respond to each child’s emerging needs and interests, guiding their development through warm, positive and nurturing interactions. They take into account the equipment provided and the attention to the physical environment as well as the structure and routines of the day that establish expectations.

Staff understand that teaching is in every activity provided within all of the learning environments. There are no activities that occur in the setting which adults do not consider to be opportunities for teaching. While staff do not always know where these opportunities will present themselves, it is the skill of the adults that enable them to readily recognise the ‘teachable moments’ when they arise and respond to them appropriately.

8.4 Positive Relationships

At Co-op Academy Delius, we recognise that in order for children to flourish in all aspects of the curriculum, they need a strong foundation in the three prime areas: Communication and Language, Personal, Social and Emotional and Physical Development. These prime areas unlock access to the wider curriculum, and allow growth within the specific areas: Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design.

Within our Early Years Foundation Stage, we teach and support the development of metacognition, resilience and self motivation, based around the Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning. These encourage pupils to develop caring, respectful, supportive and kind relationships with others. Adults promote positive relationships at all times and sensitively interact with children to enable them to develop successful relationships with peers and staff.

8.5 Parent and Carer Partnerships

The Early Years Foundation Setting cannot function without the enduring support of parents and carers. We recognise that as parent, you are the child’s primary educator and we recognise this important role through regular engagement including:

Home visits for all children new to setting
Dojo platform communications
Meet the team and parents days each term, including Fabulous finish galleries to display work
Parents workshops including toilet training support delivered by the nurses
Opportunities for Makaton and Cygnet courses for parents to complete with trained people in school
A robust and detailed transition process which values the information received from parents/carers to support children settling into nursery/reception.
Asking parents to sign permission slips for visits out of school, use of photographs of their child for display/assessment purposes and using the internet at school.
Having an open door policy to enable parents to come and speak with teachers, should they have any concerns.
Events and activities throughout the year which bring together children, parents and the school such as Sports week.
Annual reviews each year to discuss the child’s EHCP.
Talking to parents/carers about their child before they start school, usually through home visits.
Involving parents in the baseline assessments of their children
Sharing and wherever possible, creating the pupils’ Personalised Learning Goal (PLG) targets with families and encouraging them to work towards the same goals at home

8.6 Enabling Environments

The classroom is organised in such a way that children can explore and learn in a safe, secure and stimulating environment. Equipment and resources are labelled and easily accessible and can be located and used independently by children during Choosing time. The enclosed outdoor area is valued equally to the indoor learning environment and provides opportunities for children to learn in a different way in a safe and secure space. Activities are planned throughout both learning environments to help the children develop in all areas of learning.

Co-op Academy Delius also has additional provision to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. These include a sensory room, rebound room, immersive room, swimming pool and a soft play room. One of the classrooms also has its own sensory room for individual or small group work and is set up to meet the needs of the pupils with visual or multi-sensory impairment.

9.1 Impact

Regular and ongoing assessment and professional dialogue between staff enables children to meet high expectations and show consistent high rates of accelerated progress from their starting points. Children develop at their own pace and impact is evident across all areas of learning. There are robust assessment procedures outlined below to measure impact.

9.2 Assessment

Ongoing assessment is an integral part of the learning and development processes within the early years. Staff observe pupils to identify their level of achievement, interests and learning styles. These observations are used to shape future planning. Assessments do not entail prolonged breaks from interaction with children. When assessing an individual child’s level of development, practitioners draw on their knowledge of the child and their own expert professional judgement. Practitioners also take into account observations shared by parents and/or carers.

Pupil’s accessing the EYFS Rocket’s pathway are assessed using the Delius Frameworks, created specifically for the pupil’s needs and abilities. These have been written by pathway and subject leads within the school to ensure small steps can be celebrated and challenge is implemented.

Staff working within the Early Years Foundation Stage firmly believe that:

Assessment should be an integral part of the curriculum development process.
Assessment should help adults focus positively on individual strengths and interests.
Approaches to assessment should be informed by effective Early Years practices
Children should be assessed in a range of contexts.
Assessment must involve all who know the child including the parents/carers and other professionals

A variety of assessment techniques and frameworks are used within the EYFS Rocket’s pathway. These are based on accurate, planned and incidental observations of the children.

The Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA), became statutory in schools in September 2021. It is a short, task-based assessment of pupils’ starting points in Language, Communication and Literacy and Mathematics. It is not used to label or track individual pupils. Schools are required to carry out the assessment within the first six weeks of pupils starting Reception. Data will only be used at the end of Year 6, to form the school-level progress measure, however teachers will receive a series of short, narrative statements that tell them how their pupils performed in the assessment. These can be used to inform teaching within the first term.

Assessment in EYFS takes the following forms at Co-op Academy Delius;

Formative assessments

Assessment for Learning

Assessment for learning techniques are used for all adult led activities within the Early Years Foundation Stage. These are identified using the Delius frameworks and the pupil’s PLGs (Personalised Learning Goals).

Observation

Observations of the pupil’s are captured and written using EfL (Evidence for learning). Pupil’s progress towards their termly PLGs are captured throughout the term and used to inform pupil’s development within each EHCP (Education and Health Care Plan).

Summative assessments

Baseline Assessments

A child’s baseline assessment is completed approximately six weeks after they start at the school. Parents are invited into school to contribute towards the baselines assessments. Over this period of time the staff will make detailed observations, measure their attainment against the Delius Frameworks, within all EYFS areas. These are then recorded on Evidence for Learning (EfL).

Assessment and Target Setting

After the child’s baseline assessment has been completed, each child continues to build on their skills using the Delius Frameworks. Pupils work within learning ladders in each lesson/activity, giving them opportunities for challenge in all areas. Skills that are learnt and developed are evidenced on Evidence for Learning (EfL) highlighting a child’s next steps.

Personalised Learning Goals (PLGs)

Each child that attends Co-op Academy Delius has a PLG. PLG targets are set in December, March and July. The Annual Smart targets are set based on the child’s Education and Health Care Plan, if they have one. Some children within the Early Years Foundation Stage have an “Assessment Place” and are undergoing the statutory assessment process for their ECHP, PLG targets for these children are based on their baseline assessment. PLGs are reviewed three times a year within pupil progress meetings

Statutory Assessments

Education and Health Care Plans

Most children within the foundation Stage have an “Assessment Place” and are undergoing the statutory assessment process for their ECHP. The teachers within the Early Years Foundation Stage will liaise with the child’s parents/carers, Deputy Head Teacher and other professionals to support this process.

Early Years Foundation Stage Profile

This is a statutory assessment. The attainment of each child is measured at the final term of their reception year. Their attainment is assessed using the 17 Early Learning Goals. The class teacher must indicate if children are meeting expected levels of development, or if they are emerging or exceeding. The EYFSP results will be provided to the local authority as required.

9.3 Moderation

Moderation takes place throughout the year at academy, trust and local authority level to ensure accuracy and validity. We recognise the importance of moderation, ensuring that assessments and judgments are accurate and valid. To this end, we carry out the following:

Regular meetings to discuss observations and judgments
Effective use of the exemplification materials, including the Co-op Sense Check
Attendance at whole school moderation meetings
Attendance at Trust moderation meetings
Complying with LA moderation visits
Shared observations within the setting
Shared observations with teachers

9.4 Evidence Gathering

At Co-op Academy Delius, we use Evidence for Learning, to evidence and showcase work. This is reviewed each term to look at the progress of each child linked to their EHCP annual targets and progress within the Delius Frameworks.

10. Transition

Leaders at Co-op Academy Delius understand that transitions are landmark events for children that impact on their emotional and academic development. Transition can be an exciting time of change and new opportunity for children. However, we also recognise that they can be times of uncertainty where surroundings, expectations and procedures are different. Leaders place importance on getting transition right for every child and work hard to ensure this is a process that involves children, practitioners and parents together.

On entry to EYFS, our team works tirelessly to ensure that children are surrounded by a kind, caring and happy environment which helps them develop the skills needed for their journey through school. Using the Ways of Being and characteristics of effective learning, staff ensure school is a positive place where resilience, perseverance and successes are celebrated and every child feels valued and respected.

The following process is in place to ensure children’s successful transition to a Rockets EYFS class:

Entry to school

Home visits will be undertaken by two members of staff (for staff safety) to complete the admission forms and get to know the child and their family and where appropriate a translator will attend

The school nurse will make a home visit to ensure that appropriate care plans are completed if appropriate.

Settling in visits will be arranged for the child and their parents/carers

Within school / to a new school

There will be planned visits to support the child’s transition into a new class.

These will take place when the child moves from the nursery to a reception class, or a reception class to a Key Stage 1 class, or a new school.

Visits to the new class will take place in the half term before they leave.

All appropriate information, assessments and records are shared with the child’s new leaders of learning and staff to ensure a smooth transition and progression for the child.

11. Linked Policies

This policy should be read in conjunction with other school and trust policies, most notably:

Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
Intimate Care Policy
Online Safety Policy
Behaviour Policy
Attendance Policy
Positive Handling Policy
Supporting Pupils with Medical Needs
SEND policy
Health & Safety Policy
First Aid Policy