EYFS / Foundation Stage (Year Reception)

In the Early Years (also known as EYFS – Early Years Foundation Stage, or Reception Year) children are active participants in their learning, acquiring new knowledge and skills, developing their thinking, taking and managing risks and working independently and in groups.

We are committed to offering a safe and inclusive environment where learning opportunities are fun and challenging but supported. We are committed to nurturing individual talents and abilities to ensure that each day, children are successful. We encourage independence and all our children to be kind, and resilient, so that each child’s ‘Manby Journey’ is a happy one.

We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (2025) which states that:

The EYFS is about what children learn, as well as how they learn. Effective practice is a mix of different approaches. Children learn through play, by adults modelling, by observing each other and through adult-guided learning.

Play can help children to develop positive attitudes towards learning such as:

finding an interest, being engaged and persevering with a task
being willing to explore, experiment and try things out
making choices and decisions, and knowing how and where to seek help
being inventive – creating problems and finding solutions
playing and working collaboratively with peers and adults

The best outcomes for children’s learning occur indoor and outdoor, when most of the activity in a child’s day is a 50:50 balance of

Child initiated play, sometimes independent, sometimes actively supported by adults.
Adult led learning, with adults guiding the learning through playful activities.

At Manby Lodge we have a large outdoor area, some of which is covered by all-weather canopies. Children move freely between the indoor and outdoor environments, engaging in variety of playful learning experiences during long periods of time in exploratory play (continuous provision).

Children also have daily structured phonics, maths and other teacher-led input sessions, in which new skills and knowledge are imparted.

Phonics and reading

Phonics and reading are paramount in EYFS, and Phonics is taught from day one in Reception. The Scheme we follow is Essential Letters and Sounds – Oxford University Press. For more information about Phonics at Manby Lodge click here.

Click here for the ELS Progression Map

Book sessions that include stories, rhymes, non-fiction and poems, with the whole class happen daily, sometimes more. The teaching of writing is also carefully woven into daily practice. For further information please click here for the English Long Term Planner.

Maths

Maths is taught daily in EYFS. We use NCETM ‘Mastery Number’ as a scheme and we add to this with planning inspired by White Rose to prepare children for learning about ‘shape, space and measure’ in Year 1.

For the Maths Long Term Plan click here.

Please see our Calculation Progression Guide for more details.

Each week, children also engage in a PSHE sessions and attend Multi Sports session that is supported by sports coaches. Twice each year children take part in Forest School.

The Curriculum Overview page shows how the learning in all curriculum areas progresses from Reception through to the end of Year 2.

There is further information available on the same page to show how we have worked with Cleves Junior School to ensure logical progression in learning, across all subjects, from EYFS to the end of Year 6.