EYFS

Our Classes

At East Dene Primary School, our Early Years Foundation Stage welcomes children from the age of three through to the end of F2.

Our Early Years is organised into three classes:

• Tigers (F1)
• Flamingos (F2)
• Zebras (F2)

Each class provides a nurturing, ambitious and carefully planned learning environment that reflects children’s age and stage of development, whilst building progressively on the knowledge, skills and experiences gained before.

Our Early Years team work closely together to ensure that children’s learning is connected throughout their journey. This helps children experience smooth transitions, build securely on what they already know and become exceptionally well prepared for their next steps.

Tigers (F1)

Age: 3-4 years

2026/27 cohort: Children born between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023

Our Tigers class provides a warm and nurturing introduction to school life. Strong relationships help children feel safe, secure and confident as they begin their journey with us.

Children learn through high-quality interactions, carefully planned experiences, purposeful play and exploration, with a particular focus on developing strong foundations in communication and language, personal, social and emotional development, and physical development.

Through a carefully sequenced curriculum and well-planned provision, children begin to develop the knowledge, skills and learning behaviours they need to become confident, independent and enthusiastic learners.

Eligibility and Funding

All children are entitled to 15 hours of funded early education from the term after their third birthday. Some families may also be eligible for additional funded hours.

Further information can be found in the Admissions and Funding section of our website.

Our Sessions

At East Dene Primary School, children in Tigers (F1) attend for 15 hours per week.

Sessions run from 8:30am to 11:30am, Monday to Friday.

Meet the F1 Team

Flamingos and Zebras (F2)

Age: 4-5 years

2026/27 cohort: Children born between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2022

Flamingos and Zebras are our Reception classes and together make up the final year of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Children continue to learn through a carefully considered balance of direct teaching, purposeful play and well-planned provision. Across both classes, children access the same ambitious curriculum and benefit from high-quality teaching, engaging experiences and carefully planned learning environments.

As the year progresses, children develop increasingly secure knowledge and skills across all seven areas of learning, alongside growing confidence, independence and resilience.

Our ambitious curriculum ensures children are well prepared to achieve the Early Learning Goals by the end of Reception whilst also providing opportunities for children to deepen and extend their learning.

By the end of F2, our aim is for every child to achieve and flourish and to have the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to be exceptionally well prepared for Year 1 and the next stage of their education.

Our Sessions

Children in Flamingos and Zebras attend school full time:

8:40am-3:10pm, Monday to Friday

Meet the F2 Team

Our Curriculum

At East Dene Primary School, we are ambitious for every child. Our carefully planned and sequenced Early Years curriculum provides children with the knowledge, skills, vocabulary and experiences they need to achieve well across all areas of learning and development.

Our curriculum begins in F1 and builds progressively through to F2. We have carefully identified the most important knowledge, skills and experiences that children need in order to achieve the Early Learning Goals and be fully prepared for the next stage of their education. Alongside securing the expected standards, our curriculum also provides opportunities for children to deepen and extend their learning, enabling many children to demonstrate strong levels of understanding, independence, communication and problem solving.

The Seven Areas of Learning

Our curriculum encompasses all seven areas of learning and development within the Early Years Foundation Stage:

• Communication and Language
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Physical Development
• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

The areas of learning are interconnected. Carefully chosen teaching, texts, vocabulary and experiences enable children to make meaningful connections across their learning and develop an increasingly rich understanding of the world.

We place a strong emphasis on communication and language, vocabulary development and fostering a lifelong love of reading. High-quality interactions, stories, rhymes and meaningful conversations are woven throughout our curriculum, teaching and children’s play.

Our Progress Models

For each area of learning, we have developed detailed Progress Models which map out the essential knowledge and skills children will develop across F1 and F2.

These models provide practitioners with a clear understanding of what children have learned, what they need to learn next and how learning builds over time. They support staff in identifying children’s starting points, addressing gaps in learning and maintaining high expectations for all children. Important knowledge and skills are deliberately revisited and developed with increasing depth and challenge. This helps children to remember more, know more and do more, whilst ensuring they are well prepared to achieve the expected standards by the end of Reception.

How We Teach and Learn

Young children learn in different ways. Our skilled practitioners use a carefully considered balance of direct teaching, high-quality interactions, purposeful play and exploration to ensure that teaching is responsive to children’s needs and moves learning forward.

Our indoor and outdoor environments are intentionally designed to support our curriculum. Continuous provision is carefully planned and reviewed to ensure children have repeated opportunities to practise, apply and deepen their learning independently.

Alongside our continuous provision, we use ongoing assessment to identify children’s strengths, gaps and next steps. Enhancements to provision are carefully chosen to reinforce key learning, provide additional challenge and support children in securing important knowledge and skills through meaningful experiences.

Adults use their knowledge of each child to decide when to model, explain, question, introduce new vocabulary, extend thinking or allow children time to explore independently. This responsive approach ensures that teaching, interactions and provision work together to help children achieve highly across the curriculum.

Learning Through Purposeful Play

Play is fundamental to how young children learn. Through meaningful self-initiated play, children investigate, communicate, create, imagine, collaborate, solve problems and make sense of their experiences.

To ensure the learning that develops through play is recognised and strengthened, we have created Common Play Behaviour Models. These outline the knowledge, skills and learning behaviours children develop through different types of play and show how play becomes increasingly sophisticated as children progress through F1 and F2.

Practitioners use these models to identify opportunities to deepen learning through skilful interactions, carefully chosen resources and thoughtful enhancements to the environment.

Together, our Progress Models and Common Play Behaviour Models provide practitioners with a shared understanding of both the curriculum we explicitly teach and the valuable learning that develops through children’s play.

Reading, Phonics and Early Writing

The foundations of successful reading and writing begin with communication, language and a love of books.

From F1 onwards, children are immersed in stories, songs, rhymes and rich conversation. High-quality texts are carefully chosen across our curriculum to broaden vocabulary, develop comprehension and introduce children to ideas, experiences and worlds beyond their own.

Children progressively develop the foundations for reading through listening, attention and phonological awareness. In F2, children are taught to read systematically through Read Write Inc. Phonics, developing increasingly secure decoding, fluency and comprehension skills.

Our approach to early writing is equally progressive. Physical development, fine motor control, drawing, mark making, oral composition and transcription are carefully developed throughout F1 and F2, providing children with the foundations they need to become confident and increasingly independent writers.

Our Curriculum Overviews

Our Curriculum Overviews set out the learning children will encounter throughout the year in F1 and F2.

They bring together carefully selected knowledge, skills, vocabulary, texts and experiences, ensuring children experience a broad, ambitious and coherent curriculum that prepares them for future learning.

Our curriculum is ambitious for all children, including those who are disadvantaged, have SEND or face other barriers to their learning. Appropriate adaptations are made to ensure every child can access and benefit from the curriculum, whilst maintaining high expectations for achievement.

What Are We Learning This Half Term?

This half term, our children are exploring exciting and engaging learning opportunities as part of our Autumn 1 curriculum. These experiences provide meaningful opportunities for children to develop knowledge and vocabulary, build upon what they already know and make connections across all areas of learning.

Learning is carefully adapted across F1 and F2 to ensure children experience increasing depth, challenge and independence as they progress through the Early Years.

Autumn 1 Learning Journey

Supporting Every Child

At East Dene Primary School, we are ambitious for every child. We recognise that children begin their Early Years journey with different experiences, strengths and needs, and we are committed to ensuring that every child is able to belong, participate, achieve and flourish.

Our approach is built around knowing children exceptionally well, identifying needs at the earliest opportunity and providing the right support at the right time. We maintain high expectations for all children and seek to understand and remove any barriers that may prevent them from accessing learning, making progress or thriving.

Early Identification of Need

Our approach to identifying and meeting children’s needs begins before they even join us.

Through our carefully planned transition process, we work closely with families, previous settings and other professionals to develop an early understanding of each child’s strengths, interests, development, experiences and any additional needs or potential barriers to learning.

Where a need has already been identified, this information enables us to plan proactively. Appropriate adaptations, resources, support and transition arrangements can be put in place before the child starts, ensuring that practitioners are prepared and children receive the support they need from the very beginning.

Once children join us, early identification continues through high-quality interactions, observation, assessment and ongoing conversations with families. Practitioners quickly build a detailed understanding of children’s individual starting points and recognise emerging needs or gaps in knowledge and skills.

Where concerns arise, we work closely with families, our SENDCo and, where appropriate, other professionals to understand the child’s needs more fully. We take prompt and highly effective action, ensuring that support is carefully matched to the child and reviewed to establish the difference it is making.

An Inclusive and Ambitious Curriculum

Our Early Years provision is designed to be inclusive and ambitious for all children, including children with SEND, disadvantaged children, children learning English as an additional language, children known or previously known to children’s social care and children experiencing other barriers to their learning or wellbeing.

Practitioners make thoughtful adaptations to teaching, interactions, communication, resources, routines and the learning environment so that children can participate meaningfully in learning alongside their peers.

Adaptation does not mean lowering expectations. We consider what each individual child needs in order to succeed and make the necessary adjustments while remaining ambitious about the progress they can make from their starting points.

Skilled and Knowledgeable Practitioners

Our practitioners’ expertise is central to providing high-quality support. Our Early Years team has accessed a wide range of specialist SEND training and continuing professional development, including Attention Autism, the Curiosity Programme, TAC PAC, Intensive Interaction, identifying and supporting autism in the EYFS, and Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) training.

This specialist knowledge enables staff to recognise children’s needs, understand the possible barriers they face and draw upon a broad range of approaches when deciding how best to support them.

Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, practitioners use their professional knowledge and understanding of the individual child to select precise strategies, adaptations and interventions that respond to identified need.

Personalised Support and Intervention

Where additional support is required, it is purposeful, targeted and personalised.

Assessment and practitioners’ knowledge of the child are used to identify what will make the greatest difference. This may include adaptations to everyday teaching and provision, targeted adult support, specialist approaches or interventions, or advice from other professionals.

Interventions have a clear purpose linked to an identified need. We regularly review their impact, considering whether they are removing barriers, developing important knowledge and skills and enabling children to make meaningful progress. This ensures that decisions about what happens next are informed by the difference the support is actually making.

Personalised Curriculum for Children with Significant Needs

For some children with significant or complex needs, accessing the usual curriculum and timetable may not provide them with everything they need to make meaningful progress.

Where appropriate, these children have their own personalised curriculum and timetable, carefully designed around their developmental stage, strengths, individual needs and priorities.

This enables practitioners to provide the precise teaching, communication support, interventions, sensory experiences and opportunities that will make the greatest difference to the individual child. Children continue to have meaningful opportunities to learn, play,

communicate and build relationships alongside their peers, while also receiving the highly individualised support they need.

Our expectations remain ambitious. Personalisation enables us to prioritise the knowledge and skills that will have the greatest impact on each child’s communication, development, independence, participation and future learning.

Supporting Children Learning English as an Additional Language

We value and celebrate the languages, cultures and experiences that children and their families bring to our Early Years.

Children learning English as an additional language are supported through high-quality interactions, rich language experiences, carefully modelled vocabulary, visual support, stories, songs, rhymes and meaningful opportunities for conversation and play.

We recognise that children’s knowledge and communication extend beyond what they can currently express in English. We therefore work closely with families to understand children’s communication and development, value their home language and ensure that children are able to demonstrate what they know and can do.

Working in Partnership

Families know their children best and are an essential part of identifying and meeting children’s needs. We develop open and trusting relationships with parents and carers from the transition process onwards, encouraging them to share their knowledge, observations, concerns and aspirations for their child.

Where additional support is required, families are involved in identifying priorities, making decisions and reviewing their child’s progress. We recognise that the most effective support is achieved when families, practitioners and professionals work together with a shared understanding of the child and their needs.

We have established strong links with a range of external professionals and specialist services, including Portage, the Child Development Centre (CDC), the Specialist Inclusion Team and Rotherham Early Years. Where appropriate, we work collaboratively with these services to seek specialist advice, develop practitioners’ understanding and ensure that children’s individual needs are identified and supported effectively.

Advice from external professionals is not considered in isolation. It is used to inform children’s everyday teaching, adaptations, interventions and personalised provision, helping to provide a coordinated and consistent approach to support.

Making a Difference

We do not judge the quality of additional support by how much provision a child receives. What matters is the difference it makes.

We continually evaluate the impact of our teaching, adaptations, interventions and personalised provision, particularly for children who experience barriers to their learning or wellbeing. This enables practitioners and leaders to identify what is working, respond quickly where further action is needed and continually refine provision.

By combining early identification, high expectations, skilled practitioners, precise support and strong partnerships, our aim is to make a significant and lasting difference to children’s learning, development and wellbeing, enabling every child to achieve and flourish and become exceptionally well prepared for their next steps.

Assessment and Progress

At East Dene Primary School, assessment is an important part of helping us to know our children well, understand their starting points and ensure that teaching meets their needs.

Assessment in Early Years is purposeful and developmentally appropriate. It is not about repeatedly testing young children. Practitioners build an accurate picture of what children know, understand and can do through high-quality interactions, observation, adult-led learning, continuous provision and conversations with children.

We use this information to identify what children have learned securely, what they need to learn next and where additional support or challenge may be required.

Understanding Children’s Starting Points

When a child is new to East Dene, we complete an on-entry baseline assessment within their first four weeks. This gives practitioners time to develop trusting relationships and allows children to settle and feel secure before an accurate picture of their development is established.

Our baseline approach is light-touch, inclusive and developmentally appropriate. Practitioners draw upon observations in familiar play-based contexts, meaningful interactions and short, purposeful activities rather than relying on formal testing.

For children who move from one of our EYFS classes into the next, we build upon what we already know. Previous assessment information provides the starting point, alongside transition observations, ensuring continuity as children progress through F1 and F2.

Our 13-Stage Assessment Framework

We use a 13-stage assessment framework to understand and monitor children’s development throughout F1 and F2. The stages span from Stage 1 to Stage 12+, enabling us to recognise children’s individual starting points and track how their knowledge and skills develop over time.

The stages are broadly aligned with age and termly expectations but are flexible enough to recognise children’s individual developmental journeys. Stage 12+ also enables practitioners to continue to support and challenge children working beyond the Early Learning Goals, where appropriate.

Our detailed assessment checkpoints identify the knowledge and skills children are developing across the curriculum, helping practitioners to make secure professional judgements about children’s learning.

Ongoing Assessment

Assessment happens naturally throughout children’s everyday experiences in Early Years.

Practitioners continually notice what children know, understand and can do as they teach, interact and play alongside them. We look for children to demonstrate knowledge and skills confidently and consistently, rather than recording learning that is still emerging.

Alongside this ongoing assessment, children’s progress is formally reviewed at key points during the year:

On entry → End of Autumn → End of Spring → End of Summer.

This enables practitioners and leaders to build a clear picture of both attainment and progress over time.

Using Assessment to Move Learning Forward

The most important purpose of assessment is what we do with it.

Practitioners use assessment to inform planning, identify children’s next steps and ensure that children receive appropriate support and challenge.

Assessment information also enables us to identify patterns and gaps in learning. This informs adult-led teaching, continuous provision, enhanced provision and targeted support, so that what we provide responds directly to what our children need to learn next.

Leaders use assessment information to evaluate the impact of the curriculum and provision, considering how well individual children and groups of children are progressing and where further action may be needed.

Our aim is not simply to collect assessment information, but to use it intelligently so that it makes a difference to children’s learning.

Specific Assessments and Screening

Alongside practitioners’ ongoing professional assessment, we use carefully selected assessment and screening tools at appropriate points to provide additional information about particular aspects of children’s development.

These include assessments of communication and language, phonological awareness and phonics, wellbeing and involvement, writing and physical development, alongside other areas of learning. The particular assessment used depends upon children’s age and stage.

These tools complement, rather than replace, practitioners’ professional knowledge of the child.

Supporting Every Child to Make Progress

Children develop in different ways and from different starting points. Our assessment approach enables us to look beyond a child’s chronological age and understand their individual learning journey.

Where assessment identifies that a child has a gap in their knowledge or skills, is at risk of falling behind or requires additional challenge, practitioners respond appropriately. This links closely with our approach to early identification of need, ensuring that barriers are recognised and action is taken promptly.

We continually consider the impact of our teaching and provision: what children have learned, the progress they are making and what needs to happen next.

Our ambition is for every child to make strong progress from their individual starting points, achieve consistently well and develop the secure foundations they need to be exceptionally well prepared for their next steps.

Find Out More

Our EYFS Assessment Handbook provides detailed information about our approach to assessment, including our 13-stage framework, assessment checkpoints, on-entry baseline assessments and the assessment approaches used across F1 and F2.

Learning at Home

Families play an important role in children’s learning and development. At East Dene Primary School, we want supporting learning at home to feel simple, enjoyable and meaningful.

Home learning in Early Years does not mean recreating school lessons. Everyday experiences such as talking together, sharing stories, playing games, cooking, shopping and exploring the world provide valuable opportunities for children to develop their knowledge, language and skills.

By sharing what children are learning and providing carefully chosen resources for home, we can work together to help children revisit, practise and build upon their learning.

Talking Together

Communication and language provide important foundations for children’s learning. One of the most valuable things families can do is simply talk with their child.

Talk about what you are doing, where you are going and what you notice. Introduce new words naturally and explain what they mean. Give your child plenty of time to think and respond, listen carefully to their ideas and build upon what they say.

Songs, nursery rhymes, imaginative play and telling stories together are also wonderful ways to develop children’s listening, understanding, vocabulary and confidence in communicating.

More information

Please see the Tiny Talkers website for more advise and tips on how to support your child with their Communication and Language.- https://tinytalkers.co.uk/rotherham/#tinytalkers

Reading Together

We want every child at East Dene to develop a love of books and reading.

Across F1, F2, Y1 and Y2, children bring home our Dream Read story books. These high-quality stories have been carefully chosen for each year group for an adult to read aloud and enjoy with their child at home.

Children will bring home one Dream Read each week to share with you. At the end of the week, simply return the book to school and your child can swap it for a new story to enjoy together.

Dream Reads give children access to wonderful stories beyond those they are able to read independently. Families can enjoy the story together, talk about the pictures and characters, explore new vocabulary and revisit favourite books again and again.

Regularly hearing stories read aloud helps children develop their language, vocabulary, comprehension and knowledge of the world, while showing them that reading is something to enjoy.

F1 Dream Reads:

F2 Dream Reads:

Phonics and Learning to Read

Phonics in F1

Children’s journey towards becoming readers begins long before they can read a book independently. In F1, children develop important foundations through stories, songs, rhymes, listening and playing with sounds.Here you can find videos to watch at home which will support your child in N1 or N2 to develop these skills:

Phonics in F2

In F2, children are taught to read systematically through Read Write Inc. Phonics.

When children are ready, they bring home Read Write Inc. phonics books to read to an adult. These books are carefully matched to the sounds and words children have been taught at school, giving them an important opportunity to practise their reading, build fluency and become increasingly confident and independent readers.

Watch this video to see how to pronounce the sounds that your child will learn through Read Write Inc:

Watch the video to see how to support your child to read Read Write Inc storybooks at home:

Children will also be sent home with a QR code so that you can watch the Read Write Inc virtual classroom videos together, that will be chosen specifically to target your child’s next steps.

Our two approaches to reading at home have different but complementary purposes. Dream Reads are read by the adult to the child, developing enjoyment, vocabulary, comprehension and a love of books. Read Write Inc. books are read by the child to an adult, enabling children to practise and apply the phonics they have been taught.

Together, these experiences help children develop both the desire to read and the skills to become successful readers.

Early Writing and Fine Motor Skills

Children’s journey towards writing begins with developing the physical skills, language and confidence they need to communicate their ideas.

Everyday activities such as drawing, colouring, painting, using playdough, threading, building, completing puzzles and using scissors help children develop the strength, control and coordination needed for writing.

Give children meaningful reasons to make marks and write. They might draw a picture, make a shopping list, write a birthday card, create a sign or label something they have made.

Celebrate children’s attempts and encourage them to talk about what they have created. Early marks and drawings are an important part of the journey towards becoming a confident and increasingly independent writer.

Maths in Everyday Life

Maths is everywhere, and everyday family routines provide lots of opportunities to explore mathematical ideas together.

Count the stairs, spot numbers when you are out, compare which objects are bigger or heavier, look for shapes in the environment, share food between people, help with cooking or talk about the order of events during the day.

Simple games involving dice, dominoes, cards, matching, counting and turn-taking are also valuable. Encourage children to talk about what they notice, explain how they know and explore different possibilities.

Learning Through Everyday Experiences

Children learn an enormous amount from the everyday experiences they share with theirfamilies.

Cooking, shopping, gardening, travelling, visiting the park, caring for pets and helping with jobs at home can all provide valuable opportunities to develop children’s language, knowledge, independence and curiosity.

Encourage your child to notice what is happening around them, ask questions, explore and talk about their experiences. Supporting learning at home does not require expensive resources or worksheets. Everyday life is full of opportunities to talk, explore, discover and learn together.

Connecting Home and School

Each half term, we’ll send home a newsletter which will contain information about whatyour child is learning in school in, including some of the key vocabulary, stories and experiences they will be exploring.

You can use this to chat about their learning at home, practise some of the new words they have learned and make links to things you do together as a family.

Here are the newsletters for this half term:

Further Useful Resources

Admissions and Funding

We know that choosing an Early Years setting and understanding the different funding arrangements can sometimes feel confusing. We want to make the process of joining East Dene as simple and welcoming as possible.

Our Early Years provision includes part time nursery places in F1 for three and four year olds, and full time places for four and five year olds F2. The admissions process is slightly different for each stage.

F1 (Nursery)

All three and four-year-olds in England are entitled to 15 hours of funded early education each week for 38 weeks of the year, beginning from the term after their third birthday.

Our F1 children attend five morning sessions, Monday to Friday, 8:30am–11:30am.

Some families may also be eligible for additional funded childcare through the government’s offer for working parents. The wider entitlement can provide eligible working families with up to 30 funded hours per week for 38 weeks of the year. However, our school Nursery provision is currently offered as 15-hour places, so families wishing to use additional funded hours would need to make separate childcare arrangements for those hours.

Find out about funded childcare for working parents

To enquire about an F1 place, please contact the school office on 01709 828988 or enquiries@eastdene.org. Nursery admissions are managed by school and are separate from the F2 admissions process.

F2 (Reception) Admissions

Children usually begin F2 in the September following their fourth birthday.

Applications for Reception places are made through the local authority where you live, rather than directly to the school. For families living in Rotherham, applications are managed by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.

For children starting Reception in September 2027, the closing date for applications is 15 January 2027, with school places offered on 16 April 2027.

Apply for a Reception place through Rotherham Council

If you live outside Rotherham, you should apply through your own local authority, even if you would like your child to attend East Dene.

Moving from F1 to F2

Attending F1 at East Dene does not automatically guarantee a place in F2. Families must still apply for a Reception place through the normal local authority admissions process.

We encourage families to make their application by the published deadline and to read the current admissions information carefully.

Come and Meet Us

Choosing where your child begins their education is an important decision, and we would love to welcome you to East Dene.

Visiting us gives you an opportunity to meet our Early Years team, see our learning environments and find out more about what life in our Early Years is like. Please contact the school office if you would like to arrange a visit. 

Safeguarding, Health & Wellbeing

Keeping children safe, happy and well cared for is at the heart of everything we do in Early Years.

We want every child to feel that they belong, are known and valued by the adults around them, and feel safe and secure enough to explore, learn and become increasingly independent.

Our safeguarding, health and wellbeing practices are carefully considered and regularly reviewed to ensure that children’s individual needs are understood and that they receive consistently high-quality care.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. All members of our Early Years team understand their responsibility to protect children from harm, recognise concerns and act promptly when something does not feel right.

Staff receive regular safeguarding training and follow our school’s safeguarding procedures. Any concerns about a child’s safety or welfare are recorded, reported and responded to appropriately.

We work closely with families and, where necessary, other professionals to ensure that children receive the help and protection they need. Our practice follows the statutory requirements of the EYFS and Keeping Children Safe in Education.

Feeling Safe, Secure and Valued

Children learn best when they feel safe, secure and understood.

Our practitioners take time to build warm, positive relationships with children and get to know their individual personalities, routines, interests and needs. For our youngest children, the key person approach provides an important source of consistency and security as children build relationships beyond their family.

We support children to recognise and express their emotions, develop positive relationships and gradually become more confident and independent.

Through everyday interactions, routines and our curriculum, children also begin to learn how to keep themselves safe, make healthy choices and understand appropriate boundaries.

Healthy and Safe Eating

Mealtimes and snack times should be safe, positive and enjoyable experiences.

We carefully consider children’s age and developmental stage when preparing and providing food. Staff are aware of children’s individual dietary requirements, allergies and medical needs, and agreed care or allergy plans are followed consistently. This reflects the current expectation that food is prepared and provided in line with children’s individual needs and developmental stage.

Children are seated facing an adult while eating, enabling practitioners to supervise closely, interact with children and respond quickly if support is needed.

Food is prepared and served with consideration of potential choking hazards, and staff follow current safer-eating guidance when preparing food for young children.

Mealtimes are also valuable opportunities for children to develop independence, communication and positive attitudes towards food and healthy choices.

Safe and Restful Sleep

Some of our youngest children may occasionally need to sleep or rest during their time with us. Where this is needed, children’s individual routines and needs are carefully considered and we work closely with families.

We follow the safer-sleep requirements within the current EYFS statutory framework, and sleeping children are appropriately supervised and checked to ensure that safe sleeping arrangements are implemented consistently. The September 2026 framework brought explicit safer-sleep requirements into the main statutory framework.

Medical Needs and Allergies

We work closely with families to ensure that we have the information we need about children’s medical conditions, allergies, dietary requirements and medication.

Where a child has an identified medical need or allergy, appropriate plans and arrangements are put in place and shared with the staff who care for them.

Our Early Years team includes staff with appropriate paediatric first-aid training, and our procedures ensure that accidents, injuries, medication and medical needs are managed safely and consistently.

Personal Care and Toileting

We recognise that children develop independence in personal care at different stages.

Children are supported sensitively with toileting, changing and personal hygiene, with their dignity, privacy and individual needs always respected.

We work in partnership with families to understand children’s routines and support them towards increasing independence when they are developmentally ready.

Risk Assessments

We take a proactive and ongoing approach to identifying and managing risk across our Early Years provision, helping us to maintain safe environments while ensuring children continue to benefit from rich opportunities to explore, play and learn.

Our Early Years provision has a comprehensive annual risk assessment, which considers the potential hazards within our indoor and outdoor environments, routines and everyday practice. This is reviewed annually and updated sooner where circumstances or identified risks change.

At the beginning of every day, practitioners also complete a daily risk assessment. Staff check each identified area and tick it off each morning, ensuring that the environment and equipment are safe and ready for children before the day begins. Any hazards identified are addressed promptly.

Risk assessment does not stop once children arrive. Practitioners continually assess risk throughout the day, remaining alert to changes in the environment, children’s activities and any new or emerging hazards. Where a risk is identified, staff take appropriate action to keep children safe.

This combination of annual, daily and ongoing risk assessment enables us to respond quickly to potential hazards while maintaining an environment where children can safely develop their confidence, independence and ability to manage appropriate risks.