EYFS

Provision for transition on entry
Before children start at Aldeburgh we pride ourselves on the importance of a smooth transition into school. We endeavour to get to know the child as much as before they start. The visits help us to do this and  are an invaluable source of information.

• Initial visit to school with guided tour
• We have very good links with the local pre-school providers and our staff make visits.
• Children are invited to three induction days: two morning visits and one with lunch.
• We invite parents to a welcome meeting in the evening.  This is where they can taste a sample of lunches and meet some of the staff in the school.
• Parents given a starting school at Aldeburgh information booklet showing the children school routines and meeting staff.
• Parents and children invited to summer school events.

Starting School in September
• In September we are flexible with part-time/full time and allow parents to choose what they feel is suitable for their child.
• On entry to school for the first few weeks we have activities for children to play with to help them settle quickly in the mornings.
• Parents are encouraged to come into the classroom to settle their children in in the mornings.
• During first half term parents are invited into school for meetings about reading and phonics teaching.
• Baseline assessment is carried out in the first three weeks of school and learning journals from the child pre-school providers are used.
• Continuous provision planning is reflected on the children’s interests.
• Phonics teaching starts as soon as baseline is complete and the children are ready. 
• Children are given reading books when the teacher feels the child has enough sounds and are always kept in line with the phonics being taught for that child.
• During each maths or literacy session the children will be expected to do an adult led task that reflects their ability. Separate observation formats are provided for these.
• In the classroom there is a deconstructed role play area which contains lots of open ended resources for dressing up, material for building dens and card board boxes for constructing anything that they can imagine (including trains, spaceships, cars, pirate ships, cafe's and shops). There is also a house/home corner in the outside area, and a mud kitchen. Good early years practice shows that children play best with experiences they know, where they will play freely and imaginatively.
• The sand and water areas  are kept for key skills. We allow children to choose the resources for each area so that key skills are learnt and refined. This may include scooping, moulding, digging in the sand and pouring in the water using measuring jugs, tubes, pipettes and funnels.
• The children have free access to any art and craft materials they need. We like our children to be independent with the materials they need and for them to choose the equipment to help them design and make.
• The children also begin a course on the balance bikes to help with moving and handling development and gross motor skills.

Assessment during the EYFS year

At Aldeburgh we use target Tracker App for observations, this is an online tool which make collecting observations for evidence for the child’s profile quick and easy and instant. This is in line with the assessment tool used by the whole school. We also produce a gap analysis from Target tracker to help us monitor the children in EYFS and to ensure they make continued progress and meet their next steps in learning.
We also collect any hard copies of any work the children in their general books or folders or from home. All this is used for the profile and to complete the characteristics of effective learning reports given to parents at the end of the year.
The results for each of the prime and specific areas are also added to Target Tracker, the schools online assessment system.