Rookery's Foundation Phase offers children a fantastic start to learning. We think that a child's experience in the early years has a major impact on their future life chances and we support them to fulfil their potential.

We have a secure, safe and happy environment for children to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow.

Rookery's Foundation Stage has a rich, attractive, child centered learning environment. The overarching aim of the experiences the children receive is based on the Every Child Matters outcomes of staying safe, being healthy, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution, and achieving economic well-being by setting the standards for the learning, development and care the children will experience which encompasses the indoors and outdoors.

We provide purposeful play, encourage exploration, active learning and have a major emphasis on using the outdoors wherever possible.

The EYFS is used to plan projects which are based on the predicted interests of the children. The development of these projects is based on the needs of the children and where the children wish to take their own learning. The learning environment is enhanced to support the learning within the project. Through these projects every child is firstly immersed in learning opportunities and then given the opportunity to build on previous learning, apply and secure their learning. The length of each project is evaluated on the criteria of the children's interests, learning and development needs.

We want children to play, in a secure but challenging environment with effective adult support so children can:

• Explore, develop and represent learning experiences that help them to make sense of the world
• Practise and build up ideas, concepts and skills
• Learn how to understand the need for rules
• Take risks and make mistakes
• Think creatively and imaginatively
• Communicate with others as they investigate or solve problems

Our priority is to establish excellent partnerships with parents and carers. We do this in a number of ways:

• All staff are available to speak to at the beginning and end of the day
• Parent boards - these are boards in the entrance hall which tell parents what the children have been doing during the day and allows them to take photos and make comments
• Digital display screen - this screen allows parents to see photos of what the children have been doing during a particular topic
• Workshops - we deliver regular workshops that allow parents to come to school to work with their children and support them with their learning