A Nurturing Start for Lifelong Learning
At Pentland Early Years Foundation Stage, we provide a safe and nurturing environment where every child develops the skills and foundational knowledge to become curious, independent, and resilient individuals.
All staff are ELKLAN Speech and Language trained, and our setting has achieved the Communication Friendly Setting Accreditation, demonstrating our commitment to supporting children’s communication and language development.
In addition, our Pre-School staff hold the Schema Play Accreditation, which equips them to identify each child’s next steps in learning, have a strong knowledge of early childhood development, and make the most of every teachable moment. This expertise allows staff to support children to make progress while also identifying any gaps in learning early on.
Our skilled EYFS leaders and practitioners prioritise early language and communication through a range of evidence-based strategies and high-quality play. Staff understand the ‘why’ behind every resource and learning opportunity within our purposeful provision.
Through high-quality interactions and sustained shared attention, children are given opportunities to be heard and understood in meaningful back-and-forth conversations that follow their interests. These experiences strengthen their listening and speaking skills, foster independence, and build executive functioning — giving every child the best possible start in life.
Our Setting and Community Connections
Our Pre-School is based in a purpose-built facility within the 0–19 Family Hub on Ochil Terrace, next to the main primary school building. This close proximity enables our pre-school team to build strong, positive relationships with families from the earliest opportunity.
Many of our parents already access the Family Hub for antenatal care, health visitor support, well-being services, and toddler groups. This continuity creates a seamless transition into Pre-School and lays the foundations for positive home–school relationships.
At Pentland, we value working in partnership with parents and recognise the importance of building strong, positive relationships from the very start. We prioritise every child having a home visit from their key worker and the EYFS Lead or class teacher before they begin their journey with us. These visits allow us to get to know each child and their family personally, helping us to understand their individual needs, interests, and routines. This early connection supports a smooth and confident transition into Pentland and enables us to provide a truly nurturing start. Home visits also allow for early identification of any additional needs and give us the opportunity to signpost families to further support services, such as their Health Visitor, when appropriate.
Our experienced and dedicated EYFS Lead serves as both the nursery teacher and Pre-School manager, ensuring consistent, high-quality first teaching and high expectations from the very start of each child’s Pentland journey.
Pre-School Provision
We offer places for both two-year-olds and three- and four-year-olds, with a range of flexible options — including wraparound care — to support the needs of working and non-working families. These options align with the government’s latest funding arrangements.
- Two-year-olds (15 hours): Morning or afternoon sessions available.
- Three- and four-year-olds (15 hours): Morning sessions focused on consistent coverage of our EYFS curriculum, ensuring every child receives a strong foundation for learning.
- Thirty-hour places for both Two-year-olds and Three-and four-year-olds: 8.50 am – 2.50 pm, with a flexible 10-minute drop-off and pick-up window to support families with older siblings in the main school.
Paid afternoon sessions are also available for families who do not qualify for 30-hour funding. Many parents also choose our Breakfast and After-School Clubs to meet their individual childcare needs.
Wraparound care is led by our nurturing Pre-School staff to ensure our high standards of care and safeguarding are consistently upheld.
Reception Class
Our Reception Class is located within the main school building and features its own dedicated indoor and outdoor learning areas. This safe and stimulating environment enables children to build confidence and independence as they transition from Pre-School and introduces children to school routines and boundaries promoting independence and school readiness for Key Stage one.
The EYFS Lead works closely with the Reception teacher to ensure high standards and consistency across teaching and provision, supporting a seamless progression for all children, especially those with barriers to learning. Our skilled and experienced EYFS practitioners work across both Pre-School and Reception, tailoring their support to the needs of each cohort. This collaborative approach enables expertise to be shared across the team, fostering professional growth and ensuring the very best outcomes for every child.
Our Curriculum
Communication and Language
Developing communication and language remains a central priority throughout the EYFS and underpins the whole curriculum.
In Pre-School, we focus on listening skills and developing auditory awareness and discrimination through engaging listening games. These activities encourage children to identify and repeat different sounds in their environment and in speech. We then move on to oral blending, helping children to hear and recognise individual speech sounds. This vital step lays the foundations for discrete phonics teaching in Reception.
In Reception, we follow a Systematic Synthetic Phonics programme — Read Write Inc. (RWI) — with daily lessons, afternoon top-up sessions, and personalised interventions for identified pupils, particularly those in the bottom 20%. Our focus is always on keeping up, not catching up.
Phonics is embedded across the curriculum, allowing children to apply decoding and segmenting skills in all areas of learning.
Personal, Social, and Emotional Development (PSED)
At Pentland EYFS, we place a strong emphasis on Personal, Social, and Emotional Development (PSED) as a foundation for all learning.
We support children in building positive relationships by providing consistent role models of respect, kindness, and inclusivity. Every child is encouraged to feel valued, and we celebrate diversity by ensuring that our setting is welcoming to all, regardless of differences.
Children are guided in self-regulation through co-regulation strategies, supported by tools such as the Zones of Regulation and restorative conversations. These approaches help children recognise and manage their emotions in safe and supportive ways.
We promote independence and resilience by encouraging children to ‘have a go’ and take thoughtful risks in their learning. For example, our Gross Motor Provision Room in Pre-School offers opportunities for children to explore movement challenges safely while developing confidence and physical skills tailored to the current cohort’s needs.
In addition, we provide families with guidance and support for toilet training, helping children become as independent as possible in their intimate care. This is approached in a respectful and caring way, fostering self-esteem, confidence, and a sense of autonomy.
Through these strategies, children develop the social, emotional, and personal skills they need to thrive both in Pre-School and beyond, building the foundations for lifelong learning and positive well-being.
Physical Development and Gross motor
At Pentland EYFS, we value outdoor play as an essential part of learning. Our outdoor purposeful continuous provision encourages children to develop their understanding of the world around them by becoming curious explorers. An example of this is the wide range of tools are resources children have to explore a range of media in the mud kitchen zone. Outdoor activities support physical development, promote resilience and independence, and provide opportunities for risky play, such as climbing and exploring, in a safe and supportive environment.
We recognise the positive impact of outdoor learning on well-being and health, which is why we provide free-flow access to outdoor spaces at every available opportunity. This ensures children have frequent chances to engage with nature, develop confidence, and enjoy active, healthy play throughout the day.
Physical development is further supported through daily gross-motor sessions that are based upon a specific set of movements to build, balance and strength, which are often linked to the story the children are reading that week. ‘Move with Max’ PE lessons are taught in reception, helping children build strength, coordination, and confidence through the introduction of skills teaching such as throwing and catching.
Phonics, Reading and Writing
In Pre-School, we nurture a love of language and early literacy through a rich variety of activities. Children enjoy singing nursery rhymes daily, supporting rhythm, phonological awareness, and memory. Daily story time exposes children to new vocabulary, sentence structures, and imaginative ideas. Learning is further reinforced through role play and small-world activities, allowing children to explore stories, characters, and scenarios in a hands-on, creative way.
For early writing and mark-making, children engage in large-scale, gross-motor activities that develop strength and coordination. This includes using paintbrushes to paint fences, chunky chalks for outdoor drawing, and other dynamic movements. These experiences allow children to experiment with making marks while building foundational skills needed for later handwriting, helping them gain confidence, control, and creativity.
We promote a love of reading from the earliest stage. In Reception, we deliver the Talk Through Stories (TTS) programme, which introduces children to rich vocabulary (Tier 2 words) and immerses them in quality stories read by enthusiastic adults. Our writing cycle is built around the TTS approach and supported by Voice 21 oracy techniques, focusing on transcription, phonics application, and handwriting fluency.
Handwriting and Fine Motor Skills
We use the Kinetic Letters programme to develop handwriting skills. In Pre-School, children begin with postures such as Strong Bear to strengthen core muscles and practise gross-motor movements. This progresses to pencil grip, letter formation, and writing in sand, on whiteboards, and in books — repeated until children form letters correctly and write fluently.
Mathematics
In Pre-School, we teach maths through nursery rhymes and playful, interactive activities. In the two-year-old provision, children focus on numbers up to 3, while in Nursery, they work with numbers up to 5 with use actions and finger numbers to introduce the children to number representations. We use practical, real-life situations — such as snack time — to make maths interactive, using 5-frames to count milk and fruit. Children are also introduced to subitising and recognising different representations of numbers to five such as number blocks, building a strong foundation before they move into Reception.
In Reception, daily maths sessions use practical resources such as ten frames and Numicon to help children understand numbers in multiple representations — including numerals, Numicon shapes, dice patterns, and finger counting.
We aim for all children to master subitising and develop a deep understanding of numbers to ten. Practical problem-solving activities and the use of mathematical vocabulary help children explore concepts such as weight, capacity, and measure in meaningful contexts.
Foundation Subjects
Afternoons are dedicated to the Specific Early Learning Goals (ELGs), including all aspects of Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design. These areas are taught through creative, practical, and cross-curricular activities that extend children’s knowledge and skills. Learning experiences are carefully planned to link directly to the foundation subjects of History, Geography, Religious Education (RE), Art, and Design & Technology (DT), ensuring children develop the key concepts and vocabulary that provide firm foundations for future learning in Key Stage 1.
We use detailed progression documents for each ELG and foundation subject, mapping children’s learning from Pre-School through to Key Stage 2. This ensures a clear sequence of learning, enabling staff to build on what children already know and can do, and to plan meaningful next steps. Through this approach, children leave the EYFS with the essential skills, curiosity, and confidence to thrive as they begin their Key Stage 1 journey.
Giving Every Child the Best Start
At Pentland, our EYFS provision is built on care, curiosity, and connection. Through expert teaching, purposeful play, and meaningful relationships, we give every child the best possible start to their educational journey — ready to thrive in school and beyond.
Useful Websites
Best Start in Life
Potty Training – ERIC
Birth to Five Matters
Speech and Language UK
ELKLAN
Lullaby Trust