Transforming Early Years: EYFS Improvement Consultancy at Canon Peter Hall Primary

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Canon Peter Hall CofE Primary, a one-form entry school with a nursery, embarked on a transformative journey with Early Excellence to enhance its Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provision. With a diverse student population, including a significant percentage of pupils eligible for Pupil Premium, Special Educational Needs, and English as an Additional Language, the school sought expert EYFS improvement consultancy. Head of School Tracey Grove and her dedicated team collaborated with Early Excellence’s specialists, resulting in substantial advancements in teaching quality, learning environments, and student engagement.

Download the Canon Peter Hall CofE Primary Case Study

Contextual Information

Canon Peter Hall is part of Lincoln Anglican Academy Trust (LAAT). The school is a one form entry with a 39 place nursery. Pupils are primarily White-British, with 41% of the school cohort being eligible for Pupil Premium. 11% of the school are identified with SEN and 4% have EAL. Tracey is an experienced school leader with a KS2 teaching background. The EYFS team is made up of a core of 4 FTE staff, including experienced teachers and practitioners and those newer to teaching and working in the EYFS.

The Bespoke EYFS Improvement Consultancy Plan:

Strategic Review of EYFS and written report
School Leader coaching exploring EYFS
Tailored consultancy for key leaders
Curriculum development support
Strategies to enable early writing
Bespoke training for the EYFS team
Use of free Early Excellence auditing tools
Termly Quality Assurance Reviews and Reports

Project Intent & Implementation

When Tracey Grove, Head of School at Canon Peter Hall CofE Primary, contacted Early Excellence, I was delighted to have the opportunity to find out about the school, their development journey and to unpick next steps for improvement.

Together, we were quickly able to identify key priorities – needing to offer senior leaders strategic support for understanding, supporting and accurately quality assuring the EYFS, training to upskill the EYFS team to transform practice and provision; with a focus on improving writing, as well as developing a cohesive and progressive curriculum.

Guided by the context and aims of the school, a bespoke plan of consultancy and training was created to meet the improvement priorities. I was really pleased to engage personally with Tracey to support at a senior level and to introduce one of my colleagues, Jude Twani, to work with the wider team.

Working closely with the Canon Peter Hall team for over 18 months proved hugely successful – take a look at Tracey’s feedback to see how effective the partnership was!

Best Wishes

Sarah Carey, Early Excellence School Improvement Lead

“We’re thrilled to hear such positive feedback from Tracey about the success of this project for the children & team!”

Evaluating the Impact

How useful was the Strategic Support?

“The review days with Sarah were incredibly useful, I learnt so much about monitoring the quality of education in EYFS. Her consultancy to support pedagogy to improve writing outcomes was very productive, leaving the EY Lead buzzing, and the writing outcomes since that day have really improved in Reception.”

How effective was the Bespoke EYFS Improvement Consultancy?

“Jude engaged us in really useful discussions and inspired the whole EYFS team. The way she works with the staff developing them, building their confidence and challenging their thinking is brilliant. Jude’s support has made such a difference to both our staff and pupils – it’s been transformational!”

What was the impact on Teaching & Learning?

“The Early Excellence consultancy really helped to crystallise our vision. We’re very excited about the redevelopment of our curriculum, particularly the strengthened progression from Nursery to Reception. Our improved provision has certainly enabled our children to better apply and embed new knowledge and skills. The renewed focus on connecting phonics to reading and writing; and providing more meaningful opportunities for these means we’ve seen greater progress and higher EYFS writing outcomes too.”

Our Children

“We’ve seen a real difference in our children – they’re much more engaged in their learning experiences and show greater motivation. Their imagination, curiosity and collaboration are also far stronger than before. Language and Communication have been supported well with the small world and block play developments and we’re really pleased that many of the children are showing a greater confidence with writing too!”

Our Environment

“Improvements to the learning environment have had such a positive impact on both the children and adults. Jude’s enthusiasm meant that changes in room layout were immediate and created momentum. The free audit tools were a super start point to evaluate our learning resources and the streamlined continuous provision offers better connection to the curriculum and means there is less need for enhancements – which is great for staff workload.”

Our Adults

“I’m so proud of the team and how far we’ve come together! Our EYFS team have really embraced the journey and they have reflective conversations around the ‘what and why’ for learning. As school leader, I have a far greater understanding of EYFS, not only in terms of what learning looks like and what to observe, but also in how to support the EYFS team and in beginning to engage subject leaders in the world of EYFS too.”