EYFS (Early Years Foundation)

Why?

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

“Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn. ” ~ O. Fred Donaldson

During their time in the EYFS at St Peter’s our aim is for our children to become well rounded, happy and confident individuals with a positive attitude to school and a love of learning. Our EYFS curriculum is designed to encourage independent, inquisitive and happy learners whilst preparing them to reach the Early learning Goals. We recognise children’s prior learning and various starting points, and create a holistic play-based curriculum that maximises cross-curricular links and builds strong foundations for their future. Our EYFS curriculum is specifically designed and evolves to provide children with important foundational skills and knowledge that will later be enhanced and embedded in KS1.

We believe that all children deserve to be valued as an individual and we are passionate in allowing all children to achieve their full, unique potential. We work closely with our feeder Nurseries to ensure a seamless transition to school; we begin each new year by looking at the individual needs of our children and – taking into account their different starting points – we then carefully develop our flexible EYFS Curriculum which enables them to follow the path of their learning journey, at a point, that is suitable for their unique needs and stages of development.

Parents are a key part in a child’s education. We work in close partnership with parents and carers throughout the year to support their learning and to encourage children to reach their full potential. We also aim to promote a smooth transition from EYFS to KS1 by providing children with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to succeed throughout their education.

What?

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum

Since September 2000 a ‘Foundation Stage’ has been established for our youngest children. It gives this very important stage of education a distinct identity and is rooted in play based learning and practical activity both indoors and out of doors.

Our curriculum is based on The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum (2021)

There are:

Three Prime areas which work together to support development in all other areas

Personal Social and Emotional Development
Communication and Language Development
Physical Development

Four Specific areas which include essential skills and knowledge

Literacy – we use the ‘Read Write Inc‘ scheme for phonic learning which continues into KS1.
Maths – in line of the rest of the school we the White Rose scheme of work
Understanding the World
Expressive Arts and Design

The children learn through a balance of child-initiated and adult-directed activities and challenges. The weekly timetables are carefully structured so that children have rigorous directed teaching in Literacy, Maths and Phonics every day. We also ensure regular Circle Time/ PSHE sessions to focus on C&L and PSED and Topic sessions to focus UW and EAD. These sessions are followed by group work where children work with a member of staff to develop their individual skills. This focused group time enables the teacher to systematically check for understanding, identify and respond to misconceptions quickly and provide real-time verbal feedback which results in a strong impact on the acquisition of new learning.

Children are provided with a wealth of opportunities to engage in ‘exploration’ throughout a variety of experiences, which are carefully planned to engage and challenge them in our provision. The curriculum is planned for the inside and outside classrooms in a cross-curricular way to enable all aspects of the children’s development as well as to promote sustained thinking and active learning. Preparation and co-planning are led by the EYFS teachers each week to ensure that the provision leads to depth of learning across all areas of the curriculum.

Our curriculum is delivered through topics that change each term. For more information click on the links below:

Autumn Term: Magnificent Me!

Spring Term: Out of this World

Summer Term: All things bright and beautiful

WOW!

Our Reception children tell us that they like Reception because:

… of my friends. I have lots!

… I love playing outside, especially the sand and doing drawing and painting.

… I like learning big numbers, like ‘teen numbers’.

… we have a whiteboard. I draw cool things like roller coasters!

Our parents tell us:

“My son has had an amazing year in Reception. It is so well organised and the staff are very experienced and nurturing. It is obvious that the staff really care about each pupil.”

“It feels very welcoming and nurturing for the children which at their age is very important. Encouraging parents to be part of their learning journey also is great to see.”

“Children are always very happy, great nurturing environment and excellent resources for the children.”