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EYFS
EYFS Lead: Mrs Caroline Sztymiak
Link Governor: Miss Alice Norris
Intent
At St Mary’s Catholic Primary School our aim is to provide a nurturing Early Years environment that ensures our children feel safe, settled and happy, establishing the very best start to their school life. We regard every child as unique and prioritise positive relationships in order for each child to become confident, independent and resilient learners. We work in close partnership with our parents and carers. Children in our Reception class are provided with a language rich, stimulating environment which encourages a love of learning through play – a fundamental part of early learning. The curriculum in the Early Years is designed to be ambitious, enjoyable, and carefully sequenced to be accessed by all the children.
Implementation
The Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage has seven main areas of learning and development:
Prime Areas
• Personal, Social, Emotional Development
• Communication and Language
• Physical Development
Specific Areas
• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design
In EYFS, the carefully designed curriculum is implemented through planned, purposeful play, and through both child-initiated and adult-directed activities. Through adult led learning we introduce new concepts and knowledge, which are then built on by the children through continuous provision opportunities. Children direct their own learning during continuous provision, with staff providing enhanced provision to extend and develop learning. Staff also develop play and extend language and learning through quality interactions. Early Years staff use the ShREC approach to create meaningful interactions and support children to become better communicators.
We use Development Matters to underpin the teaching and learning combined with a self-created curriculum tailored to the needs of the children. Through the seven areas of learning we provide topics to excite and engage our pupils. Wherever possible, we provide first hand experiences for our children, including objects, visitors and outings. We build on the children’s previous knowledge and ensure that learning opportunities are provided to widen their knowledge and understanding of the world. This ensures that they have a secure foundation in learning and development, ready for accessing our curriculum when transitioning to the National Curriculum.
Phonics is taught daily through Little Wandle Letter and Sounds Revised. Through thorough assessments we ensure that children are reading the correct decodable reading book for their individual learning level. This ensures that we are providing phonics keep up sessions during the day for those children who require extra support.
Mathematics is taught through daily sessions, following the Early Years Number Sense scheme, a systematic and structured programme that develops a deep understanding of quantities to ten and promotes talk and reasoning. We also use the NCETM teaching material to support non-number topics. We want our children to become confident mathematicians who can apply what they have learnt to problem solving, reasoning and real life opportunities.
Useful Documents
The following files will give you an overview of the EYFS curriculum at St Mary's and our expectations of pupils in this subject area:
Impact
Children are engaged and eager to access indoor and outdoor provision. The characteristics of effective learning are developed and children are able to apply their knowledge to a range of situations making links and explaining their ideas and understanding. Children are confident to take risks and discuss their successes and failures with adults drawing on their experiences to improve or adjust what they are doing.
The impact of our curriculum is measured by the assessment procedures we have in place. Early Years staff use observations to make formative assessments, which inform future planning and ensure that all children build on their current knowledge and skills. We refer to the Development Matters Statements and the Early Years Statutory Framework to assess whether children are on track or need additional and specific support. Supportive interventions are put in place, if and when required. This helps to ensure that the progress of all children is at least good, including our vulnerable groups of children.