Early Years

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) set standards for the learning, development and care of children from birth to five years of age. All schools and Ofsted registered early years providers must follow the EYFS. At St Richard's Catholic Primary, we have one reception class called Castle Class.

Children learn skills, acquire new knowledge and demonstrate their understanding through seven areas of learning and development. These are split into 'prime areas' and 'specific areas' of learning and development. The three prime areas are communication and language, physical development and personal, social and emotional development. The four specific areas are literacy (reading and writing), mathematics (number and spatial reasoning skills), understanding the world and expressive arts and design.

Intent

Throughout their time in EYFS, we want the children to develop a strong sense of belonging to our school family and community, getting ready to transition into Year One. Over the year in EYFS, the children will grow in strength and confidence to make choices, self-evaluate and become lifelong learners, who are kind and thoughtful young people.

We aim to work together with parents and carers to encourage happy, independent learners who strive to do their very best and reach their God given potential.
We aim to understand and follow the children’s interests and enthusiasm by providing opportunities throughout the EYFS curriculum to support their learning, consolidate and strengthen their knowledge and skills, helping them to reach their goals.
We aim to create an inspiring indoor and outdoor environment that supports and excites the children’s learning.
We aim to prepare the children to reach their Early Learning Goals at the end of the Foundation Stage, making sure that each child makes good progress from their individual starting points.
We aim to support and help with the transition into Year One.
We plan the curriculum allowing the children to develop their essential knowledge and skills on a daily basis
We aim to develop the children’s spirituality, interdependence, creativity, independence, thinking skills and ability to challenge themselves.

Implementation

Throughout EYFS at St Richard's Primary School, we follow the Early Years Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, updated in March 2021 by the DFE. The framework informs us of the requirements for learning and development in the Early Years and provides us with prime and specific areas of learning we must cover in our curriculum.

At St Richard's we deliver a curriculum that is child centred and allows for those wonderful experiences which invite the children to become active, independent learners who are motivated and interested. We take time to learn about the children and their interests in order to support their learning. All areas of the curriculum are taught progressively and the children are provided with ample opportunities to learn new skills, gain new knowledge and demonstrate an understanding through the seven areas of the EYFS curriculum.

Literacy
Mathematics
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Physical Development
Communication and Language
Understanding the World
Expressive Arts and Design

Children in EYFS learn so much through exploration, play, being active, being creative and being given the chance to become critical thinkers, both indoors and outdoors. Teaching and learning staff provide stimulating and ever changing learning environments which encourage early language development. Learning is celebrated through displays which support current learning and allow the children to take ownership and pride in their achievements. Our outdoor area is used all year round and staff ensure that all activities support the Characteristics of Effective Learning.

All children perform in a Nativity, are celebrated in our weekly celebration assembly, participate in whole class assemblies as well as school trips. They are visited by a number of people who help us in the community. They plant bulbs and seeds, watch them grow and eat their produce. They cook different foods, celebrate other religions and have a Year Six Buddy. To support our wider curriculum, we provide many opportunities for parents and carers to come into school and work with their child, share their work and celebrate their wonderful success. We keep parents informed through regular parent meetings.

We also support the children with their transition into Year One for both child and parents. We prepare the children with visits to their new classroom, meeting their new teacher and ensuring that the environments are inviting. We also provide transition books to those children that need them.

At St Richard's we continue to strive to ensure that all of our children’s progress across the whole EYFS curriculum is good from their different starting points. We work really hard to also ensure that the children reach their Early Learning Goals at the end of Reception and evidence from the Children’s Learning Journeys support all of the above areas of the EYFS curriculum. We track pupils achieving age related expectations throughout the academic year, allowing us to put interventions in place if and when they are needed. The class teachers continually make observations to make formative assessments which help with planning and making sure that the children continue to build on their prior knowledge and skills at a good pace.

Impact

Children at St Richard's make good progress from their varied starting points. They leave the Reception class with a love of learning and a confidence to extend their own learning. They transition well into Year One with the knowledge and skills needed for their next stage of learning. They are able to access learning with a good level of independence and they show a curiosity of the world around them. They have gained resilience and see mistakes as opportunities to learn. They have become good problem solvers and their questions skills are developing.

The Impact of our curriculum is also measured by the effectiveness it has on helping our children to become gentle, compassionate, well-rounded individuals who embody our Gospel values and demonstrate these in their everyday lives.