EYFS Leader - Mrs Natalie Serjeant

Link governor - Mrs Tanya Watt

Curriculum Intent

"Play is the highest form of research" - Albert Einstein

 At St John’s Catholic Primary School, we believe that the Early Years Foundation Stage is crucial in securing solid foundations that children are going to build upon. It is our intent that the children develop physically, cognitively, verbally and emotionally whilst embedding a positive attitude towards learning. We want our children to ‘Shine, Celebrate and Grow’ in their journey through school. We place great value on the development of children as individuals and providing them with the skills, knowledge and understanding that they need to prepare them for the challenges of Key Stage One and beyond. We aim to inspire a love of learning and give opportunities for the children’s unique gifts and talents to shine. We place a strong emphasis on the religious, spiritual, moral and cultural development of all our children and celebrate and welcome the differences within our school family.

Click here to read the full EYFS intent document.

Curriculum Delivery

The Early Years Foundation Stage is based upon four principles, which guide our curriculum delivery:  

• A Unique Child - every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured. 
• Positive Relationships - children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships. 
• Enabling Environments - children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents/carers. 
• Learning and Development - children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates. 

In EYFS, the carefully designed curriculum is implemented through planned, purposeful play, and through a balance of 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 a wealth of stimulating continuous provision opportunities. Children direct their own learning during continuous provision, with staff providing enhanced provision to extend and develop learning. Staff also enhance play and extend as needed to further individual learning through quality interactions and careful use of sustained shared thinking.

Please see individual subject pages for more detail about how each of the different subjects are delivered in EYFS.

Curriculum Coverage

The EYFS framework includes 7 areas of learning and development that are equally important and inter-connected. However, 3 areas known as the prime areas are seen as particularly important for igniting curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building children’s capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive.  

The prime areas are: 

• Communication and language 
• Physical development 
• Personal, social and emotional development  

The prime areas are strengthened and applied through 4 specific areas: 

• Literacy 
• Mathematics 
• Understanding the world 
• Expressive arts and design 

These seven areas of learning and development shape the educational programmes in early years (for more information on the educational programmes, click here). These provide the building blocks of our EYFS curriculum. At St John's, the EYFS Curriculum has been carefully designed to incorporate all 7 areas of learning in a  broad and balanced way, with clear progression in skills and knowledge. 

The long term curriculum overview for EYFS can be found here.

Knowledge Planners

In EYFS, we provide parents with a 'Reach for the Stars' booklet each half term. This outlines some of the main goals for the children to work towards in Communication and Language, Physical Development, Reading, Writing, Number, and Shape, Space and Measure. Knowledge planners are also available for PSHE and RE.