Early Years Foundation Stage
Intent
At Saint Aidan’s Catholic Primary School, we prioritise the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to establish strong foundations for lifelong learning. Our child-centred curriculum integrates cross-curricular, child-initiated, and adult-led activities, fostering confident, happy, and independent learners. We emphasise a language-rich environment, offering daily access to songs, poems, rhymes, and stories.
We incorporate children's interests into the curriculum to make learning engaging and meaningful, aiming to inspire awe and wonder through 'magical moments.' Our goal is to create a fun, secure, and challenging educational setting, both indoors and outdoors, where children thrive.
Through nurturing environments, we equip children with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes for fulfilling lives, guided by the love of Christ. We strive to develop resilient, creative, accepting, and caring global citizens who appreciate diverse cultures.
Implementation
At Saint Aidan’s Catholic Primary School, our curriculum aims to raise aspirations by offering pupils a wide range of experiences that develop their cultural capital and teach them about human creativity and achievement. We encourage pupils to be outward-facing, recognising their potential to contribute positively both within our community and globally. Our EYFS curriculum is based on the EYFS Framework 2021 and supported by Development Matters 2021.
The Early Years curriculum includes three prime areas:
Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)
Communication and Language (CL)
Physical Development (PD)
and four specific areas:
Literacy (L)
Mathematics (M)
Understanding the World (UW)
Expressive Arts and Design (EAD)
Effective teaching and learning characteristics central to our EYFS curriculum are:
Creating and thinking critically
Active learning
Playing and exploring
We use key resources such as Master the curriculum maths, White Rose Maths, Read Write Inc, Letters and Sounds, ‘Vine and branches,’ and WELLCOMM to support curriculum development.
Topics are carefully resourced, often introduced with high-quality, diverse storybooks or age-appropriate non-fiction texts reflecting children's interests and experiences. Learning through play, direct practical experience, and child-led interests are emphasised. Our curriculum combines adult-led sessions with continuous provision opportunities, encouraging independent learning through discovery, exploration, curiosity, and challenge.
Adults scaffold learning through skilful interactions and effective questioning. Our vibrant, stimulating learning environments are tailored to the needs and stages of our children. Language-rich internal and external environments allow children to access resources and the curriculum independently, making their own choices. Environments are regularly adapted to meet children's developing needs, providing support and challenge.
Assessment is ongoing throughout the year, with termly pupil progress meetings ensuring consistent assessment and planning, identifying children needing further intervention to accelerate progress.
Formal assessments in the Early Years Foundation Stage include:
Baseline: Before starting, staff speak to parents, previous settings, and review previous learning journeys to understand the child's starting points. During the first half term in Nursery or Reception, ongoing assessments, observations, and conversations with the child develop a baseline assessment, including Wellcomm assessment and ASQ meetings with parents.
RBA (Statutory Reception Baseline Assessment): This assessment focuses on 'Language, Communication and Literacy,' and 'Mathematics,' showing progress from Reception to the end of KS2, completed within the first six weeks of Reception.
Ongoing Observation and Quality Interactions: Ongoing observations inform weekly planning and identify children's next steps. This formative assessment involves minimal time away from children and paperwork. Practitioners use their knowledge and professional judgement, discussions with other practitioners, photographs, and physical examples like drawings. 'Wow' moments are recorded in learning journals and shared with parents and carers.
Impact
At St Aidan’s, we aim to give each child the best possible start in life, preparing them to thrive in KS1. By the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, all children will have achieved their personal best, making good progress across all areas of learning and aiming for a good level of development (GLD). This includes children with SEND or those at risk of disadvantage, ensuring they meet age-related expectations and make excellent academic and social progress.
Our successful transitions into Year 1 demonstrate our impact. EYFS staff understand how Early Learning Goals (ELGs) link to the National Curriculum, and through robust planning and delivery across all subjects, children leave EYFS with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to continue as scientists, historians, artists, and geographers.
Our young learners will appreciate and understand the world by experiencing and learning about different cultures, celebrations, music, dance, art, and history. They will actively ask questions about their surroundings and learning experiences, taking risks as opportunities to learn.
We also help children make sense of the world through our school values of kindness, love, faithfulness, and understanding of their rights and the rights of others. They will fulfil our mission: Love God, Love One Another.