Intent
At St Elizabeth’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, we intend that our curriculum educates all the children in their knowledge, skills and understanding and in what it is to be a good Christian. We promote independent learning, encouraging the children to actively learn and explore through their play to become inquisitive, curious learners and to be effective at using these skills across all areas of the curriculum. We place strong emphasis on the religious, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of all our pupils. Our school community has identified a clear set of Franciscan values that underpin expectations for behaviour for all members of our school family. Our aim is for our children to achieve their full potential, to believe in themselves and their abilities and capabilities, to belong to a safe and caring environment, where they are able to become successful in their academic career and beyond.
Every child is recognised as a unique individual. We work in partnership with parents and carers to encourage independent, happy learners who thrive in school and reach their full potential from their individual starting points. We provide opportunities throughout our EYFS curriculum to support learning, consolidate and deepen knowledge and ensure children meet their next steps. We do this by continuing to create and develop a purposeful environment both indoor and outdoor, which supports their learning, encouraging children to reach the Early Learning Goals at the end of the Foundation Stage .
Implementation
In EYFS the children experience the 7 areas of learning through a balance of whole class/group teaching and play based learning. This is through the children’s interests, class themes, continuous provision activities and phonics. Learning is carefully planned by the staff to support early reading, writing, mathematics and language development as well as social skills. We understand to maintain high standards of teaching we have to invest in our staff by providing high quality CPD to match the current needs of the staff and also to match the needs of our children. Teachers as well as TA’s in EYFS create an environment to match the needs and skill levels of our children. Teacher assessments and gap analysis are used to inform planning and the quality of our provision.
We recognise that reading is a key to all other learning and ensure quality phonic sessions are being taught daily using Read, Write Inc, with children’s reading books matching their phonic ability as well as reading aloud to the children, telling stories and rhymes. We encourage parents to read with their child and to recognise the importance of reading to their child on a daily basis to promote an enjoyment and love of reading. We also recognise that children need a vocabulary rich environment in order to succeed in life. This is achieved through Talk 4 Writing sessions, pre-teaching sessions, Speech and Language interventions and through quality interactions with the children.
We believe that learning through play is vital, we use the environment to ensure their needs are met through continuous provision, enhanced provision, topic-based learning and following their interests. Staff teach an objective through whole class, small group teaching and by going into provision to observe children’s play and move learning forward at that point. They record ‘snapshot’ evidence of children’s learning to build an overall picture and set next steps for learning. Formative assessment takes place within every session and helps staff to identify any children that will need additional support to achieve the objective and also to identify those that need challenging, this may be instantaneous if appropriate. Although EYFS has a separate curriculum, we are keen to make sure our children are prepared for the next chapter in their school life.
In EYFS we use an online learning journey to share the learning that has taken place within school, this is done through each child’s individual learning journey and through our ‘Iona and RE’ child learning journeys. This enables parents to continue to support their child’s development at home in all 7 areas of the curriculum and through RE, using the Come and See scheme of work. We encourage parents to upload observations from home to further enable us to assess the child’s next steps in learning and to follow their interests at school. As well as this we provide helpful tips and hints, websites, videos and links to support parents.
At St Elizabeth’s we believe the enjoyment of the curriculum promotes achievement, confidence and good behaviour. Our children feel safe to try new things.
Our EYFS Curriculum
Reception – Curriculum Overview
Early Years Foundation Stage Policy
Early Years Foundation Stage Policy
