Welcome to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

At Saint Monica's RC Primary School we believe in providing a secure foundation for future learning and development for our children.

Our EYFS curriculum allows children to develop interpersonal skills, build resilience and become creative thinkers. We aim to provide a fun, secure, challenging and rich educational environment that enables each individual to thrive.

We work from the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework which sets standards for the learning, development and care of children from birth to five years old.

Reception and Nursery work closely with each other to ensure continuity and consistency between the foundation stage.

Our Mission statement states 'we learn together to achieve and work together to succeed.'

We place a strong emphasis on the religious, spiritual, moral and cultural development of all our pupils.

Learning at Saint Monica's is values-based. We value our faith and the message of tolerance and peace that it brings to all in our school. We value our safe environment where we come together to rejoice as a family secure in our faith. Our values shape how we behave, what we say, how we build relationships and how we learn. They are incorporated in every aspect of life at Saint Monica's. We recognise that every child is a unique individual, formed in the image of Our Lord. We celebrate and welcome the differences within our school and local community.

INTENT

In the EYFS at Saint Monica's, the curriculum is designed to recognise children’s prior learning from previous settings and their experiences at home, provide first hand learning experiences, whilst allowing the children to build resilience, ambition and integrity.

The ability to learn is underpinned by the teaching of basic skills, knowledge, concepts and values. We provide enhancement opportunities to engage learning and believe that our first experiences of school should be happy and positive, enabling us to develop a lifelong love of learning.

Community involvement is an essential part of our curriculum as we celebrate local traditions, learning new skills to enable the children to take an active role in events throughout the year. Throughout their time in EYFS, the children develop a sense of belonging to our school community, ready to transition to year 1. They have the confidence and skills to make decisions and self-evaluate, make connections and become lifelong learners.

We intend:

To work in partnership with parents and carers to encourage independent, happy learners who thrive in school and reach their full potential from their various starting points. 

To understand and follow children’s interests and provide opportunities throughout our EYFS curriculum to support learning, consolidate and deepen knowledge and ensure children meet their next steps.

To create an indoor and outdoor environment which supports learning.

To prepare children to reach the Early Learning goals at the end of the Foundation Stage and ensure children make at least good progress from their starting points. To support transition into KS1.

Class Organisation

There are 3 classes in EYFS.

The teachers are:

• Mrs Morrison (Nursery)

• Mrs Vallver (RV)

• Miss Quigley (RQ)

We are also very lucky to be supported by four wonderful teaching assistants too:

Mrs Hill, Mrs McLoughlin, Mrs MacFarlane and Mrs Windridge.