Early Years Foundation Stage
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
At St Vincent's Catholic Primary School, we believe the Early Years Foundation Stage provides the strong foundations on which every child's future learning is built. We create a safe, nurturing and stimulating environment where children feel happy, valued and inspired to explore, play and learn. Our EYFS curriculum is based on the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework and is carefully designed to develop children's knowledge, skills and confidence through high-quality interactions, purposeful play and carefully planned adult-led learning. We recognise that every child is unique and work closely with families to ensure each child makes the very best start to their education.
A Strong Start to Learning
Our curriculum places a strong emphasis on developing the fundamental skills that children need for future success. We prioritise:
- communication and language
- personal, social and emotional development
- early reading and phonics
- mathematics
- physical development
- vocabulary development
- independence and confidence.
These strong foundations prepare children exceptionally well for Year 1 and beyond.
The EYFS Curriculum
Children in Reception learn through the seven areas of learning within the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.
Prime Areas
- Communication and Language
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Physical Development
Specific Areas
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
Learning is carefully sequenced so that children build knowledge and skills over time, preparing them for the National Curriculum in Key Stage 1.
Characteristics of Effective Learning
Alongside the areas of learning, we nurture the Characteristics of Effective Learning, encouraging children to become enthusiastic, independent learners who:
- play and explore
- actively engage in learning
- create, think critically and solve problems.
These learning behaviours underpin everything we do and help children develop resilience, curiosity and a lifelong love of learning.
Learning Through Play
Children learn best through a balance of child-initiated play, purposeful adult-led activities and high-quality interactions. Our indoor and outdoor learning environments provide rich opportunities for exploration, investigation and discovery across all areas of learning. Adults skilfully extend children's thinking through questioning, modelling language and introducing new vocabulary and experiences.
Assessment
Assessment is an integral part of learning in the Early Years. Staff continually observe children, celebrate their achievements and use assessment to plan the next steps in learning. At the end of Reception, teachers complete the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile, making professional judgements against the Early Learning Goals.
Progression Beyond EYFS
Knowledge and skills are carefully sequenced from Nursery through Reception and into Year 1, ensuring children experience a smooth transition into the National Curriculum. This coherent progression enables every child to build securely on prior learning and continue to flourish as confident, capable learners. Please see the documents below for further information about the Early Learning Goals, Characteristics of Effective Learning and our EYFS to Year 1 curriculum progression.
Knowledge and skills are built on from nursery to reception and there is clear progression through to year one in each National Curriculum subject. You can see an overview of progression below:
EYFS Geography progression grid
EYFS Computing progression grid
Reception Long Term Skills Progression Grid
Curriculum Intent
Enrichments
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