Early Years Foundation Stage
Intent:
At St John's Church School we believe that every child deserves the best possible start to life and that high quality early learning provides the foundation for children to make the best of their talents and abilities, enabling them to flourish.
Implementation:
Children make a strong start to learning Phonics in EYFS. Every child deserves success from the start. We know that the sooner children learn to read, the greater their success at school. This is why we put reading at the heart of what we do. We use
‘Read, Write Inc. Phonics’ as a systematic synthetic phonics programme. In Reception, children learn a new sound daily, until they have learnt Set 1 sounds. They learn to blend the sounds orally into words, before blending to read words.
Alongside this children learn to use their Fred Fingers to segment the sounds in words and practise their letter formation when writing the sounds. We also develop a love of reading, by sharing stories with the children; including our core texts linked to our big question and learning, and end of day reads. Children’s vocabulary grows through high quality interactions with adults, My Turn Your Turn, discussions, questioning, building sentences and through role-play.
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Together, we will achieve, learn and grow in a caring Christian environment
We give our children the best possible start to life and foundation for them to start their learning journey. Through our teaching and learning, we will answer big questions, explore stories, rhymes and songs, create experiences, immerse ourselves in outdoor learning.
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We will support children to build, broaden and deepen their interests; where skills, knowledge and understanding changes, develops and grows. Children will have the opportunity to explore, actively learn and think critically; making full use of both our inside and outside environments.
Our learning is ambitious and adaptable to each child. Consideration is given to the individual needs and interests of the children, informing a challenging and enjoyable experience for each child across all areas of learning and development. Through scaffolding and support every child can access the curriculum and achieve.
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We want our children to develop into kind, caring and thoughtful individuals. They are communicators, writers, readers, mathematicians, explorers (historians, scientists, geographers), musicians, performers, artists and athletes.
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We want our children to be independent, collaborative, resilient learners, and confident communicators.
We do this by building in our values of excellence, ambition, kindness and courage which are underpinned by our three school rules of ‘Ready to learn, Respect and Responsibility’.
Learning in EYFS is play based, being essential for children to learn and develop. This takes place both inside and outdoors, through enabling environments and engaging in high quality, valuable interactions with their peers and adults. Children have the opportunity to explore and learn with high quality resources, which are carefully selected to prompt exciting, stimulating and enriching experiences for all children. Our curriculum is implemented through purposeful play, guiding the children’s learning and development through warm and positive interactions.
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In Reception, children will learn and develop knowledge and skills during daily Phonics, Mastering Number, Maths and Curriculum inputs. They will complete adult-guided activities to apply knowledge and skills linked to these inputs. There is a careful balance between child-initiated and adult-guided learning. The balance of activities planned and taught gradually changes in Reception to help children prepare for their next step in their learning journey, including more formal teaching in Year 1.
Curriculum
We have designed our own curriculum so that it supports our children to flourish and thrive in the early years. It is underpinned by the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (2025), with a balance of adult-guided learning and child-initiated experiences.
There are seven areas of learning and development that are inter-connected and important. The prime areas are particularly crucial for engaging children’s curiosity and enthusiasm, and building their capacity to learn, form relationships and achieve.
The three prime areas are:
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Personal, Social and Emotional Development
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Communication and Language
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Physical Development
The four specific areas are:
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Literacy
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Mathematics
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Understanding the World
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Expressive Arts and Design
Our curriculum and provision is also informed by our commitment to our school’s Christian values, which are reinforced and inform our planning, teaching and core behaviours.
Children also make a strong start to being mathematical, through Mastering Number and our own Maths curriculum. Mastering number aims to secure firm foundations in the development of good number sense for all children. Children will develop fluency in calculation and confidence with numbers. By understanding each mathematical concept and mastering learning one step at a time, everyone can succeed in maths. Children also talk about shape, space and measures, in order to develop early mathematical skills.
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Impact:
Observations and assessment
At the start of the school year, a baseline assessment is carried out in September to help us understand each child’s starting point and plan for their individual needs. Throughout the year, we use Tapestry, an online learning journal that records the children’s learning, achievements, and the fun of their early years education. Each week, Tapestry is updated to document the learning and knowledge children have gained, providing parents with a clear picture of their child’s progress. In addition to this, children also have personal learning journals that celebrate their individual achievements and milestones. At the end of the year, we complete the EYFS Profile, which summarises each child’s development across all areas of learning and prepares them for their transition into Key Stage 1.
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The impact of our EYFS curriculum is that all of our children will have the opportunity to flourish and thrive in a supportive environment, through positive relationships and becoming confident, independent, resilient, collaborative learners, who will be ready for the next step in their learning journey.