Welcome to our Early Years Foundation Stage.

Early Years Intent Statement

We strongly believe that a child needs to feel safe, happy and valued whilst in our care and as such, we are dedicated to building strong relationships with our children and their families. Working in partnership with parents and carers, who know them best, is vital for children to reach their full potential.

We want our children to understand their identity and why they are special so that they will also value others’ identity and uniqueness, preparing them for modern Britain and supporting the Fundamental British Values. As children join our Nursery (F1) and Butterfly classes (F2), our curriculum is designed around getting to know each other and what makes me, me. This continues all the way through the EYFS and Key Stage 1, through our curriculum driver ‘Identity’.

We want children to develop a true love for learning, by equipping them with the skills, knowledge and attitudes, to be successful and achieve the goals they set themselves now and in the future. The Characteristics of Effective Learning are at the heart of our curriculum, enabling children to understand the learning processes so they can become effective, lifelong learners. To truly support children with their understanding of the characteristics, we adopted a whole school approach using our Learning Characters when talking about learning. We frequently hear children talk about being a ‘Go for it Gorilla’ or a ‘Persevering Parrot’ when explaining what they have done or need to do next.

Through our curriculum, we aim to provide children with a variety of different learning experiences including through exploration and play, by adults modelling and supporting the thought process, and through guided and direct teaching.  There is a mixture of children choosing where they want to learn with the help of the busy board in Nursery and the learning lists in Butterflies. Throughout their time in the EYFS, we develop the process of plan, do and review, where the children plan where they want to learn/what they want to do, carry out their plans and then reflect on how well it has gone, making adjustments if needed. In doing so, children learn to take initiative, solve problems, self-regulate and accomplish their goals - their play then becomes more purposeful and focused as a result.