EYFS

Early Years Foundation Stage

Our Holy Family mission is, " Jesus said, 'Let the children come to me.' We live and learn and love in His way."

We believe that all children are entitled to a happy, safe, caring and stimulating environment in which children can develop physically, intellectually, emotionally, socially and spiritually.

From the moment your child begins in Foundation Stage, (Nursery and Reception) they will be immersed in our nurturing, positive atmosphere which celebrates the uniqueness of every child. Their ideas and opinions will be valued and respected by adults and other children. They will know that their views count and that they have the power to make a difference in our world.

Our Curriculum

We follow the EYFS curriculum which builds firm foundations for learning and development. Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through seven areas of learning;

There will be a firm focus on the prime areas:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Communication and Language

Physical Development

 

Good foundations built in the prime areas support your child to learn and develop key skills in the specific areas:

Literacy

Mathematics

Understanding the World

Expressive Arts and Design

We also follow the curriculum strategy, 'Learning and Growing as the people of God' provided by the archdiocese of Birmingham for teaching RE in a Catholic school.

Young children learn by playing and exploring, being active and through having plentiful opportunities to develop their creativity and critical thinking. These characteristics of effective learning underpin our curriculum and weave through our daily provision of playful learning experiences, both in our classroom and in our outdoor learning environments.

We are proud of our personalised curriculum. Our themes of learning come from the interests of our pupils. Children and their families are involved in the process of planning learning experiences. Staff ensure that activities are tailored to your child's unique needs and regularly set personalised next steps in learning for each child.

 

Your Child's Learning

Your child's learning and development will be documented in their online personalised learning journal called Tapestry. You will receive regular observations of your child's learning which you will able to view and respond to via your smartphone or tablet. We also encourage you to add your own contributions of learning from home.

You will receive regular learning letters about our themes and activities. We will also let you know how you can support your child's learning at home.

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British Values are embedded in our curriculum and daily provision. The themes weave seamlessly through EYFS and include; Democracy, The Rule of Law, Individual Liberty and Mutual Respect and Tolerance of those with different Faiths and Beliefs. We aim to make these meaningful to the even the youngest learners in our school. 

Examples of our provision:

Democracy
Children will be given opportunities to develop enquiring minds and taught that their views count. They will be encouraged to value one another's views, talk about their own feelings and become responsible for their decision-making. 
Staff will support the decisions that children make and provide activities that involve turn-taking, sharing and collaboration. We will also teach children about compromise. 
Children will have the opportunity to vote (for example when deciding on the theme of our role-play area, or which vegetables they wish to grow.)

The Rule of Law
Staff teach the children to understand their own and one another's behaviour. There is a firm focus on rewarding positive behaviour and children also learn about consequences of their behaviour. The children are involved in establishing class rules. For example, that they tidy an area when they have finished playing there. 
We ask parents to actively support our effective behaviour policy.   
We plan experiences on keeping safe in response to the needs of the children. For example, we teach the children about what to do if they are lost, how to cross the road safely and how to react in an emergency. 

Individual Liberty
Focusing on self-confidence and self-awareness, children will be supported to develop a positive sense of themselves and be resilient, independent and inspirational learners.
Staff will provide opportunities for children to develop self-esteem and increasing confidence by teaching them to manage risks and solve problems independently. 
We aim to challenge stereotypes through our resources and practice.

Mutual Respect and Tolerance
We actively promote inclusivity and equality of opportunity.
We teach the children about their rights to be an individual, including their right to say 'no' and to be respected for their choices and views. 
Staff plan experiences which reflect the diverse cultures, races and beliefs of the children and celebrate the diversity of our multicultural world. 

Useful documents for parents and carers

 

What to expect, when?

Useful document which lets you know more about your child's stage of development.