Statement of Intent

At Holy Family, we passionately believe that young children learn best through play and exploration. Wherever possible we offer our learners the opportunity to experience real life events that are linked to their learning.  Every day, pupils get the opportunity to be an artist, writer, mathematician, scientist, designer or a storyteller - to be whatever they want to be!

These 'play-based' experiences enable them to consolidate their skills, knowledge and understanding of the world around them, enabling them to be become independent, resilient learners. Through this environment, both inside and outside, you will see busy learners actively engaged in a wide range of activities that they themselves have chosen. Continuous provision supports and encourages our children and staff to have a lifelong love of learning.

In  our Early Years setting, the room is organised to promote and develop continuous provision.  This method of teaching and learning enables children to return to their explorations and consolidate their learning over the course of a day or a more extended period. It  also allows children to make choices and initiate play without interaction with an adult.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) at Holy Family Catholic Primary School

At Holy Family, we believe that the EYFS is crucial in securing solid foundations that children can continue to build upon.

It is our intent that the children who enter EYFS develop physically, verbally, cognitively and emotionally whilst embedding a positive attitude to school and learning. 

We believe that all children deserve to be valued as individuals and we are passionate in allowing them to achieve their full, unique potential; placing strong emphasis on the religious, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of all our pupils.

With all of this in mind, we begin each year by looking at the individual needs of our learners and – taking into account their different starting points - we then carefully develop our flexible EYFS Curriculum. This enables each child to follow the path of their own learning journey in a way that is suitable for their unique needs and particular stage of development.

We follow the EYFS curriculum, which has seven main areas of learning.

The Prime Areas:-

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Communication and Language
• Physical Development

The Specific Areas:-

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts & Design

The teaching of these areas of learning is practical and playful with support and challenge from adults in class sessions, small group sessions and working with individuals.

There is a combination of adult-led, teacher taught sessions as well as a wealth of stimulating continuous provision opportunities.

Throughout all of these areas of learning and at the heart of the EYFS Curriculum are the “Characteristics of Effective Learning”. At Holy Family, we strive to develop these key characteristics of “Playing and Learning”, “Active Learning” and “Thinking Critically” in order to give the children the skills that they will continue to draw upon throughout their development.

All of the crucial skills, knowledge and vocabulary that we teach are presented to the children throughout the year, encompassing a range of topics, which are designed with their interests in mind. A vital part of the Curriculum design and topics is therefore the transition period before the children enter our classrooms and where we get to know more about them and their interests.

Our learning environments, both inside and outside are also adapted regularly to meet the different and developing needs of the children in our care. We aim to ensure that these areas are always stimulating and exciting and that, importantly, they are accessible to all children, regardless of where they are on their learning journey. The environments are developed to promote independence within our children and allow them to access the curriculum independently and confidently with the necessary level of support and challenge.

Within our EYFS Curriculum, children are assessed continuously through accurate and important observations. These provide us with information for future planning, not only for our individual classes but also for individual children’s next steps in learning. These assessments enable us, as EYFS practitioners, to ensure learning is embedded and consistent and that all children continue to make outstanding progress within our EYFS setting and beyond