Intent
At St Francis Xavier Catholic Primary School, we believe that a good early education is fundamental for a child’s success. Through achieving the balance between play and adult led sessions, our early year’s curriculum is designed to provide children with the best possible start in life. The children’s interests are at the heart of our syllabus which enables us to deliver a high quality and child led learning.
We strongly believe that children thrive in an environment where they feel safe, happy and respected. At St Francis, we achieve this through providing children with fun and engaging lessons, forming positive relationships with parents and listening and responding to each individual child’s need.
Implementation
Each half term, we plan a topic which we feel will interest the children. This topic is then broken down into seven areas of learning which are: personal social and emotional development, communication and language, physical development, literacy. mathematics, expressive arts and design, and understanding the world. When delivering these sessions, children will participate in physical activities, discussion and role play activities to enable them to gain good knowledge and understanding of what is being taught. We strongly believe that children learn best through play therefore, anything which is taught is placed into the provision for children to explore in their own time either independently or with their peers.
Communication and language is essential in ensuring that children are able to reach age expected levels (or higher), across all areas of learning. Communication and Language is broken down into three vital parts which are: listening and attention, understanding and speaking. At St Francis, we provide the children with these skills through introducing a wide range of stories, poems and rhymes. We also ensure that children are exposed to high quality texts which build their vocabulary and promote questioning to develop their understanding further.
To promote cultural capital, we aim to attend three trips per year to provide children with a unique learning experience which they will remember for life. This may involve activities such as: paying for something at the shop, going on a bus ride or visiting an education site.
We recognise that all children are unique and will therefore develop individually in their own time. At St Francis we continually assess the children across all seven areas of learning and provide additional support for those children who may require it.
Impact
Delivering an enriched curriculum in the early years will provide children with the foundations they need to reach their full potential. By the time the children leave the foundation stage unit, they have learnt skills which will enable them to be successful throughout their school life. Explicit modelling, promoting independence and providing ongoing assessments, promotes high levels of engagement in learning, and enables the children to make rapid progress throughout their early years.
Learning in the Foundation Stage
At St Francis Xavier the Nursery and Reception classes follow the Early Years Foundation Stage framework (EYFS). This curriculum is based upon four themes and principles.
Unique Child – Every child is a unique child who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
Positive Relationships – Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.
Enabling Environments – Children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and carers.
Learning and Development – Children develop and learn in different ways. The framework covers the education and care of all children in early years provision, including children with special educational needs and disabilities.
The Curriculum
There are 3 prime areas and 4 specific areas of learning in the Foundation Stage framework curriculum.
Prime Areas
Specific Areas
In the Prime Areas children will learn to:-
In the Specific Areas: -
What will children do during a Reception (FS2) class session?
Your child will take part in a wide range of activities, both indoors and outdoors. Your child will learn through
How you can help your child
How you can help your school
Parents in school
When families support their children with their learning they make better progress, so we are very keen to get you involved in school life wherever possible.
Parents drop their children off each morning from 8.45am, so that we can start our day.
In both Nursery and Reception we encourage parents to leave their child at the door to foster independence.
School Times
Morning – 8.45 am – 3.20 pm
World Book Day