At St Mary’s we provide a stimulating and language rich learning environment, which follows the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. 

Through warm, positive interactions, we create an ambitious curriculum responding to the needs and interests of the children to ensure they are developing academically, socially and emotionally. Our curriculum has been created to offer a breadth of learning topics, as summarised below:

As you will see in our Long Term Plan, topics are plotted across the year to offer an opportunity to revisit and recap then build on the knowledge, understanding and skills that have previously been introduced (see the Curriculum Subject Progression and Planning documents for more information, organised by subject, for the whole school).

We love to share stories and books, and link our topics to key texts, as indicated in the Core Read Aloud Books document:

For some topics, we use the story to teach an unfamiliar concept, such as The Journey Home, which brilliantly illustrates the effect that people are having on our planet and animal habitats. Stories introduce new vocabulary, characters and settings, and create a fantastic opportunity for discussion and sharing opinions, thoughts and feelings.

Communication and Language is a major focus for Early Years. We enjoy participating in Helicopter Stories and the Poetry Basket regularly, which links in with our whole school development of oracy. ‘Performing’ our stories and poems fosters children’s confidence and understanding of how to support their peers. For those who have yet to find their voice, or who struggle to access the curriculum in a larger group, additional support is given through a range of targeted interventions, such as Maths, Phonics or emotional wellbeing. We are proud to have a trained Early Years Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA https://www.elsa-support.co.uk/ ) working within our team to give the extra nurture that some children need. We also use the Speech and Language Link programmes to assess and support children with speech, language and communication needs.

We are mindful that learning happens through a variety of ways and means, and therefore we are grateful that we are able to take the children to Forest School every week in our Environmental area on site. This offers so many opportunities for learning about the world around us, working together and negotiating with their friends. Good listening and communication is a focus within these sessions.

Every day, the children engage in learning both inside and outside through a mixture of child-initiated, adult-directed and adult-led activities, using exciting and stimulating resources to enrich the children’s learning. Our outside area offers the opportunities to develop the children’s gross motor skills, using the climbing and play equipment, whilst ‘loose parts’ offer the opportunity to show off their investigation and problem solving skills. In the classroom, fine motor skills are encouraged through Funky Finger interventions and regular access to play-dough, tweezers and more controlled and precise activities to develop their pincer grip and writing muscles.

We aim to provide firm foundations for our children’s journey through St Mary’s. Working in partnership with parents and carers to encourage happy, courageous and respectful children who are excited by school and the opportunities we offer.