Curriculum information

The Foundation Stage begins when children reach the age of three.

EYFS seeks to provide:

-Quality and consistency so that every child in our care makes good progress and no child
gets left behind.

-Equality of opportunity and anti - discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is
included and supported.

-A secure foundation through learning and development opportunities which are planned
around the needs and interests of each individual child and are assessed and reviewed regularly.

-Partnership working between staff and parents.

Four themes underpin our practice:

• A unique child – all of our children are constantly learning and can be resilient, capable,
• confident and self-assured.
• Positive relationships –children learn to be strong, independent and secure through positive relationships.
• Enabling environments which meet the needs of each child and is supported by strong
• partnerships between parents and staff.
• Learning and development – we recognise that children learn and develop in different ways.

At the end of EYFS our children will:

• Be curious and resilient learners
• Communicate effectively with others
• Be part of our community
• Have a rich vocabulary and enjoy stories, rhymes and songs

At St Bartholomew's we follow the EYFS framework and support all children, including those with special educational needs to fulfil their potential.

There are three prime areas of learning in the early years framework:

• Personal, social and emotional development
• Physical development
• Communication and language

We focus particularly strongly on these areas in our pre-school year in order to build a sound basis for learning in Reception. Transition is a key strength in our school. We offer home visits and where possible staff visits to the child's current setting. We also have a highly successful structured approach on entry with key emphasis on parental involvement.

Positive behaviour management is also a key belief. Children are taught positive attitudes and

dispositions towards their learning; social skills, attention skills and resilience.

Our key 'rules' are:

• Use kind words and tell the truth
• Work hard and try your best
• Keep yourself and others safe
• Take care of our school and everyone and everything in it
• Listen carefully to everyone

Protective behaviours are taught specifically to our children through-out their time with us. We emphasise independence and 'risk management' in every activity we do with our children as we believe this is what empowers them to become effective learners.

We also encourage a 'healthy lifestyle' in our setting. Through-out Nursery and Reception we promote healthy eating. We include regular skills based cookery sessions for all of our children which we link to stories and themes through-out the year. We have a daily self-service snack time offering milk and fruit. We ask parents to contribute to a voluntary fund which allows us to cook and 'top up' snack with toast making and treats such as hot chocolate on a winter's day.

There are also four specific areas of learning:

• English
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive arts and design

At St Bartholomew's EYFS we believe that engagement is the key to learning. Happy, excited children who enjoy what they are doing learn well. Our careful and proactive planning is extremely thorough and involves the children's ideas and responds to their individual interests.

We offer a spacious, vibrant unit which has recently been refurbished alongside a high quality team of expert staff and excellent resources. We are incredibly proud of our high quality outdoor environment which includes a garden, and several purpose build outdoor learning facilities which enhance and extend our teaching and learning areas.

Children are regularly taught through the outdoor environment and are given outdoor access whenever possible. Phonics and reading are taught through the Read, Write, Inc scheme.

Parental involvement

We aim to involve our parents with every aspect of your child's journey with us.

We ensure personal contact with parents and carers on a daily basis, which enables any emerging issues or concerns, are dealt with efficiently.

We have links and contact with children's centres in the local area if parents need further support or advice.