EYFS

Subject Leader: Miss Mulholland and Miss Parslow

Our Curriculum Drivers

Intent

Our aim at St Mary’s is to:

• Develop an awareness of the wider world that goes beyond the children’s usual experience.
• Enable all learners to be immersed in an environment that develops a desire for learning and curiosity about the world around them.
• Build the children’s confidence and independence to prepare them for moving onto Key Stage One.
• Form partnerships with parents that will be built upon throughout the year and their time at St Mary’s.
• Ensure all learners have equal opportunities to succeed through high aspirations and flexible responses to children’s needs.
• Give children the best start in their education, creating confident and motivated learners.

Implementation

At St Mary’s, teaching in the EYFS is delivered in accordance with the government’s statutory document ‘The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage’ (March 2021). Our EYFS curriculum at St Mary’s is centred around the three prime areas of learning:

Communication and Language

• Listening, Attention and Understanding
• Speaking

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

• Self-regulation
• Managing Self
• Building Relationships

Physical Development

• Gross Motor Skills
• Fine Motor Skills

The curriculum is also developed through the four specific areas which provide opportunities to develop essential skills and knowledge. The four specific areas of learning are:

Literacy

• Comprehension
• Word Reading
• Writing

Mathematics

• Number
• Numerical Patterns

Understanding of the World

• Past and Present
• People, Culture and Communities
• The Natural World

Expressive Arts and Design

• Creating with Materials
• Being Imaginative and Expressive

We value play as a fundamental part of the learning process in the EYFS. The indoor and outdoor environment contain areas to support all of the EYFS prime and specific areas of learning. The EYFS environment is set up so that the children are able to access resources and develop their own play and learning both independently through child led learning and through adult led activities.

The children in the EYFS learn through a range of engaging topics, specifically chosen to expose children to a variety of people and places. The topics that the children learn about are:

The EYFS equips the children with the key knowledge and skills that the need in order to thrive when they enter Key Stage One. Our St Mary’s EYFS to KS1 Progression document is:

Home-School Partnerships

At St Mary’s, we develop strong partnerships between school and home. The children’s learning is shared with parents and carers weekly through Seesaw observations and through the weekly EYFS newsletter.

Impact

Our EYFS curriculum ensures that children move onto Key Stage One:

• With a love of learning, taking pride in what they do and always striving to do their best.
• As confident learners who demonstrate emotional resilience and the ability to persevere when they encounter challenges.
• Settled into St Mary’s, with a sense of their role in the St Mary’s community.
• Having made the best possible progress as a result of consistent, quality first teaching.
• Children will have strong communication skills, both written and verbal, and will listen respectfully to the views of others.

How to support your child at home?

At St Mary’s, we believe that a strong home-school partnership is key to successful learning across the curriculum.

• Read with your child daily.
• Visit the individual subject pages on St Mary’s for subject specific ideas.
• Read the weekly EYFS Newsletter to stay up to date with our learning.

Key Documents

New Starters 2025

Please find information below for families of children starting with us in September 2025.