“Children learn by leading their own play, and by taking part in
play and learning that is guided by adults” EYFS Framework

At St Hedda’s School we believe that all children deserve an education rich in wonder and memorable experiences, allowing children’s creativity and curiosity to flourish to give them the best start in life.

The intent of our EYFS curriculum is to ensure our children develop the essential skills and  knowledge so that they build strong and firm foundations based on the educational programmes.

At St Hedda’s we carefully consider what we teach our children given our unique setting and context, helping our children to learn new things and make links with things they already know.  The prime areas are prioritised as these  are fundamental for building readiness and resilience for future learning. There is a strong focus on vocabulary, story telling and shared reading, transcription,  building vocabulary through listening and talking (adult interactions), stories, poems and rhymes. We develop our children’s ability to hold information with a provision which is carefully thought out and planned.

Our core ‘fab five’ stories , poems and rhymes are rich in language and  culture.  Our curriculum is developed to be sequential and  progressive, where pupils know more and can do more, building on what they have been previously taught. It is also designed to be responsive to the needs of our children, families as well as our rural community in the Esk Valley and the coastal town of Whitby.

Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning 

We understand the importance of the Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning and these are weaved into our curriculum.

 

At St Hedda’s we ensure that the four guiding principles of the EYFS are fully embedded. These are:

The Unique Child.

Principle: Every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.

Positive Relationships.

Principle: Children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or a key person.

Enabling Environments.

Principle: The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning.

Learning and Development.

Principle: Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates and all areas of learning and development are equally important and interconnected.

At St. Hedda’s, the learning environments are carefully set up so they are enabling, challenging and stimulating. Through purposeful play, high-quality adult interactions, enhancements and adult-led activities, all children, regardless of background, barrier or need succeed in our setting.

To enhance our child-led approach, we have highly skilled, enthusiastic staff who see every moment as a learning opportunity and ensure that all our children are given an ambitious curriculum across all seven areas of learning. We ensure nothing is left to chance in EYFS!

The Seven Areas of Learning

Early years learning concentrates on 7 areas split between prime and specific areas of learning.

The prime areas of learning are:

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

The specific areas of learning are:

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

Outdoor Play

We recognise the importance of children being physically active in EYFS. Creativity, imagination, exploration, outdoor learning  and communication are at the heart of this. We have an open-door access policy in our Early Years where our children have the option to play indoors or outdoors, in all weathers. The children have access to large-scale play such as: large loose parts, large-scale water play and large-scale creative play. 

Impact

Our children are ready for Year 1