EYFS

At St Stephen’s we want the best for every child which is why we believe that all children should have an equal chance of success and deserve high quality care. The curriculum that we want our children to learn and the pedagogy our staff use to help children learn has been carefully constructed to ensure all children make progress. We regularly assess what children can do and what their next steps are through working directly with children and observing them in their play. Through the Nursery and Reception year, we aim to support children to develop their ability to become self regulated learners and support their executive functioning skills. Essential to all of this, is the development of a positive partnership with parents/carers.

The characteristics of effective teaching and learning below underpin our entire approach:

• Playing and exploring - children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’.
• Active learning - children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements.
• Creating and thinking critically - children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.

For us, the EYFS provides the foundations for each of the subject disciplines that the National Curriculum is made up of, so we have used Development Matters and the Early Learning Goals to ensure that there is a clear and natural progression from the end of the Reception year into Year 1. On each subject page you will find the Nursery and Reception curriculum overview which outlines this. Below is our Nursery and Reception Curriculum.

"Children learn and develop well in enabling environments with teaching and support from adults, who respond to their individual interests and needs and help them to build their learning over time. Children benefit from a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers."

Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (2021)