Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

In EYFS, we are busy bees and learn through our school values to be inquisitive, to be kind and to be resilient. To achieve this we learn with our HEARTS.

Our intention is that our children are:

Happy

Levels of engagement and self-esteem are high as children feel valued, important, and listened to. Their happiness and wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do.

We recognise that each child is unique and help them to develop their own interests and to clearly communicate their thoughts and feelings.

Being a small school enables all staff to know all the children and adapt learning to suit their needs and interests. This family ethos encourages children to be kind and considerate to others.

Educated

Our children enjoy coming to school and are instilled with a love of learning that will sustain them not only during their time in education but throughout their lives.

When children leave Foundation Stage, they are equipped with the skills they need to read, write and explore number.

We foster an environment where children develop a ‘have a go’ attitude and build their resilience so that they embrace challenge as they progress throughout their lives.

Articulate

Our children are excellent communicators and are comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures to express themselves and explain their ideas.

In EYFS, both children and staff are highly engaged readers that enjoy sharing a love of books together.

Our mixed age classes nurture an environment in which younger children look up to their older role models and aspire to share their wider vocabulary and experiences and therefore they are more inquisitive.

Respectful

As well as developing a strong sense of self, children also learn about their place within our school, community and the wider world. They are kind, inclusive and respectful of all.

By learning about the natural world, our children also learn to value, respect and care for our planet.

Team-players

Our children and kind, thoughtful and supportive of each other. They know how to share and can work together as a team to solve problems.

We are a community of learners and are supported through our strong relationships with our older peers, children’s families, our Early Years team, Governors and our Church and village community.

Safe

Our children feel safe and secure, enabling them to have the confidence to question, experiment, and take risks. They have the confidence to try new things and persevere in the face of challenge.

We help to keep our children safe by giving them the knowledge and understanding to make healthy choices for their bodies and minds.

In addition to following children’s interests, we have a themed context plan, ensuring that children have a broad and balanced curriculum. The themes are as follows:

Year A

Autumn	Spring	Summer
Me and my Family	Animals	Kings, Queens and Castles

Year B

Autumn	Spring	Summers
Arctic	Space	Pirates and Oceans

 Year C

Autumn	Spring	Summer
Toys	Superheroes	Africa

Throughout each topic we will look at links to our school, local community and the wider world and planet.

Each half term festivals and celebrations are also covered.

Autumn	Spring	Summer
Black history month National poetry day Harvest festival Diwali Hannukah Christmas Remembrance day Road safety week	Chinese new year Fairtrade fortnight Safer internet day Mothers day Shrove Tuesday British Science week Holi Easter	Eid-Al-Fitr Queen’s Platinum jubilee Earth day Fathers day Healthy eating week Child safety week Refugee day Armed forces day

How does the EYFS curriculum link to the school vision at Pickhill?

To be the best we can be
Whole School	Resilient	Kind	Inquisitive
EYFS	Safe	Happy Respectful Team-players	Educated Articulate

To see what our EYFS Vision looks like in practice, please consult our Long Term Plan.