Early Years Foundation Stage

At Whitwick St John the Baptist, our EYFS provision is driven by our vision of ‘Grow, Achieve, Bloom, Repeat'. 

'...Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.' Matthew 13 1-23

In Foundation Stage at Whitwick, we believe that every child is entitled to a high quality education. We believe that children will learn and achieve well when they are in a safe, secure environment and are celebrated as unique individuals. We believe that children’s mindsets should be developed to encourage them to ‘take risks’ and adopt a ‘have a go’ attitude.  

Through this approach we believe that the children will have the skills and knowledge to flourish as they transition onto the national curriculum. 

Our Foundation Stage curriculum is ambitious and has been crafted and created with the whole school key drivers at the heart of it: community and culture; communication; confident individuals; and ambition and opportunities. 

In Literacy, storytelling and high quality books are at the heart of our approach to early literacy with the key aim to promote and develop a love for reading, language comprehension, word reading, transcription and writing composition.  

We have a systematic approach to the teaching of phonics using ‘Supersonic Phonics Friends’, which supports their reading and writing.  

In Maths, we have a systematic approach to the teaching of Maths. We utilise ‘White Rose Maths Hub’ and ‘Numberblocks’ resources to support our planning and to develop the children’s mathematical learning. These resources support the use of concrete experiences to support the teaching and learning of mathematical concepts that then provide a strong grounding in number 

We create an enabling environment through careful planning of the continuous provision, both indoors and outdoors. This helps to develop the children’s curiosity and enables them to become independent learners. 

The outdoor provision is an essential part of foundation stage life. Whilst accessing outdoor provision, the children are provided with opportunities to develop their independence, teamwork, resilience, cooperation and problem-solving skills. This includes time in the outdoor areas, forest schools, the nature garden, the garden area and the school chickens. 

Planning and Teaching 

We provide teaching and learning opportunities that support the children to reach their full potential, through a balance of whole class/ half class/small group or individual teaching and child led play-based learning. Their child led learning doesn’t always have an immediate fixed outcome, but the children have significant choice and independence which supports with their development of their confidence, independence, collaboration, persistence and self-regulation. Every child can access our curriculum, with extra help when needed. We aim to scaffold up to an inclusive curriculum, rather than give children a watered-down differentiated curriculum.  

In planning and guiding children’s activities, we reflect on the different ways that children learn and support these in our practice. The three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are: 

- Playing and exploring, 

- Active learning, 

- Creating and thinking critically. 

Areas of Learning and Development 

The 7 areas of learning that shape our Foundation Stage provision: 

Prime Areas: Personal, Social & Emotional Development; Physical Development; and Communication and Language. 

Specific Areas: Literacy; Mathematics; Understanding the world; and Expressive Arts & Design. 

Foundation Stage Leader 

Miss Webster 

If you would like to find out more about our Foundation Stage curriculum please contact Miss Webster.