Our Early Years settings consists of 1 Reception class. We have a new intake each September; where children come to us from a wide variety of settings. An excellent transition and phased start in September is key to enabling our children to settle in, feel safe and happy and ready to flourish under our care.

At St. Gabriel’s, we ensure that our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the opportunities for all children to have fun and enjoy learning in an inviting and friendly environment.  We ensure that all children feel safe, valued, happy and confident in our school.  We use both the indoors and outdoors as our learning environment, where children can access all areas of the EYFS curriculum through a mixture of play, modelled work and more structured/focus activities.  Our Catholic Ethos and following the footsteps of Jesus is promoted in all that we do. Children will grow to achieve their God-given potential, striving to be tolerant, thoughtful and good stewards of the life that they have been given in this wonderful world.

EYFS Curriculum and Assessment

We use Development Matters to assess and track children against the seven areas set out in the EYFS curriculum.

Prime Areas

Personal, social and emotional development

Physical development

Communication and Language

Specific Areas

Literacy

Mathematics

Understanding the World

Expressive Arts and design

Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active and through creative and critical thinking, these are known as the characteristics of effective learning:

● Creating and thinking critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.

● Active learning – children keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy their achievements.

● Playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’.

Assessment

Assessment is on-going throughout the year.  Many learning experiences can provide opportunities to develop a number of skills and concepts across several areas of learning. Our Early Years practitioners make observations and shape future learning in order to move the children on.  At the end of the year each child’s level of development is assessed the 17 Early Learning Goals and an indication is made whether children are meeting the expected level of development:

• Emerging, working towards the expected levels of development for age
• Expected - reached expected levels of development for age

Please see the document below showing all 17 Early Learning Goals.

Please note there will be slight changes to these videos as the classroom environment changes or adapts to support the current cohort of children in the class.