EYFS at Holy Trinity

At Holy Trinity C of E Primary, we feel the Foundation Stage year is crucial in preparing children for the rest of their formal schooling lives. The revised Early Years framework, which was made effective in September 2021, sets out seven Areas of Learning and Development. These are broken into two main areas; Prime and Specific. The prime areas are particularly important for sparking curiosity, building a child’s enthusiasm and ability to learn, and in helping to form relationships. These are Communication and Language, Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development. The specific areas are Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design, all of which are individually important but also help to develop and apply the prime areas.

When children start at Holy Trinity, staff visit previous settings and analyse the data given then spend the first term getting to know each child individually. This then helps staff to plan experiences and activities that are focussed and targeted for the individual in order to help them reach their full potential. These activities and experiences are provided through play based learning as well as adult input sessions.

Play based learning is particularly important in Early Years as it enables our children to explore and develop learning experiences which help them make sense of the world. The play comes in the form of both child initiated and adult led activities, and how this varies is dependent on the child. During these activities, observations are taken using the Tapastry iPad programme which relates their experience to the EY framework prime and specific areas. Any evidence gathered in these observations, as well as work that is produced by the children both at school and home, is filed in their Learning Journey. The children have complete ownership over these folders and enjoy reviewing what they have done, as well as showing visitors their work.

The Early Years setting at Holy Trinity has been carefully tailored to the children’s needs. Our classroom, specific outdoor area, outdoor classroom, extensive Forest School and a range of continuously updated resources and tailored and exciting lessons allow our children to be involved in a variety of experiences and stimulating learning opportunities. Our staff are well trained, with a range of qualifications, and dedicated to providing the best teaching to ensure all children reach their full potential.

Assessment of the children is based on daily observations of the pupils in a variety of contexts. Some observations are planned while others are more spontaneous. The adults working in the EY setting use the Development Matters document to help guide their judgement on the progress of each child.  The evidence that is gathered during the Foundation year helps to describe the child’s level of attainment at the end of the EYFS and identifies their needs for the next stage of their school life.

We hope your child will be very happy at Holy Trinity C of E Primary School.  Please take a look at our induction package.