Here at Holy Cross CofE Primary School we understand what a daunting experience it can be for children and parents at the beginning of primary school, so we ensure we make it a positive and happy start.  Every teacher in the school has worked in an Early Years class so we are all familiar with how to welcome our very youngest children.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Framework and the Development Matters Guidance underpin the experiences and learning that we provide.   We ensure that there is a daily mix of direct, first-hand experience and play-based exploration to prepare our children with the foundation knowledge and skills they will take with them into key stage 1 and beyond.

The children engage in purposeful activities which build on what they already know and allows them to take risks whilst developing independence in their learning.  Our safe and positive learning environment promotes a ‘can do’ attitude and support the development of the whole child throughout the year.

We pride ourselves on positive and supportive relationships with parents and families so that we can share in the growth, development and successes of the children.  Parents are invited to join us in school to see their children showcasing their learning and taking part in themed activities.

EYFS learning for the year

Our knowledge rich curriculum for our EYFS children is based upon the schemes of learning from the Primary Knowledge Curriculum.  This provides our children with the best foundation for future learning within Key Stage One and Two.  

Curriculum Intent  

Our curriculum is designed around the following 7 areas:  

7 key areas of curriculum design 

1. Knowledge-rich  

2. Domain-specific  

3. Coherent  

4. Cumulative  

5. Academically challenging  

6. Written with memory in mind  

7. Written for novices, not experts 

We aim to equip our learners with the knowledge and skills they need, enabling them to aspire to all they can achieve within their lives, challenge themselves to achieve and these celebrate success in a way that demonstrates respect for themselves, their family, their friends, their community and the world within which they live. 

Being a church school is important to us and Christian values underpin all that we do within both our learning and play.  The atmosphere and ethos of the school reflects that it is a family, who care and believe in each other, the church and a love for learning.  Children who attend this school are supported to learn so that they can lead a rich and full life as they grow.  ‘I have come that they may have life, life in all its fullness’ John 10:10 

Our staff all share a common understanding of what we want our pupils to achieve from our curriculum and how we can go about achieving this.  Our curriculum design has been greatly impacted by this.  Our long term plan demonstrates a coherent, sequenced, knowledge rich curriculum that builds both within a year and across year groups, starting right from the beginning with our EYFS curriculum that is underpinned by seven key areas of learning and builds broad and solid foundations in preparation for achieving their potential.  The KS1 and KS2 curriculum, is primarily based upon the National curriculum and is rich in knowledge of many different aspects of the world around them, and promotes development of skills that they will need to lead a full and active life within the world they live.      All children access our curriculum offer, appropriate adaptations are made where needed to enable our children with special educational needs to access every aspect.

Curriculum Implementation  

We follow a two year rolling programme, with key areas mapped to allow for knowledge to be revisited throughout both within the discipline being studied and across other subject areas.  Learning is broken down into three phases to ensure progression and development of substantive and disciplinary knowledge and, allowing for previous learning to be built upon when embarking on new areas of learning.   

Within each subject we deliver learning using recommended, respected and tested schemes of work, for example in Maths we use Complete Maths, for Science, History, Geography, Art and DT we use Primary Knowledge Curriculum and in Computing we use Purple Mash.  

Termly assessments are carried out in line with the DEMAT timetable: 

Reading – DIBELS  

Writing – judgement, and involvement in No More Marking  

Maths – Headstart assessments  

Yr 1 Phonics checks / Yr2 SATs – termly 

Yr6 SATs – half termly  

YrR Baseline Assessment – Autumn term  

Statutory Assessments (May/ June) – EYFS assessments, Yr1 Phonics Checks, Yr2 SATs, Yr4 Multiplication Checks, Yr6 SATs 

Celebration of Curriculum Achievements 

Staff can give Headteacher Awards at any time to children for excellent learning across any areas of the curriculum, this learning can be shared with the Headteacher at any time.   

At the end of each term, a formal celebration assembly is held where Star Learners are recognised within subject areas, these children receive a certificate and a voucher.   

Home Learning 

There is so much that children can learn from spending time with their families, from others, and from taking part in wider community activities and we encourage parents to do so.   

All children are expected to engage with homework set by the class teacher, this will take the form of: a half termly choice of homework, weekly Reading, Spellings, Times tables, Phonic/ Word cards and an English and Maths task.  

In preparation for Yr6 SATs there will be weekly homework set.  In addition, the teachers will share ideas for Home Learning activities that could be done at home to support learning about the foundation subjects, and these will be celebrated in school when children bring them in. 

Assessment and Reporting Arrangements

At Holy Cross Church of England Primary School we value the importance of regular assessment and how this can impact on children’s learning. 

A combination of summative and formative assessment strategies are used throughout the school. 

Formative Assessment  

Clarifying, understanding, and sharing learning intentions 

Engineering effective classroom discussions, tasks and activities that elicit evidence of learning 

Providing feedback that moves learners forward 

Activating students as learning resources for one another 

Activating students as owners of their own learning 

Feedback  

Summative Assessment  

Pupils participate in termly assessments consisting of:  

Reading Assessment (DIBELS) 

Writing Assessment  

Maths Assessment (Headstart Maths) 

Reporting

In order for children to make expected or better progress effective communication between teachers, parents and pupils is extremely important, therefore we have revised the way in which attainment and progress are reported to parents.

During the Autumn and Summer terms – face to face meetings are held between the teacher and parents, this year, we would like to see more of the pupils involved within these meetings, they are then developing more awareness of where they are at with their learning and where they need to work towards. 

Half termly meetings are also held between the Head and the teacher to ensure that progress is discussed and where expected progress has not been met, specific strategies for supporting those pupils are put in place. 

In EYFS, targets are then set within the teacher’s planning.  Learning journeys will be shared at different times throughout the year. 

This process is designed to ensure that teacher, parents and pupils work together in partnership and to ensure that all are aware of where the child is and what they are working towards achieving.