--- title: "Early Years Foundation Stage" url: "https://stjonmon.bham.sch.uk/curriculum/early-years-foundation-stage" school: "SS. John and Monica Catholic Primary School" --- # Early Years Foundation Stage ### **Early Years Foundation Stage** The Governors and staff at SS. John and Monica’s Primary school recognise the importance of Early Years Education as the Foundation upon which children build the rest of their lives. Early Years Education is concerned with the physical, social, emotional, aesthetic and cognitive development of the individual, with no one area standing in isolation from the others. The Foundation Stage is like a jigsaw; each piece is equally important to complete the picture. ### The Foundation Stage Curriculum The Foundation Stage Curriculum is divided into two parts; 1. Prime areas of development 2. Specific areas of development **The Prime Areas include:** - Communication and Language - Physical Development - Personal, Social and Emotional Education ![](https://stjonmon.bham.sch.uk/images/pages/db4afa1e3135341ce815e40bb2e95c97.jpg) **The Specific Areas include:** - Literacy - Maths - Understanding the World - Expressive Arts and Design ![](https://stjonmon.bham.sch.uk/images/pages/5e2a69dcab3f6cb016614cda998de5fe.jpg) **Our School Aims** At SS John and Monica’s Primary School, we aim to ensure that the children in the Foundation Stage Reception class feel happy, safe, and secure. We have high expectations for all our children. We meet, discuss and plan to ensure that all children reach their full potential and make progress. We aim to provide an exciting and creative environment through practical activities, enquiry and purposeful play. We aim to provide a learning environment where children have time to listen, talk, and reflect. At SS John and Monica’s school, we provide a rich learning environment beyond the classroom. The Reception class children attend our Forest School and have access to our outdoor classroom. We aim to use our outdoor learning area to provide the children with rich and varied learning opportunities planned to reinforce and extend the learning in the classroom. We aim to foster and establish good home-school links and support parents and children transitioning from several local nurseries. Daily dialogue, parent consultations and Inspire Workshops are ways to maintain these home-school links. At SS John and Monica’s Primary School, the Reception Class teacher and the teaching assistants, in conjunction with the Head Teacher and Early Years Senior leader, provide a curriculum that considers every child's ability and impacts their learning and development. **Assessment** During the initial weeks in school, all children will complete the Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA). These assessment activities and informal observations allow staff to judge individual children’s abilities and needs. At SS John and Monica, we use guidance from the Development Matters and Birth to 5 Matters documents to support our continual assessments of children throughout the year. The SEN continuum is used to support pupils with additional needs. ### Early Years Foundation Stage Documents Rec Curriculum Overview 17 KB [Open for printing](https://files.schudio.com/ss-john-and-moncia-catholic-primary-school/files/documents/Wider_Curriculum_Plan_Rec_26-27(2).docx) EYFS Policy 102 KB [Open for printing](https://files.schudio.com/ss-john-and-moncia-catholic-primary-school/files/documents/EYFS_Policy_2026_updated.doc) Baseline Information for Parents 577 KB [Open for printing](https://files.schudio.com/ss-john-and-moncia-catholic-primary-school/files/documents/Reception_baseline_assessment_information_for_parents.pdf) Developmental Matters 81 Bytes [Open for printing](https://files.schudio.com/ss-john-and-moncia-catholic-primary-school) Pronunciation of Phonics Phases 12 KB [Open for printing](https://files.schudio.com/ss-john-and-moncia-catholic-primary-school/files/documents/Pronunciation_of_Phonics_Phases.docx) Progression - Pencil Grip 125 KB [Open for printing](https://files.schudio.com/ss-john-and-moncia-catholic-primary-school/files/documents/Progression_pencil_grip.docx) Progression of Writing Skills 49 KB [Open for printing](https://files.schudio.com/ss-john-and-moncia-catholic-primary-school/files/documents/Progression_of_Writing_Skills_2023.docx) Progression of Reading Skills 45 KB [Open for printing](https://files.schudio.com/ss-john-and-moncia-catholic-primary-school/files/documents/Progression_of_Reading_Skills_2023.docx) Birth to Five Matters - Non -Statutory Guidance for Early Years 7.14 MB [Open for printing](https://files.schudio.com/ss-john-and-moncia-catholic-primary-school/files/documents/Birth_to_5.pdf) ### Curriculum - [Teaching and Learning](https://stjonmon.bham.sch.uk/curriculum/teaching-and-learning) - [Curriculum Statement](https://stjonmon.bham.sch.uk/curriculum/curriculum-statement) - [Reading and Phonics](https://stjonmon.bham.sch.uk/curriculum/reading-and-phonics) - [Wider Curriculum](https://stjonmon.bham.sch.uk/curriculum/broad-curriculum) - [Curriculum Letters](https://stjonmon.bham.sch.uk/curriculum/curriculum-letters) - [Early Years Foundation Stage](https://stjonmon.bham.sch.uk/curriculum/early-years-foundation-stage) - [Subject Areas](https://stjonmon.bham.sch.uk/curriculum/subject-areas) - [Physical Education](https://stjonmon.bham.sch.uk/curriculum/physical-education) - [Useful web links](https://stjonmon.bham.sch.uk/parents/useful-web-links/useful-web-links) **SS. John and Monica Catholic Primary School** Chantry Road Moseley Birmingham B13 8DW Tel: 0121 464 5868 ## Calendar [Job Vacancies ](https://stjonmon.bham.sch.uk/job-vacancies) [Contact Us](https://stjonmon.bham.sch.uk/contact) [Useful Links:](https://stjonmon.bham.sch.uk/) © Copyright 2018–2026 SS. John and Monica Catholic Primary School School & Trust Websites by [ ![Schudio logo](https://stjonmon.bham.sch.uk/img/logo/light.png) ](https://www.schudio.com/)