OUR AIM

In St. Luke’s our aim is that every child grows into a well-rounded individual who become the best they can be. In partnership with parents/carers, we aim to provide an environment that is happy, loving, warm, secure, stimulating and safe. We offer a rich and stimulating curriculum and have strong links with our local community.

The children we care for will be stimulated and nurtured to become competent, confident, independent, co-operative and have pride and a positive image of themselves and other cultures. We will give all the children individual care and attention where possible, and offer fun and friendship with the children and other adults. Parental involvement will be encouraged both in and outside of the early year’s environment. We want the child’s world of home and school to join up so they are happy and thrive.

HOW CHILDREN LEARN IN THE EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE

Children in both classes follow the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. This framework supports children’s development to the end of their reception year. There are four principles:

• Every child is a UNIQUE CHILD, who is constantly learning to be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
• Children learn to be strong and independent through POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS.
• Children learn and develop well in ENABLING ENVIRONMENTS with teaching and support from adults, who respond to their individual interests and needs and help them to build their learning over time. Children benefit from a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers.
• Importance of LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT. Children develop and learn at different rates.

HOW THE EYFS CURRICULUM IS ORGANISED:

There are seven areas of learning and development that must shape educational programmes in early years settings. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected.

These are the prime areas:

• communication and language
• physical development
• personal, social and emotional development

The specific areas are:

• literacy
• mathematics
• understanding the world
• expressive arts and design

CURRICULUM INFORMATION FOR NURSERY AND RECEPTION

There are six topics which are rotated every other year, planned weekly and all members of the team are involved in the process.

We plan the weekly activities so that they are appropriate for all children and appeal to their interests and needs. Using observations and assessments, we take into consideration the different stages the children are at and what their next steps need to be. Our half termly topic plan is sent home to parents, and we welcome any ideas and suggestions from parents to assist in the children’s learning.