Nursery Curriculum
Intent
At St Anne’s Catholic Primary School, our goal is to foster a learning environment and to establish connections that nurture a child’s curiosity, confidence, and individual competence to thrive, regardless of their backgrounds, circumstances, or needs. Our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum is specifically designed to build upon the skills, knowledge, interests, and competence of our Nursery pupils and to suit the attributes of each individual pupil so that they can thrive, regardless of their backgrounds, circumstances, or needs. In Nursery, we place a strong emphasis on the Prime Areas of Learning, which include Communication and Language, Personal and Social Development, and Physical Development. These areas provide a solid foundation for their future learning journey at St. Mary’s. Our curriculum combines child-initiated and adult-led learning, utilising a hybrid educational approach that incorporates the best methodologies. We carefully plan continuous provision and create an enabling environment that adapts to the needs of our students. We have high expectations of our children and plan an ambitious curriculum that reflects this. We identify children who need support as early as possible in Nursery and plan additional activities to help them so that all children can achieve their full potential. Throughout their time in EYFS, children develop the building blocks for lifelong learning. They learn to be confident, resilient, curious, independent, social, inquisitive, and happy individuals. We support their development of effective learning characteristics and skills through praise and encouragement when they try new activities and experiences, develop focus and concentration, and express their ideas, thoughts, and strategies. We also promote cultural capital by providing an environment and curriculum that reflects and values the diversity of our students. This creates a sense of belonging within the school community and expands the children’s ideas, experiences, and opportunities to succeed in the wider world in which they live.
Implementation
Children learn through free play with adults interacting to support them and facilitating and setting challenges within well-resourced indoor and outdoor environments. The role of the adults is to show children how to do things, through modelling and by introducing them to new experiences and vocabulary. In addition to children having uninterrupted opportunities to play, with their interests and ideas followed, they are also taught in small groups to allow for back-and-forth interactions and, where needed, 1:1 interaction to support their individual needs.
At St Anne’s Catholic Primary School, we follow the EYFS framework. This is made up of four overriding principles which our early years education is based upon:
- Unique Child – Every child is a unique child who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
- Positive Relationships – Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships
- Enabling Environments – Children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and carers.
- Learning and Development – Children develop and learn in different ways.
The framework covers the education and care of all children in Early Years provision, including children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Our curriculum provides a play-based and experiential learning environment combined with focused teaching to ensure that children make accelerated progress in Nursery thereby fully preparing them for Reception. We provide ample access to indoor and outdoor learning and planned and child-led activities in both areas. Learning is initially focused on the three prime areas which are essential for the healthy development of the child and the foundations of future learning.
Catholic Ethos, Catholic Social Teaching phonics
At St Anne’s our Catholic ethos is the heart of everything we do. Rooted in Gospel values, we nurture a loving and inclusive community where every child is encouraged to grow in faith, wisdom, and compassion. Guided by Catholic Social Teaching, we inspire our students to uphold dignity, justice, and service to others, fostering a strong sense of moral responsibility and global citizenship.
As a Catholic school, Religious Education is central to our teaching and learning and forms a large part of our EYFS curriculum. In addition to teacher led sessions following the whole school scheme ‘Learning and growing as people of God’ the children are encouraged to explore the themes and stories of lessons through Godly Play (which is a play based movement which centres on developing the child’s innate sense of God’s presence and promotes life-long Christian learning). Through our faith and our teaching, we aim to develop the whole child—spiritually, academically, and emotionally.
Impact
At St Anne’s our high-quality, child centred provision ensures that all children develop strong foundational skills. Through a consistent, structured, and engaging continuous provision and adult input and intervention our pupils achieve their potential and make excellent progress.
This robust approach to assessment ensures that no child is left behind. As a result, children grow in confidence, develop a love of learning, and acquire the essential core skills that support success across their school journey and beyond.
As a result of our robust curriculum and Catholic ethos, our Reception children
- Demonstrate Confidence: Engage actively in learning, expressing ideas and asking questions with assurance.
- Show Compassion: Exhibit kindness and respect towards peers, reflecting the teachings of Jesus in their interactions.
- Achieve Milestones: Reach key developmental and academic milestones, preparing them for the next stage of their educational journey.
Through our commitment to a holistic education, we ensure that each child not only excels academically but also grows spiritually and socially, embodying the values of our Catholic faith.