EYFS
At Bevington Primary School, our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the foundation for a lifetime of learning. We offer a rich, balanced, and carefully sequenced curriculum that nurtures curiosity, builds confidence, and supports every child's development physically, emotionally, socially, and academically. We ensure our pupils are well-prepared for the challenges of Key Stage 1 and beyond.
Intent
Our EYFS curriculum is designed to support, enhance, and invite children’s natural curiosity while nurturing a strong sense of self, community and possibility. We aim for all children, regardless of background, starting point or need, to become confident, independent learners with a love of learning that lasts a lifetime.
We intend for our children to:
- Develop the social and emotional confidence to interact, collaborate and persevere.
- Communicate effectively using ambitious vocabulary supported by well-planned language teaching.
- Master foundational skills in early reading, writing and maths through meaningful, well-sequenced learning.
- Explore the world around them and make sense of their place within it.
- Express themselves through movement, role-play, art, design and music.
- Secure the physical skills required for writing and everyday independence.
- Achieve a solid understanding across all seven areas of learning, enabling a smooth transition into Year 1.
Our curriculum aligns with the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and reflects the community we serve. It celebrates diversity, promotes inclusion, and fosters equality of opportunity. It is grounded in the belief that every child can succeed.
Implementation
Our EYFS provision spans both Nursery and Reception. It is delivered through a carefully structured balance of direct teaching, guided exploration, purposeful play and well-resourced continuous provision.
Prime Areas of Learning
Communication and Language
We prioritise high-quality talk. Daily opportunities for storytelling, rhyme, song, role-play, talk partners, and structured discussion are planned. Key vocabulary is mapped and explicitly taught each half-term. Adults consistently model ambitious language and scaffold conversation. We ensure children have the language they need to think, question, describe, and imagine.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)
We help children develop a strong sense of self, empathy for others, and resilience in the face of challenge. Our routines, visual prompts, calm transitions and consistent expectations support emotional regulation and confidence. Through circle time, social stories and supported play, children learn to cooperate, manage conflict, and celebrate differences.
Physical Development
From Nursery onwards, children develop core strength, balance, coordination and fine motor control. Activities include climbing, pedalling, mark-making, threading, malleable materials, block play and tool use. In Reception, children follow the Nelson Handwriting scheme for consistent letter formation and posture. Our environments are carefully designed to promote strength, control and self-care skills.
Specific Areas of Learning
Literacy
Phonics is taught daily in Nursery and Reception using the Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) programme.
In Nursery, children develop Phase 1 skills—listening, sound discrimination, rhythm and rhyme—through structured play and adult-led sessions.
In Reception, children move through Phases 2–4, building the skills to decode, blend, and segment confidently. Reading books are matched precisely to phonics phases, and children take home books to practise reading fluency.
Children are exposed to a wide range of high-quality stories, nonfiction, and poems. Literacy is embedded through storytelling, role-play, story maps, and emergent writing. Children are taught to write for a purpose—from name writing and captions to letters, lists, and stories.
Mathematics
We follow White Rose Maths to develop a deep conceptual understanding of number, pattern, shape, and space. In Nursery, children develop early mathematical thinking through songs, games, and manipulatives. In Reception, children use structured representations (tens frames, part-whole models, number lines) to build fluency and reasoning.
Mathematics is taught daily and reinforced through continuous provision. Children learn to subitise, compare quantities, describe position and use mathematical language to talk about what they notice.
Understanding the World
Our carefully sequenced curriculum draws from the PKC Early Years programme to introduce children to concepts from Science, History, Geography, and RE in an age-appropriate way. Topics include: All About Me, People Who Help Us, My Community, Space, Transport, Dinosaurs, Growing and Changing, and Festivals and Celebrations.
Children use fundamental tools, explore natural materials, observe change and begin to ask and answer questions about the past, present and future. They explore maps, seasons, habitats, food and cultures—building their sense of identity and belonging. Our curriculum is enriched through local visits, community links and celebrations of diverse traditions.
Expressive Arts and Design
Children are provided with daily opportunities to paint, draw, build, model, sculpt, collage, sing and perform. From Nursery, children develop confidence using tools and materials, and are taught to mix colours, explore textures and experiment with form.
Role-play, small world, and storytelling areas allow children to act out real and imagined experiences. Music and dance are used to develop rhythm, creativity and expression. Adults support children to reflect on their work, refine ideas and share their outcomes proudly.
The Learning Environment
Our indoor and outdoor environments are thoughtfully planned to promote exploration, communication and independence. Each area is linked to curriculum goals and equipped to extend learning through challenge, modelling and conversation.
Resources are accessible, inclusive and open-ended to support sustained, purposeful play. Continuous provision is enhanced weekly based on assessment, pupil interests and next steps.
Assessment and Progress
Children’s progress is continually assessed through observation, interaction, and recorded evidence.
Practitioners use this information to adapt planning, identify children needing extra support or challenge, and ensure that all children make good progress toward the Early Learning Goals.
Parents are kept closely informed through learning journals, progress reviews and regular communication.
Impact
By the end of Reception, children at Bevington:
- Speak clearly and confidently, using subject-specific vocabulary.
- Demonstrate strong listening, attention and recall skills.
- Show empathy, independence and self-regulation.
- Can read simple sentences and write independently for a purpose.
- Have secure early mathematical understanding, including number composition and pattern.
- Ask questions about the world and describe their own experiences with confidence.
- Express themselves through movement, creativity and storytelling.
They are well-prepared for the transition into Key Stage 1, having met or exceeded expectations across all seven areas of learning. They leave the Early Years as confident, capable learners with the foundations firmly in place to access the wider curriculum and thrive at primary school and beyond.