Our Early Years Curriculum
Our curriculum is designed to recognise children’s prior learning, both from previous settings and their experiences at home. We work in partnership with parents, carers and other settings to provide the best possible start at St Mark’s Catholic Primary School, ensuring each individual reaches their full potential from their various starting points.
Substantive Knowledge
This is the core subject knowledge, skills and vocabulary in the Early Years.
The three Prime areas, Personal, social and emotional development (PSED), Communication and language (CL), and Physical development (PD), describe universal core aspects of early child development. They are time-sensitive because of biological factors that enable rapid brain connections, particularly in the first three years of life but continuing throughout early childhood. It is through these aspects that a child accesses the world around them and relationships with other people, which in turn opens the door to learning in all areas.
The Prime areas therefore strongly influence learning in the Specific areas of learning and development, Mathematics, Reading and Writing, Understanding of the world and Expressive Arts and Design.
Disciplinary Knowledge
In addition to the core knowledge within the Prime and Specific areas of learning within the Early Years we also intend to develop the characteristics of effective learning, playing and exploring; active learning and creative and critical thinking throughout our curriculum.
The Characteristics of Effective Learning describe behaviours children use in order to learn. To learn well, children must approach opportunities with curiosity, energy and enthusiasm. Effective learning must be meaningful to a child, so that they are able to use what they have learned and apply it in new situations. These abilities and attitudes of strong learners will support them to learn well and make good progress in all the Areas of Learning and Development.
The curriculum provides a play-based and experiential learning environment, combined with focussed teaching and basic skills, to ensure children make rapid progress before moving in to Year 1. The children in Reception are provided with ample opportunities accessible in our indoor and outdoor provision. They engage in planned, focussed activities as well as self-initiated activities. The learning experiences within our Early Years are linked to the seven areas of learning and development within the EYFS and are centred around the children’s needs and interests.
In the Summer term we work on preparing the children for the National Curriculum by ensuring that they are Year 1ready. This builds on the work carried out throughout the year on basic skills and ensuring the children have the knowledge and skills needed to progress to the next stage in their school career.
Topics Covered
See our Long Term Plan below for topics we cover over the year:
Religious Education, Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development
As a Catholic school, our faith is at the heart of all we do. It is embedded in our curriculum and is implicit in all we do. We use the Diocesan scheme (Learning and Growing as the People of God) to deliver our RE lessons.
Throughout our practice and provision our Catholic vision and ethos also permeates our curriculum as we work, learn and grow together guided by Jesus’ teachings. Throughout our Catholic curriculum children develop a knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith, gospel values and the Catholic Social Teaching Principles.
As our children grow and learn together in a Catholic school, we aim to nurture and encourage them to become adults who can transform our world into a more just and loving society. Children are encouraged to become caring, responsible and compassionate individuals.
