St Gregory's Catholic Primary School
EYFS
Our EYFS Team
EYFS Lead & Reception Class Teacher: Miss Lisa Connolly
Reception Class Teaching Assistant: Mrs Amy Brown
Reception Class 1:1 Teaching Assistant: Miss Eve Walker
Nursery Class Teacher: Mrs Rachel Fidler
Nursery Class Teaching Assistants: Ms Cathy Riley & Mrs Jan Mottram
EYFS Governor: Mrs Jennifer Sweeting
At St. Gregory’s Catholic Primary School, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the essential foundation for every child’s learning journey. Guided by our mission statement—“Together, in Jesus, we love, learn, create and celebrate”—our EYFS provision nurtures the whole child: spiritually, academically, socially, and emotionally.
Our curriculum is built upon purposeful play, rich learning experiences, and high-quality interactions that support children’s development across all areas of learning. Children grow in early language, communication, physical development, literacy, mathematics, understanding of the world, and creativity. Alongside this, we provide daily opportunities for prayer, reflection, and the practice of Gospel values, helping children to build positive relationships and a strong moral foundation.
In living out our mission statement, we strive for an environment where children feel safe, valued, joyful, and eager to explore. We work in close partnership with parents and carers to ensure that each child begins their educational journey with confidence and curiosity.
Our Early Years Foundation Stage inspires children to love learning, celebrate achievements, care for God’s world, and step forward with a sense of awe and wonder.
Intent
In EYFS, our intent is to provide a nurturing, and inspiring, start to school where every child is recognised as a unique individual. We aim to develop confident, curious, and resilient learners who are eager to explore the world around them. Our curriculum is designed to ignite children’s natural enthusiasm for learning, promote secure communication and language, and develop the prime and specific areas of learning through purposeful play. We are committed to ensuring that all children, regardless of their starting points, are supported to make excellent progress and build the foundations they need for future success.
Implementation
Our EYFS curriculum is delivered through a rich blend of child-initiated exploration and carefully planned adult-led learning. High-quality continuous provision allows children to access well-sequenced opportunities that build on their interests, deepen understanding, and support independence. Staff skilfully interact with children to model language, extend thinking, and provide meaningful challenge. Systematic approaches to early reading, phonics, and mathematics ensure children develop strong foundations from the outset. Alongside this, creative, imaginative, and experiential learning opportunities promote problem-solving, collaboration, and an understanding of the wider world. Ongoing assessment through observations and interactions allows staff to tailor learning to each child’s needs and to provide timely support or challenge. Strong partnerships with parents and carers underpin our approach, ensuring shared expectations, consistency, and a united commitment to every child’s development.
The EYFS Framework
In the Early Years, children learn through a broad, balanced curriculum built around seven inter-connected areas of learning and development. These areas work together to support every child’s growth, curiosity and independence.
Three Prime Areas form the foundation of all learning and are embedded in everything we do:
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Communication and Language
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Physical Development
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Personal, Social and Emotional Development
These are complemented by four Specific Areas, which help to strengthen and apply the skills developed in the prime areas:
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Literacy
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Mathematics
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Understanding the World
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Expressive Arts and Design
Together, these areas ensure that children experience a rich, play-based curriculum that nurtures their development and prepares them for future learning.
To see how these seven areas are planned, sequenced and built upon across the year, please explore our EYFS Curriculum Overview below.
Moving the Box
This year, Reception Class are taking part in an exciting year long project called, 'Moving the Box'. It is designed to help children achieve GLD (Good Level of Development) at the end of EYFS.
For this project, EYFS staff have identified fine motor skills and writing as our school objective and will be supporting children with a range of carefully selected strategies. Click the link below for more information:
Lifelong Learners
In January 2026, our Nursery Class are taking part in Sefton's Lifelong Learners Project.
A Curriculum for The Child of Today
‘Developing Lifelong Learners from Birth and Beyond’
Life is changing...how can we change our educational approach in response to this?
Children are powerful learners from birth. With the right approach, children can develop strong habits of mind and behaviour leading to an ability to discover, think, create, solve problems and self- regulate.
The Lifelong Learners project will support schools and settings to reflect on current practice whilst considering the current needs of our youngest learners in today’s world.
White Rose, Education Endownment Foundation and the NFER
Reception staff are taking part in a year long project with White Rose Maths, the EEF and the NFER. The Reception Jigsaw is a professional development and school support programme for Reception staff delivered by White Rose Maths (WRM) specialists. Based on extensive research, sessions will provide early years practitioners with a thorough understanding of the pedagogy and subject knowledge required to support children’s early mathematical development. Influenced, inspired and informed by the work of leading researchers and practitioners across the world, White Rose Education brings together a team of highly experienced and passionate maths and science teaching experts dedicated to developing education for everyone.
Sessions consist of:
- Developing Early Number Sense
- Creating a Mathematical Classroom
- Mathematical Talk and Questioning
- Reasoning and Problem Solving in the Early Years
- Exploring Pattern, Shape and Spatial Reasoning