Reception
Early Years Vision at Holy Cross Primary School
At Holy Cross Primary School, we follow in the footsteps of Jesus by creating a welcoming ethos, valuing each child and their family no matter what ethnicity or background. We want all our Early Years children to be happy, confident, independent and well-rounded individuals who develop a lifelong love of learning, reading and exploring the world around them. We believe that every child deserves the best possible start to their education and provide a safe, secure, inclusive and stimulating environment, both indoors and outdoors, which builds on each child’s individual needs, interests and experiences.
Our Early Years curriculum is carefully designed to support children’s development, spark their curiosity and equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to become confident, enthusiastic learners. We recognise that every child is unique and ensure that learning opportunities are engaging, purposeful and appropriately challenging, enabling all children to thrive and achieve their full potential.
Curriculum
Our curriculum provides a balance of adult-led teaching and child-initiated learning, ensuring that children have opportunities to follow their own interests alongside carefully planned experiences that progressively build on their prior knowledge, skills and understanding. Learning is carefully sequenced across Nursery and Reception, with activities and experiences becoming increasingly challenging as children develop and grow. Our skilled practitioners use ongoing observations and assessments to identify children’s next steps and plan purposeful learning opportunities that meet their individual needs. Through high-quality interactions, adults model language, ask thoughtful questions and extend children’s thinking to deepen learning and support continuous progress. Adults act as positive role models, nurturing children’s confidence, resilience, independence and enthusiasm for learning, ensuring that all children develop the strong foundations they need for the next stage of their education.
Communication and Language
Communication and language are central to everything we do in the Early Years. We recognise that developing strong listening, attention, understanding and speaking skills provides the foundations for future learning, positive relationships and success throughout school life.
We create a language-rich environment where children are encouraged to talk, listen, ask questions, share ideas and express their thoughts and feelings. Through stories, rhymes, songs, role play, conversations and carefully planned adult interactions, we introduce new vocabulary and support children to develop their confidence in communicating with others.
We place particular importance on developing children’s ability to listen carefully, follow instructions, engage in back-and-forth conversations and explain their ideas. We recognise that children enter Nursery with different communication experiences and needs, and we provide targeted support and rich opportunities to help every child make progress.
Building Strong Foundations
In Nursery, our priority is to develop the three prime areas of learning: Communication and Language, Personal, Social and Emotional Development, and Physical Development. These areas provide the essential foundations for children’s future learning and are central to ensuring that children are confident, independent and ready for the transition into Reception.
Through purposeful play, positive relationships and carefully planned experiences, we support children to develop their communication skills, manage their emotions, build friendships, share and take turns, develop independence and strengthen their physical coordination. We encourage children to develop their self-help skills, including managing their belongings, dressing themselves, using the toilet independently where appropriate and following familiar routines.
As children become more confident in these prime areas, we introduce and strengthen the essential skills that prepare them for the next stage of their learning. We recognise that children develop at different rates and provide a supportive, nurturing environment where each child can flourish and make progress from their individual starting point.
Developing Basic Skills
We are committed to developing the basic skills children need to become successful, independent learners. Throughout Nursery and Reception, children develop early literacy, mathematical understanding, physical coordination, problem-solving skills and the ability to concentrate and persevere.
In Nursery, these skills are introduced through practical, hands-on experiences, songs, rhymes, stories, construction, mark-making, sorting, counting and exploratory play. As children move into Reception, learning builds progressively to develop early reading, phonics, writing and mathematical understanding.
We provide opportunities for children to recognise sounds, enjoy books, develop their pencil control, make marks with meaning, count objects, recognise patterns and explore numbers in meaningful contexts. Alongside these academic foundations, we nurture curiosity, resilience, creativity and a positive attitude towards learning, helping children develop the confidence to take on new challenges.
Indoor and Outdoor Environments
Our indoor and outdoor environments are carefully planned to provide rich, varied and stimulating learning opportunities. We recognise the importance of outdoor learning in developing children’s gross motor skills, imagination, curiosity, confidence and understanding of the natural world.
Our outdoor provision encourages children to climb, balance, move, build, investigate, create and explore. We support children to assess and manage appropriate risks, make decisions and develop their own ideas and narratives. Through these experiences, children build physical strength, resilience, independence and problem-solving skills.
Indoors, children have access to a wide range of engaging learning opportunities, including creative activities, small-world play, construction, mark-making, fine-motor activities and role play. These experiences strengthen children’s coordination, dexterity, imagination and communication skills.
We continually enhance our indoor and outdoor environments in response to the seasons, children’s interests, emerging needs and the high-quality texts that form an important part of our curriculum. This ensures that our provision remains relevant, engaging and responsive to the children we teach.
Exploring our Local Community
At Holy Cross Primary School, we recognise the importance of helping children understand the world in which they live. Our local area provides a valuable extension to the classroom, offering meaningful opportunities to develop communication, language, independence and a growing understanding of the wider community.
Through local walks and carefully planned visits, children explore their surroundings, notice changes in the environment, observe seasonal patterns and learn about the people and places within their community. These experiences encourage children to ask questions, make observations, develop new vocabulary and connect their learning to real-life experiences.
Visits to the local library and museums provide opportunities to develop children’s curiosity, cultural awareness and love of learning. Library visits help children discover new books, develop their enjoyment of stories and understand how libraries support reading and learning. Museum visits enable children to explore artefacts, investigate the past, encounter new ideas and develop an understanding of people, places and events beyond their immediate experiences.
We use these visits, alongside stories, discussions, photographs and follow-up activities, to deepen children’s understanding and bring learning to life. By making meaningful connections with our local community, we help children develop a sense of belonging and an appreciation of the world around them.
Developing a Love for Reading
We are passionate about developing a lifelong love of reading from the very beginning of every child’s education. We recognise that books open doors to imagination, knowledge, adventure and new experiences, while supporting children’s communication, language and early literacy development.
High-quality texts are woven throughout our Early Years curriculum and help inspire children’s play, discussions, creative activities and investigations. We share stories, poems, rhymes and non-fiction texts regularly, encouraging children to listen attentively, join in with familiar phrases, discuss characters and events, predict what might happen next and develop a rich vocabulary.
In Reception, systematic phonics teaching and appropriately matched reading books support children in developing the skills needed to become confident early readers. Across our provision, we encourage children to revisit favourite stories, explore books independently and share their enjoyment of reading with others.
Working in Partnership with Parents and Carers
We believe that children achieve their best when school and home work together. Positive, trusting relationships with parents and carers are central to our Early Years provision, and we value families as children’s first and most important educators.
We take time to get to know each child and their family, sharing information about children’s interests, experiences, achievements and developing needs. By working in partnership with parents and carers, we build a fuller understanding of each child and can plan learning experiences that reflect their individual starting points.
We actively encourage parental involvement through initiatives such as the PEEP (Parents as Early Education Partners) programme, which supports families to develop children’s learning through everyday interactions, songs, stories, play and conversation. We also value initiatives such as Ready Teddy, which encourage families to engage with school life and support children’s readiness for learning and their transition into school.
We provide opportunities for families to share in their children’s learning and offer practical ideas and guidance to help them support communication, early reading, early mathematics and independence at home. By working together, we strengthen the connection between home and school, helping children feel secure, supported and confident as they progress through their Early Years journey.
Preparing Children for Nursery, Reception and Beyond
Our Early Years curriculum is designed to ensure that children develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need for a successful transition from Nursery into Reception and beyond. We recognise that school readiness is about more than academic skills; it includes communication, confidence, emotional well-being, independence, physical development and the ability to build positive relationships.
Through a nurturing environment, purposeful play, high-quality interactions and a carefully sequenced curriculum, we support children to become increasingly independent, resilient and ready to embrace new challenges. We celebrate each child’s progress, recognise their individual achievements and provide support and challenge to help every child move forward.
At Holy Cross Primary School, we are committed to giving every child the strongest possible foundation for their school journey. By nurturing curiosity, developing essential skills, fostering a love of reading and learning, exploring our local community and working closely with families, we aim to ensure that every child feels valued, included and excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.
Religious Education – To Know You More Clearly
At Holy Cross, we follow the RED Religious Education Directory: To Know You More Clearly, which supports children in deepening their knowledge and love of God through scripture, tradition and lived faith. The curriculum is structured around six branches, one per half term:
-
Creation and Covenant
-
Prophecy and Promise
-
Galilee to Jerusalem
-
Desert to Garden
-
To the Ends of the Earth
-
Dialogue and Encounter
These branches help pupils explore salvation history, the life and mission of Jesus, the story of the Church, and the call to live out their faith today. Each year group builds upon this foundation, encouraging children to reflect, question and grow spiritually. The curriculum is closely linked to the liturgical year and supports our prayer life, worship and Catholic mission throughout the school.
The EYFS Framework
The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the statutory framework for the learning, development and care of children in Reception. Our curriculum is informed by the Department for Education's Development Matters guidance, which supports practitioners in planning an ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum.
Our approach is guided by four overarching principles:
-
A unique child: recognising that every child is an individual who develops in their own way and brings their own experiences, strengths and interests.
-
Positive relationships: building warm, supportive relationships that help children feel safe, valued and confident.
-
Enabling environments: creating stimulating indoor and outdoor spaces that encourage exploration, independence and purposeful learning.
-
Learning and development: recognising that children learn at different rates and providing experiences that support their individual progress.
We promote the three characteristics of effective teaching and learning: playing and exploring, active learning, and creating and thinking critically.
The Seven Areas of Learning
Our Reception curriculum covers all seven areas of the EYFS. These areas are interconnected and are developed through a combination of adult-led teaching, purposeful play and children's everyday experiences.
Communication and Language
Communication and language underpin children's learning across the curriculum. We provide rich opportunities for children to listen, speak, ask questions, share ideas and develop their understanding.
Through conversations, stories, rhymes, songs, role play and carefully modelled language, children develop their vocabulary, listening skills and confidence in expressing themselves. Adults introduce and revisit new words to help children communicate effectively and understand the world around them.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
We support children to develop confidence, independence and positive relationships with others. Children learn to recognise and manage their feelings, develop friendships, cooperate, take turns and resolve disagreements with support.
We encourage children to persevere, develop resilience and become increasingly independent in managing routines, personal needs and everyday responsibilities.
Physical Development
Children develop their gross and fine motor skills through a wide range of indoor and outdoor experiences. Activities support balance, coordination, strength, agility and spatial awareness.
Fine motor opportunities, including drawing, cutting, construction, threading and using small tools, help children develop control and precision in preparation for writing. Children also learn about healthy lifestyles, personal hygiene and caring for their bodies.
Literacy
We foster a love of reading through high-quality stories, picture books, non-fiction texts, poems and rhymes. Children develop their understanding of stories, learn new vocabulary and have opportunities to talk about characters, events and ideas.
Through our systematic synthetic phonics programme (RWI), children learn letter–sound correspondences and how to blend sounds to read words. They practise applying their phonics knowledge when reading and writing.
Children develop their writing through mark-making, letter formation, spelling and composing words, phrases and sentences. Opportunities to read and write are embedded throughout the learning environment.
Mathematics
We develop children's confidence and understanding in mathematics through practical experiences, discussion, games and carefully planned teaching.
Children learn to count, recognise quantities through subitising, recognise numerals and develop a deep understanding of numbers to 10. They explore how numbers can be composed and partitioned and begin to recognise relationships between numbers.
Children also investigate patterns, shape, space and measure, developing mathematical vocabulary and spatial reasoning. They are encouraged to explain their thinking, make connections and apply their learning in different contexts.
Understanding the World
Children develop their understanding of the people, places, communities and natural environments around them. We encourage curiosity through first-hand experiences, exploration, observation, discussion and a broad range of stories and non-fiction texts.
Children learn about their own families and experiences, similarities and differences between people and communities, and changes over time. They explore the natural world, observe living things and investigate seasonal changes and their surroundings.
We value our local community and provide opportunities for children to develop an appreciation of the world in which they live.
Expressive Arts and Design
Children are encouraged to express their ideas, creativity and imagination through art, music, dance, movement, construction and imaginative play.
They explore a variety of materials, techniques, sounds and creative resources, developing their skills and confidence over time. Through singing, storytelling, role play and creative experiences, children learn to communicate their ideas and respond to the work of others.
Assessment
Assessment is an ongoing part of our teaching. Practitioners draw on their knowledge of each child, observations, conversations and examples of children's learning to understand what they know, understand and can do.
This information helps us identify next steps, recognise misconceptions, address gaps in learning and provide appropriate support or additional challenge. We use assessment to inform teaching and ensure that children continue to build on their knowledge and skills.
We value the contributions of parents and carers and work in partnership with families to develop a shared understanding of each child's progress and needs.
Supporting Every Child
We are committed to ensuring that every child can access our curriculum and experience success. We recognise that children have different starting points, interests, strengths and needs.
Practitioners adapt teaching, resources and learning experiences to support children who need additional help, including children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), children learning English as an additional language and children who require further challenge.
We prioritise early identification of barriers to learning, effective communication with families and appropriate support so that all children can participate, develop and make progress.
No photo albums have been added to this gallery yet.