Our EYFS - The Early Years Foundation Stage

Rooted in Faith, We Reach for the Stars!

Some of the wonderful comments from Ofsted, March 2026.
"Leaders have designed an ambitions, well-organised early years curriculum."
"Pupils get off to a flying start in early years and leave Reception very well prepared for their learning in Year 1."
"Teaching is highly effective. Skills skilfully adapt lessons and activities."
"Staff know pupils very well and activities are designed to spark children's curiosity."
For more information on Ofsted at our school, click here.

We provide a caring and inclusive environment where each child is nurtured in their early steps, grounded in strong values and a sense of belonging. With faith as our foundation, we encourage curiosity, creativity, and a love of learning - helping every child to grow in confidence and reach their full potential. A warm, welcoming, and nurturing environment is provided, where children take their first steps into school life with confidence and curiosity.

“A child's experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances."

(EYFS Framework 2021)

“A child's experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances."

(EYFS Framework 2021)

If your child is due to join us this September, or next September, for Reception please follow the link below where you will find a new starter page with helpful information.

tarting School - Reception Admission Information

Starting School - Joining School in September

Every child at Holy Trinity follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework, carefully designed to help them flourish from their very first days at school.

Our curriculum brings together the Guiding Principles, the Seven Areas of Learning and the Characteristics of Effective Learning, ensuring every child develops academically, socially, emotionally and spiritually.

While every school follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, the experiences, opportunities and relationships that bring it to life are unique to each setting.

At Holy Trinity, our Christian vision, CARE values and dedicated Early Years team create an environment where children feel safe, valued and inspired to learn. Our carefully designed curriculum goes beyond meeting statutory requirements, providing rich experiences that nurture curiosity, confidence, independence and a lifelong love of learning.

Recognised by Ofsted as achieving the Strong Standard for EYFS in March 2026, these are the qualities that make our Early Years provision exceptional and help every child flourish from their very first day.

Early Years Framework

Please click on the links below for more information on Early Years Framework.

EYFS Curriculum and Framework at Holy Trinity Primary School

Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework GOV Website

At Holy Trinity C of E Primary School, we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) 2021 framework, which sets the standards for the learning, development, and care of children in the early years.

The revised framework focuses on helping children build strong foundations in communication, language, personal development, and early literacy and numeracy.

The EYFS is structured around four guiding principles:

Every child is a unique individual
Children learn through positive relationships
Children learn and develop in enabling environments
Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates

The framework outlines seven areas of learning:

Prime Areas: Communication and Language, Physical Development, Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Specific Areas: Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World, Expressive Arts and Design

Equally important are the Characteristics of Effective Learning, which describe how children learn:

Playing and Exploring – children investigate and experience things and ‘have a go’
Active Learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties
Creating and Thinking Critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things

Our curriculum is designed to meet these goals through play-based, hands-on experiences that inspire curiosity, independence, and a love of learning.

We aim to give every child the best possible start to their educational journey.

(Curriculum Guidance for the EYFS)

Strong Foundations

The Department for Education’s Strong Foundations: The Importance of the Reception Year report (2023) highlights the crucial role the Reception year plays in building the core skills children need to succeed throughout their education.

It places particular emphasis on secure development in spoken language, phonics, early reading, and mathematics, alongside the need to ensure all children - especially those who are disadvantaged -make strong progress from the very start of school.

At Holy Trinity, we are fully committed to these principles and have embedded them into our Early Years practice. Our carefully planned Reception curriculum is ambitious, engaging, and rooted in high-quality interactions between adults and children. We prioritise spoken language and communication, recognising that strong oral language skills underpin all other learning. Staff model rich vocabulary, encourage meaningful conversations, and provide daily opportunities for children to develop their confidence in speaking and listening.

In addition to subject knowledge, we also recognise the vital role of executive functioning-the mental skills that help children plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and manage multiple tasks. These skills are critical for learning and self-regulation, and they develop rapidly in the early years.

Through daily routines, turn-taking games, sustained shared thinking, and opportunities for independent exploration, we support children in building working memory and flexible thinking. These skills not only help children access the curriculum but also support their emotional wellbeing and resilience.

By the end of Reception, our aim is for every child to leave with strong foundations, both academically and in terms of their personal development, so they are confident, capable, and ready to thrive in Key Stage 1 and beyond.

Phonics

At Holy Trinity C of E Primary School, we follow Sounds-Write, a DfE-validated phonics programme that provides a highly effective and structured approach to teaching reading and spelling.

We chose Sounds-Write because it is evidence-based, systematic and well-suited to supporting all children.

It focuses on developing strong foundational skills in phonemic awareness, decoding and segmenting, helping children become confident, fluent readers from the very beginning.

By using a consistent and carefully planned approach, we ensure that every child is given the best possible start in their reading journey.

The theory that underpins Sounds-Write

1. Drawing on the findings from Cognitive Load Theory

Sounds-Write draws on many years of research and practice.

It draws heavily on cognitive science, in particular on Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller, 1998) and the instructional choices required to accommodate the limitations of working memory. Ensuring that information is efficiently and effectively stored in and can be retrieved from long-term memory.

With young children entering school and learning for the first time, we need to take very small steps, limiting the amount of information that we are teaching and giving students lots of exposure and opportunities for practice to achieve a high level of success.

Teachers learn how to make careful instructional choices to support students at any level.
2. Based on key principles from the Science of Learning

Sounds-Write is based on the science of learning.

This means that spaced practice and retrieval are integral to the design of the programme. Spaced practice is practice that is spaced out over time to avoid forgetting. Retrieval is recalling information from long-term memory through quizzing or testing, for instance, which is effortful and leads to remembering better.

Interleaving, which means mixing the type of problems being practised rather than ‘mass’ practising one type of problem, is another aspect of the design of Sounds-Write. The Planning Principles show staff how to mobilise these aspects of the science of learning to maximise learning in their classrooms.

For more information, links and videos, please visit our dedicated Spelling and Phonics Webpage

Oracy

Oracy means speaking and listening well.

It helps children share ideas, understand others and feel confident.

Good oracy helps children:

Learn better
Build confidence
Make friends
Express thoughts and feelings

How to support oracy at home:

Talk every day: Ask open questions like “What made you feel happy today?”
Listen carefully: Give your child time to speak and show you’re listening.
Build vocabulary: Explain new words as they come up.
Read together: Talk about stories and ask questions.

Encourage confidence: Praise effort and let children speak without constant correction.

Remember that everyday conversations make the biggest difference.