At St Andrew’s Pre-School, our curriculum is designed to support every child’s development in a nurturing, inclusive, and engaging environment. We focus on building strong foundations for lifelong learning by supporting children’s social, emotional, and practical development through meaningful play and everyday experiences.
Relationships and Consideration for Others
We support children in developing positive relationships and an understanding of how to interact with others kindly and respectfully. Through daily routines and play, children learn to share and take turns, building fairness and patience. We encourage them to make friends by greeting others and playing cooperatively. Children are supported to express their feelings using words, helping them understand and manage emotions. They also begin to develop empathy, recognising when others may be happy, sad, or upset. By following familiar routines such as circle time, snack time, and tidy-up time, children gain a sense of structure and security. We also promote an awareness of sustainability, encouraging children to care for their environment and living things for the future.
Emotional Wellbeing and a Sense of Belonging
We place great importance on children’s emotional well-being, helping them to feel safe, valued, and confident. Children are encouraged to try things independently, building confidence and resilience. We support the development of self-regulation, helping children learn how to manage and recover from strong emotions. Creating a strong sense of belonging is central to our approach, ensuring every child feels included, respected, and an important part of our community.
Communication and Understanding My World
We help children develop communication skills that allow them to express themselves and understand others. This includes using good manners such as saying “please,” “thank you,” and “excuse me.” Children learn to listen and respond to simple instructions, supporting their understanding and cooperation. We encourage them to ask for help when needed and to recognise trusted adults who can support them. Through conversations and activities, children are given opportunities to talk about their own experiences, including their family, pets, and interests, helping them make sense of the world around them.
Life Skills and Promoting Independence
Supporting independence is a key part of our curriculum. Children are encouraged to develop practical life skills such as dressing themselves, including putting on coats and shoes and managing simple fastenings. We support children in recognising their toileting needs and developing good hygiene habits. Handwashing is regularly practised, helping children understand when and why it is important. Mealtimes provide opportunities for children to feed themselves, use utensils, pour drinks, and explore new foods. We also encourage responsibility by involving children in tidying up, helping them learn to care for their environment and resources.
Our curriculum is underpinned by the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which provides the framework for supporting children’s learning and development. We use the EYFS alongside our own approach to ensure that all activities and experiences are purposeful, play-based, and tailored to each child’s individual needs and interests. Through careful observation and planning, our staff support children to make progress across all areas of learning while fostering curiosity, independence, and a love of learning.
The EYFS framework areas are:
Three primary developmental areas
Communication and Language
The ability to communicate gives children the capacity to participate more fully in society. We will help your child to learn to talk confidently and clearly, enjoying stories, songs and rhymes. They will learn to link sounds with letters, develop writing skills, and become familiar with books.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
This area of learning is about emotional well-being, knowing who you are and where you fit in and how to feel good about yourself. It is also about developing respect for others, social competence and a positive attitude to learn.
Physical Development
The children will learn to improve skills in co-ordination, manipulation and movement, develop a positive sense of well- being and begin to recognise the importance of keeping healthy. They will have access to enjoy opportunities outdoor play in our fantastic garden area and we will also have frequent access to equipment to enhance their gross motor skills indoors.
Four specific areas
Literacy
The children will learn to link sounds with letters, develop writing skills, and become familiar with books and text.
Mathematics
Your child will develop an understanding of mathematics through counting, sorting, matching, seeking patterns and making connections. We will encourage learning about numbers, shapes, space, and measures through games and activities.
Understanding the World
Children in this area of learning are developing skills and understanding that help them to make sense of the world around them. This forms the foundation for later work in science, history and geography. They will find out about past events in their own lives and those of their family. They will also find out about different cultures and beliefs.
Expressive Arts and Design
Children will be encouraged to express their thoughts, ideas and feelings, imaginatively using a wide variety of different materials and equipment including sand, water, paint and music.
Tapestry
We use Tapestry, our online learning journal, to capture and celebrate the children’s daily experiences at pre-school. As children play and learn, our staff record observations through photos, videos, and written notes.
Parents have secure access to their child’s Tapestry account, allowing them to see the fun, learning, and progress their child is making during their time with us. They are also encouraged to add their own observations and comments, helping us to build a strong partnership and ensure their child’s development and well-being remain our highest priority.