Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum
At St. Mary’s CE Primary, we have high expectations for all children.
We believe all children deserve to have an equal chance of success. In order to achieve this, our early years curriculum is designed to equip children with opportunities to explore, investigate and wonder.
High-quality teaching enables children to extend their knowledge, understanding, skills and abilities in a safe and secure learning environment.
Our Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum is planned and taught using the Development Matters document to ensure a broad, balanced and progressive curriculum across all areas of learning and development.
Children learn through first-hand, stimulating experiences and are taught explicitly across all seven areas of learning, which include three prime areas and four specific areas.
We place a strong emphasis on developing children’s oracy skills through communication and language, attending and listening and putting the foundations in place to enable children to become a competent, confident and skilful communicator within our world.
Prime Areas
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Self-Regulation
Managing Self
Buildings Relationships
Communication and Language
Listening, Attention and Understanding
Speaking
Physical Development
Gross Motor Skills
Fine Motor Skills
Specific Areas
Literacy
Comprehension
Word Reading
Writing
Mathematics
Number
Numerical Patterns
Understanding the World
Past and Present
People, Culture and Communities
Natural World
Expressive Art and Design
Creating with Materials
Being Imaginative and Expressive
In addition, we promote the three Characteristics of Learning:
Playing and Exploring
Children investigate and experience things and ‘have a try’.
Active Learning
Children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter challenges, and enjoy achievements.
Creating and Thinking Critically
Children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas and develop strategies for doing things.
Think Equal at St. Mary’s CE Primary School
Think Equal is a global initiative which calls for a system change in education, to ensure positive life outcomes for our children. Together with world experts, Think Equal has designed a programme to teach social and emotional learning to early years (3-6 year olds).
The Think Equal Early Years Programme consists of 36 topic areas. Within them are rich resources designed to foster positive later life outcomes; and the development of personal, social and emotional competencies and skills in the early childhood setting, through the extensive use of narrative and a focus on social cognition, in the wider context of the child’s life. The need for social-emotional learning in early years education has been long supported by educationalists and forward thinkers in the global community. At the core of the Think Equal programme are the 25 key social-emotional learning outcomes, which serve as the foundation of the programme’s lessons, narrative books and teaching.
Think Equal proposes that it is through the use of these hopeful narratives; which focus on a regulated self, the development of social and emotional learning, and a knowledge of and respect for equal rights; that the individual stories of children will change, and that these children will in turn begin to effect the stories of others in their world, ultimately leading to a positive and concrete change in the collective narrative of society.
In School:-Each LEVEL of Think Equal learning consists of 90, 30- minute lessons, taught three times each week over the course of a school year
Think Equal Reception Planning
Further Information and Useful Documents
For further information about our EYFS curriculum, please contact our EYFS Lead, Mrs Neal, via our school email address info@st-marys-cadishead.salford.sch.uk
Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework
Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life
WellComm Information for Parents
EYFS Leader: Mrs Julie Neal
Last reviewed: November 2025
Next review: September 2026
