Welcome to Donaldson Team! We are Reception and Year 1.

Our Class Teacher is Miss Bass. 

Our Teaching Assistants are Miss Hewitt and Mrs Crawford.  

You can find out more about us in our weekly newsletter Curriculum Corner.

Spare clothes and wellies are needed in school every day - we love to play outside in all weathers. 

EYFS Curriculum Intent

At Friday Bridge Community Primary School, our intent is to create a secure, nurturing learning environment where every child feels happy, safe, and enthusiastic about learning. We believe that when children feel valued and confident, they develop a lifelong love of learning.

We aim to:

• Foster curiosity and joy by providing a fun, engaging, and challenge-rich environment that inspires exploration and creativity.
• Build strong foundations of knowledge and skills through purposeful play, hands-on experiences, and meaningful interactions.
• Promote a sense of belonging and community, where every child knows they are respected, included, and celebrated.
• Encourage children to take risks, persevere, and develop resilience, preparing them for future learning.
• Ensure that learning is inclusive and accessible, so all children can thrive and achieve their potential.
• Support children’s personal, social, and emotional development, enabling them to feel confident, independent, and ready for the next stage of their education.

Our vision:
We all belong and deserve to have fun, learn, and grow together. Through play, challenge, and shared experiences, we nurture happy, confident learners who love learning and embrace every opportunity to succeed.

EYFS Curriculum Implementation

We follow the DfE Development Matters framework (revised 2021) to ensure high-quality provision and progression. The EYFS is underpinned by four guiding principles that shape our practice and delivery:

1. Every child is a unique child who is consistently learning and can be resilient, capable, confident, and self-assured.
2. Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.
3. Children learn and develop well in enabling environments where experiences respond to individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents/carers.
4. Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates.

How We Deliver Our Curriculum

• We plan and promote a stimulating, enjoyable, and challenging foundation stage that reflects these principles.
• There are seven areas of learning and development that shape children’s education in early years. All areas are equally important and interdependent, supporting a rounded approach to child development.
• Our curriculum is delivered through well-planned, purposeful independent play, balanced with adult-led and child-initiated activities.
• Children experience an ambitious curriculum designed sequentially to ensure progress towards the end of Reception goals.
• Learning takes place through:
  • Play-based experiences
  • Adult modelling
  • Peer observation
  • Guided learning and direct teaching
• Plans remain flexible to respond quickly to children’s interests and needs.

Characteristics of Effective Learning

We weave through our curriculum the three characteristics of effective learning:

• Playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things, ‘having a go’.
• Active learning – children concentrate and keep trying if they encounter difficulties, enjoying achievements.
• Creating and thinking critically – children develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.