At the William Alvey school we want our youngest children in school to have a learning environment that ignites their natural curiosity, and allows them to have as many 'wow moments' as possible. We want our children to develop a love of learning that will stay with them throughout their journey at the William Alvey, and beyond - as our saying goes, "Once an Alvian, Always an Alvian". Our aim is to give the children first-hand experiences that will enable them to become resilient, respectful, tolerant and aspirational learners.  We also want our children to develop a love of outdoor learning and to recognise how we care and look after local and global environments, making a difference now and for future generations.

We build upon our children’s prior learning and experiences from home and nursery settings, ensuring home/setting visits take place prior to children starting with us. Nursery and Reception teams work closely together, to ensure continuity and consistency for all our children within the EYFS. Throughout their time in EYFS, our children will develop a sense of belonging within the wider school community and recognise the values the children, families and staff embrace at William Alvey.

The EYFS curriculum at William Alvey has been carefully developed by the staff to ensure that it is ambitious and meets the needs of the children in our community. Building our children’s cultural capital is paramount, and trips to the local area and visiting a farm are incorporated into our curriculum to ensure all children in our school have a wide-range of experiences and opportunities, which prepare them for future success.

Our curriculum is designed to encourage our children to explore, investigate and discover in their learning and play. At the William Alvey we prioritise ensuring staff are interacting and playing with the children in our environment, developing children’s vocabulary and teaching children in the moment, within their play.

Fostering a love of stories and focussing on speaking and listening, reading and writing, and early maths are prioritised at William Alvey, in order to equip our children with the vocabulary, skills and knowledge they need to be effective communicators in day-to-day life. Rocket Phonics is utilised to support early reading and we also follow a Talk4Reading approach to expose our youngest children to a wide variety of texts. Our Talk4Writing lessons are ambitious and allow all children to hear and speak a wider range of vocabulary, ready for their learning in Year 1 and above. We follow Maths No Problem to support early maths and use practical activities to support their sense of number.  

Parent partnership is promoted throughout EYFS with Tapestry, an online platform which we update regularly. Our staff are always available for a chat before and after school too. 

We are passionate about giving our children the best start as they embark upon their school journey and our goal is for every child to reach their full potential, fulfilling their future lives and dreams. From their different starting points, our aim is to ensure that all our youngest children will make good progress academically, emotionally, creatively, socially and physically, ready to thrive in Key Stage 1.