At St. Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School, we understand that when your child starts school, it’s a very special and important time for the whole family. We believe in working closely with parents and carers to ensure that your child is happy and settled from the very beginning. Before your child starts school with us, we will offer you the opportunity of joining us for an open evening to find out more about us and what you and your child can expect when they start school. We also host stay and play sessions as well as arranging home visits, so we can get to know your child better in their home environment.

At St. Thomas’, we strive to provide an environment that underpins our school values: Inclusive, Curious, Resilient, Responsible, Spiritual and Respectful. Our aim is for every child to be given the best possible opportunities to achieve their full potential and an education which will nurture their needs as individuals. We believe that Early Years should provide a solid foundation on which to expand and foster a deep love of learning. Children should be enabled to develop independence within a secure and friendly atmosphere that promotes equality of opportunity, respect for cultural and religious diversity and good self-esteem.

As our Foundation Stage children enter the classroom, they learn through a variety of play and real-life experiences. We ensure there is a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities throughout the day. The adults’ role is to continually model, demonstrate and question what the child is doing.

Each day, we follow a timetable with set routines in place. We set aside times each day when the children come together to be taught in the more traditional sense, gathered together on the carpet as a class. At these times, we focus on our carefully selected books, chosen to engage the children, as well as maths, phonics and topic work. These sessions help to develop vital learning habits: learning as a group, listening to the teacher, taking turns to answer and being mindful of others when sitting on the carpet.

Reading and story play activities are an important part of the day. We want to make sure our children have a love of books and will leave Reception with a bank of stories they know well, both traditional and modern classics. We make sure there is always time for a whole class story at the end of the day, but also that there are many opportunities to enjoy books at other times. Every child is given their own book bag and has a designated day when they will have one-to-one time to share books with an adult or a group reading session.

Learning through play is an important part of our Early Years classrooms. We believe children learn best from activities and experiences that interest and inspire them. Using children’s interests as a starting point, we provide children with stimulating, active play experiences in which they can explore and develop their learning to help them make sense of the world. They have opportunities through their play to think creatively and critically alongside other children as well as on their own. They are able to practise skills, build upon and revisit prior learning and experience at their own level and pace. The children learn to be curious, adapt, negotiate, communicate, discuss, investigate and ask questions. Our aim is to develop our children into lifelong learners.