Our Intent
At Wilkinson Primary School, we are committed to cultivating a nurturing, inclusive, and inspiring environment where every child feels safe, valued and ready to learn. Our curriculum is designed to be broad, balanced, and sequential, rooted in the EYFS framework and shaped by the unique needs, interests, and experiences of our children.
We aim to:
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Champion each child’s individuality and support their personal learning journey
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Prioritise early language and communication, ensuring every child has a voice
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Foster strong, collaborative relationships with families and the wider community
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Embed values of kindness, respect and belonging in all we do
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Inspire a lifelong love of learning through rich, engaging experiences
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Equip children with the skills and confidence for their next stage of education and beyond
Together, we grow, discover, and thrive — one step at a time.
The Early Years at Wilkinson Primary School
At Wilkinson Primary School, our Early Years provision is dedicated to delivering a high standard of education and care within a warm, welcoming and inclusive environment. We offer a rich blend of structured learning and purposeful play, designed to be fun, meaningful and relevant to each child’s development.
Children are supported through positive role modelling, high-quality interactions and carefully planned scaffolding, alongside ongoing observation and assessment. Learning takes place both one-to-one and in groups, allowing for personalised support and collaborative experiences.
Our well-resourced indoor and outdoor environments provide endless opportunities for imaginative, adventurous and exploratory play. Our fantastic outdoor space is a key feature, enabling children to engage with nature and learn in diverse, stimulating settings.
We prioritise early communication and language development, ensuring every child has the opportunity to express themselves and be heard. Parents and carers are valued partners in their child’s learning journey and we actively encourage their involvement to ensure the best outcomes for every child.
Please explore this page to learn more about our Early Years provision and visit each Year Group page via the links below.
The Curriculum
Our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum is built around seven areas of learning — three prime areas and four specific areas. The prime areas (Communication and Language, Physical Development, and Personal, Social and Emotional Development) are crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. The specific areas (Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World, and Expressive Arts and Design) strengthen and apply the learning from the prime areas.
Together, these areas provide a well-rounded, engaging and ambitious curriculum that supports every child’s unique journey.
Areas of Learning
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED) is essential for children to lead healthy, happy lives and forms the foundation for cognitive growth. Secure attachments and positive relationships shape a child’s social world and underpin their personal development. Warm, supportive interactions with adults help children understand their own feelings and those of others. They are guided to manage emotions, develop a positive sense of self, set simple goals, build confidence, persist when challenged, wait patiently and focus attention when needed. Through adult modelling and guidance, children learn to care for their bodies, make healthy choices and manage personal needs independently. Supported interactions with peers teach them how to form friendships, cooperate, and resolve conflicts calmly. These skills create a strong platform for success in school and beyond.
Communication and Language
From the earliest stages, children’s back-and-forth interactions lay the groundwork for both language and cognitive growth. The quality and frequency of conversations with adults and peers in a language-rich environment are essential. Practitioners support this by commenting on what children are doing, or are interested in, and extending their speech with new vocabulary. Regular reading sessions—featuring stories, non-fiction, rhymes, and poems—combined with opportunities to use and embed new words in varied contexts, help children flourish. Through conversation, storytelling and role play, supported by teacher modelling and sensitive questioning that encourages elaboration, children gain confidence in using a wide range of vocabulary and language structures.
Physical Development
Physical activity plays a vital role in children’s overall development, supporting happy, healthy and active lives. Gross and fine motor skills develop progressively throughout early childhood, beginning with sensory exploration and building strength, coordination, and spatial awareness through activities such as tummy time, crawling, and playful movement with objects and adults. By offering games and opportunities for indoor and outdoor play, adults help children develop core strength, stability, balance, coordination, agility and spatial awareness. These gross motor skills form the foundation for physical health and emotional well-being. Fine motor development, which supports hand-eye coordination and later literacy, is strengthened through repeated, varied experiences—such as small-world play, puzzles, arts and crafts, and using small tools—with guidance and feedback from adults. These experiences build proficiency, control and confidence.
Useful Websites
BBC Bitesize
Reception / EYFS
Numberblocks
Sing along and learn all about numbers with the Numberblocks!
Oxford Owl
Help your child learn at home
Cbeebies Parenting
Tiny Happy People
Eric.org.uk
Best Start In Life
From pregnancy to childcare right through to starting school, get advice and support for your child’s development.
Family Hubs
Best Start In Life
15 and 30 hours childcare
Best Start In Life
School Readiness
Literacy
We promote a lifelong love of reading for every child. Reading involves two key dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension—critical for both reading and writing—begins at birth and grows when adults engage children in conversations about the world around them, share books (stories and non-fiction), and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, introduced later, combines quick decoding of unfamiliar words and rapid recognition of familiar ones. Writing builds on these skills and includes transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (expressing ideas and structuring them in speech before writing).
Mathematics
A strong foundation in number sense is essential for children to build the skills needed to succeed in mathematics. Children should develop confidence in counting and gain a deep understanding of numbers to 10, including their relationships and patterns. Frequent, varied opportunities—such as using manipulatives like pebbles and ten frames—help children apply this knowledge and build a secure base of mathematical vocabulary and understanding. Our curriculum also provides rich experiences to develop spatial reasoning across areas such as shape, space and measures. We encourage positive attitudes towards maths by fostering curiosity, pattern-spotting, and problem-solving, while creating an environment where children feel confident to ‘have a go,’ share ideas and learn from mistakes.
Understanding The World
Understanding the world means helping children make sense of their physical environment and the communities they belong to. Their knowledge and awareness grow through a wide range of experiences—such as visiting parks, libraries and museums, and meeting key members of society like police officers, nurses and firefighters. Listening to a rich variety of stories, non-fiction texts, rhymes and poems further deepens their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. These experiences not only build essential knowledge but also expand vocabulary, supporting comprehension across all areas of learning and laying strong foundations for future reading success.
Expressive Arts and Design
Developing children’s artistic and cultural awareness is key to fostering imagination and creativity. Regular opportunities to engage with the arts allow children to explore and experiment with a wide range of media and materials. The quality and variety of what they see, hear and experience are crucial for building understanding, self-expression, vocabulary and communication through the arts. Depth, repetition and frequency of these experiences help children interpret and appreciate what they observe and hear.
Wilkinson Adaptive Teaching Approach
At Wilkinson Primary School, we believe every child deserves an inclusive, nurturing environment where they can thrive. Our adaptive teaching approach ensures that learning experiences are tailored to meet individual needs, particularly for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
We achieve this by:
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Personalised Planning: Using observations and assessments to adapt activities so all children can access the curriculum at their level and in a learning environment that they are comfortable with.
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Flexible Strategies: Incorporating visual supports, sensory resources and adapted tasks to promote engagement and independence.
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Responsive Teaching: Adjusting pace, language and expectations in real time to support understanding and participation.
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Collaborative Support: Working closely with families and specialists to create consistent strategies that build confidence and celebrate progress.
Through these practices, we create a learning environment that values diversity, fosters inclusion, and empowers every child to reach their full potential.
Early Years
