Hillcrest Early Years Academy

Intent

A Hillcrest Early Years Academy, our EYFS curriculum aims to support all children to develop into confident, happy, well rounded, creative, and independent learners. Through our exciting and nurturing environments, we can support the children to develop the necessary skills, knowledge, and attitudes to start their learning journey and lead fulfilling lives.

Our intent is to secure solid learning foundations and develop the children’s independence so they have the best start to their learning journey.

Implementation

At Hillcrest Early Years Academy, our Early Years Foundation Stage department consists of 5 rooms. Our learning journey starts with Little Treasures (9 months-2 years old) and then we move to our Little sparkles (2-3year old) who are based in our cabin and have their own age-appropriate outdoor area. Our Little Gems (3-4year old) are based in their own nursery room and have their own outdoor classroom with access to another EYFS outdoor area. We are a 2-form entry school, we have 2 reception classes that each have their own indoor and outdoor classroom and have access to the EYFS outdoor area. We all have well-resourced indoor and outdoor classrooms that allow us to build on each child’s learning journey. We provide continuous provision and learning opportunities through our ‘Discovery Time’ and the children can explore and develop their knowledge through exciting, engaging and fun trays, areas, and activities inside and outside the classroom.

Our bespoke curriculum is underpinned by the EYFS ‘Birth-5 framework’, our Gem Power Project and our Academy’s 5 core values.

M – Memories

A – Ambitious Aspirations

G – Growth

I – Independence

C – Courage

Our curriculum links to the Key Stage 1 curriculum so that our pupils can have a smooth transition into Year 1, Year 2 and beyond.

Teachers plan key objectives in a play-based approach to learning. We aim for all children to discover independently and our insightful adults can provide meaningful quality interactions to ensure each child has an opportunity to thrive. We refer to our EYFS progression map to underpin our continuous provision activities.

Impact

At Hillcrest Early Years Academy, the children in our EYFS will demonstrate high levels of engagement through our adult led and child led opportunities. By developing their speaking and listening skills, we can provide the children with a solid foundation for their educational life.

The children will create memories that inspire them to make ambitious aspirations for their future. Our children will become independent learners and will be able to apply their knowledge to a range of situations.

From their own unique starting points, we expect all children, even those at risk of disadvantage to achieve their early learning goals and/or to make excellent progress throughout their time in our Early Years setting.

A message from the EYFS Lead 

At Hillcrest Early Years Academy, children can begin their learning journey with us from just 9 months old in our Little Treasures Nursery. From there, they progress to Little Sparkles Nursery, followed by Little Gems Nursery. Children then begin their first year of school in Reception, where they may be placed in either Diamond Class or Ruby Class.

A Love of Learning Through Discovery

Across our EYFS provision, children learn through our carefully planned Discovery Time. During this time, our learning environments are open for exploration, encouraging children to discover, investigate, play and learn independently.

We create a unique balance between continuous provision and focused adult-led learning opportunities. Children can explore areas of the classroom that are always available throughout the year, alongside enhanced provision and focus activities linked to our learning objectives. Through these activities, we aim to create exciting invitations to learn and inspire our children to see the magic within their learning environment.

Our Bespoke EYFS Curriculum

We have developed our own bespoke curriculum, which is fully aligned with the EYFS Framework and supports children in working towards the Early Learning Goals. Our curriculum ensures children are ready to continue their learning journey into Key Stage 1 and beyond. We introduced a new curriculum underpinned by the Birth-5 matters framework.

We place a strong emphasis on independence and encourage children to make choices and take ownership of their learning. In each classroom, children have access to independent choosing shelves linked to different areas of learning. Our maths, construction and small world shelves are particularly popular and provide endless opportunities for creativity, problem-solving and exploration.

Through strong communication across our EYFS team and carefully planned learning environments that reflect one another, we are able to track and build upon children's skills and knowledge as they move through Nursery and into Reception. Our close links between Little Treasures, Little Sparkles, Little Gems and Reception ensure a seamless learning journey for every child.

Inspiring a Love of Reading

At Hillcrest, we are passionate about developing a love of reading from an early age. Children enjoy regular story times, access to high-quality texts and opportunities to explore books independently within our magical classroom libraries.

In Reception, children have access to both a shared library and their own classroom book corners. Every day, children vote for a story to be read aloud, and books are carefully woven throughout the learning environment to complement our independent choosing shelves.

Each Monday afternoon, Reception children participate in our "Drop Everything and Read" session. During this dedicated time, children choose a story to enjoy independently, alongside friends, or with an adult. Whenever possible, we also invite families into school to share stories and engage in Discovery Time with their children.

Our Phonics Journey

Children begin their phonics journey in Little Sparkles, where early phonics experiences are developed through the learning environment, provision and high-quality interactions with adults.

In Little Gems, children begin Phase 1 Phonics using the Little Wandle Foundation for Phonics programme. This supports children in developing listening skills, sound discrimination and oral blending.

In Reception, children begin Phase 2 Phonics during their second week of school. They then progress through Phases 3 and 4 throughout the year. We are committed to giving our children the very best start to their reading journey. We use the Little Wandle phonics programme and have seena amazing progress. 

Alongside daily phonics lessons, all Reception children participate in three weekly guided reading sessions to develop fluency, comprehension and a lifelong love of reading.

Learning Beyond the Classroom

We are incredibly proud of our outdoor learning environments and the opportunities they provide for exploration and development.

Little Treasures opened in September 2025 and benefits from its own dedicated outdoor area. Little Sparkles has enjoyed a free-flow outdoor environment since October 2022, allowing children to move seamlessly between indoor and outdoor learning during Discovery Time.

Little Gems and both Reception classes share our large EYFS outdoor area, which provides extensive opportunities to develop gross motor skills, investigate the natural world and engage in imaginative play. The area is regularly enhanced to reflect children's interests and current learning objectives.

In addition, Little Gems and both Reception classes have access to their own outdoor classrooms, enabling children to revisit previous learning and further explore current learning objectives through play and investigation.

The Importance of Quality Interactions

As an EYFS team, we understand the vital role that quality interactions play in children's development. We strive to make every interaction meaningful, recognising that every conversation presents an opportunity to learn, explore and deepen understanding.

Get in Touch

If you would like to find out more about our EYFS provision, please do not hesitate to contact the school office and ask to speak with our EYFS Lead.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about our Early Years Foundation Stage.

Miss Laura McCutcheon
EYFS Lead
Hillcrest Early Years Academy