Our Lady of Grace Catholic Infant School

The All Saints' Trust

Guiding Principles

In Early Years, it is our aim that all children develop physically, verbally, cognitively, spiritually and emotionally in an environment which values all cultures, communities, people and equality of opportunity.  We apply the principles of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:  - physiological needs, safety, community, self esteem and self actualisation (the drive to fulfil one's talents and potential). This enables  practitioners and teachers to consider our intent daily, as we plan how to meet the needs of each unique child in our care through high quality teaching and meaningful use of assessment.

We carefully consider the developmental stages of early learning specifically Speech, Language and Communication Development as each child is unique and each child’s learning journey is different. We provide high quality and consistent  teaching  combined with high aspirations for all  the development of the whole child as we promote the equality of opportunity.

We encourage our children to be confident and independent, to believe in themselves and interact positively with others.  It is important our children become critical thinkers and outward learners as we live in an unpredictable and fast paced world. We want them to build resilience for the unknown future they will face.

We believe play is an integral part of learning with a combination of adult directed and uninterrupted child initiated play in a stimulating environment. We work hard with thought and reflection to cultivate an environment that provides opportunities for challenge, exploration and adventure. We want our children to foster a love of learning both indoors, outdoors and beyond our setting.

 We recognise the importance of consistent routines and building strong relationships with parents and carers. The early development of positive relationships is essential  - amongst our children, between practitioners, with parents and carers and outside agencies. This will allow individual needs to be met in a safe and nurturing environment as well as supporting each child’s future success and transition to their next stage of learning.