This is a statutory curriculum for children age 0 to 5 years, which has been fully revised from September 2012. It emphasises that from when a child is born, until the age of 5, their early years’ experience should be happy, active, exciting, fun and secure; and should support their development care and learning needs. All nurseries, pre-schools, reception classes and childminders must follow a legal document called the Early Years Foundation Stage framework.
The revised EYFS puts a much greater emphasis than previously, on parents’ role in helping children to develop. We want to work in partnership with you and offer workshops to support this happening.
Every child is a competent learner from birth who can be:
Principle: Children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or a key person.
Principle: The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning.
Principle: Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates and all areas of Learning and Development are equally importantand interconnected.
There is also guidance for the professionals supporting your child on planning the learning activities, and observing and assessing what and how your child is learning and developing.
The EYFS Framework explains how and what your child will be learning to support their healthy development. Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development.
These are:
These prime areas are those most essential for your child’s healthy development and future learning. As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas.
These are:
These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities. The professionals teaching and supporting your child will make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s unique needs. The EYFS is suitable for very young children, and it’s designed to be really flexible so that staff can follow your child’s unique needs and interests. Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outside.
We regularly observe children and assess their learning. This information is then used to plan the child’s next steps for learning. Each child has an assessment profile which is a record of their progress. Children bring home the work they have done each day, and we encourage parents to collect these at home. Photographs of children in action are on display in every classroom! Parents are invited into Nursery to discuss their child’s progress in November and July. A report and transfer record is created for each child at the end of the year. A copy is given to parents.
NB Copies of curriculum and other policy documents are available, including OFSTED Reports, are available either in the Library, to view or download, or on request.
