Early Years Foundation Stage

Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe and happy childhood is important in its own right. Good parenting and high quality early learning together provide the foundation children need to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up.
(Statutory Framework for the EYFS, DFE 2012)

“The healthy, happy child constantly explores everything around him – first of all with his mouth and later with active touch.”
Susan Isaacs, The Nursery Years

“We now have the scientific evidence, from brain studies and child development work, to know that three to six year olds learn by doing.”
Wendy Scott (British Association for Early Childhood Education)

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Aims and principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS) became a statutory framework for all children from birth to five from September 2008. Following this the revised framework for the EYFS was implemented from September 2012.

Standards set by the EYFS state that all early years’ providers must ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to ensure children are ready for school and gives them the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide a solid foundation for their future progress through school and life.

The Early Years Curriculum for the Foundation Stage forms the first stage of our whole school curriculum.

The EYFS seeks to provide:

•  Quality and consistency throughout the school setting, so that every child makes good progress and no child gets left behind
•  A secure foundation through learning and development opportunities which are planned around the needs and interests of each individual child and are assessed and reviewed regularly
•  Partnership working between practitioners and with parents and/or carers
•  Equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and supported.

The EYFS specifies requirements for learning and development and for safeguarding children and promoting their welfare.

The learning and development requirements cover:

•  The areas of learning and development which must shape activities and experiences (educational programmes) for children in all early years settings
•  The early learning goals that providers must help children work towards (the knowledge, skills and understanding children should have at the end of the academic year in which they turn five)
•  Assessment arrangements for measuring progress (and requirements for reporting to parents and/or carers).

The safeguarding and welfare requirements cover the steps that providers must take to keep children safe and promote their welfare.

Four guiding principles shape practice in early years settings. These are:

1. Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured
2. Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships
3. Children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers
4. Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates. The framework covers the education and care of all children in early years provision, including children with special educational needs and disabilities

The characteristics of effective learning describe factors which play a central role in a child's learning and becoming an effective learner. They underpin learning and development across all areas.

•  By playing and exploring children find out and explore, use what they know in their play and become willing to have a go
•  Through active learning children are involved and develop their concentration skills, perseverance and gain a sense of enjoyment through achieving what they set out to do
•  By creating and thinking critically children have their own ideas, use what they already know to learn new things and choose ways to do things including finding new skills, strategies and techniques.

There are seven areas of learning and development that must shape educational programmes in early years settings. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. Three areas are particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive.

These three areas, the prime areas, are:

1. Communication and language
2. Physical development
3. Personal, social and emotional development

Providers must also support children in four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied.

The specific areas are:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and design

Educational programmes must involve activities and experiences for children, as follows.

•  Communication and language development involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations.
•  Physical development involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. Children must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food.
•  Personal, social and emotional development involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities.
•  Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children must be given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other written materials) to ignite their interest.
•  Mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, spaces, and measures.
•  Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment.
•  Expressive arts and design involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play, and design and technology.

Our curriculum is planned with the children through a series of themes and topics, each of which offers experiences in all seven areas of learning. As the year progresses children will have the opportunity to choose their own topics. Activities for topics are taken from the children and planned by practitioners, who ensure that the required elements of the EYFS are met. As a week progresses the activities often evolve as children have new ideas and suggestions of what they could do. The planning for each topic is displayed on our notice boards.

Continuous provision (CP) is available to provide children with the opportunity to learn in all areas of our setting. Children will also access learning through directed activities whilst working with an adult.