Curriculum
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
The Early Years Foundation Stage Framework supports our children from birth to five. It guides us in offering children opportunities to learn through a wide range of fun, practical experiences where children can observe, explore, discover and communicate in both the indoor and outdoor learning environments.
The Early Years Foundation Stage Framework has four key principles which underpin our approach at Sandy Lane Nursery and Forest School:
A Unique Child: Every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
Positive Relationships: Children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents/carers and/or a key person.
Enabling Environments: The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children's development and learning.
Learning and Development: Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates and all areas of Learning and Development are equally important and inter-connected.
Children are provided with a range of rich, meaningful first hand experiences, in which they are active, explore, and think creatively. We aim to develop and foster positive attitudes towards learning, confidence, resilience, communication and physical development. Our observations of children enable us to plan and differentiate learning, as well as to enhance the continuous provision areas based on children’s current interests. The curriculum is delivered using a play-based approach. We plan a balance between children having time and space to engage in their own child-initiated activities and in adult led ones. During play, practitioners interact with children to enhance and reinforce skills and concepts as well as using these times as an opportunity to emphasise key vocabulary to support, extend, stretch and challenge children further. In planning and guiding children’s activities, we reflect as practitioners on the different ways that children learn and build these in our practice. In addition to our spacious and airy classrooms, we are fortunate to have an extensive outdoor area and on site forest school. Staff use all these areas to create a stimulating learning environment and encourage children to explore both indoors and outdoors.
Within the EYFS framework there are:
3 Prime areas of learning:
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Communication and Language
Physical Development
And 4 Specific areas:
Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the World
Expressive Arts and Design
Further guidance on each of these areas of learning can be found in the related tabs ‘Prime Areas’ and ‘Specific Areas’. A range of ‘Top Tips’ for each area of learning can also be found in the ‘Parents’ tab under ‘Helping your child at home’. Just choose the room your child attends for lots of ideas on how you can support your child’s learning at home.
The Early Years Foundation Stage also promotes partnership working between practitioners and families to ensure the best start possible for children. It seeks to make sure that every child makes good progress and has the opportunity to gain a secure foundation through learning and development opportunities which take into account individual children’s needs and interests.
The DFE has produced guidance to help you as a parent/carer find out more about how your child is learning and developing during their first five years. Children develop more rapidly during the first five years of their lives than at any other time. This guidance has been written to help you as a parent/carer know what to expect during these vitally important years by focusing on the seven areas of learning and development which are covered in the Early Years Foundation Stage.
What to expect in the Early Years Foundation Stage - A Guide for Parents. Click on the link to open
