What is the EYFS all about?
It is based on 4 principles: that every child is a Unique Child, who learns strength and independence through Positive Relationships, experienced within Enabling Environments, and that each child learns in different ways and at different rates.
It has developmental steps towards the Early Learning Goals, providing a curriculum framework to cover children from birth to age 5. The Goals define what children should know by the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, which is at the end of Reception.
Our planning takes into account this integrated approach, through an understanding of the EYFS Characteristics of Effective Learning:
- playing and exploring;
- active learning;
- creating and thinking critically.
The Early Years Foundation Stage includes seven areas of learning, divided into Prime and Specific areas.
The PRIME areas are fundamental learning that must take place at an earlier stage, but which continue to grow and develop throughout the EYFS:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
The SPECIFIC areas include the essential skills and knowledge needed for future learning:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
Our curriculum seeks to foster children’s:
- wellbeing
- positive attitudes and dispositions towards learning
- social skills attention skills and persistence
The activities and experiences provided at the School cover all areas of Early Years Foundation Stage, and offer a sound foundation for your child’s future learning at primary school. Our approaches support learning for the youngest children as well as the older. Our workshops are designed to explain clearly how we do this.
