Early Years Foundation Stage
Curriculum Statement
Our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is based around four guiding principles that shape our practice and provision across this 0 - 5 phase . These principles are at the heart of our curriculum and its delivery.
They are:
A Unique Child
Every child is a unique child who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
Positive Relationships
Children learn to be strong and independent through the development of caring, secure and positive relationships with parents/carers and the adults who are supporting them in school.
Enabling Environments
The internal and external environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning with adults teaching and supporting children with different interests and needs.
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. The framework covers the education and care of all children in the early years, provision, including children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Our Curriculum
Our children follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (EYFS).
We consider the needs, interests and development of each child to plan challenging, relevant and exciting experiences for each child in all areas of learning and development.
There are three prime areas and four specific areas of learning and development in the Foundation Stage Framework curriculum. These seven areas of Learning and Development together make up the skills, knowledge and experiences appropriate for all children within the 0-5 age range as they grow, learn and develop.
Three areas are particularly important for building a foundation for igniting children's curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, forming relationships and thriving. These are called the Prime Areas of Learning.
Prime Areas:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSE)
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
In the Prime Areas, the children learn to:
- Share, take turns and develop respect for each other.
- Make friends and become confident independent learners.
- Behave appropriately when playing with others.
- Listen to others and understand spoken language to enable children to follow instructions correctly.
- Learn new words rapidly, use them in conversations and develop their own narratives and explanations.
- Join in conversations with adults and children.
- Develop control of their bodies using both large scale movements such as running and jumping and small scale movements such as holding pencils and using scissors.
The Prime Areas are then strengthened and broadened within the specific areas.
Specific Areas:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
In the Specific Areas, the children learn to:
- Enjoy sharing books and stories with adults and friends.
- Begin to read simple sentences using phonic knowledge to decode regular words.
- Draw, make marks, write letters, words and simple sentences.
- Count accurately groups of objects and recognise numerals.
- Add, subtract and problem solve during practical activities.
- Use everyday language to talk about size, weight, capacity, distance, time, money and shape.
- Look closely at how things work, why things happen, living things and the natural world.
- Be imaginative, sing songs, dance and create models, drawings, paintings and stories.
Parents' Guide to EYFS
Statutory Framework for the Earl Years Foundation Stage
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2
Development Matters is non-statutory guidance for the EYFS.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/development-matters--2
‘What to expect, when?’ is an easy to use guide for parents on their child’s learning and development in the EYFS.
Our Intent
At Brookside Nursery we believe that all children deserve an inclusive provision, rich in wonder and memorable first-hand experiences which allow their natural creativity and curiosity to flourish alongside their own individual acquisition of skills and knowledge. We provide a curriculum which is rich and relevant in content, engaging and inspiring and encourages a desire to learn new things and challenges them to reach their own potential.
Through our curriculum we enable our children...
- to become positive and motivated individuals who are physically and emotionally engaged in their learning
- to be confident communicators who are keen to explore, investigate, ask questions and make their own decisions and choices about where and how they learn, sharing their experiences with others
- to persevere and stay involved in their learning, to develop their independence and self-belief and to help them build positive, trusting relationships which are respectful and long lasting
- to take their learning beyond their immediate setting, to connect with nature and build a sense of excitement, adventure and wonder within their learning
- to build on and extend their prior experiences and challenge their learning in order to celebrate progress and success.
How We Implement Our Curriculum
Our skilled and committed team...
- Provide a rich, balanced and creative curriculum through which children can actively explore, investigate and shape their own experiences and learning.
- Know the children well, they understand how they learn best and promote a provision which builds on their existing knowledge, skills and understanding using their current interests and motivations.
- Develop every child`s communication and language skills through a language rich environment, where high quality interactions, conversations, core rhymes, songs, stories and texts become an embedded part of the day.
- Establish a safe, secure and supportive learning environment in which the contributions of children, staff and parents and listened to and valued. We build confidence in our actions, learn through our mistakes and use this knowledge to improve ourselves in the future.
- Promote an inclusive approach, where additional and timely support scaffolds and enhances the learning for children who have yet to reach their potential and challenges others to deepen it.
Impact
We recognise the importance of the curriculum meeting the needs of the children and enabling all children to become deeply engaged and enjoy learning. We have high expectations for all children to achieve a least a good level of progress, relative to their individual starting points.
We develop a flexible curriculum which enables everyone to succeed, where children are resilient, co-operate and work well with each other.
We use ‘Development Matters in the EYFS’, the relevant ‘ages and stages’ guidance or the “Developmental Journal” to guide us in what to look for and when. These documents help us identify children’s developing knowledge; skills; understanding and attitudes as they make progress through the Foundation Stage.
Staff develop strong relationships with their children and families to identify children’s starting points. Assessments are made through talking and listening to the child; meetings and discussions with parents/ carers; and quality interactions with the child. Staff use this information to make judgements as to individuals’ strengths and gaps. These are used by practitioners to target provision according to interest and need, ensuring no child is left behind.