Our provision for children’s development and learning is guided by The Early Years Foundation Stage (DFE 2017). This brings together Birth to Three Matters, Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage and the EYFS (2008).
Themes of the EYFS
Our provision reflects the four key themes of the Early Years Foundation Stage:
A Unique Child
Every child is a unique child who is constantly learning, and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured
We do this by:
- understanding and observing each child’s development, assessing their progress and planning next steps
- supporting children to develop a sense of their own identity and culture
- identifying any need for additional support
- valuing and respecting all children and families equally
Positive Relationships
Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships
Positive relationships within the early years setting are:
- warm and loving, and foster a sense of belonging
- sensitive and responsive to the child’s needs, feelings and interests
- supportive of the child’s own efforts and independence
- consistent in setting clear boundaries
- stimulating
- built on our key person approach
Enabling Environments
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 carers
We value all people and learning and provide:
- stimulating resources relevant to all the children’s cultures and communities
- rich learning opportunities through play and playful teaching
- support for children to take risks and explore
Learning and Development
Children develop and learn in different ways. The EYFS framework covers the education of all children in Early Years, including children with special educational needs and disabilities
We assist children on their learning journey by providing challenging and playful opportunities across the three prime areas and four specific areas of learning and development outlined in the EYFS. These opportunities foster the characteristics of effective early learning which are:
- Playing and exploring: Finding out and exploring; playing with what they know; being willing to ‘have a go’
- Active thinking: Being involved and concentrating; keeping trying; enjoying and achieving what they set out to do
- Creating and thinking critically: Having their own ideas; making links; choosing ways to do things.
The 7 areas of learning and development
Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through seven areas of learning and development. Children should mostly develop the three prime areas first. The prime areas are fundamental and work together. They develop quickly in response to relationships and experiences, and support development in all other areas. These are:
- Communication and language
- Physical development
- Personal, social and emotional development.
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 four specific areas. These are:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the world
- Expressive arts and design
These seven areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities. We ensure that activities provided are suited to your child’s unique needs. This is a little bit like a curriculum that you will find in a primary school but specifically for very young children, and allows staff the flexibility to follow your child’s unique needs and interests.
The progress check at age 2
The Early Years Foundation Stage requires that we provide parents with a short written summary of their child’s development in the three prime areas of learning, between the ages of 24 – 36 months. Your child’s key person will be responsible for compiling this summary, using information from their own observations, and by taking account of your own views and comments, and in some cases contributions from other professionals.
Positive Behaviour Management
From time to time during their development, children will display challenging behaviour as they learn how to make sense of the world around them and the relationships they build. Positive behaviour management helps support children through these times, however should a child’s behaviour escalate to more serious incidents, further intervention and support may be needed.
Our behaviour co-ordinator is: Theresa Baker
Additional needs
We endeavour to meet all children’s individual needs and aim to include every child regardless of any special need or disability, whilst ensuring the needs of other children are not disadvantaged. We are committed to working in partnership with parents/carers and any other professionals that may be involved in the care and education of a child to help ensure that they are happy and settled. We abide by the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (2001) and our designated Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator is: Rachel Gilkes(Rachel Hart Osborn)/Theresa Baker