EYFS Curriculum

Children learning in Nursery and Reception classes are known as the Early Years Foundation Stage or EYFS for short. We follow the statutory EYFS Framework for teaching and development.  This stage is very important in a child’s life as it helps prepare for school ‘readiness’ as well as preparing them for their future learning and successes.

Children learn skills, acquire new knowledge and demonstrate their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development, these are split into Prime and Specific areas.

Children start developing in the 3 prime areas first. These are:

• Communication and language
• Physical development
• Personal, social and emotional development 

These prime areas are essential for a child’s healthy development and future learning.

As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are:

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

We implement these areas of learning by providing a safe, stimulating environment that allows children to discover, be challenged, and achieve their very best whilst developing their resilience and independence.

Through a combination of adult-led sessions and child-initiated activities children are exposed to a managed balance of supported learning and independent investigation.  Using the seven areas of learning, we support the development of children to help them achieve the Early Learning Goals (see EYFS Framework).

Throughout all of these areas of learning and at the heart of the EYFS Curriculum are the ‘Characteristics of Effective Learning’. We strive to develop these key characteristics of ‘Playing and Learning’, ‘Active Learning’ and ‘Thinking Critically’ in order to give the children the skills that they will continue to draw upon throughout their development.

EYFS Environment

Children have plenty of opportunities to become independent learners in all areas of the curriculum, through exciting, effective continuous provision. The purpose of continuous provision is to continue the provision for learning, even in the absence of an adult. Children are motivated and challenged by the often open ended resources and enhancements that we provide for them. We want our children in Nursery and Reception to be thinkers, negotiators and problem solvers – to apply the knowledge that they already have to enable them to explore new possibilities.  Our well-planned continuous provision raises attainment through active learning and high-level engagement. Our experienced staff observe and scaffold learning alongside the children, introducing new concepts and ideas, taking next steps into the children’s play.

Creative imaginations come to life both inside and outside our classrooms. Our children have access to a wide range of resources and are encouraged to use their imaginations to create constructions, potions, models, collages and paintings where they will try out new skills or practise and refine skills already learned. Our children are encouraged to express themselves freely when experimenting with musical instruments, role play, music and dance.

Our curriculum has also been designed to provide many exciting opportunities for developing our children’s understanding of the world around them. Our children are encouraged to be curious and to investigate their environment by asking questions and observing changes. Children are taught to understand different cultural and religious perspectives.

We have two fantastic Reception classrooms and an engaging Nursery classroom with access to beautiful large outdoor areas. Children continually have access to resources from the seven areas of learning and they are actively encouraged to self-select the activities that they would like to undertake. Children are also taught and encouraged to demonstrate respect and responsibility for their environment and this involves taking care of equipment and resources both indoors and outdoors.