The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) 

EY Leaders: N.Atkinson & A.Jackson

We are an Early Years Foundation Stage Unit comprising of F1 (Nursery) and F2 (Reception). We work from the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework which sets standards for the learning, development and care of children from birth to five years old. Last academic year (2020/21), we opted to follow the EYFS reforms adopter version of the EYFS Framework alongside Development Matters, which guide our EYFS curriculum and support the staff to monitor and assess progress of each child. This academic year, we follow the updated EYFS Statutory Framework and use guidance and support from Development Matters as well as Birth to Five to ensure all children experience a unique and beneficial curriculum which supports and extends their learning journey. 

EYFS Curriculum

The four guiding principles

There are four guiding principles in the EYFS. We believe it is important that these principles are used when implementing the seven learning and development areas in the EYFS.
The principles are: 

1. That every child is unique
2. That every child can learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships
3. That children learn and develop best in enabling environments
4. That children develop and learn in different ways

In planning and guiding what children learn, we reflect on the different rates at which children are developing and adjust practice appropriately.

Three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are:

• playing and exploring - children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’
• active learning - children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements
• creating and thinking critically - children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things

Areas of learning and development

There are seven main areas of learning and development.

The Prime Areas:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Communication and Language
• Physical Development

The Specific Areas:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

Components

The main components of each of the seven areas are: 

 Personal, Social and Emotional:

• Self-Regulation
• Managing Self
• Building Relationships

Physical Development:

• Gross Motor Skills
• Fine Motor Skills

Communication and Language:

• Listening, Attention and Understanding
• Speaking

 Literacy:

• Comprehension
• Word Reading
• Writing

 Mathematics:

• Numbers
• Numerical Patterns

Understanding the World:

• Past and Present
• People, Culture and Communities
• The Natural World

Expressive Arts & Design:

• Creating with Materials
• Being Imaginative and Expressive

To find out about F1 (Nursery) and F2 (Reception), follow the path menu: Curriculum - class pages - EYFS, then select F1 or F2.

If your child is due to start Reception in September, please click here to find out more.