Early Years Foundation Stage

Curriculum

We follow the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) until the end of the YR. During the final term of YR we start to prepare the children to make the transition to year one, when they move onto the national curriculum. The EYFS has been recently revised by the Department for Education and this has been implemented from September 2012. View the EYFS framework here.

The EYFS is made up of seven areas of learning and development.

• Communication and Language

• Physical Development

• Personal, Social and Emotional development

• Literacy

• Mathematics

• Understanding the World

• Expressive Arts and Design

In YR we aim to achieve the above early learning goals through a rich and varied curriculum. The children will have the opportunity to take part in various trips, join in outdoor learning days, take part in cooking activities, find out about different cultures, go swimming, create their own role play areas, and many other activities. We have a weekly RE lesson during which the children find out about the life of Jesus, the stories he would have heard and learn about different religious festivals.

What is Children’s Choice?

• Independent choosing, structured play both inside and outside - all planned to cover the seven areas of learning.

• Children plan in a small group with an adult and assess how they enjoyed the activity and what they have learnt before the following day.

• At the end of the week, children evaluate their choices and think about the aims for the following week.

• To begin with, approximately 50% of the day will involve children learning in child initiated activities.

How to support the EYFS curriculum at home?

• Discussion about what has gone on at school

• Time to reflect on the day's activities - quiet time

• Looking at numbers in the environment - "real life" - include money, numbers on doors, road signs, etc

• Finding letters around the home, reading and discussing books

• Pointing out familiar words - shop names, things in the cupboard etc

• Cooking - comparing numbers, describing ingredients

• Playing games at home

• Valuing what your child tells you

• The home learning journal (a journal sent home for parent and child to add comments eg something they are proud of, or have enjoyed doing).