Early Years Foundation Stage

Early Years Foundation Stage

Reception is an important year for your child to acquire the skills, knowledge and understanding needed for their future learning.  Our practice is built on the four Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) themes:

Your child’s development is unique. We understand that children learn at different rates and in different ways.  We get to know your child before they start school by visiting them at their pre-school setting, during our induction sessions and most importantly by building good relationships with parents. This ensures that the transition from nursery to school is as smooth as possible which enables them to settle in quickly and happily.

We have a stimulating early years environment in our reception classes. The indoor and outdoor areas provide the children with many opportunities to learn through play. The children have high quality resources to enhance their learning. The Early Years team ensure the environment is an exciting place to learn and play. 

In Reception we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum which builds on their learning from their pre-school settings.  There are seven areas of learning, three Prime areas and four specific areas.

The EYFS seven areas of learning are:

Prime areas:
•    Communication and language
•    Physical development
•    Personal, social and emotional development

Specific areas:
•    Literacy
•    Mathematics
•    Understanding the world
•    Expressive arts and design

Characteristics of learning

Characteristics of learning are the ways in which children engage with the environment and others around them. They underpin learning and development in all areas of the curriculum.  The characteristics of their learning – playing and exploring, active learning and creating and thinking critically support children to become motivated and effective learners.

Learning through play is a very important part of your child’s development.  We ensure that there is a balance of creative adult initiated activities and opportunities and resources for your child to initiate their own learning both indoors and outdoors.  This inspires them to gain a curiosity of the world around them, develop their social skills and be motivated to try new activities. 

Assessment

In reception we will continually assess your child's development against the criteria set in the EYFS profile. The aim of the profile is to gain reliable information of your child’s progress and their next stages of development.  It helps us to plan a personalised curriculum for your child’s needs.  At the end of the year this information will be shared with you and their next teacher to ensure a smooth transition to Year 1.