Curriculum

Information about the Early Years Foundation Stage

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is a statutory framework for all settings who care for children from birth to 5 years.  The main focus is to ensure children learn through play, focusing on their interests, considering their needs and their stages of development.  The EYFS has four themes which are:

A Unique Child
"Ever child is a competent learner from birth, who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured".

Enabling Environments
"The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning".

Learning and Development
"Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates and all areas of Learning and Development are equally important and inter-connected".

The six areas of learning covered by the early learning goals are:

(Statement from Department for Education and Skills- EYFS)
"None of these areas of Learning and Development can be delivered in isolation from others. They are equally important and depend on each other to support a rounded approach to child development"

In each room the experiences offered are appropriate to the child’s age and include both indoor and outdoor activities. Children are free to play as part of a group or on their own. This helps them to develop self confidence and social interaction. Children learn most effectively when they are enjoying themselves and having fun, this is why we promote learning through play.

The children are observed and assessed to ensure that the learning planned builds on the skills and knowledge that each child already possesses. All children have individual learning profiles which enable staff to track stepping stones and map the next areas of development. Parents are encouraged to take these portfolios home and add their own information to help staff plan and develop further learning.

Key Person System
A key person is allocated to each child and welcomes and looks after the family during the settling in period. The role of a key person is to build a strong relationship with child and parents/carers. The key person will ensure the child is happy and stimulated throughout the day, provide feedback to parents verbally and formally. Each child has a profile in nursery. The child’s key person will collect information for the profile such as photographs, observations, pictures and the child’s work. The aim of the profile is to record their learning journey whilst at nursery. This information can then be passed to the child’s school.

Academy of Little Angels © 2013