Welcome to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which is how the Government and early years professionals describe the time in your child’s life between birth and age 5. It is a very important stage as it helps your child get ready for school as well as preparing them with the skills and knowledge to build a good foundation for future progress through school and life.
We follow the EYFS framework which separates your child’s learning into seven areas. All of these areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected.
The Prime Areas
These areas are vital for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning and help them to build relationships and communication with others.
Communication and language development includes giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence to express themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations.
Physical development includes giving young children opportunities to be active and interactive. We encourage them to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. We also teach children about the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food.
Personal, social and emotional development includes helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others. We help them form relationships with others and encourage them to develop respect for others too. We teach children to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings and behave in an appropriate manner in different situations.
The Specific Areas
These areas help to strengthen the knowledge the children have gained through the Prime Areas and allow them to apply their new skills.
Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children are given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other written materials) to ignite their interest.
Mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, spaces, and measures.
Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment.
Expressive arts and design involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. We provide opportunities for children to share their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play, and design and technology.
At Delves Lane Primary School we understand the importance of learning through play. Throughout the day, children are offered a balance of adult led and child initiated (free choice) activities. Our approach to the curriculum means that your child will learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking. Their learning takes place both indoors and outside.
Each term you will receive a newsletter with information about the theme your child will be learning about. Our themes are designed to be flexible so that we can follow your child’s individual needs and interests.
Assessing your child
The adults who work with your child will spend time observing your child’s play and interaction with others. This allows us to assess what they can already do and will guide our planning to help your child move forward and make progress whilst they are in our setting. We strongly encourage parents to become involved in their child’s learning. The information that comes from home about what your child can do and what they are interested in will make a difference to their learning and development in school.
In the final term of Reception, your child will be assessed against the Early Learning Goals. We will indicate whether your child is meeting expected levels of development, or if they are exceeding expected levels, or not yet reaching expected levels (‘emerging’).
