Early Years Provision at Nursery Nursery
Introduction to the Early Years Foundation Stage
The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the standards that we must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to ensure children’s ‘school readiness’ and gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.
The EYFS seeks to provide:
EYFS principles
Four guiding principles shape practice in our early years setting.
These are:
Characteristics of Effective Learning
The characteristics describe how a child learns
Playing and exploring
Active Learning
Creating and thinking critically
The Areas of Learning and Development
There are seven areas of learning that shape what we do in nursery, known as the Prime areas and the Specific areas. All areas are important and inter-connected.
The Prime areas are:
The Specific areas are:
Communication and Language Development involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations.
Physical Development involves providing opportunities to be active and interactive; and to develop their coordination, control, and movement. Children are helped to understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities.
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 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 measure.
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, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play, and design and technology.