Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
At Glynne we strongly believe that a child's time in the Foundation Stage is one of the most important times in school as this develops the whole foundation for their learning and development. The staff in the Foundation Stage spend a lot of time not only making exciting resources and creating role play areas, but the majority of their time is spent nurturing and caring for the children and trying to make school an exciting and enjoyable experience.
Throughout their time in the Foundation Stage our pupils engage with others and their environment and are encouraged to play and explore, be active learners and create and think critically. These characteristics underpin learning and development across all areas and support our pupils to remain effective, motivated and successful learners.
The curriculum within the Early Years Foundation Stage is planned around four main themes:
- A Unique Child - Every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
- Positive Relationships - Children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or a key person.
- 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.
There are seven main areas of learning and development which guide the staff engagement with your child's play and activities as they learn new skills and knowledge. The seven areas are split into three prime areas and four specific areas.
Prime Areas:
• communication and language• physical development• personal, social and emotional development
Providers must also support children in four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. The Specific Areas are:
• literacy• mathematics• understanding the world• expressive arts and design
Each area of learning and development is implemented through planned purposeful play and through a mix of adult led and child initiated activities. Play is an essential part of a child's development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, to think about problems and relate to others. The children learn by leading their own play and taking part in play that is led by adults. Then as children move into Reception and get older, the balance will gradually shift to more activities led by adults to prepare for learning in Year 1.
The progress children have made by the end of the Foundation Stage is defined by the Early Learning Goals.
Communication and LanguageELG: Listening, Attention and UnderstandingELG: SpeakingPersonal, Social and Emotional DevelopmentELG: Self-RegulationELG: Managing SelfELG: Building RelationshipsPhysical DevelopmentELG: Gross Motor SkillsELG: Fine Motor SkillsLiteracyELG: ComprehensionELG: Word ReadingELG: WritingMathematicsELG: NumberELG: Numerical PatternsUnderstanding the WorldELG: Past and PresentELG: People, Culture and CommunitiesELG: The Natural WorldExpressive Arts and DesignELG: Creating with MaterialsELG: Being Imaginative and Expressive
Our Early Years Transition Video