Curriculum

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum

The EYFS Curriculum is made up of 7 different areas, broken into the Prime and the Specific Areas. Prime Areas: Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development and Communication and Language. Specific Areas: Literacy, Maths, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design. As your child makes their journey throughout Nursery and into Reception they will be taught the following 7 areas.

Useful links:

What to expect in the Early Years Foundation Stage: a guide for parents

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O9grfFy35uj0Jz1nA-np8xoisOuuU3sY/view?ts=61519ea6

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives. It's a fundamental aspect of their cognitive development. Underpinning their personal development are all kinds of important attachments. The attachments and relationships children form now can shape their social world. Strong, warm and supportive relationships with adults enable children to learn how to understand their own feelings and those of others.

Children should be supported to:

Manage emotions;
Develop a positive sense of self;
Set themselves simple goals;
Have confidence in their own abilities;
Persist and wait for what they want;
Direct attention as necessary.

Physical Development

Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives. Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood. It starts with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, coordination and positional awareness. Children explore and develop through tummy time, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. Play supports building core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, coordination, and agility. By creating games and opportunities for both indoor and outdoor play, children gain a variety of experiences. And, they get to do this while having fun with their peers!

Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies, as well as social and emotional well-being.
Fine motor control and precision help with hand-eye coordination, which is later linked to early literacy. These skills support the later development of things like scissor and pencil control and handwriting.

Communication and Language

The development of children’s spoken language underpins all of their learning and development. Children’s back-and-forth interactions are effective from an early age. They form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment are crucial. Having conversations together is key.

Commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, helps children learn by example. Practitioners will build children's language effectively by involving them in a conversation. Reading frequently to children helps to grow their vocabulary and listening skills.
Engage them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes, and poems. Then provide them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts like writing and talking. This will give children the opportunity to thrive and enjoy exploring the new words they are learning.
Through conversation, story-telling and role-play, children can share their ideas. With support and modelling from their teacher and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children become comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures.

Literacy

This area is divided between 'Comprehension', 'Word Reading' and 'Writing'. Each of these sections focuses on different skills relating to reading and writing development.

Comprehension refers to children understanding and comprehending the words they read or hear. It's a necessary skill for both reading and writing, and it starts from birth. Language comprehension mainly develops when adults talk with children about the world around them, explaining things, answering questions and giving examples of words. Reading books to children - whether they're fictional stories or facts and non-fiction - and sharing rhymes, poems and songs together will promote this development further as children grow. This can be a crucial stage for children, as keen work here may develop a life-long love of reading.
Word reading involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words based on the sounds of each letter, which is called 'decoding'. They should also be learning the speedy recognition of familiar printed words.
Writing involves transcription, including both spelling and handwriting. It also involves composition, where children articulate ideas and structure them in speech, before writing.

Maths

Mathematics is divided between 'Number' and 'Numerical Patterns'.

Number concentrates on number work and number problems, supporting children in counting, addition and subtraction.
Numerical Patterns focuses on recognising and representing patterns as they count, being able to compare numbers and see differences.

Developing a strong grounding in numbers is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically. Children should be able to count confidently, develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers. By providing frequent and varied opportunities to build and apply this understanding - such as using manipulatives, including small pebbles and tens frames for organising counting - children will develop a secure base of knowledge and vocabulary from which mastery of mathematics is built.

Understanding the World

Understanding the World covers three key topics, which include:

People, Culture, and Communities - In this area children will broaden their understanding of different people including their cultures, religious beliefs, and their individual contributions to society.
The Natural World - This area explores the natural world, seeking to help children understand the seasons and other living organisms.
Past and Present - Looking at the past and present, children should be beginning to understand and articulate differences.

Understanding the World involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increase their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries, and museums to meeting important members of society such as police officers, nurses, and firefighters. In addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes, and poems will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically, and ecologically diverse world. As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later reading comprehension.

Expressive Arts and Design

This Learning Area explores:

Creating with Materials - Children can experiment with different ways to make or present art. This includes looking at different media, like drawings or sculptures, and different materials, like colouring, painting, or building.
Being Imaginative and Expressive - Children being able to come up with their own pictures, ideas, and ways to express themselves.

Expressive Arts and Design gives children the freedom to express themselves using the media and outlets they resonate with the most, preparing them to become confident individuals who have a strong sense of self. The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity. It is important that children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. The quality and variety of what children see, hear, and participate in is crucial for developing their understanding, self-expression, vocabulary, and ability to communicate through the arts. The frequency, repetition, and depth of their experiences are fundamental to their progress in interpreting and appreciating what they hear, respond to, and observe.

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