What is the Early Years Foundation Stage?
The EYFS is fun, messy, exciting, interesting and most of all, where we
build children’s confidence and independence to be the best that they can
be. The curriculum is based around “Development Matters” and we foster
each child’s individual development in a number of areas, with personal,
social and emotional development, physical development and
communication and language at the centre.
We teach key skills in reading, writing, phonics and maths and our overall
aim is to develop a lifelong love of learning. The children in the EYFS are:
investigators, friends, actors, scientists, artists, mathematicians, authors,
illustrators and much more!
Our outside classroom is integral to our teaching and learning. Outside our
children are able to express themselves and learn and apply their learning
in bigger, louder and more expressive ways.
Early Years Curriculum
The intent of the curriculum provided in our Early Years is rooted in a solid understanding of child development. We have a practical and
playful approach through which we teach and develop children’s characteristics of effective
learning. We deliver high quality direct teaching in phonics, reading, writing and maths, where
we develop their knowledge and skills and give them the confidence to apply these within their
independent learning. Through our engaging environment and high quality adult interactions,
we encourage all our children to explore and develop their curiosity.
Framework
The EYFS Framework exists to support all professionals working in the EYFS to help your child,
and was developed with a number of early years experts and parents.
At William Amory we use ‘Development Matters’ to support our assessment and planning of
learning for our children. Our curriculum consists of a wide variety of topics and includes the
opportunities for children to explore their own interests.
The E.Y.F.S. has 4 themes. These are:
1 A Unique Child
2 Positive Relationships
3 Enabling Environments
4 Learning and Development
Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development.
Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are:
1. Communication and language
2. Physical development
3. Personal, social and emotional development
As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are:
1. Literacy;
2. Mathematics;
3. Understanding the world; and
4. Expressive arts and design
Each of the 7 areas of learning has its own set of
Early Learning Goals’ which determine what most
children are expected to achieve by the end of
Reception Class.
Monitoring Progress
We use Development matters to identify the
developing knowledge, skills, understanding and
attitudes that children will need if they are to
achieve the early learning goals by the end of the
EYFS. These statements will be updated regularly
throughout the year to show your child’s
development and areas where they need further
support.
The first few weeks
We will find out what the children already know &
can do & use this information to help us develop
an individual learning programme for each child.
We would value any contributions you would like
to make in helping us get to know your child’s
needs. You will be invited to discuss your child’s
progress & adjustment to school within the first
term.
Pre-school Visit
You will be invited to bring your child to school for a series of visits in the Summer Term 2021. This enables them to familiarise themselves with the classroom, staff members and their new environment.
