Early Years
At Stepney Greencoat our EYFS comprises of one Reception class and one Nursery class that each follow the curriculum as outlined in the latest version of the EYFS statutory framework.
It is every child’s right to grow up safe, healthy, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution and with economic well-being.
The EYFS principles which guide the work of all practitioners are grouped into four distinct but complementary themes:
- A Unique Child – every child is unique child who is constantly learning from birth. They can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured. The commitments are focused around development; inclusion; safety; and health and well-being.
- Positive Relationships – how children learn to be strong and independent from a base of positive, loving and secure relationships with parents and/or a key person. The commitments are focused around respect; partnership with parents; supporting learning; and the role of the key person.
- Enabling Environments – states that the environment, with teaching and support from adults plays a key role in extending every child’s development and learning through planning, observations and assessments. Adults and key workers respond to the children’s individual needs and help them to build their learning over time. Children will also benefit from a strong partnership between practitioners and parents/carers.
- Learning and Development – recognises that all children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates, and that all areas of learning and development are equally important and inter-connected.
Learning and Development
The Early learning goals (the knowledge, skills and understanding which young children should acquire by the end of the reception year) and the educational programmes (the matters, skills and processes which are required to be taught to young children) are set out in the “Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage” document.
There seven areas of learning and development:
Prime
- Communication & Language and Literacy (C&L)
- Physical Development (PD)
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)
Specific
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World (UW)
- Expressive arts and design (EAD)
At Stepney Greencoat we believe these seven areas are equally important and depend on each other to support a rounded approach to child development. We aim to deliver all the areas through planned, purposeful play, with a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities.
Learning through play
“Play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, to think about problems, and relate to others.”
(“Early Years Foundation Stage”, 2014)
At Stepney Greencoat, we support children’s learning through planned play activities, and decide when child-initiated or adult-led play activities would provide the most effective learning opportunities. We believe that it is important for adults to support children’s learning through play, by getting involved in the play themselves and through sustained shared thinking.
Home/School Links
We recognise that parents/guardians are the child’s first and most enduring educators. When parents/guardians and practitioners work together in Early Years settings, the results have a positive impact on the child’s development. A successful partnership needs to be a two-way flow of information, knowledge and expertise.
We aim to develop this by:
• outlining the Nursery /Reception curriculum to parents/guardians during the new parents meeting in July, to enable them to understand the value of supporting their child’s learning at home.
• sending home letters, informing parents/guardians of the learning that will be taking place at school.
• holding parent/carer evenings to discuss progress and to provide an opportunity for asking questions and sharing information.
• operating an “open door” policy, whereby parents/guardians can come and discuss concerns and developments in an informal manner.
• inviting parents/guardians to help in our school and to accompany children on school visits.
• encouraging parents/guardians to listen to their child read each night and to comment on reading progress in a home/school reading diary.
• providing an annual written report to parents/guardians in July summarising the child’s progress against the early learning goals and their characteristics of learning.
