Our Curriculum

The Early Years Foundation Stage

We believe at that every child deserves the best possible start in life and we are here to support the children in every way we can.

We use The Early Years Foundation Stage and Birth to Five Matters.

We believe children learn best through play; therefore, all those working with children understand what that means, what it looks like and how it feels for a child attending the nursery. Children are encouraged to be active learners, and early years professionals allow children to build on what they know through various play-based opportunities.

Learning is situated in the joyful world of a child and not in a world dominated by adults. The magic of play and children’s natural fascinations is the starting point for planning teaching and the environment. The focus is to ensure that there are many opportunities for children to develop the skills they need to make good progress in all areas of learning.

The Early Years Foundation Stage is broken down into the following areas;

Characteristics of effective teaching:

Play and exploring

Children investigate, experience and are willing to ‘have a go’.

Active learning

Children keep on trying if they encounter difficulties and enjoy their achievements.

Creating and thinking critically

Children have and develop their own ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.

Prime Areas:

Personal, social and emotional development

Children develop a positive sense of themselves and respect for others; they develop social skills and how to manage their feelings and understand appropriate behaviour in groups.

Physical development

Where children have the opportunity to be active and interactive, to develop co- ordination, control and movement; they must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity and healthy choices in food.

Communication and language development

Giving children the opportunity to speak and listen in a range of situations to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves.

Specific Areas:

Literacy

Encouraging children to read and being encouraged to begin to read and write themselves, given access to a wide range of reading materials.

Mathematics

Providing children with opportunities to practice their skills in counting numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems, and describing shapes and measures.

Understanding the world

Guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore and observe people, places, technology and the environment.

Expressive arts and design

Supporting children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities for sharing their thoughts and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play and design and technology.