The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. The EYFS promotes teaching and learning to ensure children’s ‘school readiness’ and gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.
At Otterhampton, we strive to ensure that your child's early years experience is happy, active, exciting, fun and secure whilst also supporting their development, care and learning needs.
Within the EYFS, there are four guiding principles. These are:
1. Every child is a unique child.
2. Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.
3. Children learn and develop well in enabling environments with teaching and support from adults.
4. Importance of learning and development.
Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through seven areas of learning and development. Children should mostly develop the three prime areas first. These are:
Communication and language
Physical development
Personal, social and emotional development
These prime areas are those most essential for your child’s healthy development and future learning.
As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in four specific areas. These are:
Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the world
Expressive arts and design
These seven areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities.
Each area of learning is further broken down into 17 Early Learning Goals. Teachers will assess your child against the Early Learning Goals at the end of their Reception year and determine whether they have a 'Good Level of Development' (GLD).
Communication and language
Physical development
Personal, social and emotional development
Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the world
Expressive arts and design
Through the EYFS, children learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking, which takes place both indoors and outside.