New Reception - September 2025

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Early Years Foundation Stage 2021 (EYFS)

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. 

Overarching Principles

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.

The Areas 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.  

Early Learning Goals (ELGs)

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 

• ELG: Listening, Attention and Understanding
• ELG: Speaking

 Physical development

• ELG: Gross Motor Skills
• ELG: Fine Motor Skills

 Personal, social and emotional development

• ELG: Self-Regulation
• ELG: Managing Self
• ELG: Building Relationships

 Literacy

• ELG: Comprehension
• ELG: Word Reading
• ELG: Writing

 Mathematics

• ELG: Number
• ELG: Numerical Patterns

 Understanding the world

• ELG: Past and Present
• ELG: People, Culture and Communities
• ELG: The Natural World

 Expressive arts and design

• ELG: Creating with Materials
• ELG: Being Imaginative and Expressive

Through the EYFS, children learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking, which takes place both indoors and outside.