Thorney Close Primary SchoolEarly Years
Welcome to the Early Years section of our school website.
At Thorney Close Primary School our children are at the heart of all we do. Our Early Years Foundation Stage is a very special place where we work hard to ensure our children feel safe, happy, valued and inspired to learn and explore, from age 3 in our Nursery to the end of Reception at age 5, in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework.
What Is the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework?
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework is a government document that all schools and Ofsted-registered early years providers in England must follow. It sets standards for the learning, development and care of your child from birth to 5 years old. The standards ensure your child will learn and develop well whilst being kept healthy and safe.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) has been reformed and there is a new EYFS framework that all schools and settings will have to follow from September 2021. These national changes have been made to better support all young children’s learning and development. It is also the aim that the new framework will better prepare children for the transition into key stage 1. There are some elements of the EYFS that have not significantly changed and some that have.
Here are some of the key points from the new EYFS reforms.
- There is an emphasis on improving children’s language and vocabulary through increasing opportunities for conversations, reading of a wide range of books and holding discussions around activities in other areas of learning.
- The early learning goals at the end of Reception have been changed to become more clear and easier to understand. Staff will use their judgements to assess if the children have met these goals at the end of the EYFS and inform parents and carers.
- Literacy and numeracy skills focused on in the EYFS have been adapted to better match up with the national curriculum that starts in Year 1.
- Safeguarding and welfare of children is still a priority, with the added mention of teaching children about the importance of good oral health and how to keep teeth clean and healthy.
What Will My Child Be Learning?
The EYFS framework outlines seven areas of learning and development and educational programmes. There are three prime areas of learning, which are particularly important for your child’s development and future learning and as a result are our prioritised areas of learning:
Communication and Language (C&L)
Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)
Physical development (PD)
There are also four specific areas of learning, through which the prime areas are strengthened and applied:
Literacy (L)
Mathematics (M)
Understanding the world (UTW)
Expressive arts and design (EAD)
How Will My Child Be Learning?
The EYFS framework identifies the essential role of play in your child’s development. It is through both child-led play and play guided by an adult that your child will develop confidence and relationships with others. Through play, our skilled EYFS staff will help your child to extend their vocabulary and develop their communication skills through high quality interactions in our indoor and outdoor learning environments.
The EYFS framework also identifies three characteristics of effective teaching and learning:
Playing and exploring
Active learning
Creating and Thinking Critically
The Characteristics of Effective Learning describe behaviours children use in order to learn. When planning and supporting children we consider the different ways children learn and reflect this in how we teach and organise our learning environment and support individual children and groups of children.
