Children’s development and learning

The provision for children’s development and learning is guided by The Early Years Foundation Stage (DfE 2014). Our provision reflects the four guiding themes and principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

A Unique Child: Every child is a unique child who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.

Positive Relationships: Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.

Enabling Environments: Children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners, parents and carers.

Learning and Development: Children develop and learn in different ways. The framework covers the education and care of all children in early years provision including children with special educational needs and disabilities.

 How we provide for development and learning

Children start to learn about the world around them from the moment they are born. The care and education offered by our setting helps children to continue to do this by providing all of the children with interesting activities that are appropriate for their age and stage of development.

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The Areas of Development and Learning:

Prime Areas

Personal, social and emotional development

Physical development

Communication and language

Specific Areas:

Literacy

Mathematics

Understanding the world

Expressive arts and design

For each area, the level of progress children should be expected to have attained by the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage is defined by the Early Learning Goals. These goals state what it is expected that children will know and be able to do by the end of the reception year of their education.

The ‘Development Matters’ guidance sets out the likely stages of progress a child makes along their learning journey towards the early learning goals. Our practitioners refer to these guidelines when we assess children and plan for their learning.

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Our delivery

For us, ‘Learning through play’ is of paramount importance. Play helps young children to learn and develop through doing and talking, which research has shown to be the means by which young children learn to think.

By using the Early Years Foundation Stage and each child’s current interests our practitioners plan and provide a range of play activities and experience opportunities to help children to make progress in each of the areas of learning and development. In some of these activities children decide how they will use the activity and, in others, an adult takes the lead in helping the children to take part in the activity.

Characteristics of effective learning

We understand that all children engage with other people and their environment through the characteristics of effective learning that are described in the Development Matters guidance to the Early Years Foundation Stage as:

Playing and exploring – engagement

Active learning – motivation

Creating and thinking critically – thinking

We aim to provide for the characteristics of effective learning by observing how a child is learning and being clear about what we can do and provide in order to support each child to remain an effective and motivated learner.

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Assessments

We assess how young children are learning and developing by observing them frequently. We use information that we gain from observations, as well as from photographs or videos of the children, to document their progress on our online assessment portal ‘Tapestry’. We believe that families know their children best and we ask them to contribute to assessment by sharing information about what their children like to do at home and how they at home are supporting development.

The progress check between ages 2 and 3 years old.

The Early Years Foundation Stage requires that we work in partnership with the family and their health visitor to supply a short written summary of the child’s development. The child’s key person is responsible for completing the check using information from ongoing observational assessments and is carried out as part of our everyday practice.

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Transitions

When your child leaves us your child’s key person will prepare a transition document which you are invited and encouraged to contribute to. If they are starting primary school or another early years setting this document will be forwarded to your child’s reception teacher and will enable the teacher to know all about your child and where they are at in their learning and development. This document is used to plan for the individual needs and next steps in your child’s learning journey towards the Early learning goals.

 

 

When your child is 5

At the end of the EYFS – in the summer term of the reception year in school or the end of the term your child can stay on at Pre-School, practitioners or teachers will complete an assessment which is known as the EYFS Profile. This assessment is carried out by the reception teacher and is based on what they, and other staff caring for your child, have observed over a period of time.

If you would like any more information please see your child’s key person. More information on the EYFS can be found at: www.foundationyears.org.uk.