EYFS

Early Years Foundation Stage

The EYFS Framework explains how and what your child will be learning to support their healthy development. Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development. Children should mostly develop the 3 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 4 specific areas. These are:
  • Literacy;
  • Mathematics;
  • Understanding the world; and
  • Expressive arts and design

These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities. Our staff supporting your child will make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s unique needs. Our curriculum is designed to be really flexible so that staff can follow your child's unique needs and interests.

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

We operate a key worker policy so that both you and your child have close contact with one member of staff who will share information with you. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) was updated in September 2021 and our keyworkers are enjoying the extra time they get to spend with the children, playing and exploring. The main changes for us as a setting have been to focus less on paperwork which allows us to learn more about the children through playing and extending their learning on the spot.

On starting at the Nursery, you will be given an “All about me” booklet to complete. This gives the practitioners an insight into your child's likes/dislikes, routines and their strengths and weaknesses. With this information, keyworkers can begin to plan for your child and offer them experiences to enrich and extend their learning. You will be given a registration link to sign up to our online portal – ParentZone, where you will see your child's day to day information such as nappies, sleep and meals. You will be able to view observations, snapshots and moments along with progress reports and assessments, which are published by the keyworker. You will also be able to have direct contact through message with your child's keyworker through the app. 


As a mum or dad, how can I help with my child’s learning?

All the fun activities that you do with your child at home are important in supporting their learning and development, and have a really long lasting effect on your child’s learning as they progress through school.

Even when your child is very young and is not yet able to talk, talking to them helps them to learn and understand new words and ideas. If you make the time every day to do some of the following things with your child it will make a real difference to your child’s confidence as a young learner.

Our Staff can also give you advice about the kinds of books or other activities your child might enjoy at different ages.


How can I find out how my child is getting on?

It is important our staff work closely together with you for your child. You need to feel comfortable about exchanging information and discussing things that will benefit your child. Your child will have a keyworker, This is the person who:

  • Is your main point of contact within the setting
  • Helps your child to become settled, happy and safe
  • Is responsible for your child’s care, development and learning
  • Takes a careful note of your child’s progress, sharing this with you and giving you ideas as to how to help your child at home

You will be able to get information about your child’s development at any time and there are two stages (at age 2, and again at age 5) when the keyworker caring for your child will give you written information about how he or she is doing. In addition to this we offer 2 parent’s consultation evening’s a year where you can come in and have an informal talk to your child’s keyworker and have a look through their tracker books

Progress check at 2!

At some point after your child turns 2, your child’s keyworker will give you a written summary of how your child is progressing against the 3 prime areas of learning:
  • communication and language;
  • physical development; and
  • personal, social and emotional development
This check will highlight areas where your child is progressing well and any where they might need some extra help or support – and how mums and dads and other family members or carers can work with the key person to help. You might find it useful to share the information from the check with other professionals such as health visitors (who can use it as part of the health and development review).

3 year integrated review

We work closely with the community health visitor who comes in to Nursery and alongside the child, parent’s and keyworker discuss how your child is progressing and work together to meet their developmental needs ready for “Big School”. We find this step important in your child’s development so strongly urge you to come along when invited.

When your child goes to school

At the end of the EYFS – in the summer term of the reception year in school – teachers 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.

Another important part of the EYFS Profile is your knowledge about your child’s learning and development, so do let your child’s class teacher know about what your child does with you: such as how confident your child is in writing their name, reading and talking about a favourite book, speaking to people your child is not so familiar with or their understanding of numbers.

All of the information collected is used to judge how your child is doing in the 7 areas of learning and development. Finding out at this stage how your child is doing will mean that the teacher your child has in their next school year – year 1 – will know what your child really enjoys doing and does well, as well as helping them decide if your child needs a bit of extra support, what that support should be and if they are already getting it.

The school will give you a report of your child’s progress, including information from his or her EYFS Profile.

Your Keyworker at Mini Explorers will compile a Transition Report which will be taken to the School by your child’s keyworker on a visit, to enable the school to get a really strong connection with your child’s development. In addition to this we offer Buddy sessions which enable the keyworker to visit your child at school – this allows us to engage with their teacher, see you child in a different environment and plan for them accordingly.
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