Our EYFS
The EYFS is a very important stage in a child’s life as it helps prepare for school ‘readiness’ as well as preparing them for their future learning and successes. At Bentley New Village the children’s early years experiences are happy, active, exciting, fun and secure. Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences before the age of five will have a major impact on their future life chances. The warmth, sensitivity and pleasure that the practitioners at Bentley New Village display towards the children, ensures that they learn in a positive and enjoyable atmosphere.
Children will learn skills, acquire new knowledge and demonstrate their understanding through the 7 areas of learning and development in the Early years Foundation Stage Development Matters.
7 Areas of Learning and Development
Prime Areas of Learning
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and emotional development
Specific Areas of Learning
- Literacy
- Maths
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
All 7 areas of learning are used to plan children’s learning and activities. The professionals teaching and supporting children at Bentley New Village ensure that the activities are suited to the children’s unique needs. Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outside. It is very important that they develop social skills, such as turn-taking, sharing and independence, which help them greatly in the next stages of their learning.
The guiding principles that shape our practice in the Early Years are that children are born ready, able and eager to learn. They actively reach out to interact with other people, and in the world around them. Development depends on each unique child having opportunities to interact in positive relationships and enabling environments. Our main focus during the Autumn Term in Nursery, is on the Three Prime Areas; Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language and Physical Development. Once the children are showing high levels of well being and involvement we then introduce the teaching of the Specific Areas; Literacy, Maths, Understanding of the World and Expressive Arts and Design.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
We welcome children into Nursery and Reception in September. We know that starting school is a big step for the children and parents so we work together to help the children settle in quickly and happily, developing a positive attitude to learning and school. In Autumn Term, our priority is to get to know the children and help them to settle into the unit.
We provide opportunities for children to play together allowing them to develop their social skills and teach them how to share and take turns. The children will be introduced to each other, staff, routines and different areas in the school. They will learn about different areas in the Early Years classrooms and how to use equipment purposefully.
Communication and Language Development
Within the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, children cover the aspects of Communication and Language, including listening and attention, understanding and speaking.
Children will develop the following; Sitting quietly. Listening and responding to sounds, own name, rhymes, stories and conversations. Anticipating words, phrases and events. Answering simple questions (who, what, where). Understanding humour. Recalling stories. Following directions. Using language to make friends, to share ideas and experiences, to give explanations, to ask questions, to pretend and imagine. Developing vocabulary, use of sentences and different tenses.
Physical Development
Children are provided with opportunities to develop their physical ability in both gross motor and fine motor skills.
They will be supported and encouraged with the following; Moving safely, in a space, in different ways, balancing, using climbing equipment and changing speed & direction. Rolling, throwing, catching and kicking.
Alongside developing their gross motor skills, they will also have access to a range of opportunities to develop their fine motor skills such as, manipulating objects, tools, construction and malleable materials. This will help to develop the children’s pencil grip and control.
Our Learning Heroes
All of the learning that takes place in the Early Years Foundation Stage is underpinned by the Characteristics of Effective Learning. At Bentley New Village these characteristics are represented by our learning heroes;
Playing and exploring – Dora the Explorer
Creating and thinking critically – Bob the Builder
Active Learning – Buzz Lightyear
Parents as Partners
Our partnership with parents means that parents have the opportunity to work closely with our Early Years practitioners to support children’s transition into the setting. We would like parents to feel secure in the knowledge that their child is well cared for and happy at school.
Our parents are welcome to be actively involved in their children’s learning in school and are able to share learning experiences through ‘stay and play’ sessions, learning journeys, 2simple parent share and parent workshops. We recognise that parents are the first educators in children’s lives and value contributions to judgements about children’s development. We use this information to support our assessments and share information about what children need to do next to develop and thrive.
Early Learning Goals
There are a total of 17 Early Learning Goals in EYFS:
The Prime Areas
Communication and Language
Physical Development
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
The Specific Areas
Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the World
Expressive Arts and Design
Perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with others, and – when appropriate – try to move in time with music.
Assessment at the End of Reception
Assessment plays an important part in helping parents, carers and practitioners to recognise children’s progress, understand their needs, and to plan activities and support. On going assessment is an integral part of the learning and development process. It involves practitioners observing children to understand their level of achievement, interests and learning styles, and to then shape learning experiences for each child reflecting those observations. In their interactions with children, practitioners should respond to their own day-to-day observations about children’s progress, and observations that parents and carers share. To this end we make systematic observations and assessments of each child’s achievements, interests and learning styles. We then use these observations and assessments to identify learning priorities and plan relevant and motivating learning experiences for each child.
Each child’s level of development is assessed against the Early Learning Goals (above) Practitioners will indicate whether children are meeting expected levels of development:
- Emerging, not yet reaching expected levels of development for age
- Expected
- Exceeding, , beyond expected levels of development for age
Year 1 teachers will have access to the Profile report together with a short commentary on each child’s skills and abilities in relation to the three key Characteristics of Effective Learning. These will inform transition meetings between Reception and Year 1 teachers about each child’s stage of development and learning needs and assist with the planning of activities at the start of Year 1
