The Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework 2016 (EYFS)
Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage – FINAL
The nursery is governed by the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage which clearly sets out the welfare, care, learning and development standards that all nurseries must follow and that Ofsted will inspect us on.
The EYFS is divided into three Themes which support good quality care and practice. Together, they create the fourth Theme of Learning and Development. The “Development Matters” section of the EYFS also sets out Characteristics of Effective Learning which strongly support a child’s attitude toward learning in general. The Learning and Development is divided into three prime areas and four specific areas of learning.
Characteristic of learning is how a child learns “the ways in which the child engages with other people children and their environment – playing and exploring, active learning and creating and thinking critically – all under pin learning and development across all areas and support the child to ream an effective and motivated learner” (EYFS, 2012)
Through care and play we will support learning in the following three prime areas
Personal, social and emotional development
Physical development
Communication and language
These areas are considered essential for all children. As well as the three prime areas we will also plan activities in the following areas of learning and development, known as specific areas.
Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the world
Expressive arts and design
Specific areas reflect the natural curiosity within children’s learningYour child’s key person will discuss your child’s development and interests with you to make sure they are progressing well with us and at home. This will help us to plan a challenging environment and play based activities to progress your child’s learning. There are two required progress checks which take place during the EYFS. The first is when your child is between two and three years old and the second in the final term of the year in which your child reaches the age of five.
The Key Person:
Each child at our nursery has a key person who helps to settle them and their family into the nursery. They will meet care needs and respond and help to secure the child’s emotional attachment. The key person will make observations and plan activities to promote the development of a child. Learning journals and our online Tapestry system will record progress which can be accessed at any time by parents. Every time an assessment is made you will receive an email from us. As a partner in your child’s care and learning we share these online journals via secure password access and we welcome contributions. In each room we have family photographs. There are also WOW boards to share exciting moments from home and in nursery.
