Early Years Foundation Stage at St Finian's
Early childhood is the foundation on which children build the rest of their lives. Research is clear that high-quality early education establishes the foundations for later success, including academic achievement, good health and well-being. (Strong Foundations DFE October 2024)
Our EYFS curriculum is where the journey starts. It is centred on building fluency and foundational knowledge and skills that set children up for the their primary school years ahead and the journey beyond- rich language development, organisational and social skills are fundamental building blocks of the EYFS curriculum. Children will also begin to learn ...
- how to compose simple sentences orally
- how to hold a pencil correctly and form letters and numbers
- how to spell
- how to become a fluent reader
Play-based learning through a Continuous Provision approach (CP)
Our EYFS curriculum prioritises the development of children's communication and language skills. Every day in EYFS is organised to offer a rich range of learning experiences which the children access independently. Adult support facilitates childrens' interaction with a range of resources and activities designed to promote high-quality conversation and resulting in deep learning to achieve Early Learning Goals. Teaching is adapted to meet the needs of the individual child and the specific nature of the cohort.
Our CP approach makes use of both the indoor and outdoor classroom; the large terrace and play area provides an extended learning environment which the children access through independent play throughout the school day in the following ways:
- Role Play
- IT
- Construction
- Maths
- Books
- Dough/clay/malleable
- Small world
- Mark making in all areas
- Paint
- Junk modelling
- Woodwork
- Cooking
Provision of this kind increases the opportunities for children to:
- use their own initiative
- become independent learners
- make decisions about which activity to select and pursue
- build on their own interests and previous experiences
There are many different ways in which adults help our young children to learn, including:
- interacting with children during planned and child-initiated play and activities
- communicating and modelling language
- showing, explaining and exploring ideas
- encouraging, questioning, recalling and providing a narrative for what children are doing
- setting challenges and helping children to achieve them
- paying attention to the physical environment and resources, as well as the daily structures and routines that establish expectations
Well-planned play is important. It gives children opportunities to practise using their knowledge and skills to:
- explore and make sense of the world around them
- learn to focus their attention
- learn to communicate and cooperate with others
Our EYFS curriculum is built on the following principles.
Play based learning - at St Finian’s we recognise that play is powerful, and we foster our children’s learning and development through meaningful play.
Quality interactions between children and adults – at St Finian’s we are genuinely interested in what the children are doing. We listen to and observe our children and then extend their knowledge and understanding.
A love of language – at St Finian’s we read and explore books together and the adults model language and new vocabulary to enrich the children’s talk and conversation.
A rich, holistic curriculum unique to our setting – at St Finian’s we tap into research by leading practitioners so we can deliver the 7 areas of learning in an exciting and challenging way that reflects our environment and meets the needs of our children.
An enabling environment – at St Finian’s we create an environment where children can be active in their learning inside and out where they can discover things for themselves.
Reaching milestones – at St Finian’s we take the time to assess what our children know, understand, and can do. We use this information to plan our children’s next steps in learning and to monitor their progress.
Every child is unique – at St Finian’s we understand that each child is unique. We take the time to get to know our children well and we take account of their interests and dispositions to learn.
Positive relationships – at St Finian’s we recognise the important role parents play in their child’s early development. Communication with parents is key and enabling them to be a part of their children’s’ learning journey is important to us.
Our EYFS Curriculum
