Our St Christopher’s Early Years Foundation Stage (known as EYFS) Nursery and Reception classes are in a fabulous position within the school with dedicated indoor and outdoor spaces, where children enjoy a happy, calm and safe environment which is also stimulating and fun.
Happy children learn well
We believe that ‘happy children learn well,’ and our EYFS is a space where they can enjoy imaginative play, structured lessons, and creative and physical activities in small classes with specialist teaching.
Our children are valued for their individuality, and we inspire them with a love of learning, encouraging them to make links and recognise similarities in their learning and experiences.
Being part of a prep school allows us to make the most of opportunities and our EYFS children benefit from having access to specialist teaching staff for subjects such as music, art, design technology, drama, dance and sport.
What is the EYFS framework?
The EYFS statutory framework for the early years foundation stage (EYFS) is put in place to help young children stay safe while learning and developing in a healthy environment.
The EYFS framework is intended to help every child achieve the best possible start in life with a supporting system that can help them reach their full potential.
Since children develop and learn at a rapid speed in their early years, their first five years have a large impact on their futures.
A critical factor to a positive learning start is through a secure and happy childhood with high-quality early learning opportunities.
What are the EYFS seven areas of learning and development?
The curriculum of the EYFS provides the basis for all future learning; the children’s cognitive development must proceed hand in hand with their social development. We focus on developing the whole child and not just cognitive or academic ability.
The EYFS has highlighted three prime areas and four specific areas of learning by promoting and developing:
The prime areas:
- Communication and language development
- Personal, social and emotional development
- Physical development
The specific areas:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the world
- Expressive arts and design
We work in partnership with you as parents to ensure your child develops and learns. Each child has a personal learning journey, which they love to share, and as parents we encourage you to be involved in this journey.
We also give children an intimate and nurturing introduction to Prep School which helps with a seamless transition.
The day runs from 9.00am to 3pm with early drop off from 8.30 and late pick up until 5pm.
In a future post we’ll delve deeper into the specifics of the seven areas of development.
(This article was peer reviewed by Mrs Alex Cottell, head teacher at St Christopher’s)
For interesting references on EYFS please take a look at the following links:
Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework–2
Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) at https://www.basicknowledge101.com/pdf/Development-Matters-FINAL-PRINT-AMENDED.pdf
Why Early Years Matter at Moeducation
