EYFS

Early childhood is the foundation on which children build the rest of their lives.

Intent:

At Brookside we greatly value the important role that the Early Years Foundation Stage plays in laying secure foundations for future learning and development. It is important to view the EYFS as preparation for life and not simply preparation for the next stage of education. The EYFS is for children from birth to five years of age. The final year of the EYFS is referred to as the Reception year. All children begin school with a variety of experiences and learning. It is the privilege of the practitioners working in EYFS to take on the task of building upon that prior learning and experience. This is done through a holistic approach to learning, ensuring that Parents/carers, support staff and teachers work effectively together to support children's learning and development.

Implementation:

We aim to:

• provide a safe, challenging, stimulating, caring, and sharing environment

which is sensitive to the needs of the child, including children with additional

needs

• provide a broad, balanced, relevant, and creative curriculum that will set in

place firm foundations for future learning and development in Key Stage 1 and

beyond

• provide opportunities for children to learn through planned, purposeful play

in all areas of learning and development

• use and value what each child can do, assessing their individual needs and

helping each child to progress

• enable choice and decision-making, fostering independence and self confidence

• work in partnership with Parents/carers and value their contributions

• ensure that all children, irrespective of ethnicity, culture, religion, home

language, family background, learning difficulties, disabilities, gender or

ability, can experience a challenging and enjoyable

programme of learning and development

Impact:

We assess children's progress and development against the EYFS curriculum.

The areas of learning and development are:

Characteristics of Effective learning

Prime areas

Personal, Social & Emotional Development

Communication & Language

Physical Development

Specific areas

Literacy

Mathematics

Understanding the World

Expressive Arts & Design

At Brookside we believe these areas are equally important and depend on each other to support a rounded approach to child development. We aim to deliver all the areas through planned, purposeful play, with a balance of adult led, adult initiated and child-initiated activities.