'It is vital that we get to know and value all young children. All children learn more in the period from birth to five years old than any other time in their lives. If children are at risk of falling behind the majority, the best time to help them to catch up and keep up is in the early years' - Development Matters.

What is the Early Year Foundation Stage?

These years are the building blocks of children's education. The success of the Foundation Stage will enable a smooth transition into Year 1 where they will begin learning from the National Curriculum. Our aim for our Reception children is to prepare them with life-long skills, enabling them to become well-motivated and independent learners. We aim to provide our children with exciting, fun and memorable learning experiences in an environment where they feel safe, happy and secure. In order to achieve well in the specific areas of learning, children need a strong foundation in the prime areas of learning. We secure our children's readiness to learn through our school values of being resilient, perservering and making good relationships.

The New Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (1st September 2021) sets out:

• The 7 areas of learning and development which guide professionals’ engagement with your child’s play and activities as they learn new skills and knowledge
• Expected levels that your child should reach at the end of the reception year; these expectations are called the “Early Learning Goals (ELGs)”

Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development.  Children should be secure in the 3 prime areas first.

Prime Areas

• Communication and language
• Physical development
• Personal, social and emotional development

These prime areas are those most essential for your child’s healthy development and future learning.  As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the world 
• Expressive arts and design

These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities. Reading is at the heart of our curriculum. Through our children's interests, we will plan an exciting and broad curriculum with a focus on early language and extending vocabulary.

Children in the EYFS learn by playing, exploring and investigating. Open ended activities with the aid of continuous provision enable children to be active, creative and critical thinkers. Learning will consistently take place both indoors and outside.

Our Intent

At Braunston, we:

• Build warm, trusting relationships with our children to support their learning
• Secure our children's PSED readiness to learn
• Teach spelling and handwriting directly
• Teach reading in a systematic and structured way that builds up children's knowledge and skills
• Make language a priority, embedding spoken language into all areas of learning
• Use practical activities and equipment in Maths and practice the taught mathematical skills and processess

Characteristics of Effective Learning

There is a strong emphasis on the characteristics of effective learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage:

Playing and exploring – engagement

• Finding out and exploring
• Playing with what they know
• Being willing to ‘have a go’

Active learning – motivation

• Being involved and concentrating
• Keeping trying
• Enjoying achieving what they set out to do

Creating and thinking critically – thinking

• Having their own ideas
• Making links
• Choosing ways to do things

• Constructing 3D shapes Constructing 3D shapes
• Using construction to build models Using construction to build models
• Doubling numbers Doubling numbers
• Non-fiction writing Non-fiction writing
• Expressive Arts and Design Expressive Arts and Design
• Expressive Arts and Design Expressive Arts and Design
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