Early Years Foundation Stage

The Reception Curriculum

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards that all Early Years Providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to ensure children's ‘school readiness' and gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.

There are four overarching principles that shape the EYFS. These are:

• Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured;
• Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships;
• Children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers;
• Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates. The framework covers the education and care of all children in early years provision, including children with special educational needs and disabilities.

The areas of learning and development

Within these overarching principles of the EYFS, there are seven areas of learning and development which shape the educational programmes at Worstead. Three of these areas are particularly crucial for igniting children's curiosity and enthusiasm for learning; and for building their capacity to learn; form relationships and thrive. These three prime areas are:

• Communication and Language;
• Physical development;
• Personal, Social and Emotional development.

Alongside these prime areas, we also support children in four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. These specific areas are:

• Literacy;
• Mathematics;
• Understanding the World;