What is the Early Years Foundation Stage?

The EYFS has been written by the Department of Education and details our legal responsibilities to deliver care and education to babies and children from birth to age 5. This is a very important stage as it helps your child get ready for school as well as preparing them for life long learning and successes. Your child’s early year’s experience at home, and with us, should be happy, active, exciting, fun and secure. We work together to support development, identify the care and learning needs and plan experiences so that your child can make the most of their early years. The EYFS Framework exists to support all professionals working in the EYFS to help your child, and was developed with a number of early years experts and parents. In 2020 the framework was revised to make it clearer and easier to use, with more focus on the things that matter most, interacting with your child and not undertaking mountains of paperwork!

The EYFS sets out:

  • The legal welfare requirements that everyone registered with Ofsted must follow, to keep your child safe and promote their welfare.
  • The 7 areas of learning and development which guide your child’s play, activities and experiences.
  • Key points of assessment that will tell you about your child’s progress between 2 and 3 years, on entry to school and at the end of reception.
  • Expected levels that your child should reach at the end of their reception year. These are called the “Early Learning Goals (ELGs)”.

Call us on:

01444 616 617

What does it mean for me as a parent?

As an EYFS provider we have a number of policies and procedures written to ensure that we all follow the EYFS. This includes things like administering medicines, the Progress Check at Age Two, the ratio of adults to child and carrying out risk assessments. Ofsted inspect us regularly against their Education Inspection Framework, the EYFS and the Early Years Inspection Handbook.

As a parent, how can I help with my child’s learning?

All the fun activities, conversations, interactions out shopping, routines of the day that you do with your child at home are really important in supporting their learning and development. They have a really long lasting effect on your child’s learning as they progress through school and beyond! Even when your child is very young and is not yet able to answer you, talking to them helps them to learn and understand new words and ideas. When you make the time every day to read a story, talk about a programme they are watching, help them to be independent, talk with them about what they are interested in or talk about what you see on a journey, you will make a real difference to your child’s confidence and their learning behaviour.

If you’re looking for new ideas for things to do then we can share lots more information with you. Staff can give you advice about the kinds of books or other activities your child might enjoy at different ages.

How can I find out how my child is getting on?

It is really important that you, us as your early years provider and other professionals caring for your child work together. You need to feel comfortable about exchanging information and discussing things that will benefit your child. These conversations will either need to be with your child’s “key person” or with your room leader. The key person is the person who:

Is your main point of contact within the setting

Helps your child to become settled, happy and safe

Is responsible for your child’s care, development and learning

Makes observations of your child to ensure they progress, sharing this with you and giving you ideas as to how to help your child at home

We keep you informed through an online journal / communication system. You can ask about your child’s development at any time, especially if you have concerns.  We are here to help and support you. Your child’s key person will share what your child has been doing, what they have enjoyed, how they helped your child and what they are interested in and give you ideas on what you can do at home.

When your child is between 2 and 3 we must give you a written summary of how your child is progressing against the 3 prime areas of learning

communication and language

physical development

personal, social and emotional development.

This is called the progress check at age 2. This check will sum up their development to date and may show where they might need some extra help or support. You might find it useful to share the information from the check with other professionals such as health visitors (who can use it as part of the health and development review).

 

How my child will be learning under the EYFS Framework?

We explain how and what your child will be learning in a number of ways. On our website, in our welcome packs, through policies and in our chosen method of communication.

Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development.

Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are:

 

Communication and language

Physical development

Personal, social and emotional development.

 

These prime areas are 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, activities and experiences.

The professionals teaching and supporting your child will make sure that the emotional and physical environment is suited to your child’s unique needs. This is just like a ‘curriculum’ in a school, but we make sure it is suitable for very young children and their ages and stages of development. The EYFS is designed to be really flexible so that staff can follow your child’s unique needs and interests. Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outside.