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The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum
We intend that your children should enjoy the best possible start in life. Glenhurst follows the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFSC) which focuses on four areas of a child’s early development:
A Unique Child
Every child is a competent learner from birth, who can be resilient, capable, confident and self assured. Every area of development – physical, cognitive, linguistic, spiritual, social and emotional – is equally important. The diversity of individuals and communities is valued and respected. No family is discriminated against. The Nursery and Pre-School Practitioners ensure that each child is kept safe, which means protecting their physical and psychological well-being. Their health is a vital part of their development, and is supported by the provision of healthy and nutritious meals, high quality hygiene procedures, and attention to healthy patterns of sleep and exercise.
Positive Relationships
Children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and a key person. The Nursery and Pre-School Practitioners work together with parents and carers to have a positive impact on children’s development and learning. All adults hold appropriate qualifications, are checked by the Criminal Records Bureau and the Vetting & Barring Scheme before commencing work at Glenhurst, and are warm, caring individuals who respect the feelings of children and their families. Each child is assigned a Key Person who will build a secure attachment with that child, giving reassurance and helping to build independence.
Enabling Environments
The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning. Activities and experiences are planned to give achievable challenges. These will take into account each individual, and will flow with each child’s needs. A rich and varied environment gives a child the confidence to explore and learn in secure and safe, yet challenging indoor and outdoor spaces.
Learning and Development
Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates, and all areas of learning and development are equally important and inter-connected. This area includes the following learning areas:
Full details of these further six areas of learning and development can be found below:
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
At Glenhurst Pre-School we believe that this area of the curriculum underpins work in all other areas and is fundamental to children achieving their full potential.
A child needs to be confident, happy and secure in order to learn. This area includes work on personal and moral values, spiritual development and an understanding of themselves and others.
These skills are taught formally through activities such as Circle Time and during plenary sessions, as well as through all activities undertaken by the children. The children are encouraged to share and co-operate with others.
They are given opportunities to take turns and to listen and respond to others. The children develop skills to work as part of a larger group of children, and they take part in weekly assemblies.
Our children are encouraged to be independent in their toilet needs, changing shoes or coats. There will be times when they choose their own resources, collect them and tidy them away. They begin to take responsibility for their own learning. They are encouraged to consider and express their own feelings and beliefs, and respect the feelings and beliefs of others.
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Communication, Language and Literacy
Children increase their vocabulary through talking and listening to others, and through topic discussions where new words and their meanings are introduced. They are encouraged to respond appropriately to questions. Games and activities include role play and the use of puppets. Children listen to a variety of stories, rhymes and poems every day. The children are encouraged to make marks with a variety of implements from their first day in the Rising 3 Class or in the Pre-School.
Montessori activities help fine motor skills to develop for reading and writing. As these increase the children are taught a correct pencil grip, and to develop their writing skills through structured teaching. The children learn to form their letters using a semi cursive script. Jolly Phonics are used to teach letter sounds, and children learn about authors and illustrators, and how books work. They are taught about sentences, words and letters.
Sounds and sound games are sent home for the children to practice, and words to learn are later sent home in boxes, followed by simple reading books. There is a lending library where each child may choose a book to borrow for the week.
<< Back to top Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
This area includes work concerning the language of mathematics, numbers, patterns, shapes and measures. Most early work will be practical in nature, including daily work on mental maths. Children learn to sort objects, to count and to give a value to numbers. They add and subtract numbers by relating their work to real life situations. They copy and create patterns, learn the names of shapes and discover their properties, and learn about measurements by comparing objects.
They also learn about money through playing shops or Post Offices, and are given real money to handle. The children make simple class graphs based on their topic work and are encouraged to talk about their work, and the methods they have used for solving problems.
<< Back to top Knowledge and Understanding of the World
This area includes work on science, technology, history and geography and will help children to make sense of the world they live in. Children learn to observe carefully and explore. They investigate living things, materials and physical processes and they learn how to fix things in a variety of ways. They also learn how to handle tools and materials safely and with increasing control. Children learn about families and communities, special festivals and celebrations and they are taken out on trips and visits in the locality such as to the museum, library, park or countryside to give them practical first hand experiences.
They use I.C.T. to extend their learning through computer art, games and programmable toys and by using the interactive whiteboard. Children take part in cookery, and have the opportunity to examine and taste a variety of different fruits, vegetables and ethnic dishes.
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Physical Development
This area covers sport and P.E. as well as fine and gross motor control needed for manipulating objects and for writing, and learning about ways to keep the body healthy through healthy eating and exercise. The children are given several daily opportunities to run, climb and balance. There are daily opportunities to use bikes, tricycles, scooters and cars.
They are taught to throw, catch, kick, aim and strike a ball in dedicated P.E. lessons. They learn to co-operate as part of a team through games and activities including parachute games, and at other times they work with partners. Children work both inside and out to develop increasing control over their bodies and they learn about the importance of healthy eating, hygiene and exercise in their daily lives.
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Creative Development
This area includes music, art, stories, dance and imaginative play. Through creative work children learn to express their ideas and feelings. They are given opportunities to work with a wide range of media such as paint, crayons, clay, collage, dough and pastels. They have opportunities to play a wide range of simple percussion instruments in small or whole class groups.
They listen and respond to a wide range of music and they express themselves through singing and performing to parents once or twice a term. Children often respond to music they have heard through art work or dance. Creative work gives the children opportunities to express their imaginative ideas in ways which are natural and accessible to them.
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