The Early Years Foundation Stage provides a wonderful diverse curriculum for the earliest years of a child’s life. We at Little Haven offer a broad and balanced curriculum in line with the Department for Education and Skills; which in turn enables your child to ‘develop their personalities, talents and abilities irrespective of ethnicity, culture, or religion, home language, family background, learning difficulties, disabilities or gender’.
The Areas of Learning and Development:
There are seven areas of learning and development that must shape educational programmes in early year’s settings. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected.
Three areas are particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. The prime areas, are:
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Personal, social and emotional development involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities.
Physical Development
Physical development involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. Children must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food.
Communication and Language
Communication and language development involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations.
As an Early years provider we must also support your child in four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. The specific areas are:
Literacy
Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children must be given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other written materials) to ignite their interest.
Mathematics
Mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, spaces, and measures.
Understanding the World
Understanding the World involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment.
Expressive Arts and Design
Expressive arts and design involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play, and design and technology.
We also follow the Forest School curriculum with our Explorers!
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