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.

The EYFS seeks to provide:

• Quality and consistency in all early years settings, so that every child makes good progress and no child gets left behind
• A secure foundation through planning for the learning and development of each individual child, and assessing and reviewing what they have learned regularly
• A partnership working between practitioners and with parents and/or carers
• Equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and supported

The EYFS specifies requirements for learning and development and for safeguarding children and promoting their welfare. The learning and development requirements cover:

• the areas of learning and development which must shape activities and experiences (educational programmes) for children in all early years settings
• the early learning goals that providers must help children work towards (the knowledge, skills and understanding children should have at the end of the academic year in which they turn five)
• assessment arrangements for measuring progress (and requirements for reporting to parents and/or carers)
• the safeguarding and welfare requirements cover the steps that providers must take to keep children safe and promote their welfare.

The overarching aim of the EYFS is to help young children, aged 0-5, to achieve the five Every Child Matters outcomes of:

• staying safe,
• being healthy,
• enjoying and achieving,
• making a positive contribution,
• and achieving economic wellbeing.

The EYFS framework gives all professionals a set of common principles and commitments to deliver quality early education and childcare experiences to all children. It supports an integrated approach to early learning and care.

The EYFS curriculum is play based, broad, flexible and child-centred, covering seven areas of learning and development and divided into two specific areas; Prime and Specific.

Prime Areas:

The Prime areas are key to successful learning and development and children need to be sufficient in these aspects before progressing into specific areas.

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Physical Development
• Communication and Language

Specific Areas:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts & Design

• Active
• Playing and exploring
• Creating and thinking critically

These are described as Characteristics of Effective Learning.

At Greensted Nursery, we offer an exciting and highly motivating introduction to education and encourage a positive attitude towards learning. The activities offered are often differentiated to suit each child’s needs. We believe in allowing children to be able to accomplish realistic goals and be suitably rewarded before setting the next challenge.