EYFS VISION
At Central Park Primary School we aim to provide a happy, caring and stimulating learning
environment where all children are encouraged to make progress from their individual starting
points. Every child is at the heart of our curriculum, which has been built to ensure that no child
is left behind. We believe that children learn best through hands on experiences that are
provided both indoors and outdoors. Children will develop positive attitudes towards learning as
they are provided with a curriculum that meets their developmental needs. We allow the
children to make choices about the activities they want to participate in. Time is given each day
to the direct teaching of reading, phonics and mathematics. This ensures that our children are
challenged and prepared for the Year 1 Curriculum and beyond.
Our curriculum is underpinned on the four guiding principles of EYFS which help to shape the
Early Years Foundation Stage Policy.
- A Unique Child
- Positive Relationships
- Enabling Environments
- Learning and Development
The curriculum is carefully planned to ensure progression and continuity of skills in seven areas
of learning. Our curriculum ensures that all areas of learning are taught through core texts. All
areas of learning and development are important and interconnected. The three prime areas
reflect the key skills and capacities all children need to develop and learn effectively in order to
be ready for school. There are three prime areas:
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
There are also four specific areas through which the prime areas are strengthened and applied:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
Communication and Language
- Listening, Attention and Understanding
- Speaking
Communication and Language The development of children’s spoken language underpins all
seven areas of learning and development. Children’s back-and-forth interactions from an early
age form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of
the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich
environment is crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing
back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children’s language
effectively. Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction,
rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed
new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive. Through
conversation, storytelling and role play, where children share their ideas with support and
modelling from their teacher, and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children
become comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures.
- Self Regulation
- Managing Self
- Building Relationships
Personal, Social and Emotional Development Children’s personal, social and emotional
development (PSED) is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives, and is fundamental to
their cognitive development. Underpinning their personal development are the important
attachments that shape their social world. Strong, warm and supportive relationships with adults
enable children to learn how to understand their own feelings and those of others. Children
should be supported to manage emotions, develop a positive sense of self, set themselves
simple goals, have confidence in their own abilities, to persist and wait for what they want and
direct attention as necessary. Through adult modelling and guidance, they will learn how to look
after their bodies, including healthy eating, and manage personal needs independently. Through
supported interaction with other children, they learn how to make good friendships, co-operate
and resolve conflicts peaceably. These attributes will provide a secure platform from which
children can achieve at school and in later life.
- Gross Motor Skills
- Fine Motor Skills
Physical Development Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them
to pursue happy, healthy and active lives. Gross and fine motor experiences develop
incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the
development of a child’s strength, co-ordination and positional awareness through tummy time,
crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. By creating games and providing
opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their
core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills
provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional wellbeing. Fine
motor control and precision helps with hand-eye co-ordination which is later linked to early
literacy. Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities,
puzzles, arts and crafts and the practise of using small tools, with feedback and support from
adults, allow children to develop proficiency, control and confidence.
- Word Reading
- Comprehension
- Comprehension
It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions:
language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension (necessary for both
reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the
world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy
rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy
working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy
recognition of familiar printed words. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting)
and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing).
Mathematics
- Number
- Numerical Pattern
Developing a strong grounding in number is essential so that all children develop the necessary
building blocks to excel mathematically. Children should be able to count confidently, develop a
deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns
within those numbers. By providing frequent and varied opportunities to build and apply this
understanding - such as using manipulatives, including small pebbles and ten-frames for
organising counting - children will develop a secure base of knowledge and vocabulary from
which mastery of mathematics is built. In addition, it is important that the curriculum includes
rich opportunities for children to develop their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of
mathematics including shape, space and measures. It is important that children develop positive
attitudes and interests in mathematics, look for patterns and relationships, spot connections,
‘have a go’, talk to adults and peers about what they notice and not be afraid to make mistakes.
- Past and Present
- People, Culture and Communities
- The Natural World
Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and
their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increases their
knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries and museums to
meeting important members of society, such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In
addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their
understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. As well as
building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support
understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later
reading comprehension.
- Creating with Materials
- Being Imaginative
The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and
creativity. It is important that children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts,
enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. The quality and
variety of what children see, hear and participate in is crucial for developing their understanding,
self-expression, vocabulary and ability to communicate through the arts. The frequency, repetition and depth of their experiences are fundamental to their progress in interpreting and
appreciating what they hear, respond to and observe.
Phonics is taught daily in the EYFS. We follow the Read Write Inc. Follow this link for further
information.
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