Our EYFS Curriculum

At Forestdale Primary School, we are committed to providing an outstanding Early Years Education for children aged 3-5 years. We place a lot of importance on learning through active play, creating and thinking critically, playing and exploring.

Our dedicated team of staff ensure that our children are at the heart of everything we do. We strive to create a welcoming, warm and happy environment, where children feel safe, secure and cared for. Developing the whole child is fundamental to our philosophy: socially, emotionally, creatively and academically. We aim to provide stimulating and exciting learning opportunities, which ensure our children discover a love for learning from an early age.

Our setting provides a wealth of resources and learning areas, both indoors and outside, which stimulate a child’s curiosity and development. We strongly believe our access to the outdoors and nature friendly grounds are an essential part of a child’s development. We follow a curriculum that is based on topics and ensure the children’s learning is hand-on, relevant and fun.

We use lots of different approaches to learning within Early Years:

Our Curriculum

Our youngest children, follow a differentiated curriculum based on Development Matters 2021, which sets out what most children are expected to achieve before they move on into Year 1. There are seven areas of learning and development that are equally important and inter-connected.

There are three prime areas that are crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive.

These are:

• Communication and Language

This area of learning involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment to enable them to build their confidence and skills in expressing themselves and to enable them to speak and listen in a range of situations. Children will learn vocabulary linked to their learning and development. 

• Physical Development

This provides opportunities for young children to be active to improve their co-ordination, control, and movement, which is vital in enabling them to handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing. Children will also begin to understand the importance of physical activity and making healthy choices in relation to food.

• PSED

Children need to gain a positive sense of themselves and others. During the Foundation Stage they learn how to form positive relationships and to develop respect for others, whilst building confidence in their own abilities. They develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings and to understand what appropriate behaviour in different situations is.

There are four specific areas through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied.

These are:

• Literacy

Children are shown how to link letters and sounds to develop their ability to begin to read and write. Within the classroom the children are given access to a wide range of reading materials to develop their interest in literature. Children are encouraged to write freely to allow them to apply their phonic knowledge independently.

• Maths

The children are provided with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting; understanding and using numbers; develop an understanding of number patterns; calculating simple addition and subtraction problems and to describe shapes, spaces, and measures. 

• Understanding of the World

Children are enabled to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology, animals and the environment.

• Expressive Art and Design

Children explore and play with a wide range of media and materials and are given opportunities to share their thoughts, ideas and feelings through art, music, movement, dance, role play and design technology.

The Characteristics of Effective Learning

When planning and guiding children’s activities, we also take account of the different ways that children learn and reflect these in our practice.