How we plan
Early Years Foundation Stage
The Centre uses the Curriculum Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage for children aged 2 years to statutory school age. The purpose of the guidance is to help practitioners provide excellent care and appropriate high quality learning experiences throughout this stage. Children are allocated a keyperson from the outset who will establish close links with the child and family and will observe, assess and plan for the individual child.
The EYFS programme is based around four themes:
A unique child
Positive relationships
Enabling environments
Learning and development
To find out more about EYFS please click here.
Planned Programmes
When a child is registered with the Centre the parent or carers are asked to provide details of the child’s background. This gives the staff and keyperson an insight into the child’s stage of learning and development. A learning scrap book is kept by the child’s keyperson to include ‘all about me’, parent information forms, observations on the child, digital photographs and the child’s work.
All children will share a planned programme of activities and experiences, which takes account of every child’s stage of development and individual needs. Parents are regularly asked to provide information about their child, to support this planning, and a home “news” book helps us to be aware of children’s home lives and interests. Every child is given an equal opportunity to experience the full range of activities even if they only attend for one session.
Cooking
Each week we have either a cooking or tasting session. Although not all children will be able to join in every week, they will have a chance during the term. We try to encourage children to try new foods and will include both savoury and sweet recipes and also foods from other cultures and countries. During cooking sessions we talk about weight, quantity and details of the products. We also ensure that any allergies are taken account of.
Outdoors
We have a large fenced outdoor area where the children can run around and let off steam. We have lots of toys for them to play with and explore and a gazebo to give them shelter on the hotter days. There is also a large outdoor bean bag so children can sit quietly and look at books if they would like to.
Letter & Sounds
The local school use the letters and sounds programme and therefore we include the first section of this in our planning. Generally, only the pre-school children take part in these specific sessions, unless we feel a younger child is ready to join in.
Keygroup Time
Each keygroup gets together each week to talk about relevant issues, encourage team work and carry out activities to extend their learning.
Music & Movement
Every session includes a music & movement time. This will include ribbons, scarves, parachute, action songs and various other activities. We also include children’s favourite songs.
Storytime
We have storytime each day which not only includes great stories and how they are structured, but also number songs, talking about the weather and days of the week.