Early Years Foundation Stage!

The EYFS Framework outlines how and what your child will be learning to support their healthy development. It focuses on helping your child acquire new skills, knowledge, and understanding through seven areas of learning and development.

The seven areas of learning and development are divided into two categories: prime areas and specific areas.

Prime Areas:

1. Communication and language

2. Physical development

3. Personal, social, and emotional development

Specific Areas:

4. Literacy

5. Mathematics

6. Understanding the world

7. Expressive arts and design

The prime areas are essential for your child’s healthy development and future learning. As children grow, these areas will help them develop skills in the specific areas. These seven areas guide our planning of your child’s learning and activities, ensuring they are tailored to your child’s unique needs and interests.

Children in the EYFS learn through playing and exploring, being active, and engaging in creative and critical thinking. Learning takes place both indoors and outdoors.

We operate a key worker policy to ensure that both you and your child have close contact with one member of staff. The key worker will share information with you, help your child settle, and support their care, development, and learning.

The EYFS update in September 2021 reduced the focus on paperwork, allowing key workers to spend more time playing and exploring with the children. This helps them learn more about the children and extend their learning in real-time.

Upon starting at the Nursery, you will complete an “All about me” booklet. This provides practitioners with insights into your child's likes, dislikes, routines, strengths, and weaknesses, helping them plan activities that enrich and extend your child's learning.

You will receive a registration link to sign up for our online portal, ParentZone. Through this portal, you can view daily information about your child, including observations, snapshots, progress reports, and assessments. You can also message your child's key worker directly through the app.

Engage in fun activities that support your child’s learning and development. Talk to your child to help them understand new words and ideas. Our staff can provide advice on suitable books and activities for your child’s age.

Your child’s key worker is your main point of contact for updates on your child's progress. There are two key stages (at ages 2 and 5) when you will receive written information about your child's development. Additionally, we offer two parent consultation evenings a year for informal discussions and to review your child’s tracker books.

After your child turns 2, you will receive a written summary of their progress in communication and language, physical development, and personal, social, and emotional development. This check highlights areas where your child is doing well and areas needing extra support.

We collaborate with the community health visitor for a review at age 3. This involves discussions between the child, parents, and key worker to address developmental needs in preparation for school.

At the end of the EYFS (reception year), teachers complete the EYFS Profile based on observations. This profile assesses how your child is doing in the seven areas of learning and development. The school will provide a report of your child’s progress, including EYFS Profile information.

Your Key Worker at Mini Explorers will compile a Transition Report, which will be taken to the school. We also offer Buddy sessions where the key worker visits your child at school to engage with their teacher and see your child in a different environment, helping plan accordingly.