At Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries our approach to your child’s development starts with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework and goes way further to help your child make the most of their time at nursery and prepare them for the journey ahead.
What is the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework?
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework is a government document, that Ofsted Registered Early Years Providers in England are required to follow. The framework sets out the standards for children’s learning and development from birth to 5 years old. The standards ensure that your child will not only learn and develop to their full potential, it also ensures children are kept healthy and safe.
What will my child be learning?
The principles which guide the work of our Early Years Professionals are grouped into four themes:
A unique child – every child is a competent leaner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self assured
Positive Relationships – children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or key person
Enabling Environments – the environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning
Learning and Development – children develop and learn in different ways and at different times; all areas of learning and development are equally important and inter-connected.
There are three prime areas of learning in which our Early Years Professionals support children to learn and develop. These are:
- Personal, social and emotional development
- Communication and language
- Physical development
Plus four specific areas of learning. These are:
- Knowledge and understanding of the world
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Expressive arts and design
I’ve got nothing but good things to say about Monkey Puzzle Eltham. My 2-year-old absolutely loves going to nursery, always full of smiles at drop off and pick up. I feel completely comfortable leaving him knowing he’s having lots of fun, learning lots and feels loved and cared for. Daily communication is always thorough, as are the periodic developmental reviews and monthly newsletters. The activities are fantastic, much more imaginative than we could do at home!
How will my child be learning?
The EYFS framework identifies the essential role of play in your child’s development. It is through both child-led play and guided-play from practitioners that your child will develop confidence and relationships with others. Early years practitioners will also help your child to extend their vocabulary and develop communication skills.
The framework identifies three characteristics of effective teaching and learning:
- Playing and exploring
- Active Learning
- Creating and Thinking Critically
How will I know how my child is doing?
It is important that both childcare professionals and parents work together, sharing information about the child, what they have done at home and in the childcare setting. There are various assessment steps throughout the EYFS but practitioners will continually be assessing, observing and building on your child’s skills.
When a child turns 2, the child care practitioners working with your child, will write a summary of how your child is progressing against the 3 prime areas of learning (Two Year Check):
- Communication and language
- Physical development
- Personal, social and emotional development
How can I help as a parent?
All of the fun activities that you do with your child at home are important in supporting your child’s learning and development. Even when your child is very young and not yet able to talk, talking to them helps them to learn and understand new words and ideas.
If you are looking for new ideas for things to do you could find out what is on offer at your local children’s centre, visit our social media platforms or there is also a wealth of activity ideas on the Internet (Pinterest is always a go to website for us!). Please always check our parent notice boards and newsletters, for more information, ideas and events!
