‘By learning through play, we have fun everyday!’

Learning through play – Play helps young children to learn and develop through doing and talking, which research has shown to be the means by which young children learn to think.

The EYFS is a stage of children’s development from birth to the end of their first (Reception) year in school. It is a framework that explains how we support your child’s learning, development and care through a range of activities. This enables us to make sure that your child achieves the most they can while they learn through play.

Children start to learn about the world around them from the moment they are born. The care and education offered by High Ham Pre-School helps children to continue to do this by providing all of the children with the interesting activities that are right for their age and stage of development. We do this by implementing the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework. Click here to view the framework.

The EYFS Framework explains how and what your child will be learning to support their healthy development. Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development.

Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are:

  • Communication and language
  • Physical development
  • Personal, social and emotional development.

These prime areas are those most essential for your child’s healthy development and future learning. As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are:

  • Literacy
  • Mathematics
  • Understanding the world
  • Expressive arts and design.

These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities. The professionals teaching and supporting your child will make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s unique needs. This is a little bit like a curriculum in primary and secondary schools, but is suitable for very young children, and is designed to be really flexible so that staff can follow your child’s unique needs and interests. Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outside.

At High Ham Prechool we use Learning Pictures to help us to support the learning and development of your child. We use ‘2build a Profile’ as a way of collecting observations, notes and information about every child. The information is then used to help us to understand their needs and provide for them. Each month you will receive a copy of these observations via emails and once a term your child’s Learning Picture and ‘Next steps’ are shared with you to inform you of your child’s progress and development.

Please click the link below to view the current EYFS document.