Early Years Foundations Stage (EYFs)
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets standards for the development, learning and care of children from birth to five.
This page provides an outline of the themes and principles of EYFS:
Themes and principles
EYFS is based around four themes, each of which is linked to an important principle:
- A unique child
Every child is a competent learner 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 a 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 rates and all areas of learning and development are equally important and interconnected. Each principle has four commitments which explain how the principles can be put into practice.
At St. John's we follow the English National Curriculum. Children aged from three to five years follow the Foundation Stage. The importance of the ‘Foundation Stage’ is very important because it gives children a secure educational foundation for later learning. The goals covered that the Foundation Stage creates cover the six main areas of young children's development and learning;
- Personal, social and emotional development
- Communication, language and literacy
- Problem Solving, reasoning and numeracy
- Knowledge and understanding of the world
- Physical development
- Creative development
All areas of the curriculum are taught in a planned, integrated way, aimed at creating a relaxed, secure, constructive learning environment where children can be happy, confident, enquiring, interested and enthusiastic about the challenge they encounter.
- Personal, social and emotional development
Developing confidence and independence while learning to concentrate, enjoy and share as part of a group. - Communication, language and literacy
Communicating with one another and developing skills in talking, listening, writing and reading. At St. John’s we follow the Jolly Phonics Program. - Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
Using ideas about numbers, quantities, measurements, shapes and space. - Knowledge and understanding of the world
Investigating and beginning to understand things, places and people around them. - Physical development
Improving control and co-ordination of their bodies while learning to move and to handle equipment. - Creative development
Finding ways to communicate by using color, sound, texture, movement and stories.
During the Foundation Stage these areas of learning will be introduced in ways that are suitable for young children, through play and specially designed activities, such as computer appreciation, pre-writing, pre-reading and pre-number schemes that have been developed. Teachers at St. John’s will always build on children's existing skills and interests in order to get the best out of your child’s time at St. John’s School.