At St Andrew's pre-school the children follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. Through our range of exciting, stimulating and constantly changing activities the children are constantly encountering new experiences and seeking to understand them in order to extend their skills, develop their confidence and build on what they already know. The foundation stage is continued in reception classes in primary school. The foundation stage is based on seven areas of learning.
Three primary developmental areas
Communication and Language
The ability to communicate gives children the capacity to participate more fully in society. We will help your child to learn to talk confidently and clearly, enjoying stories, songs and rhymes. They will learn to link sounds with letters, develop writing skills, and become familiar with books.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
This area of learning is about emotional well-being, knowing who you are and where you fit in and how to feel good about yourself. It is also about developing respect for others, social competence and a positive attitude to learn.
Physical Development
The children will learn to improve skills in co-ordination, manipulation and movement, develop a positive sense of well- being and begin to recognise the importance of keeping healthy. They will have access to enjoy opportunities outdoor play in our fantastic garden area and we will also have frequent access to equipment to enhance their gross motor skills indoors.
Four specific areas
Literacy
The children will learn to link sounds with letters, develop writing skills, and become familiar with books and text.
Mathematics
Your child will develop an understanding of mathematics through counting, sorting, matching, seeking patterns and making connections. We will encourage learning about numbers, shapes, space, and measures through games and activities.
Understanding the World
Children in this area of learning are developing skills and understanding that help them to make sense of the world around them. This forms the foundation for later work in science, history and geography. They will find out about past events in their own lives and those of their family. They will also find out about different cultures and beliefs.
Expressive Arts and Design
Children will be encouraged to express their thoughts, ideas and feelings, imaginatively using a wide variety of different materials and equipment including sand, water, paint and music.
Tapestry
We are able to capture the daily lives of the children through Tapestry, our online assessment and reporting tool. As the children play and learn, staff take photos or videos and make detailed observations of their achievements, linking to the 7 areas of learning within the EYFS.
The best part about this, is that as a parent, you will have direct access to your child's records and can login and see for yourself exactly what fun and learning your child has been doing whilst at preschool. You can also add your own observations and comments and we can strengthen our partnership with you child best interests our number one priority.