The importance of play 

Your child will begin to learn by doing things for themselves, by exploring and investigating, watching and listening, talking and discussing, creating and communicating. Play can be very messy as your child will be learning both inside with sand, water and paint, and also in the outdoors with mud, leaves and so on, so you can expect some mucky clothes at the end of the day!

The Early Years Foundation Stage

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is a curriculum for children aged three to five years old. This is broken down into three prime aspects and four specific areas of learning.

The three prime aspects of learning are:

Personal, social and emotional development    

One of the main aspects of your child’s time at preschool will be a focus on their personal, social and emotional development. They will be encouraged to develop positive relationships, to play with a variety of friends and to understand the feelings of others. There will be opportunities to build confidence and self-awareness, and also to manage their feelings and behaviour.

Communication

Communication is a key area of your child’s learning in preschool. They will spend lots of time sharing rhymes, songs, stories and playing games to develop their speaking and listening skills. They will be encouraged to learn to listen carefully, to develop concentration, to respond to questions and instructions, to share ideas and experiences and to take part in conversations.

Physical development

Your child will be given lots of opportunities to move in different ways, for example, running, jumping, balancing and playing with balls. Another important aspect of physical development at this stage is learning to hold and use tools, such as scissors, and also to use pencils and pens to draw lines and shapes. Your child will also begin to understand how to look after themselves and be healthy.

In addition to these three prime aspects of learning, there are four specific areas:

Literacy

In preschool we share lots of stories and rhymes to learn new vocabulary. Your child will be encouraged to handle and look at books independently and to begin to learn about how stories are structured. There will be opportunities for your child to recognise their own name. Your child will be encouraged to draw, paint and make marks to develop control and hand-eye co-ordination. They may begin to learn to copy the letters in their name.

Mathematics

At preschool, your child will be given many opportunities to explore numbers and shapes in their play. For example, they may be encouraged to count objects they are playing with and to compare two groups of objects. They will probably begin to represent numbers using their fingers, marks on paper or pictures.

Understanding the world

Your child will learn about the world around them and they will be encouraged to use simple technology and equipment.

  Expressive arts

Finally, imagination and creativity are explored and developed in the area of expressive arts. Your child will explore different media and materials and be encouraged to use their imagination in a range of different experiences.

 

Please use the supporting links for more guidance:

Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Development Matters - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Birth To 5 Matters – Guidance by the sector, for the sector