Early Years Foundation Stage
Children develop more rapidly during the first five years of their lives than at any other time. Our Gatley pre-school and Whalley Range pre-school teams understand our role in encouraging our children’s development. We also understand and embrace the Government’s Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (EYFS) which sets out the learning and development stages for children during this period.
We keep parents informed of their child’s progress, and work closely with parents to ensure their child flourishes.
Our focus is on:
Personal, social and emotional development – helping our children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities.
Physical development – Providing opportunities for our children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. We help our children understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food.
Communication and language – enabling our children to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations.
Literacy – encouraging literacy from a young age, including sharing books with the children and encouraging them to hold and touch books and working towards them recognising certain words; as well as encouraging them to draw and make marks, working towards them writing certain words.
Mathematics – encouraging our children to count and do puzzles, and understand shapes and sizes.
Understanding the World – encouraging our children to understand their physical world and explore our local communities, and understand who different people are.
Expressive arts and design – encouraging our children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play, and design and technology.
