THE EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE AT DUCKLINGS

“Parents are a child’s first and most enduring educators” EYFS Document 2009

YOUR CHILD U N IQ U E PERSONAL SOCIAL EMOTIONAL PHYSICAL COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE PRIME AREAS LITERACY MATHS UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD EXPRESSIVE ARTS AND DESIGN SPECIFIC AREAS

Characteristics of Learning Children are learning from birth The revised Early Years Foundation Stage places a much greater emphasis on HOW a child learns – not just what they are learning These characteristics underpin learning and development across all areas of the curriculum and support the child to remain an effective and motivated learner throughout their life.

PLAYING AND EXPLORING ENGAGEMENT ACTIVE LEARNING MOIVATION CREATING AND THINKING CRITICALLY THINKING

Engagement Motivation & Thinking

What have we found out? We can see from these photos that xxxx is happy to take risks to explore her environment xxx is happy to trust his friend and seeks out help from him to succeed in his challenge xxxx is happy to give that help xxx is watching those around him

How do we use this information? At Ducklings we have a system where each child has an adult who acts as their key person. The key person will: Work closely with the child and their family Develop a trusting and reciprocal relationship Ensure that individual needs & interests are recognised and met. Keep learning records up to date and share them with the parents

We have a weekly staff meeting where all staff: Share and discuss observations made during the previous week Use these observations, and reflections, to plan activities to meet the children’s needs and interests Discuss children’s learning and development

NEXT STEPS Your child’s key person will observe your child during their free play and structured activities From these observations, and from information received from parents (and other settings) the key person will make a judgement about your child’s current learning and development With this information the key person will plan next steps under all 7 areas of learning

The 2 Year Progress Check It is a statutory requirement that settings produce an assessment of learning and development in the prime areas of learning between the ages of 2 and 3 We provide this report for all children who start at our setting and are under the age of 3 This is provided in the form of next steps, but includes a statement about which development band the child is currently working within.

WOW VOUCHERS WOW vouchers are a brilliant way of sharing information with us about:- Things your child has done that they couldn’t do before Things highlighted as their next steps that they have achieved Anything that you want to share with us

Getting Ready for School Pencil grip – “frog on the log” Writing name in lower case letters with a capital letter to start Letter sounds and names Putting on coats and shoes Using the toilet independently and washing hands

What has my child done today? Please look at the planning board in the cloakroom. We update it regularly with photos of the activities we have done at Ducklings. If you want information about the areas of the curriculum covered these are on the outside planning board.