Early Years

EYFS at Crowcroft Park Primary School

In our Early Years we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, learning through play. We strive to create a nurturing environment in which children feel safe, secure and happy.   Our welcoming and exciting classrooms offer a wide range of activities and resources that allow children to investigate the world around them and to discover and explore new concepts together with their friends. 

Play underpins the delivery of our entire early years curriculum and through both indoor and outdoor play our children develop intellectually, creatively, socially and emotionally. During their time in early years, our aim is to equip all children with the skills and motivation they need to succeed in their future school lives and to lay the foundations for their journey of lifelong learning.

Four guiding principles shape practice in our early years setting

These are: 

• every child is a unique child,  who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured

• children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships

• children learn and develop well en enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carer

• children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates

In EYFS there are seven areas of learning and development:

PRIME AREAS:

Communication and Language

Physical development

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

SPECIFIC AREAS:

Literacy

Mathematics

Understanding the World

Expressive Arts and Design

Each area has been broken down into further categories

Characteristics of Effective Learning

Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outside.

We teach children by ensuring challenging and playful opportunities are planned for across the prime and specific areas.  We foster the characteristics of effective learning by identifying how children learn in different ways which include:

• Playing and exploring

• Active learning

• Creating and thinking critically

By encouraging your child to learn and develop through these characteristics foundations for building an effective and motivated learner are laid

Planning and Themes

Although we have a two-year cycle to include a variety of themes, planning is flexible and changes in response to children's interests and next steps, ensuring all areas of learning are covered throughout the year.

We also include whole school themes and special events e.g. celebrating festivals, Anti-Bullying Week and Science Week so that our children have a broad range of experiences throughout Early Years.

Early Years

Useful links for parents and Carers

BookTrust

Early Years Outcomes

What to expect, when?

Useful websites

Early Years Information