The curriculum provided by Ashton Vale Pre-School
The curriculum provided by Ashton Vale Pre-School
The curriculum provided by Ashton Vale Pre-School
Children start to learn about the world around them from the moment they are born. The care and education offered by Ashton Vale Pre-School helps children to continue to do this by providing all of the children with interesting activities that are right for their age and stage of development.
For all children at the Pre-School we will provide a curriculum based on the Early Years Foundation Stage [EYFS]. The overarching aim of the EYFS is to help young children achieve the five Every Child Matters outcomes of staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution, and achieving economic well being by:
· Setting the standards for learning, development & care
· Providing for equality of opportunity
· Creating the framework for partnership working
· Improving quality and consistency in the early years sector
· Laying a secure foundation for future learning through learning & development that is planned around the individual needs & interests of the child, & informed by the use of ongoing observational assessment
There are 7 areas covered by the early learning goals of the EYFS:
Prime areas of development
1. Personal, Social and Emotional
2. Communication & Language
3. Physical Development
Specific areas of development
4. Literacy
5. Mathematics
6. Understanding the World
7. Expressive art & design Development
None of these areas of Learning & Development can be delivered in isolation from the others. They are all equally important & depend on each other to support a rounded approach to child development. All the areas will be delivered through planned, purposeful play, with a balance of adult-led and child initiated activities.
Our approach to learning and development and assessment
Learning Journeys
Working in partnership with parents, children and other professional the Pre-School documents information about each child to produce their individual Learning Journey and by making assessments of observations we ensure that each child’s individuality is portrayed in this document. When your child leaves the setting you will receive the completed document. It is important that you work with your child’s key person and share information about your child with us.
Learning through play
Play helps young children to learn and develop through doing and talking, which research has shown to be the means by which young children learn to think. Our setting uses the Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage guidance to plan and provide a range of play activities, which help children to make progress in each of the areas of learning and development. In some of these activities, children decide how they will use the activity and, in others, an adult takes the lead in helping the children to take part in the activity. In all activities, information from ‘Development Matters’ the Early Years Foundation Stage has been used to decide what equipment to provide and how to provide it.
Characteristics of effective learning
We understand that all children engage with other people and their environment through the characteristics of effective learning that are described in the Development Matters the Early Years Foundation Stage guidance as:
playing and exploring – engagement;
active learning – motivation; and
creating and thinking critically – thinking.
We aim to provide evidence for the characteristics of effective learning by observing how a child is learning and being clear about what we can do and provide in order to support each child to remain an effective and motivated learner.
Assessment
We assess how young children are learning and developing by observing them frequently. We use information that we gain from observations, as well as from photographs or videos of the children, to document their progress and where this may be leading them. We believe that parents know their children best and we ask them to contribute to assessment by sharing information about what their children like to do at home and how they, as parents, are supporting development.
We make periodic assessment summaries of children’s achievement based on our ongoing development records. These form part of children’s Learning Journeys. We undertake these assessment summaries at regular intervals, as well as times of transition, such as when a child moves on to school.
The progress check at age two
The Early Years Foundation Stage requires that we supply parents and carers with a short written summary of their child’s development in the three prime areas of learning and development: personal, social and emotional development; physical development; and communication and language; when a child is aged between 24 – 36 months. The key person is responsible for completing the check using information from ongoing observational assessments carried out as part of our everyday practice, taking account of the views and contributions of parents and other professionals.