EYFS Curriculum Statement for Parents Lark Class- Foundation Stage 2 Autumn 2014 JW
Below is a brief overview of the Prime and Specific Areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage- the curriculum that your child will be following throughout their Reception Year. Of course, in the Foundation Stage our planning is subject to the needs and interests of the children therefore we plan week by week. More specific details of the children’s learning will be provided in our weekly newsletter.
3 ‘Prime’ Areas of Learning:These work together as an essential key to all Areas of Learning as they provide the foundations for life, learning and success. / 4 ‘Specific’ Areas of Learning:
These are dependent on learning in the prime areas –butprovide a context or meaning for children to build on their ‘prime’ learning.
Personal, social and emotional development Physical development
Communication and language / Literacy Mathematical Development
Understanding the world Expressive Arts and Design
Personal, social and emotional development
This area is about your child’s personal and social skills and their emotional and behavioural development and wellbeing. Our Monday Key Group time is an important element in this area, as are daily routines such as self-registration and getting their own snack. We will also provide lots of circle times, stories and play situations to help your child make friends, share, manage their feelings and gain independence and confidence. / Physical development
Physical Development includes gross and fine motor skills, self-care (including basic personal-hygiene and gaining independence over toileting needs) and learning about being healthy. The children have a PE lesson once a week where they will practise basic physical skills with lessons adapted by Mrs Hudson to fit into our topics. In class we provide a range of activities daily to help children to improve their fine motor skills ready for writing. / Communication and language
At age 4 and 5, children are still developing their communicative skills, and part of our job is to help them to build up their vocabularies and to be understood clearly. We will help them to be both good listeners and good speakers, enabling them to enjoy sustained conversation. Singing, stories, playing with other children, experiencing new things and just having a good old natter are just some of the ways children develop their language. / Literacy
At Reepham Primary, children follow the Letters and Sounds phonics scheme. We begin by mixing Phase 1 (identifying and making different sounds in preparation for learning phonics) with learning the Phase 2 sounds slowly. As well as phonics, we will soon begin to read with your children, both individually and in groups. In our daily provision, we will have lots of opportunities for mark making in different ways (in sand, dough, mud etc.). The children will also help to compose shared pieces of writing for a range of purposes as a whole class and in small groups.
Mathematical Development
At this early stage in the year, we will be doing lots of playful activities focused around number recognition and counting. As a school, we have just begun a scheme called ‘Maths Makes Sense’. In the Foundation Stage, this means there will typically be maths activities both outdoors and indoors and maths opportunities in the role play area too. This is alongside daily whole class maths teaching to help develop children’s confidence when manipulating and understanding numbers. / Understanding the world
This area of learning is about the environment around them;other people, places and nature. It is also about using a range of ICT for different purposes. Learning in this area can range from developing a sense of your own history and place in the world, to learning about how Hindus celebrate Diwali to making scientific discoveries about floating and sinking for example. / Expressive Arts and Design
Whilst creativity flows throughout all the areas, this area is specifically about children expressing themselves, learning how to solve problems and make purposeful choices; all vital skills for the future. Children will listen and respond to a range of music through singing, dancing and composing their own music. They will chose and use a range of media and colour to achieve a desired effect and they will play imaginative games every day. / Useful Websites
For you
For your Lark