The Early Years Foundation Stage

At The Beacon, the Nursery and Reception classes follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum.

This has six areas of learning and development, within which there are a number of key aspects:

Personal, Social and Emotional development: Dispositions and attitudes; self-confidence and self-esteem; making relationships; behaviour and self-control; self-care; sense of community.

Communication, Language and literacy: Language for communication; language for thinking; linking sounds and letters; reading; writing; handwriting.

Problem solving, Reasoning and Numeracy: Numbers for labels and for counting; calculating; shape, space and measure.

Knowledge and Understanding of the World: Exploration and investigation; designing and making; ICT; time; place; communities.

Physical development (Movement and space; health and bodily awareness; using equipment and materials.

Creative development: Being creative, ie responding to experiences, expressing and communicating ideas; exploring media and materials; creating music and dance; developing imagination and imaginative play.

The Early Years Foundation Stage can be seen as preparation for life and not simply for the next stage of education. It is the Early Learning Goals that set out what is expected of most children by the end of the stage.

Children moving into the Early Years Foundation Stage have already learnt a great deal. The early education we offer our boys is based on the following principles:

• it builds upon what our children already know and can do;
• it ensures that no child is excluded or disadvantaged;
• it offers a structure for learning that has a range of starting points, content that matches the needs of young children, and activities that provide opportunities for learning both indoors and outdoors; 
• and it provides a rich and stimulating environment.