Foundation Stage Curriculum
The Foundation Stage
The children in Nursery and Reception follow a programme of study based on the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. This is a statutory framework that sets out children's learning and development in the Foundation Stage.
It gives children a broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life. Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through learning and development.
There are seven areas within this phase. Children should mostly develop the three prime areas first:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
These prime areas are the most essential for your child's healthy development and future learning. As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in four specific areas:
- Literacy (Reading and Writing)
- Mathematics (Number and Shape, Space and Measures)
- Understanding of the World (includes ICT)
- Expressive Art and Design
At the end of the year, we use these goals to assess your child's level of development.
- If they are confident and secure within these goals, they are assessed as expected.
- If they are working towards these goals, they are emerging.
- If they are working above these goals, they are exceeding.
These assessments are based on what your child can do independently.
The Foundation Stage at St Mary Magdalen's
At our school, we consider ourselves partners in your child's learning. The activities that you do with your child at home are important in supporting their learning and development, and have a long lasting effect on your child's learning as they progress through school. For example; listening, talking, reading, singing simple rhymes and songs, cooking and baking or playing indoors and outside with them.
In the Foundation Stage, there is a greater emphasis on your child learning through a wide range of carefully planned, first-hand, practical experiences and structured play.
Children in Reception are taught in more formal carpet-time sessions and groups for Literacy and Maths.
We use an online system called Target Tracker to record observations of children's learning.
The Early Years staff team have worked hard to develop the outdoor areas in Nursery and Reception.
Click to view the Development Matters guidance from the Department for Education (DfE).
Click to view the Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage from Early Education.