Early Years Foundation Stage

The EYFS at Garrett Hall

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum is designed to involve children in a rewarding and enjoyable learning experience. Our indoor and outdoor EYFS environments provide a rich variety of continuous provision activities that complement learning through purposeful play. We have a highly structured timetable running alongside our continuous provision activities that includes taught whole class and group sessions in literacy, maths, reading and topic work. Children will take part in maths and literacy focused activities each week and gradually build up to experiencing more structured learning tasks as the year progresses. They will read their individual reading books to an adult and take part in whole class carpet sessions every week. These sessions are initially short and involve lots of hands on learning, but will build in length and expectation as the children grow and develop.  Children will also learn through exploration and discovery and will practise skills to develop understanding and knowledge. 

Outdoor learning in the EYFS

All of our outdoor continuous provision mirrors our indoor provision and is designed with a natural theme. We currently have an active outdoor maths area, writing area, construction area, small world, outdoor kitchen, reading den, nature area, bug and bee hotel, water and sand play. Children have access to a wide range of challenges that build on their natural curiosity for learning and the world around them. 

The Curriculum

The EYFS curriculum is split into seven areas of learning and a total of seventeen Early Learning Goals. These seven areas are collated into the 'Prime Areas of Learning' and 'Specific Areas of learning'. 

Prime Areas

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development (Self-Regulation, Managing Self and Building Relationships)
• Communication and Language (Listening, Attention & Understanding and Speaking)
• Physical Development (Gross Motor and Fine Motor)

The prime areas of learning focus on the core skills that children need to be able to learn so that they can thrive in the EYFS. We encourage children to develop independence and resilliance, as well as showing them how to make friends and engage with others using effective communication skills. Activities are also planned to develop children's fine and gross motor skills so that they are able to access all of the activities that are on offer to them. Of course, all children develop at their own pace and the EYFS curriculum is tailored to meet the needs of all children. 

Specific Areas

• Mathematics (Number and Numerical Patterns)
• Literacy (Comprehension, Word Reading and Writing)
• Understanding the World (Past & Present, People, Culture & Communities and The Natural World)
• Expressive Arts and Design (Creating with materials and Being Imaginative & Expressive) 

The specific areas focus on the core subjects of literacy, maths, understanding the world and the arts. All areas are taught through a mixture of challenges in the continuous provision, both indoors and outdoors, and also encompass a range of adult led and child initiated learning experiences. 

More information about the non-statutory EYFS currciulum guidance can be found here: EYFS Curriculum Guidance