Early Years Foundation Stage
“All children deserve the care and support they need to have the best start in life. Children learn and develop at a faster rate from birth to five years old than at any other time in their lives, so their experiences in early years have a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe, and happy childhood is important in its own right. Good parenting and high-quality early learning provide the foundation children need to fulfil their potential.”
Early Years Statutory Framework for group and school-based providers (DfE, 2024)
At Fairfield Road Primary School, we believe that all children deserve the right to an engaging education that sparks excitement, curiosity, and motivation to learn.
Our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum is designed to provide the essential building blocks for children to flourish and become well-rounded, confident, and happy individuals, ready to succeed in both the next stage of their education and an ever-changing world.
In EYFS, children follow a topic-based approach to learning which is delivered in a variety of ways including through play and first-hand experiences. High-quality books which are rich in language are integrated into each topic to foster a love of reading, expand vocabulary, and capture children's interest.
Our curriculum is designed to offer meaningful learning opportunities which cover the seven areas of learning and development, all of which important and inter-connected. These are:
Communication and Language
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Understanding the World
Expressive Arts and Design.
Characteristics of Effective Learning
In addition to addressing all seven areas of learning, our curriculum is designed to promote specific characteristics that we believe are crucial for learning. These are: bravery, motivation, critical thinking, independence, and determination.
We also promote ‘The Characteristics of Effective Learning’ as outlined in the Early Years Foundation Stage. These describe how the children learn and are particularly important in the EYFS as they build the foundations for children to be life long learners. The characteristics are:
Playing and Exploring - Children investigate, experience things and ‘have a go’ through a balance of adult led and child initiated planned, purposeful learning experiences.
Active Learning – Children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements. Opportunities are provided where the children where the children have some independence and control over their learning, making decisions and taking ownership.
Creating and thinking critically - Children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things. Adults support this and offer encouragement through clarification and open-ended questions.
Assessment plays a vital role in supporting each child’s learning journey. It helps us, along with parents and carers, to monitor progress, identify individual needs, and plan the next steps to ensure every child succeeds. Through ongoing assessment, we gain a clear understanding of what each child knows and can do. At Fairfield Road, parents and carers are kept informed about their child’s progress and are provided with practical suggestions on how they can support their child in achieving their next steps at home.
Within the first six weeks of a child starting Reception, the Government requires that they undertake the Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA). This is a short, simple check of a child’s early literacy, communication and language, and maths skills. At Fairfield Road, this is completed with their class teacher. More information about the Reception Baseline can be found below.
At the end of the Reception year, all schools are required to complete the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile for each child. This involves teachers making an informed decision about whether the child has reached the expected level of development for each of the 17 Early Learning Goals. Children are assessed as either ‘expected’ or ‘emerging’. More information about the Early Learning Goals can be found below.
Below you will find some key documents that outline our EYFS curriculum and provide more information on the Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) and the Early Learning Goals.