First Learning - Early Years Foundation Stage

Children learn and develop in different ways and at different rates and all areas of Learning & Development are equally important and inter-connected.

We understand that each child’s approach & ability to learn will be different and at First Learning we encourage your child to develop at their own pace. Most importantly we recognise the importance of making learning fun. This we do through planned activities and creative play. We encourage an enthusiasm for learning. There is plenty of scope and opportunity for your child to express themselves and explore their world.

Our curriculum is a healthy balance between learning & play. Children are valued and cared for according to their individual needs. Each child’s spiritual, social, moral and cultural development is fostered.

We fully support and implement the Government standard for nursery childcare. This takes the form of The Early Years Foundation Stage.

There are 4 themes:

• A Unique Child – Every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured

• Positive Relationships – Children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or a key person.

• Enabling Environments – The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning

• Learning & Development – Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates and all areas of learning and development are equally important and inter-connected

Our aim is to provide a perfect environment in which your child can grow and develop in an atmosphere of warmth and safety. Children of all ages benefit as they are given many opportunities to become independent learners, to make their own choices and decisions. We encourage the children to interact with each other and build relationships with both the other children and adults. We want them to be confident communicators and most importantly thoroughly enjoy their time spent in our care.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development

Children need adults to set a good example and to give them interaction with others so they can develop positive ideas about themselves and others. Being special to someone and well cared for is vital for their physical, social and emotional health and well being.

With this in mind we appoint a key carer for each child. This is determined by each individual child as they develop a special bond with a member of our staff.
We find that by allowing a relationship to develop between a child and a carer a natural bond will form. In this way your child will choose their key carer and from these caring attachments your child will thrive.

Creative Development

Children’s creativity must be provided for with plenty of opportunities to explore and share their thoughts, ideas and feelings. The children are encouraged to develop their imagination, to communicate and express themselves.

Creativity develops through a child’s exposure to what they see, hear, feel and touch. It is important to engage their natural curiosity and guide their exploration of using a wide range of materials as they learn about textures, shapes and colour. Music, movement and dance play an important part in helping the children realise their creative potential. Matching their movements to music and singing along provides them with plenty of opportunity and scope to express their feelings whilst having a lot of fun too!

Our staff are well versed in igniting the children’s imagination as the children become absorbed in action and exploration.

Physical Development

Physical development helps children gain confidence and enables them to feel the positive benefits of being healthy and active. Health and bodily awareness is an important part of each child’s awareness of keeping healthy and the factors that contribute to this.

We are passionate in our attitude to health & wellbeing and the children take part in many activities that nurtures a healthy and positive attitude towards an active way of life.

We provide a range of indoor and outdoor activities for the children to develop their co-ordination, including running, catching, skipping & balancing. The children are challenged and the children are encouraged to practise new and existing skills.
Through written and creative activities the children develop their hand/eye co-ordination and their manipulative skills.

Our all weather garden presents the prefect setting for outdoor activites. (photo) Here the children can indulge themselves!! We offer the children both planned activites and free play whilst enjoying the fresh air all year round.

Communication, Language & Literacy

Communicating and being with others helps children to build social relationships which provide opportunities for friendship, empathy and sharing emotions. To become skilful communicators, babies and children need to be with people that have meaning for them and with whom they have warm and loving relationships.

As children develop speaking and listening they build the foundations for literacy and ultimately for reading and writing. Children need lots of opportunities to interact with others as they develop these skills and to use a variety of resources.

Through story telling & listening the children learn how to become effective communicators and expand upon their vocabulary. We sing songs, nursery rhymes, read poetry, books and stories. The children participate fully in these fun activities. We have a great selection of books from which the children are encouraged to select and look at independently or with supervision First learning provides a perfect forum for your child to develop these skills. Our staff are trained to engage our children and to help them grow and progress at their own pace.

Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy

It is important that children be supported in developing their understanding of Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy. Babies’ and children’s mathematical development occurs as they seek patterns, make connections and recognise relationships through discovering and working with numbers.

Through exploring shapes and dimensions the children familiarize themselves with simple mathematics. Children’s activities include counting, sorting, matching and the sequencing of shapes and numbers. We have a variety of a number of games that promote number recognition and most importantly make these sessions fun.

Knowledge & Understanding of the World

To introduce our children to their environment and how things work their learning is supported through exploration and investigation. Children have a natural curiosity in wanting to learn about how things work and what things are made of.

The children will follow our programme of encountering people, plants, creatures and objects in their own environment and in real life situations. Our garden and outdoor trips are perfect for undertaking practical experiments such as planting and growing seeds or feeding the ducks whilst exploring the landscape.

The children make models and work with a range of differing materials. They may draw or paint their view of the world they are just discovering.

Early Years Foundation Stage