Foundation Stage
We believe that early childhood is the foundation on which children build the rest of their lives and at Oasis Academy Hobmoor we greatly value the importance that the EYFS plays in laying secure foundations for future learning and development.
Our EYFS setting follows a primarily child-initiated approach to early childhood learning and this concept has been inspired by the ideology of specialists such as Anna Ephgrave, Early Excellence, Professor Ferre Laevers and the Reggio Emilia approach.
We value the child as strong, capable and resilient: rich with wonder and knowledge. Every child brings with them deep innate curiosity and this drives their interest to understand their world and their place within it.
We believe that every child has a fundamental right to ‘realise and expand their potential’. This is a child who is driven by curiosity and imagination, a capable child who delights in taking responsibility for his or her own learning, a child who listens and is listened to, a child with an enormous need to love and to be loved, a child who is valued.
Therefore, we provide a curriculum that is based on real-life experiences, involves the children and most importantly, is planned through careful assessment of their own needs and interests. We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory guidance and the non-statutory Development Matters guidance which outlines child development for children from birth to three, three to four and the Reception year. This framework sets the standards for the learning, development and care of your child. Within the framework, there are 7 key learning areas:
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
Communication and Language
Physical Development
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the World
Expressive Arts and Design
The daily schedules are planned to ensure that there is a balance between individual, small and large group activities, child directed and teacher initiated activity and inside as well as outside experiences.
Teachers use their interpretations, intentions and goals (social, emotional and academic) to make choices that they share with children. Learning is seen not as a linear process but as a spiraling progression.
We work in this way because high level involvement occurs in child initiated activity. When children show high levels of involvement, that is when there is progress and development occurring – when the brain is at its most active. High level involvement occurs most often when children are able to pursue their own interests in an enabling environment, supported by skillful staff. Planning in the moment helps to make this possible.
Babies and young children .... are experiencing and learning in the here and now, not storing up their questions until tomorrow or next week. It is in that moment of curiosity, puzzlement, effort or interest – the ‘teachable moment’ – that the skilful adult makes a difference. By using this cycle on a moment by moment basis, the adult will be always alert to individual children (observation), always thinking about what it tells us about the child’s thinking (assessment), and always ready to respond by using appropriate strategies at the right moment to support children’s well being and learning (planning for the next moment).
National Strategies Document ' Learning, Playing, Interacting'