Early Years Foundation Stage
The foundation stage begins when children reach the age of three. Many children first attend some form of pre-school or nursery soon after their third birthday.
We know that children will have already learnt a great deal by the time they are three years old. Many children will have been taken to groups such as parent and toddler groups, and some children will have had experience of group settings such as day centres or home settings with a childminder. For others, it will be their first experience of a group setting. At Children’s Place we work in partnership with parents and other adults, these may include speech therapists, district nurses, health visitors, Portage workers and teachers of the visually and hearing impaired. Partnerships are promoted by valuing and building on children’s’ previous learning.
Children’s Place plan a curriculum that will help children make good progress towards, and where appropriate beyond, these goals. Children are constantly encountering new experiences and seeking to understand them in order to extend their skills, develop their confidence and build on what they already know. They learn in many different ways.
As child care professionals we have a crucial role in this learning and draw on a range of teaching, care strategies and our knowledge of child development. Children deepen their understanding by playing, talking, observing, planning, questioning, experimenting, testing, repeating, reflecting and responding to adults and to each other. We plan learning experiences of the highest quality, considering both children’s needs and achievements and the range of learning experiences that will help them make progress. Well-planned play is a key way in which children learn with enjoyment and challenges during the foundation stage.