Early Years Foundation Stage

At Cypress Hillside School, we offer the premium British/Nigerian Education and Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum, alongside Montessori theory applications for children aged 2 to 5years old which incorporates:

• Pre-Nursery (aged 2-3)
• Nursery (aged 3-4)
• Reception (aged 4-5)

* the age of the child on 31st August for a September start

EYFS is a framework that sets standards for the learning, development and care of children to help them experience the best possible start in life. It focuses on providing opportunities for children to develop their abilities and talents in a playful environment where they feel safe, secure, happy and well cared for.

To provide a premium British education for EYFS children, we carefully plan a variety of activities that provide learning opportunities based on the children’s educational, social and personal needs. We encourage individual development, through both teacher-led and independent activities, in a play-oriented learning environment that provides many opportunities for children.

We aim to fulfil the expectations of the EYFS Guidance document, published by the UK Department for Education. This has four principles:

We recognize that children develop in individual ways and at varying rates – we make sure everyone can achieve their best. We treat all children fairly, regardless of race, religion or ability, and value all children and their families within our school.

We value the essential contribution parents make, viewing them as partners in their child’s education, and we focus on developing caring, respectful and professional relationships between staff, students and families. At the Cypress Hillside School, the Class Teacher is the ‘Key Person’ for all children in their class. They are supported by the Teaching Assistant/s.

Children learn and develop well in enabling environments where the experiences offered respond to their individual needs. We plan challenging, but achievable, activities and experiences to extend everyone’s learning. Early Years classrooms are organised to allow children to explore and learn securely and safely with an impressive pupil to teacher ratio. We see the outdoor area as an extension of the classroom.

We fully support the EYFS statement: ‘In their play, children learn at their highest level’. Play allows children to:

• Think critically, explore and make sense of the world
• Practice and build up ideas
• Learn how to control themselves and understand the need for rules
• Communicate with others as they investigate and solve problems
• Engage in active learning (acting on objects, ideas, people and events)
• Feel motivated and interested
• Have some independence and control over their learning
• Develop the confidence to make decisions
• Take ownership of their learning
• Discover connections and develop understanding

At Cypress Hillside School, we value all areas equally and understand that they are interconnected, depend on each other and should be taught in collaboration, not isolation

As children grow in confidence and ability within the three prime areas, the balance slowly shifts towards a more equal focus on all seven areas of learning, including:

Children listen attentively in a range of situations. They listen to stories, accurately anticipating key events and respond to what they hear with relevant comments, questions or actions. They give their attention to what others say and respond appropriately, while engaged in another activity.

Children follow instructions involving several ideas or actions. They answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions about their experiences in response to stories or events.

Children follow instructions involving several ideas or actions. They answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions about their experiences in response to stories or events.

Moving and handling: Children show good control and co-ordination in large and small movements. They move confidently in a range of ways, safely negotiating space. They handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing.
Health and self-care: Children know the importance for good health of physical exercise, and a healthy diet, and talk about ways to keep healthy and safe. They manage their own 11 basic hygiene and personal needs successfully, including dressing and going to the toilet independently.

Self-confidence and self-awareness: Children are confident to try new activities, and say why they like some activities more than others. They are confident to speak in a familiar group, will talk about their ideas, and will choose the resources they need for their chosen activities. They say when they do or don’t need help.

Managing feelings and behaviour: Children talk about how they and others show feelings, talk about their own and others’ behaviour, and its consequences, and know that some behaviours are unacceptable. They work as part of a group or class, and understand and follow the rules. They adjust their behaviour to different situations, and take changes of routine in their stride.

Making relationships: Children play co-operatively, taking turns with others. They take account of one another’s ideas about how to organize their activity. They show sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings, and form positive relationships with adults and other children

Literacy development involves encouraging children to read and write, both through listening to others reading, and being encouraged to begin to read and write themselves. Children must be given access to a wide range of reading materials – books, poems, and other written materials, to ignite their interest.

By the end of Reception our key aims for children are:

Children will read and understand simple sentences. They use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately. They also read some common irregular words. They demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read.

Children use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. They also write some irregular common words. They write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible.

Mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to practice and improve their skills in counting numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems, and to describe shapes, spaces, and measures..

By the end of Reception our key aims for children are:

Children count reliably with numbers from 1 to 20, place them in order and say which number is one more or one less than a given number. Using quantities and objects, they add and subtract two single-digit numbers and count on or back to find the answer. They solve problems, including doubling, halving and sharing.

Children use everyday language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects and to solve problems. They recognize, create and describe patterns.

Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, and the environment..

By the end of Reception our key aims for children are:

Children talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members. They know that other children don’t always enjoy the same things, and are sensitive to this. They know about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families, communities and traditions.

Children know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things. They talk about the features of their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another. They make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur, and talk about changes.

Children recognize that a range of technology is used in places such as homes and schools. They select and use technology for particular purposes.

Expressive arts and design involve supporting children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance and role-play.
Children’s progress in each area is continually assessed so that their development needs are met early
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By the end of Reception our key aims for children are:

Children recognize that a range of technology is used in places such as homes and schools. They select and use technology for particular purposes.Exploring And Using Media And Materials.

Children use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about uses and purposes. They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role-play and stories

In accordance with the Vision, Mission of CHS, the EYFS programme aims to:

• To provide a safe, secure learning environment in which all children feel valued and supported
• To provide a secure foundation through the provision of learning and development opportunities which are planned around the needs and interests of each individual child, assessed, and reviewed regularly
• To make learning fun, meaningful, engaging process in which students are actively involved
• To link classroom learning to the world outside the classroom
• To ensure quality and consistency across early years programme, so that every child makes good progress
• To form a close partnership with our parents, keeping them well-informed about the progress of their child and any area where additional support may be needed.
• To prepare children for successful entry in Year 1