Early Years
We aim to develop and broaden the range of children’s learning experiences, to leave them confident, eager and enthusiastic learners who are looking forward to school. We hope to play our part by treating your child as an individual and offering him/her a variety of experiences and activities which are designed to further their development process.
Curriculum
Much of the children’s learning will be through play where children are offered a range of activities each with an underlying educational purpose. Play is the means by which the children explore a variety of experiences in different situations for a variety of purposes. It is a process which provides for children a way of learning about the world around them.
Staff plan activities and experiences that promote children’s development and learning based on the ‘Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage’ in the following key aspects:
Prime Areas:
Communication and Language
Listening, Attention and Understanding
Speaking
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Self-Regulation
Managing Self
Building Relationships
Physical Development
Gross Motor Skills
Fine Motor Skills
Specific Areas
Literacy
Comprehension
Word Reading
Writing
Mathematics
Number
Numerical Patterns
Understanding the World
Past and Present
People, Culture and Communities
The Natural World
Expressive Arts and Design
Creating with Materials
Being Imaginative and Expressive
These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities. The professionals teaching and supporting your child will make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s unique needs. This is a little bit like a curriculum in primary and secondary schools, but it’s suitable for very young children, and it’s designed to be really flexible so that staff can follow your child’s unique needs and interests.
Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outside.
Characteristics of Learning
As well as the Early Years Foundation Stage areas of learning there are characteristics of learning. These are:
- Playing and exploring – engagement, finding out and exploring, playing with what they know and being willing to have a go.
- Active learning – motivation, being involved and concentrating, keep trying, enjoying, and achieving what they set out to do.
- Creating and thinking critically – thinking, having their own ideas, making links, and choosing ways to do things.
All observations of your child will be linked to the EYFS and the characteristics of learning. This will show us how your child likes to learn. This information will then be used when planning activities and learning experiences for your child. Each term the activities planned will be based upon your child’s interests ensuring they are motivated to learn and inspired to learn.
Please find below a list of useful documents which help parents and carers to understand their child’s development and next steps.
- What to expect, when?
What to expect in the EYFS - Development matters
Development Matters Report and illustrations - https://eric.org.uk/
As a Parent or Carer, how can I help with my child’s learning?
To support smooth transitions before your child starts school we need to work together with parents and carers and share information on how to best to support each child based on their individual needs. This information will help us towards planning activities and a curriculum based around your child’s needs and interests.
Our aim is to ensure a smooth transition for your child into Parkside and it is fundamental that you are provided with information that can support your child in being ‘school ready’. Please take time to read and share the following important information with your child.
To support with learning in all the seven areas please find below a list of fun activities available through free websites that you can access with your child at home which will help in supporting their learning and development in all areas of the early year’s curriculum.
- Oxford Owl Free e-books to read – https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/
- Phonics Play – Lots of free phonics games to play at home – https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources
- Teach you monster to read – https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/
- Cbeebies ‘Numberblocks’ – https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/
- National Geographic Kids – https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/
- Top Marks – https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ Early Years Interactive games and resources to support and develop learning.
- BookTrust – https://www.booktrust.org.uk/ Designed to promote your child’s love of reading with lots of lovely, interactive stories to read and games to play.
- Science Sparks – https://www.science-sparks.com/category/early-years-science-2/ Activities and experiments for EYFS children that offer a range of science based activities and experiments easy to try at home.
- The Woodland Trust – https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/ lots of lovely activities to promote outdoor learning such as twig, leaf, tree, seeds and flower. identification cards
At Parkside Community School we use Tapestry as our online learning journal provider. Tapestry allows you to login with a secure username and password so you can view your child’s observations, photographs, and videos. You can like and comment on observations that we add for your child and it is also possible for you to add your own observations. Your comments and own observations will allow us to find out about which activities your child really enjoyed and the learning they get up to at home. We use Tapestry as a form of communication between school and home, this allows you to view letters, latest news, and memos.
Once we have set you up with an account you will be able to login using any web browser from tapestryjournal.com or by downloading the Tapestry app from the Play or App store, depending on what type of device you are using. Remember, if you are going to use the App version of Tapestry to ensure auto updates are turned on for your device so you always have the most up to date version of the app.
We will set you up using your email address and once this has been done, you will receive an activation email from which you can set up your own password to login with. You will also be asked to set up a 4-digit PIN which you can use on the Tapestry app to quickly log back in once you’ve initially logged in. Do remember to keep an eye out on your spam/junk folders for this email. All data that is entered to Tapestry is stored securely on their servers. If you are interested in finding out more information about this, you can go to https://tapestry.info/security.
We hope you enjoy using Tapestry, do let us know if you have any questions admin@parkside.hert.sch.uk Please take time to read the attached parent information and guides.
We hope you have found all the above useful if you have any questions or concerns please contact us at admin@parkside.herts.sch.uk where a member of the Early Years Team will be able to help and support you.
We very much look forward to working alongside you over the coming school years.
Miss Pereira, Miss Laughton, Mrs Hatton
Early Years Team
