Early Years Foundation Stage

The Early Years (EYFS) is a stage of development from birth to the end of Reception. Children do best when parents/carers and teachers work together in partnership.

The staff in Nursery and Reception work with every family to ensure that each child achieves their full potential. The EYFS is based on four principles:

  1. The Unique Child - Every child is a competent learner who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
  2. Positive Relationships - Children learn to be strong and independent from a base of secure and loving parents/carers and/or key person.
  3. Enabling Environments - The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning.
  4. Learning and Development – Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates. There are seven Areas of Learning and Development. All areas are important and interconnected. Three areas are particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. These three areas are: communication and language; physical development, and personal, social and emotional development. In addition there are four specific areas through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. The specific areas are: literacy; mathematics; understanding the world and expressive arts and design.

How to Help Your Child

  • Encourage your child to be independent (boys as well as girls). For example: tidying up their toys at the end of the day, putting their plate and cutlery in the sink after eating a meal, putting on, or taking off shoes and jackets and putting their dirty clothes in the basket at bath time. The children will then use their independence in their learning at school.
  • Each week share and enjoy books together (with the TV off). Read and tell stories to your child in your home language as well as in English.
  • Please speak to your child in your home language. They will learn English quicker if you do.
  • Afford your child opportunities to do a variety of activities. Limit the time they are allowed to spend on the computer or watching T.V.
  • Learning at this age does not fit neatly into categories; almost anything you do can become a useful learning experience. For example: cooking, shopping, dressing and undressing, writing lists, crossing the days off a calendar, talking about what you can see in the park or on the street and counting the stairs as you go up and down.
  • Please communicate with the staff. This may be about significant events and interests or concerns and worries. In the Nursery, staff are available first thing in the morning, and in Reception, in the afternoon. If a member of staff is not immediately available an appointment will be made to suit you.
  • Parents/carers often have special skills that could be shared with Nursery and Reception children. Any parent/carer who may wish to help would be welcomed.
  • We keep close observations of the children’s learning and development and we would value any observations parents have of child’s development and interests. 
  • Partnership with parents and carers 

    Thomas Jones School believes that parents and carers are a child’s first educator and therefore the staff team work very closely to ensure they are involved in what their child learns at school. We want parents to feel they can speak to us about their child at any time and feel comfortable in our setting.  As well as home visits and parent-teacher meetings, the school offers parent workshops and open days. Furthermore, parents and carers are encouraged to fill in a school evaluation form each year.