As of 1st September 2021, the revised Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation stage came into effect. This is a legal document that all Early Years settings have to follow and adhere to. This is to ensure that best quality care and education is being maintained and that all children are safeguarded. Copies of the Statutory Framework can be found on the government website www.gov.co.uk. As this is a legal document, we always ensure that we are following this at all times.
What we do have is more flexibility over our curriculum and how we are going to deliver this to our children at The Nursery. The aim for all of our children is to reach the Early Learning Goal (ELG) outlined in the Statutory Framework by the end of their Reception Year in school. The skills the children need to achieve these goals start right from birth and we will build upon each child’s skills as they move through each room within our nursery and eventually into primary school. We see every one of our children as individual and so wanted to make a curriculum that was unique to us. We have worked together as a team to do this and have developed our Nursery Sequenced Curriculum. This curriculum is fluid and evidence gathered is based on the children’s own ideas and interests. All of our teaching and learning incorporates our nursery core values and includes diversity, uniqueness, challenge and kindness.
One of our most important principles is that we really get to know your child. For us this means playing with the children, getting to know their likes and dislikes, understanding their interests, talking and listening to them and making them feel safe and secure in order to give them confidence to reach their full potential. The best way to achieve this is to spend as much time with your child as we possibly can when they are with us. Ofsted and the DFE have recognised they had created too much paperwork for nursery staff. The new EYFS states ‘Assessment should not entail prolonged breaks from interactions with children, nor require excessive paperwork.’ In order to do this effectively we have made the decision to move away from time on the Ipads and paperwork and to focus on the quality interactions we are having with your children. This may mean that parents receive less observations on the Interactive Learning Diary (ILD) but it does mean that we will be spending more time supporting the children’s development and individual needs.
All of the staff have received training on the new framework and curriculum and we are excited to see this come to life as we incorporate it into our practice.
