Early Years Foundation Stage - EYFS 

Children develop more rapidly during the first five years of their lives than at any other time.  The Department of Education has published a booklet to help you as a parent/carer find out more about how your child is learning and developing during their first five years, in relation to the EYFS and what to expect during these vitally important years by focusing on the seven areas of learning and development which are covered in the EYFS.

The booklet “What to Expect, When?” is available to download here:

The Foundation classes follow the Department for Education framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.  This is a curriculum designed for our youngest learners and is based on setting solid foundations for the National Curriculum by learning through play and first hand experiences.

There are 7 areas of learning in the EYFS. The 3 Prime areas cover the most essential skills that are needed to help the children’s development and the 4 Specific areas are dependent upon the successful application of the Prime areas.

Foundation Assessments 

On entry into  the Foundation class we will gather evidence to assess children. We do this by looking at their achievements in their pre-school provision and from observations during the first weeks of school. 

We assess against the statements from the Development Matters document. Our initial assessments inform our planning and provision for the children. 

We will continue to assess the children across the year and we will be asking for information from home to inform our assessments at school.

At the end of their Foundation year we will assess the children against the seven areas of learning. This takes the form of 17 early learning goal statements which are the expected levels of development for a child at the end of their time in Foundation. 

The children will be levelled in one of the following three bands

If your child achieves the Early Learning Goal at the ‘Expected’ level, they are meeting age related expectations.

If they are ‘Exceeding’ the Early Learning Goal they are working above age related expectations.

If they are ‘Emerging’ into the Early Learning Goal they are working below the age related expectation and will work on achieving the Early Learning Goal in Year One.

We will be keeping you updated on your child's progress via parents evenings and we are available to speak to you if you have any questions or concerns. We will be sending out a full report on your child's progress at the end of the academic year