Early Years uses development matters for practitioners to use to support each child in their development journey. When your children start school we use the first term to get to know your children (the unique child) we teach them to become independent and resilient learners (positive relationships) we use the environments and their interests to support a rich learning environment through play (enabling environments). These three themes when met encourage children to learn and develop in different ways. As practitioners we then look at your child's Characteristics of Effective Learning:

- Playing and Exploring- Engagement

- Active Learning- Motivation

- Creating and Thinking Critically- Thinking

At Broughton Infant School we celebrate your children meeting these areas with Dinosaur stickers! This encourages your children to become involved in their learning and collect a dinosaur sticker that represents each characteristic of learning. 

Foundation Stage

Areas of Learning and Development

In Early Years we follow the “Development Matters” document. It is a fundamental document for preparing the children for the National curriculum in year one and beyond. It helps them get the best start to their lives and build the essential skills they will need for the future.

There are seven areas of development and they are split into three prime areas and four specific areas of learning. It is essential that we meet all the areas of learning to support the children in becoming motivated and effective learners.

Prime Areas

The prime areas are developed through the children's interactions, relationships and experiences with one another. The prime areas work alongside one another and support development in other areas.

The prime areas are:

Personal Social and Emotional Development

Communication and Language

Physical Development

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Personal, social and emotional development is helping children develop:

1. A positive sense of, and belief in, themselves
2. Positive relationships with those around them
3. The ability to manage their feelings and behaviour

At Broughton Infant school we support the children’s personal, social and emotional development through:

• Sharing and turn taking games
• Role play
• Show and tell
• Story time
• Daily circle times

And much more!

Communication and Language

Communication and language development is all about how the children speak, pay attention to, listen to and understand others.

At Broughton Infant school we support the children’s communication and language through:

• Providing a rich language environment 
• The children listening to stories on a daily basis
• The children communicating their feelings and ideas to others
• Provides new language that the children share together
• Offering PESD activities where the children can practise new language and communication skills

Physical Development:

Physical development is:

1. How young children gain control of their bodies
2. Learn about keeping themselves active and healthy
3. Learn to use equipment and materials successfully and safely

At Broughton Infant School we support this area of development by allowing the children to explore the inside and outdoor environments freely in their play.

To support the children’s physical development we provide a variety of activities such as:

• Wheeled toys
• Rolling tyres
• Brushes to sweep leaves
• Playing with pegs and tweezers

These varied activities help the children develop their large- and small-scale co-ordination, movement and control.

We believe that a child who feels safe in their environment will explore and manage their own risks when exploring their physical capabilities. To support this we talk about how and why it is important for them to keep themselves healthy and safe. We also encourage our children to become independent in their self-care and to make healthy choices. 

Specific Areas

Once the foundations are set through the prime areas, children are able to develop their knowledge and skills in other areas.

These are:

Literacy

Maths

Understanding the World

Expressive Arts and Design

Literacy

At Broughton Infant School we support their Literacy skills through:

• Daily Phonics

We follow the letters and sounds program where the children are encouraged to link the letter sounds they have been taught to their reading and writing. Children are grouped according to their stage of development and this allows teachers to support and challenge them where needed.

• Reading

Children are exposed to a variety of reading materials including fiction, non-fiction and poems. We have story times, use story sacks and listen to stories on electronic devices such as story phones or using Reading Eggs. To support their reading we provide home reading books and a Reading Eggs home account.

Maths

Our children develop mathematic skills through:

• Learning and recognising numbers to 20
• Matching objects to the numerals
• Developing calculation skills such as adding and subtracting

Our children also develop their shape, space and measure skills by:

• Recognising 2D and 3D shapes,
• Exploring capacity, measure, weight, pattern and money

Our children explore and embed their knowledge through inside and out activities such as set up shops, car washing stations, shape and number hunts and other activities.

Understanding the World

Understanding the world involves the children exploring their own and other cultures, their own and other communities as well as the world around them.

At Broughton Infant School we have a large outside area and a forest school area in which the children can explore their natural environment. They love to discover and investigate the insects and plant life around them.

Understanding the world also involves children exploring and understanding how to use a variety of technology. The children have access to iPads and laptops that we use for research and also use to take photos in our explorations.

Expressive Arts and Design

Expressive arts and design involves the children developing their imagination, creativity and their ability to use media and materials.

At Broughton Infant School we give the children opportunities to explore feelings and expressions through:

• Art (colour, texture)
• Design
• Music (singing songs and making instruments)
• Movement (e.g. dance)

In combination with their understanding of their own and other cultures the children are exposed to different types of music and dance. They listen and watch different dances from around the world when we look at festivals and celebrations.

Phonics

The School teaches phonic sounds through Letters and Sounds.