Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

In Blooming Greens School we have the babies from four months old and we apply The Birth to Three Matters framework. We call them ‘The Earlier Years’. Birth to three is a framework which supports the learning of children under 3’s.

It recognizes that all children have, from birth, a need to develop learning through interaction with people and exploration of the world around them. Babies and young children are social beings and are competent learners from birth.

Learning is a shared process and children learn most effectively when and with the support of a trusted adult they are actively involved and interested.

Birth to three focuses on four main strands of learning and development. In Blooming Greens School we are deliberate in delivering care to our tender treasures. So we focus on the developmental goals and milestones of the Birth to three matters.

• A STRONG CHILD: It shows in them having a feeling of being acknowledged and affirmed. Our programme builds comfort and serenity for these babies.

• A HEALTHY CHILD: This has to do with the emotional well-being of the child-being special to someone; Growing and developing; Physical well-being, being nourished and acquiring physical skills; Keeping safe- being safe and protected- learning to discover boundaries and limits- these form a core aspect of our delivery. We have a safe, serene and impeccable environment to foster all of these

• A SKILLFUL COMMUNICATOR: Being sociable and making contact; Finding a voice- being confident to try out the use of language. Blooming Greens School provides competent caregivers who are ready to be life models for the children we care for.

The Early Years comprise of children from 3-5 years. In Blooming Greens School, we use The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework to deliver teaching and learning with a blend of The International Primary Curriculum for Early Years (IEYC) with regards to themes.

The EYFS is made up of 4 themes that include: A Unique Child; Positive Relationships; Enabling Environments and Learning and Development. And in Blooming Greens School, we factor in these themes to ensure our children attain their highest potential because “Every Child Matters”.

Our facility is purpose built to deliver a safe and enabling environment to enhance nurture, care, teaching, learning and development.

Our EYFS curriculum with a blend of the IEYC combines to give the children in our school rich and robust learning experiences. The curriculum is balanced and strengthens each child’s specific needs as well as develops their personal goals.

The EYFS has two sub areas: The Prime and The Specific Areas.

The Prime Area is further subdivided into: Communication and Language, Personal Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development and for the Specific Area we have: Literacy, Mathematics, Expressive Arts and Designs and Understanding the World.

Communication and Language helps children build language skills, vocabulary, self-expression and focuses on the following: Listening and attention; Understanding and Speaking.

In Personal Social and Emotional Development, our children develop: Positive sense of themselves; Positive relationships; Respect for others; Learn to manage their feelings; Good attitude to learning and Good social skills.

For Physical Development, our children: are active and interactive. They learn skills to develop their coordination, control and movement. Make healthy choices in relation to food; Know and follow the importance of exercise to keep healthy and they move and handle objects to show dexterity.

In Literacy, our children learn to: link sounds and letters; Begin to read and write; Begin Creative Writing; Comprehension; Access to a wide range of reading materials. We also run a rich Phonics programme for reading fluency.

In Mathematics, the children have opportunities to develop their skills in: counting using numbers; Calculating simple addition; Solving subtraction problems; Describe shapes, space and measures and Learn to use mathematical terms.

In Understanding the World the children get to learn about: People and communities; The world; Technology; our children also learn to make sense of their physical world; Children explore and observe; Learn about their environment; living and non-living things.

In Expressive Arts and Designs children learn about: Media and materials; they get to do activities in art, music; dance; role play and being imaginative.Personal goals underpin the individual qualities and dispositions we believe children will find essential in the 21st century. We inculcate the IPC Personal Goals such as- enquiry, resilience, morality, communication, thoughtfulness, cooperation, respect and adaptability.

International learning goals are unique to our curriculum and help young children begin the move towards an increasingly sophisticated national, international and intercultural perspective.
The EYFS and IEYC use international best practices, holistic enquiry and play-based approaches that cover all curriculum areas including personal, social and emotional development.

Our Classes are as follows with age bands:

Crèche: from 4 months to 1 year 6 months

Bloomers: from 1 year 6 months to 2 years

Pre Nursery: from 2 years to 3 years

Nursery 1: from 3 years to 4 years

Nursery 2: from 4 years to 5 years (this is our Transition class)

From the Nursery 2 class our children move to Primary 1, Key Stage 1