The Early Years Foundation Stage: Nursery & Reception


At Gospel Oak the Early Years Foundation Stage starts when children enter the Nursery after their third birthday, (around 3 years six months.)

Children usually stay for three terms, before moving to Reception, which is the final part of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Most of the learning in the Early Years Foundation stage takes place through play. In the Nursery the majority of the activities are child initiated, although there are also opportunities for children to work with an adult on an individual, small group, or large group basis.

As children move through the Early Years Foundation Stage and into Reception, the balance of adult initiated and child led activities gradually changes. However, the children continue to have many opportunities to initiate their own play.

Activities are play based, in accordance with the Practice Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage and are always planned with clear learning intentions in mind. These learning intentions are known as ‘Development Matters’ and they progress to a series of Early Learning Goals which are the expectations for most children to reach by the end of their Reception year. The Development Matters cover the six curriculum areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

A sample of such activities are demonstrated below:

 

Nursery

Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Dispositions and Attitudes-Display high levels of involvement in activities.
Making Relationships- Work as part of a group or class, taking turns and sharing fairly.
Sustaining play with ‘small world’ toys in a small group.
Continuing a lotto game independently.

 

Communication, Language and Literacy.

 

Reading- Enjoy an increasing range of books.
Writing - Sometimes give meaning to marks as they draw and paint.
     
Building a den and then sharing a book together
Mark making outside Spiderman’s house with Spiderman paper and clipboards.

 

Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy

     
Numbers as Labels for Counting- Know that numbers identify how many objects are in a set.
Using boxes and counting objects to match sets of objects to numerals.

 

Knowledge and Understanding of the World.

 

Communities- Gain an awareness of the cultures and beliefs of others.
Place- Show an interest in the world in which they live.
Celebrating Eid.
Raking up leaves and debris from the Nursery garden.

 

Physical Development

Using Equipment and Materials- Demonstrate increasing skill and control in the use of mark making implements, blocks, construction sets and small-world activities.

   
Connecting pieces of train track together to enjoy small-world play.    

 

 

Creative Development

Developing Imagination and Imaginative Play-Use available resources to create props to support role play

   
Building a computer using large hollow blocks.    

 

 

Reception

 
Two children working closely together have drawn similar pictures and labelled it with their names.
After several trips to the Heath children have created a map using soft malleable materials with a little prompt from the adult. Can you see the train track? Can you see the playground?
     
Children have drawn the map of the Heath with a specific route. They are now using these maps to check if their details are correct.
In reception three children are spotlighted every week. Each brings in something special in their treasure boxes. The children share this with the class and the other children ask questions about the items brought in.
     
Children have created their own game with their own rules which they are playing cooperatively. Can you work out how this game is played?
     
Each child has a special book in which they can choose to write in whenever they want to. Children also have their name cards which show them how to write the letters of their name correctly which they can use independently.