EYFS Curriculum
Children in Foundation Stages 1 and 2 (Nursery and Reception) are taught in accordance with the Department for Education’s Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guidance and their curriculum is different to that in Key Stages 1 and 2.
Your child’s experience in Early Years Foundation Stage is quite literally their foundation to the rest of their school and learning journey and so much care and attention is given to the approach we take.
Real focus is given to creating the best conditions for your child to learn and be happy. The staff team embrace the EYFS curriculum whilst also drawing on the most up to date research and the best international models for learning in the Early Years. It’s an exciting place to be!
Staff focus on the following key areas - which we’re happy to talk through when you visit:
- Offering irresistible learning opportunities - that are motivating, authentic and first hand experiences
- Fostering supportive and encouraging relationships - based on respect, acceptance and trust and also includes developing a very genuine partnership with families
- Enabling learning environments - stimulating and accessible resources that encourages children to learn in and outside of their classroom
- Expert interactions - that our skilled practitioners use in a skillful and timely way to help your child drive their own learning and make progress
Children in our Early Years learn through a balance of structured and playful opportunities for learning, which cover seven areas. The table below names all seven, where more focus is placed on the three prime areas of learning in the EYFS (in a child's early life) and these run through and support learning in all other areas.
3 Prime Areas of Learning in the EYFS |
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Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED) |
Communication and language (CL) |
Physical development (PD) |
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4 Specific Areas of Learning |
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Literacy (L) Reading Writing |
Mathematics (M) Numbers, Shape and Space |
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Understanding the world (UW) People and communities The world Technology |
Expressive arts and design Exploring and using media and materials Being imaginative |
The Early Years curriculum at The New North Academy provides children with a strong basis on which to continue their learning journey as they move throughout the school. In fact, many aspects of Early Years practice contribute to the principles of learning across our school.
At NNA we give particular focus to the teaching of phonics right from the time children start with us. This provides children with the necessary tools to enable them to be enthusiastic readers and writers, and again reflects our core aim of ensuring high quality outcomes for all.