Early Years

FS1 and FS2

At GFD, we follow The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS). The EYFS is a holistic curriculum, this approach to learning emphasises the importance of the physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing of children which we value highly.

Areas of Development

The curriculum is broken down into 7 areas of development, 3 prime areas and 4 specific areas.

Prime Areas

• Communication and Language Development
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Physical Development

Specific Areas

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

Each area is carefully planned for by our British qualified teachers through a mixture of explicit teaching sessions and play based learning opportunities within the classroom.

Pedagogy

Research shows that young children learn best when they are active, engaged and interested. Here at GFD, we recognise this and use children’s own interests to plan for learning that will engage and excite them for extended periods of time. We believe in learning through play and provide a mixture of child initiated and adult led play opportunities both inside and outside the classroom. Play is both valued and celebrated in our school. Everyday children in our FS1 and FS2 classes will experience a balance of adult-led teaching sessions and opportunities to consolidate their learning within the areas of continuous provision in their classroom or the outdoor learning environment.

Our teachers and teaching assistants facilitate learning through a mixture of observing, play partnering, modelling, questioning and explicit teaching. These interactions support teachers in assessing where children are currently at in their development and in turn planning for children’s individual next steps.