Nursery Curriculum
The curriculum, and in fact the entire learning and development programme at Leaps & Bounds Day Nursery, adheres to the Early Years Foundation Stage (‘EYFS’). This is a defined framework for early years provision in England, as prescribed by the Department for Education. It’s an excellent framework, which Leaps & Bounds is very happy to use as the basis for the curriculum at this Edgbaston nursery near Birmingham.
The 7 areas of learning and development
There are 7 defined areas in the EYFS approach to learning and development at Leaps & Bounds Day Nursery. The first three are seen as prime areas, rather like foundations, with the remaining four being built upon them.
Communication and Language
This first prime area helps children to develop their listening, comprehension and speaking skills in a variety of different situations. They’re also encouraged to ask relevant questions and to respond in appropriate ways, using the correct tense, and ultimately to be able to express themselves confidently in any situation.
Physical Development
This second prime area is all about helping children to develop their skills around movement, coordination and control, as well as learning the importance of health, exercise and a healthy diet. As they improve their fine and gross motor skills they are also encouraged to dress themselves and to become more independent physically.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
The third of the three prime areas aims for children to become more self-confident, aware of their own feelings and those of others and to be sensitive to those needs. This is done through development of their personal, social and emotional skills. Through achieving these aims, better relationships are fostered, behaviour improves and a feeling of mutual respect will develop with the child’s peers.
Expressive Arts and Design
This module is all about the children using their imaginations and being creative. They explore different media and materials through art, design, technology, music, dance, singing, role-play and creative writing.
Literacy
In the literacy module, children familiarise themselves with phonics, learn to recognise letters and words, and begin their reading and writing journey. Soon, they’ll be able to comprehend, read and write entire sentences.
Mathematics
EYFS’s mathematics module helps children with their counting, numeracy, problem-solving, simple arithmetic, comprehension and understanding of shapes, spaces and volumes. They’ll be able to do simple arithmetic including simple addition and subtraction and understand the concept of doubling, halving and so on.
Understanding the World
This area of the curriculum covers technology, the physical world, people and communities. Children will have an increasing awareness of the different people, cultures and communities around them and their traditions and beliefs. They’ll also become more aware of nature and the world itself with all its animals, creatures, plants, trees and whole environments. They’ll be able to articulate their understanding of them and to make comparisons between them.
Preparing for School
The EYFS curriculum at Leaps & Bounds gives children an extremely good grounding in all the key areas needed for preparation in readiness for school as they approach the age of five. The curriculum is applied in an individual way to suit each child’s own particular strengths and weaknesses. A series of learning goals are continuously monitored by staff and the learning and development programme adjusted along the way which allows each and every child to achieve their own personal bests in each area. Learn more about EYFS in our Rough Guide to the Early Years Foundation Stage here
