Little Learners Learning and Development

CURRICULUM AND PLANNING

Little Learners follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum. We deliver this curriculum through a range of activities which seek to develop children's skills, knowledge and understanding in a themed and play-based environment.

Click here to view the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework

We use "Development Matters" to track the children's progress within the EYFS.

Click here to view the Development Matters Tracker

 We operate a three year curriculum theme plan. This is subject to change due to children's interests and real world events.

Little Learners 3 year Curriculum Plan

Within each theme, we plan a range of activities which deliver the various areas of the curriculum through stories, crafts, themed free play and adult led activities. We cover Letters and Sounds every day and Mathematics is woven through our curriculum activities.

Below is an example of a planning template showing how we take a curriculum theme and structure our plan of activities around this, together with some photographs of how this theme was delivered in the Pre-School setting.

Hibernation theme planning template

Little Learners Hibernation Activities

 YOUR CHILD'S PROGRESS

The Little Learners staff make observations of the way your child engages in the activities to track and record their development and to develop next steps to enable them to progress. We send home a booklet showing your child's Learning Journey each term and offer two Parent Meetings with your child's keyworker each year.

 SCHOOL READINESS

We want our children at Little Learners to be ready to enter school equipped with the essential skills they need. As well as the work we do in Pre-School, a few areas for you to work on with your child are, for example:

• Separate from parent easily
• Have enough vocabulary and language to express their needs, feelings and thoughts
• Be responsible for their own possessions
• Understand spatial concepts – up/down, next to, in front/behind, more/less, etc.
• Can hold a pencil with two/three finger grip
• Go to the toilet independently
• State their full name, age and address
• Dress and undress, including shoes
• Answer simple questions and follow 2/3 part instructions

 There are lots of resources available on-line to help you to prepare your child for school, including the Starting Reception website.