Early years
Developing each child

In Little Owls Pre-School and the Reception Class, the emphasis is on encouraging the development of each child as a confident, increasingly competent and responsible individual. The aim of the curriculum for the Foundation Stage is to underpin all future learning by supporting, fostering, promoting and developing children’s:
 
  • personal, social and emotional well-being
  • positive attitudes and dispositions towards learning social skills
  • attention skills and persistence
  • language and communication
  • reading and writing
  • mathematics
  • knowledge and understanding of the world
  • physical development
  • creative development
Six areas of learning The Early Learning Goals identified above are encompassed in six areas of learning that help teachers to plan the learning environment, initiate activities, organise experiences and provide a framework for the Early Years curriculum. However, it is widely recognised that young children’s learning needs to be ‘holistic’ and not divided into specific subject areas in isolation from one another.
Link to Key Stage 1 The Early Learning Goals link with the Key Stage 1 curriculum followed by the Infant Department, but the emphasis in the Pre-School and Reception Class is on processes, rather than outcomes. Learning through well-planned play, both indoors and outside, in a secure environment, with effective adult support, is a key way in which young children learn with enjoyment and challenge.